What class of irons do you use

but as long as you don't find the abrubt transition between your 6 and 7 to cause issues then it makes a lot of sense.

That was something that concerned me Duncan, but it's not having an effect on me thus far as far as distance goes, I also find in my shorter clubs that I tend to hold off on most shots for accuracy purposes
 
Something I've wondered Gareth, is does the S&T swing suit a particular kind of iron?

I wouldn't say so Lan'.

The S&T pattern, in essence , is the same as a more conventional swing in the sense it's just how you swing the club. The club type itself, IMHO, makes very little difference.

With the GI irons I got forgiveness on anything that wasn't stuck out of the middle, with blades, I don't.
 
That was something that concerned me Duncan, but it's not having an effect on me thus far as far as distance goes, I also find in my shorter clubs that I tend to hold off on most shots for accuracy purposes

indeed, distance is distance :)

I meant more around you feeling that either the other characteristics of the 6 or 7 were more suited to a particular shot situation outwith distance, and that this created 'unwanted thoughts'!

it seems well documented that most handicap golfers like to be able to select a 7 iron as they have almost twice the confidence in it than their 6 - so maybe you have solved that issue with your solution too
 
Tiger's right.
By all means use "better" player irons when your handicap drops but don't use them just because your handicap drops.
There's quite a few on here switching to blades and that's fine as long as your ball striking allows you to make them work. The narrow sole makes it much easier to hit draws and fades,which may be what you want. Controlling that draw or fade is another matter and as long as your ball striking is decent then you'll have little problem. On a bad ball striking day - take cover!
The wider sole in the GI and SGI clubs make it easier to get the ball up and keep it straight. As a lower handicap this might be exactly what you want so you'd be fine playing G15/20 style, as a beginner this is exactly what you want so playing better clubs wouldn't work for you.
As you get better you're (generally) able to hit the draws and fades that may be required. To hit these consistently a narrower soled club ( players) makes it easier. At the end of the day you should use what works for you and forget about the sterotypes. As a guideline the stereotypes are fine but don't get bogged down into thinking "I'm off 6 now so I should be playing blades/shallow cavities....".
 
I wouldn't say so Lan'.

The S&T pattern, in essence , is the same as a more conventional swing in the sense it's just how you swing the club. The club type itself, IMHO, makes very little difference.

With the GI irons I got forgiveness on anything that wasn't stuck out of the middle, with blades, I don't.

That's what I thought. But just because it is a different way of playing I had a notion that playing a specific style of iron would go with the technique better
 
indeed, distance is distance :)

I meant more around you feeling that either the other characteristics of the 6 or 7 were more suited to a particular shot situation outwith distance, and that this created 'unwanted thoughts'!

it seems well documented that most handicap golfers like to be able to select a 7 iron as they have almost twice the confidence in it than their 6 - so maybe you have solved that issue with your solution too

Strangely. The 6 iron has always been my favourite club.

When it comes to feel, it doesn't present much of an issue, as my 6 would never have been a feel club. But if I was hitting into a green, I'd be aiming for the centre, or if in any other circumstance I'd be playing for position and yardage
 
So what your saying is that there is no difference between the types of clubs then ? Surely there is an advantage to being able to hit a "better players" (for want of a better description) club ? If not then whats the point in them and why do all the pro's not just user game improvement clubs ?

P.S. this thread was really just for a "general overview" of what people use not so much as a request for guidance on changing my clubs.

That isn't the jist of Tiger's point.

Change clubs if they are going to improve your game, not just because you have dropped a couple of shots off your handicap.

A buttoned shot from a super GI club and a buttoned shot from a blade will deliver similar results if the fit is right for you. Locating that button comes with being a better, more consistent player.

So many well made clubs out there that can get you from mid 20's to scratch without changing. Everyone should take advantage of the help on offer from a cavity until you start wearing a ball sized mark out of the sweetspot - IMO.
 
Everyone should take advantage of the help on offer from a cavity until you start wearing a ball sized mark out of the sweetspot - IMO.

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does any one else feel more confidant hitting a bladed iron? id rather look down at what looks like a solid bit of metal rather than a bit of metal with a hole in the back.


i feel this way with the short irons. i accept that it can be a bit daunting looking down at a small headed bladed 3 iron. i dont have the swing for a 3 iron so it doesnt affect me.
 
Callaway Diablo irons which are better player irons. Play off 6 but have done for last 3 years. Young family stops me playing more than once a week but practice in garden chipping which seems to help.
 
does any one else feel more confidant hitting a bladed iron? id rather look down at what looks like a solid bit of metal rather than a bit of metal with a hole in the back.


i feel this way with the short irons. i accept that it can be a bit daunting looking down at a small headed bladed 3 iron. i dont have the swing for a 3 iron so it doesnt affect me.

I'm with you on this one Gary. I hate looking down onto a GI iron, they just feel big and clumsy to me. Also I do not have a problem with getting the ball into the air so tend to just balloon them up and not forwards very far. I love using these Mizzy MP33's that I picked up off Ebay and hitting them really well.

But like has been said your handicap should not dictate your clubs, use what suits you. Are you better shooting in the mid 70's using a set of cavities or mid 80's because you insist on using tiny little headed clubs.
 
does any one else feel more confidant hitting a bladed iron? id rather look down at what looks like a solid bit of metal rather than a bit of metal with a hole in the back.

I haven't stood over your irons, but even with the 4i on mine all I see at address is the face and top line - ie it looks the same as an MP 69 would!
 
My game improved massively since changing to blades. Got down to 10 with cgb max r7s, switched to blades. So much more consistent. Just don't hit anything off centre ;-)
 
I use MP53s which are somewhere between GI and better player. Personally I prefer these as I had a short lived set of GI Taylormade irons and while not bad irons just didnt feel right to me. I didnt like "getting away with" a bad shot, if I dont hit it properly I want to know about it, not mask it. How can you fix faults if you dont know they are happening?
 
I have just gone from Nike VR cavity irons that i was hitting well to thr forged John Letters Master Model.

Why did i change? I hit irons pretty well and wanted clubs that rewarded me with that soft feeling, like hitting warm butter when i get it right!

Going by the simulator in DG the dispertion was better and distance was too, although tge real test will be on the course when it dries out/heats up!
 
My biggest confidence must for an iron is the amount of offset. I personally don't think the size of head makes a huge difference to your eye, but looking down at a club with the right offset for you does. I personally don't like offset, it doesn't suit my eye. I will be picking a set of blades up next year to try out. I don't want to be able to move the ball left and right more but to control the flight of the ball more. I struggle with changing the flight of the shot off full swings.
 
I have a set of TM Tour Preferred (2008) and they were aimed at better players. I bought some R11's at the back of last year as my game was going backwards and I wanted more help. In the end I ended up getting my swing path fixed instead, flogged the R11's and went back to the TP's

I've got some money coming soon and so the temptation is to go out and buy some new shinies. I like so many models like I20, Mizuno and the Cally Razr tours. The Rocketblade tours are due out in February. Do I need them? No. Will they make me a better player. Arguably, especially if I went C/F and got the optimum shaft but you can give most golfers the ideal club for their game and if they can't control the face at impact its irrelevant. I'm tempted to stick with what I using, focus on my short game and reassess later in 2013
 
There are a lot of myths about clubs and handicaps but in fact there is no magic number where you should switch grom a SGI iron to a cavity back to a blade. The simple truth is it all comes down to ball striking. I've played with higher handicappers who actually strike the ball very well but offline. I also used to play a lot with a guy off 3 who used blades and his ball striking was pretty pants but he had a really good short game. I saw an article in a magazine yesterday about the world top 10 players and 5 use blades, 5 use cavity backs.

The bottom line is, if you strike the ball consistently and like the look of blades then go ahead and get some, irrespective of handicap. But if your ball striking is inconsistent then stick to CB/SGI irons as you will probably score better with them.

And to answer the original question, I play off 5 and use forged blades.
 
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