 How much does forgiveness in a club mean to you and your golf game? Are you willing to sacrifice the occasional miss-hit for power and distance over your mates?
|
 |
I currently use a very forgiving set of irons - Mixuno MX-19 s and these are great to hit with. Very straight, nice height, good distance. However, I care very little about power and distance and I care even less about hitting it past my friends. Golf, for me, is about hitting good shots, scoring well, but more importantly, improving or learning each time I play. And this is why I'm looking to get a full set of muscle-back/blades in 2008 - I don't get disheartened by golf, not with my driver, my irons or putter. I play a lot more per week than the average guy. I don't have a missus to nag me if I go and spend £500-700 on blades. If I shoot 75 with my cavities and then the next day shoot 95 with a set of blades, I'm not going to crumble and say "bah - golf's not for me". The problem I see with continuously using cavity-backs, is staying at the same level of technical ability, making good swings and hitting the ball consistently well but not knowing when I've mishit.
IMO, the less forgiving clubs like blades, in addition to having a greater feel (and thus a greater reward for a nutted shot), would keep me hitting good shots.
Less forgiving clubs don't punish being sloppy.
|
| Edited: 17/10/07 17:39 |
 Well I'm keen to get all the help I can. I'm sure I heard a TV comentator at the weekend saying that Justin Rose doesn't even carry a 3-iron any more as he prefers a rescue club. If top pros don't use difficult to use clubs, why should I bother? And don't some of then even use cavity backs?
|
|
Well I have just come full Circle and sold my Titlest 735 CMs as I felt towards the end of the round when I was getting tired I felt I was penalising myself, I have been playing well with a Blade combo set but thought it was time to try a More forgiving club and tried and bought the new Srixon I701 cavity back Irons and boy what a differnece it has made played with irons for the first time last weekend 7 Pars & 2 Birdies and if my Putter was working better I could have had more Pars . Towards the end of the round did not feel tired my thoughts are now why make the game harder than it already is.
Do the right thing and try the new Srixon Irons you will be amazed
|
|
 It means it can hide as many of my numerous swing faults & flaws and still allow me to compete. Nah, sod that, I'd rather work on my game & try and do it properly if it's all the same to the bucket makers! 
|
|
 The games hard enough as it is. I'll take all the help I can get, thanks!
|
|
Its a personal thing, If you want to enjoy playing golf, shooting a good score then forgiveness is the way to go. But if you want to progress and improve as a golfer eg consistant swing, then you need to know when you put a bad swing in and be punished accordingly. For example the my callway X-16 where so forgiving you would hardly notice a bad swing, to a point you could almost hit it off the toe and be rewarded with a decent shot. Infact i think you become lazy with forgiving clubs and just let the club cover all the technical problems with your swing, ok if your a once a week/month golfer but not if you want be low handicap golfer and learn which i do. Rich F, Your the same as me, you want to learn. I wouldnt bother at £500 set, Have a look at the Magregor M675 @£250, i would say the are the perfect indroduction in to blades, they are forgiving enough for to componsate for the odd bad swing but are amazing when you hit the middle of the club. They look very good as well! The 3 and 4 irons are studpidly easy to hit and the lofted irons are so accuracte. try them you wont be dissapointed. I tried my as a trial to see how good/poor my swing was and the result my two lowest competition rounds of the year
|
|
"Are you willing to sacrifice the occasional miss-hit for power and distance over your mates?"
Oh yes!
Let's face it, in the hands of most of us these so-called 'forgiving' clubs still allow you to mess up shots, but they get you round the course in a respectable score and in a reasonable length of time. If we all had to rely on old-fashioned blades some of us would also need to go back to the old handicapping system with the maximum of 36.
So, until the R&A decide that we should all play with hickery shafted clubs of identical spec... with our handicaps reflecting our true ability... I'll stick with me G5s (and feel no guilt at all picking up the occassional trophy), thanks very much.
|
|
 IMO power and forgiveness does not come from the club. I am continuing to have lessons and have just had a step change improvement. The difference in power is unbelievable. At least 15 yds extra on my 7 iron. Granted the accuracy is a little off ATM but the distance and high flight is awe inspiring. So to answer the question "Are you willing to sacrifice the occasional miss-hit for power and distance over your mates?"
NO - I want the feedback to let me know when I hit it bad, if I don't have the feedback how can I improve ?
|
|
 Happy to take some help here. If cavities and muscle backs are ok for the pro, then they're good enough for me.
|
|
 apprently its 60/40 with the pros playing cavity back/blades so as kentish says
|
|
 Yes - I would also point out that the LPGA who are sweet strikers of the ball have a preference for all the forgiveness of technology.
|
|
 I used to play MX-17s which were very forgiving and nice clubs when I was just starting out but I found that I wanted something with a bit more feel to them so I checked out a range of clubs with less cavity and thinner top line / sole and invested in some Titleise 755s. The difference I have noticed is considerable. At first I was not hitting the irons quite as well and was amazed how much I was able to get away with with the previous clubs. As i've continued to have lessons and worked on my swing more I've continued to improve my ball striking and feel i'm a better iron player as a result.
I just love the feeling of a sweet strike from these clubs rather than the empty cushioned shots I got from the others. I now get more feel, better distance and are more confident than I was before.
|
|
Most of the PGA top20 pros do play blades:
Muscle-backs
Tiger Woods - Nike Forged
Phil Mickelson - Callaway X-Forged
Ernie Els - Callaway X-Forged
Luke Donald - Mizuno MP32
Aaron Baddeley - MacGregor V-Foil M675 Forged
Vijay Singh - Cleveland CG1 Black Pearl
Justin Rose - TaylorMade rac TP
Retief Goosen - TaylorMade rac TP
Adam Scott - Titleist Forged 695MB
KJ Choi - Nike Blades
Sergio Garcia - TaylorMade rac TP
Geoff Ogilvy - King Cobra Forged MB
Cavity-Backs
Jim Furyk - Srixon I-506
Steve Stricker - Titleist 755
Padraig Harrington - Wilson Staff Pi5
Rory Sabbatini - Nike Ignite
Zach Johnson - Titleist 735.CM / 695CB
|
|
 "NO - I want the feedback to let me know when I hit it bad, if I don't have the feedback how can I improve ?" Surely, you get feedback by seeing what happens to the ball after you've hit it? I don't think pain in your hands and arms tells you more than where your ball is consistently going.
|
|
Sorry, those things that Els & Mickleson uses are buckets. Very nice forged buckets, but still buckets.
|
|
Having said I like all the technological help I can get, I bought a Callaway Big Bertha 6-iron just to see what its like as everyone seems to rave about them. And although it is simple to use, I detest the feedback it provides, it feels like hitting a ball with a coke can. My cheapo Rogue irons are much more satisfying to use.
|
|
I find I can feel good or bad shots just as much as I can see them. This becomes useful when you are playing or practicing in poor conditions (i.e. a strong wind) where the ball may travel 20yds less and to the casual eye it might not have looked as good but I still know it was a pure hit because of the feel.
Its all personal anyway.
|
|
It is all personal and I certainly don't object to people preferring blades at all. There needs to be head types to suit everyone. I don't have a particular frame of reference, but I certainly can tell whether I've hit out of the toe, heel or the middle on my cavity-back Tungsten ti irons. I assume the level of vibration is greater for bladed irons, but at the moment I can't see how much more I'd gain from a blade. But yes, horses for courses.
|
|
Try the Slazey Big eZee irons mate, you can get a set with a bag of walkers crisps these days.
|
|
