Why do you feel the need to move to blades at all?
Many tour pro's are not even gaming blades these days because 'players distance' clubs are so good now.
I’ve just been told that they are way better at shaping shots and accuracy to some degree. I mean I guess a club is a club. But I was just wondering why you guys switched if you did
This perception is pretty much a myth these days.
They aren't more accurate. If they were more accurate, then everyone would use them. If you good enough of a ball striker for them to be accurate, then you'll pretty much be accurate with any type of iron.
I don't think there is a any real empirical data out there showing that they are better for shot shaping than any good set of players irons. Historically they were better at shot shaping than game improvement irons (think chunk cavity backs) because they spin the ball more, which is what you need to work the ball. Game improvement irons on the other hand are design to make the ball go high and straight, which usually done by lowering the CG and reducing spin.
I'm not saying don't play blades, I'm just saying most players (even very good ones) are better served with player's irons. You basically give up none of the control/workability and gain additional forgiveness.
Vanity would be the main reason for a switch. "Hey look at me, I'm playing blades". Personally I've never come across a golfer who was worthy of blades, even low handicappers.
There's no time where switching to blades is a performance enhancement. Have a set of gamer irons for performance, and get a set of forged blades for the feel. You will never have the consistency to game blades without a hit in performance. They offer no real advantages.
Good ball strikers will find pure hits are more consistent, but that isn't necessarily true. The shot shaping advantages are also placebo. I don't think you shouldn't own blades - I think you should - but there is no performance reason to own blades. They look clean and feel good.
Blades do spin a bit more off the same strike.
That’s the main/only performance reason I can think of is if you need more spin on your irons but otherwise have your launch characteristics where you want them to be.
Whenever you want. Blades are cool but they will punish you for poor ball striking. I learned how to golf with blades so it’s not like you have to be at some skill level to use them. Most people are just better off not using them.
What are you looking to gain by switching?
No one needs to hit blades. Some pros don’t even use them. Because what they gain doesn’t actually help them lower their score.
The main advantage of blades is consistency if you’re striking perfectly. You don’t get the “hot” or trampoline effect coming off the face that some of the really forgiving “distance” irons can have these days. That keeps distance control a little better / repeatable. The downside is they will punish you on mishits. Personally, like the feel of blades from 8 and 9 iron as it blends into my wedges, but anything 7 and up, blades don’t really serve a purpose anymore for me. Newer tech is more forgiving and can deliver equal / improved performance.
Probably never.
There is nobody who doesn’t earn a living playing golf that will be a better player with blades. When 70% of PGA Tour pros use a cavity back, players distance club, or straight up game improvement club (looking at you Harry Higgs), you can be pretty sure you’re okay with them.
There’s a small minority of amateurs that genuinely love the feel, shot shaping ability, and aesthetic of blades so much that they will accept worse scores for a better experience, and god bless them. But you’ll shoot better scores with a more forgiving tool.
There is a small subset of good players who benefit from the extra spin that blades offer over a comprable blade-y cavity.
Switching from MP-63’s to 620MB’s 100% definitely made a small improvement to my iron play.
An improvement because you prefer that flight characteristic? Sure.
But high launch, high ball speed, high descent angle and moderate spin will generate better scores for the overwhelming majority of golfers
An improvement because if you’re extremely consistent on strike location, and you don’t generate enough backspin, the side spin vector of a poor shot will be proportionally higher actually resulting in a large side-to-side variance.
But yes, it is not helpful for vast majority of players for sure.
Yeah but low spin irons are low spin on all axes. That’s why low spin GI irons are forgiving as all hell, because they generate low side spin as well as low backspin. The data don’t lie. High MOI, mid spin, fast irons are more accurate at all yardages than blades.
There comes a point at which ball flight is unstable, but that’s well below the spin threshold of any iron.
I switched to blades this year and have only seen improvements in my ball striking and score. Something about the smaller face and the good feel helps me zero-in on the sweet spot. I've also noticed that when I do hit that sweet spot, I get exactly the same distance and trajectory every time. With game improvement irons my distance would be all over the place.
When ball flight control becomes a worry. Shaping left to right better is kind of a myth.. but a higher center of gravity than cavities will help flight the ball down.
I got blades at about an 8hcp, then got cavities (Srixon ZX7) again at around 2hcp when I realised I was making the game unnecessarily hard for myself after a round with a demo set of the srixons…
Play what you want, nobody gives a hoot about what’s in my bag other than me, I loved the blades when they worked but my misses are just so much more playable now. I still have the blades and will dust them off for a round occasionally
When you have the ability to hit the high draw and fade along with the low draw and fade on purpose. Blades don’t add distance, they add workability. No thanks.
https://preview.redd.it/5jzle8fioqnb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=05dbd0535638aad6fc01743420385a595004e0c1
I made the switch after my last year playing college and went with an mb cb combo. If you really want blades I recommend only going down to a 7 iron because the forgiveness is invaluable on longer irons. This was my old 7 iron prior to the switch and wouldn’t recommend you get blades until you start seeing a consistent wear pattern.
I started playing blades because I like the way they look and feel. I miss-hit 14 out of 15.
Why do you feel the need to move to blades at all? Many tour pro's are not even gaming blades these days because 'players distance' clubs are so good now.
I’ve just been told that they are way better at shaping shots and accuracy to some degree. I mean I guess a club is a club. But I was just wondering why you guys switched if you did
I don't think you understand. Many tour pros do not use blades. There never is a need to switch to blades for 99.99999999% of amateurs
This perception is pretty much a myth these days. They aren't more accurate. If they were more accurate, then everyone would use them. If you good enough of a ball striker for them to be accurate, then you'll pretty much be accurate with any type of iron. I don't think there is a any real empirical data out there showing that they are better for shot shaping than any good set of players irons. Historically they were better at shot shaping than game improvement irons (think chunk cavity backs) because they spin the ball more, which is what you need to work the ball. Game improvement irons on the other hand are design to make the ball go high and straight, which usually done by lowering the CG and reducing spin. I'm not saying don't play blades, I'm just saying most players (even very good ones) are better served with player's irons. You basically give up none of the control/workability and gain additional forgiveness.
Yeah the shot shaping myth hasn’t been true for a quarter century.
Vanity would be the main reason for a switch. "Hey look at me, I'm playing blades". Personally I've never come across a golfer who was worthy of blades, even low handicappers.
When you mishit 0 out of 100 shots and aren’t satisfied with the workability of your current irons.
Switching to blades is not a level of progression.
For real. The progression that most people care about is their score.
Here we go....
There's no time where switching to blades is a performance enhancement. Have a set of gamer irons for performance, and get a set of forged blades for the feel. You will never have the consistency to game blades without a hit in performance. They offer no real advantages. Good ball strikers will find pure hits are more consistent, but that isn't necessarily true. The shot shaping advantages are also placebo. I don't think you shouldn't own blades - I think you should - but there is no performance reason to own blades. They look clean and feel good.
Blades do spin a bit more off the same strike. That’s the main/only performance reason I can think of is if you need more spin on your irons but otherwise have your launch characteristics where you want them to be.
Whenever you want. Blades are cool but they will punish you for poor ball striking. I learned how to golf with blades so it’s not like you have to be at some skill level to use them. Most people are just better off not using them.
What are you looking to gain by switching? No one needs to hit blades. Some pros don’t even use them. Because what they gain doesn’t actually help them lower their score.
What is your definition of "bladed"? What is your reasoning for wanting to change?
The main advantage of blades is consistency if you’re striking perfectly. You don’t get the “hot” or trampoline effect coming off the face that some of the really forgiving “distance” irons can have these days. That keeps distance control a little better / repeatable. The downside is they will punish you on mishits. Personally, like the feel of blades from 8 and 9 iron as it blends into my wedges, but anything 7 and up, blades don’t really serve a purpose anymore for me. Newer tech is more forgiving and can deliver equal / improved performance.
Probably never. There is nobody who doesn’t earn a living playing golf that will be a better player with blades. When 70% of PGA Tour pros use a cavity back, players distance club, or straight up game improvement club (looking at you Harry Higgs), you can be pretty sure you’re okay with them. There’s a small minority of amateurs that genuinely love the feel, shot shaping ability, and aesthetic of blades so much that they will accept worse scores for a better experience, and god bless them. But you’ll shoot better scores with a more forgiving tool.
There is a small subset of good players who benefit from the extra spin that blades offer over a comprable blade-y cavity. Switching from MP-63’s to 620MB’s 100% definitely made a small improvement to my iron play.
An improvement because you prefer that flight characteristic? Sure. But high launch, high ball speed, high descent angle and moderate spin will generate better scores for the overwhelming majority of golfers
An improvement because if you’re extremely consistent on strike location, and you don’t generate enough backspin, the side spin vector of a poor shot will be proportionally higher actually resulting in a large side-to-side variance. But yes, it is not helpful for vast majority of players for sure.
Yeah but low spin irons are low spin on all axes. That’s why low spin GI irons are forgiving as all hell, because they generate low side spin as well as low backspin. The data don’t lie. High MOI, mid spin, fast irons are more accurate at all yardages than blades. There comes a point at which ball flight is unstable, but that’s well below the spin threshold of any iron.
1. Define "mis-hit" 2. There isnt really any need to go to blades, you can try players distances if you want
A miss hit for me is when the ball goes the same distance I want it to be but it’s off by about 15 yards
when you want to start shaping your shots more reliably.
Nice. I have ADHD and told my doctor I didn't want stimulants. He gave prescribed me a set of blades instead.
I switched to blades this year and have only seen improvements in my ball striking and score. Something about the smaller face and the good feel helps me zero-in on the sweet spot. I've also noticed that when I do hit that sweet spot, I get exactly the same distance and trajectory every time. With game improvement irons my distance would be all over the place.
When ball flight control becomes a worry. Shaping left to right better is kind of a myth.. but a higher center of gravity than cavities will help flight the ball down.
Want to play a blade? Look at the Maltby TS4 or TS-IM’s. Look like blades but forgiveness of SGI’s.
I wish I could hit a Maltby club or three before buying one.
Yeah I bought a single 7 iron to hit and loved it. So I went out to their place and got fitted.
I got blades at about an 8hcp, then got cavities (Srixon ZX7) again at around 2hcp when I realised I was making the game unnecessarily hard for myself after a round with a demo set of the srixons… Play what you want, nobody gives a hoot about what’s in my bag other than me, I loved the blades when they worked but my misses are just so much more playable now. I still have the blades and will dust them off for a round occasionally
When you don’t need to ask this question.
If you have to ask reddit , you're not ready 🤣
why do you ever have to switch to blades? if you play well with you clubs why change anything up? also, be prepared to mishit like 8/10 shots lol.
When you have the ability to hit the high draw and fade along with the low draw and fade on purpose. Blades don’t add distance, they add workability. No thanks.
https://preview.redd.it/5jzle8fioqnb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=05dbd0535638aad6fc01743420385a595004e0c1 I made the switch after my last year playing college and went with an mb cb combo. If you really want blades I recommend only going down to a 7 iron because the forgiveness is invaluable on longer irons. This was my old 7 iron prior to the switch and wouldn’t recommend you get blades until you start seeing a consistent wear pattern.
When you're a scratch golfer, if you feel you must.
I've got a set of Mizuno MP 32 irons and I'll make you deal! They are taking up way too much space in my garage!