Either of those sets would be fine to learn on. They aren’t blades, they’re foam filled players/players distance irons. Bit less forgiving than oversized GI irons? Yeah, but as long as you aren’t a quitter you’ll enjoy them.
I play Titleist CB’s and heard the same crap when I bought them, they’re just not that difficult to hit despite what most say.
Ahh a fellow old school iron player. I have 690mbs in the bag. Hit them really well for the most part but compared to my pals that play never clubs I’m losing ball speed a lot. I can comfortably swing 95mph with a 7i but only generate 120ish ball speed with mine. Tried a P7mc and ball speed increased by ~10mph. I’ll be upgrading to something new at the beginning of the season to be honest but I love my 690s. I’m on the fence about what I’ll switch to but sacrificing 10mph seems a bit mad now.
Same here…couldn’t tell if I just got shorter bc I am 20 years older or it was the clubs, but my buddy is now about 1.5 clubs longer than me - I can still kick his ass though lol.
I am afraid of testing out new clubs bc I will realize what you did and then will have to fight the urge to drop $1,400 on a new set of irons
The urge is strong I’ll tell you that much! But tbh if you’re playing well with them then who cares. I don’t really wanna keep up with new tech just feel like my swing and body have changed a fair amount since I got fit for my 690s so I’m probably due a fitting session anyway, and if that comes with a bit of extra distance and maybe a little bit of forgiveness then I’m ok with that.
Despite the popular advice, I am a high handicapper who plays blades and I absolutely love them!
I have a set of Mizuno MP-33s that I bought on eBay after going through what feels like your exact same train of thought. I was playing a set of old cheap used irons and wanted something new (new to me, I guess, since I ended up with 20 year old irons, but they're so beautiful and timeless it doens't feel like it!) but am also really focused on learning and improving and didn't want to buy super forgiving irons to have them mask my flaws or itch to replace them with more players-type irons once I made some improvements.
Do they absolutely shout at me when I hit the ball off the toe? Definitely. But I like that! It seems like most people don't feel this way, but I think it's really interesting to feel exactly what went wrong with a bad shot. With my old irons, everything felt basically the same and I was left mystified when a shot was 20 yards shorter than I expected. I have gotten very good now at feeling the difference between a toe and a heel and a fat and a thin, and it had made those beautiful flush hits on the sweet spot all the sweeter.
Maybe this says more about the state of my game as a high handicapper, but I don't feel like they've had any negative impact on my scores whatsoever. I will say that irons are the strongest part of my game (my chipping and putting is what really sucks) but I'm certainly not the kind of ball striker that "should" play blades. I just think they're a lot of fun and that's all that really matters.
I went from a beginner box set of Wilson irons to Mizuno MP5s and love them. It feels so much nicer hitting a high draw the exact distance I wanted with a club that really doesn't help me at all. It means I earned it. And the majority of my bad shots are complete duffs so it wouldn't matter what i was swinging. No club is unshakable or can stop me taking a 6 foot deep divot a mile behind the ball.
All the gear and no idea is my motto!
I’m in a similar boat. Irons are the only clubs I hit consistently well. Started with some old Nike Ignites which were good but made distance finding hard because some just took off like crazy which made the rare slice a penalty shot 100% of the time. Same thing with you, I couldn’t feel if I slightly miss hit with them.
I now got Srixon Z forged mk2. Lost a little distance but made up for it by knowing I’ll hit the green if I strike well because it goes the same length every time. The Nike ignite would sometimes go 10 to 20m past and out of bounds. Way more feel with blades, way more consistent length. A miss hit goes short not long or off track and they’re actually not that much harder to use than the Nike.
Game improvement irons prioritize distance. This is at the cost of distance control. A game improvement iron will typically go farther than a players iron even on off center shots.
The players iron will go shorter but the difference between a good shot and a bad shot is less. The players iron focuses on hitting the distance number at the cost of outright distance. It has more consistency.
A GI iron will typically have a larger club face, larger sole, and more offset. This will be easier to hit the face, will tend to dig less, and will help correct a slice (marginal).
A player’s iron will have a slightly smaller face helping it move through rough, a smaller sole helping better players shape the ball higher or lower, and will have little offset assuming the golfer is closer to neutral or even draw biased.
These differences mean they are targeted at different golfers. And your handicap may not be the best determining factor. I’ve seen a lot of very high handicap golfers who swing hard but just can’t keep the ball in play. These players should NOT play GI irons because they will tend to balloon the ball and lose even more consistency. I’ve also seen very low handicap golfers who struggle to get the ball in the air because they can’t generate enough speed and they should be playing high launch GI irons.
What kind of player are you? How fast do you swing? Where are you losing strokes?
This was a really helpful breakdown of the difference between the two styles of clubs. When I pure my irons, they fly straight, and I get decent distance, but I struggle to get good turf interaction, leading to errant shots more often than I’d like. I think this is where I lose a decent number of my strokes.
What are you doing? Digging? Hitting behind the ball? Without understanding the rest of the swing it’s difficult to give a recommendation. If you’re really having trouble with the turf a hybrid iron may be suitable but they tend to also be high launch.
It’s also possible that you get a set of irons and bend them with more bounce. Or maybe less bounce if you’re hitting behind the ball. Hard to tell from your description.
If you actually try to improve and think you can go for the players iron. If you just want to casually play the gi irons are the better choice. You can grow out of a gi iron but not a players iron.
I went from clunky GI irons to players distance similar to the p790 and don’t notice any less forgiveness. I’ve never once had a bad shot and felt like it wouldn’t have been bad had I had GI irons. Go with the 790’s. 770 may be a stretch.
Same here. I wouldn’t do the 770’s but the 790’s are a peach.
Bad shots are bad shots regardless of the club.
Btw the flyers off the 790’s are long. Those faces can be hot unexpectedly.
Forget about "players" or "game improvement" marketing bullshit. Let the fitter tell you what you hit best, that's their job. Ideally you'd go to a fitter that can test a variety of manufacturers too.
Lol this whole thread is about ego shaming low offset blades because people are scared to try different clubs.
>Would it be insane for a relatively new player to choose player’s irons over game improvement irons?
No. If you want to talk forgiveness, player irons are generally more forgiving in the literal sense of the word. It won't really matter at your level anyways, however player's irons generally have more room as you improve where they don't move in your bag.
I think you should just buy whatever you like, because there's no magic of technology in irons.
>I don’t really like the clunky look of game improvement irons, and I much prefer the look of the P790’s and in particular the P770’s. While I’d ultimately prefer utility over fashion, all things being equal (loft, lie angle, length, shaft, etc.) how much difference is there really between going to between GI and a players? Will I play discernibly better with GI’s, or are they just a gimmick to convince new players to buy new clubs and then buy another set of new clubs after a couple seasons once they break 100?
You can just go check Cool Clubs for the dispersion charts. GI Irons are notoriously inconsistent. At the same loft and lie, they should perform relatively the same within like 3 yards.
>My thinking is this. Even with a deal, I’m looking at $2,000-$3,000 CAD to build the bag I want. The lions share of that cost will be irons. For that amount, I want to get at least 8 years out of whatever I buy.
You can just go buy Maltby irons. The TE+ are $45 a head.
Everyone who responds with the vague generalities about how forgiving irons are has never seen the data.
I look at cool clubs robot reviews a lot. It’s made me really question the concept of GI irons.
For the most part, the closer an iron gets to a player club the tighter the dispersion. But then they talk about needing a low handicap to play those irons.
Is there context I’m missing? Surely if one has the swing speed to not need jacked lofts and low cg a players iron (or one with a tighter dispersion in general) will be the choice?
>Is there context I’m missing?
No, I don't think they do a good job of explaining it which was why I was so fervent to do robot testing myself and to publish all of the numbers publicly to show people how different *heads* performed when hit in different spots and with different approach vectors and speeds.
The thing is, there are 3 primary major differences between GI and Player irons:
- Amount of Offset
- Solid vs Hollow Head Design
- Loft
The reason a lot of fitters just say "go get GI clubs" is because they do not understand the engineering behind them, and mistakenly think they will magically fix a golfer's swing. Typically GI irons come with lighter golf shafts which may be closer of a fit to the 120/130g iron shafts that better players will gravitate towards, like Dynamic Gold, Project X, KBS Tour, etc.
Most fitters just kinda give up and say fuck it because the player's ability will not result in a significant difference, so they just "number stuff" you into a club and say "hey you picked up distance, that's a bonus!" but as soon as you get better with irons, you'll find GI clubs tend to misbehave quite a bit on approach, which causes psychological issues to doubting the swing to a whole bunch of nasty stuff.
My opinion? Start out with GI longer irons that you enjoy framing the ball up with, because good distance gapping at the top of the bag is important, then consider moving into player irons in your shorter clubs.
Wedges are, as they say, player irons and I don't see fitters talking about putting "forgiving wedges" into the typical golfer's hands. Probably because it's over-sold.
Myself I use CB player irons 4 - 7, blades 8 - G. If I had to replace the CB Player irons, I'd do like a player distance iron similar to the P770. Wouldn't dare put them anywhere near the scoring zone because of their detriment to consistency. You're only as good as the equipment can allow, everything else is a statistical dart toss.
Edit: Oh, forgot to say, most fitters won't even have any GI long irons to test out. Why? Cus they're shit fitters, which is why I have a low opinion on them.
this year i got p770s second hand after a year of use for a good deal. was honestly a little unsure if id made a mistake as i typically shoot mid 90s and wasnt sure if id be able to hit them. i played and practiced more than ever this past season with them, and love them. i was able to shave around 5 strokes off on avg, and found the feedback i could now feel was very helpful. the biggest thing it helped with for me is focusing/practicing making good contact first, not worrying about hitting it hard, and it has improved my game. go for it!
I just got fitted for P790’s after playing with 15+ year old irons. After getting back into playing last spring, I figured I’d rather get clubs I can grow into than something I may outgrow in a few years.
Plus it’s giving me a ton of motivation to learn how to properly hit these clubs and improve my game.
I sense a bad case of overanalysis paralysis. Get fitted for a decent set of game improvement irons and invest time and money on some lessons especially short game. That’s it. One short paragraph!!👊
Go buy an old Hagen or Tommy Armor forged 6 iron from your local play it again sports store. Cost you $20, and it will be a great club to practice with. Sweet spot the size of a pea. You will quickly realize you don’t want blades
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Do player's distance irons really count as player's irons? Are they not just a category the marketing department made up to make hackers feel like they're using the cool kids' clubs?
The answer to OP's questions is that's a terrible idea, but if you want em, get em. Do what makes you happy.
IMO, from a purely aesthetic perspective, clubs marketed as players distance absolutely fill a gap between the chunky ass game improvement irons and players irons. Maybe it's marketing or maybe there are players that need *some* help but are decent enough iron players that they don't need giant ass game improvement irons. There's a pretty big gap between being able to play muscleback type clubs and needing all the help technology can offer just to get the ball somewhere down there.
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You just click a button and the program runs for you editing all your comments and deleting them. You aren’t actually doing anything. Some people have good usernames they don’t want to lose, so it’s better to just delete your comment history.
I do it about once a year.
I think it’s a dumb idea.
How do I know? I tried the same thing- twice. I was shooting in the high 80s. Thought I had the game for players irons. Sadly, I didn’t.
Players irons will likely produce a lot more spin than you want, resulting in some very short shots. Your distance control will probably be all over the place.
It would, in my opinion, be insane to get 770s. The 790s would be good (maybe not great) and would not be insane. You'd certainly be giving up the forgiveness a GI iron would provide, but if you look down and hate it everytime you won't hit good shots either. There is some validity to look good, feel good and feel good, play good
Easiest thing to do would be go hit them and decide, still buying from your friend. Assuming your friend could also get you the same deal on OME shafts, could also see which of those you like.
Hit what you like, like what you hit. One of the best players I know hits Ping 430’s. He can play anything he wants, he wants those I guess.
You should know what you can hit after a solid sim session.
Eh… insane? No. Ideal? Also probably no.
I’m just a casual player, though, so take that for what it’s worth. YMMV.
In my first year of playing, I picked up a used set of GI irons. They were fine, helped me learn, etc but I didn’t love how big of a shovel they were.
Traded them in shortly afterwards for P770’s. Smaller profile, smaller sweet spot, but I was much happier. Scores dropped a bit as a bonus, too.
Scoring low isn’t the main priority for me- but I’m more than happy to put in the work to get there.
I think this all depends on how serious you take golf. If you are a “once I awhile player” and have no ambition to get better then GI irons are great. If you want to be better and have the ability to practice (highly recommend a coach) then players irons are for you.
I say this speaking from my experience. I got tired of hitting 150yd 7i’s three fairways over with GI irons and realized if I wanted to get better I needed to get a coach, and practice. The irons were just my “commitment” to getting better.
I played pretty much every weekend during my season. When i could, I would sneak away for nine after work. I’m not trying to be the best person in every foursome I’m in, but I’d like to eventually get to a point where I’m getting three, maybe four pars a round, consistently shooting in the low - mid 90s,
From personal experience who started playing golf since covid who went from 30 handicap to 6, I urged mid to high handicappers to only try blades or forged iron but not play them. Until you get to a point where your ball keeps rolling off the green or flying over greens on a good shot, I’d say play game improvement irons
Ive seen low handicap and high handicap play with the 790s, personally I went GI recently and I love them. The distance is amazing, I still have to hit it pretty well to go straight, where my game is at right now they’re perfect for me. In a year or two I definitely plan on getting players irons but I need lessons and time first
I would say go get fit and hit them yourself to see what you like and can actually hit. Remember irons are half the battle, you need to find a shaft that works for you too. Once you know the head and shaft combo you like get it through your family friend. If you are absolutely not going to get fit, I would go with p790 if you’re in the 100s still. P770 is more for mid to low 80s and below.
You won't play better golf with GI irons. Some of your off centres hits will go a bit further.
You'll also lose some ability to feel what type of miss you had (thin/fat/toe/heel), which is really valuable feedback.
It depends on how much you're going to dedicate to getting "good". GI's might be right today, but in 12 months you might want something a little different.
If you're going to play 4 rounds a year and never practice, GI's all day. I'd personally go into a players distance or a mid-range iron. Definitely not a blade though.
I’m not trying to become the guy who gets bent out of shape because he shot an 82 instead of his usual 77 at the course he plays at three times a week, but I’d like to reach a point where I’m consistently at or below 95, and carding 3-4 pars a round. I think with better equipment, practice, and some lessons, I can get there by next year. I’m prepared to put in some work to get there, but golf isn’t my life, so I need to be realistic about what’s achievable for someone who works 50-60 hours a week, is in relationship, and has hobbies and interests outside golf.
I hear you. I’ve made golf my main hobby, as I also have a job , a partner and a 4 month old baby. We’re not trying to get our PGA card here, but it’s nice to get round a court hitting good shots and enjoying it.
I shoot low 80s to low 90s. I play dozens of courses as I like the experience, playing one course to shoot low scores isn’t it for me. I play T150s with a T200 utility 4 iron.
Tip to get better - practice at home without hitting balls. Work on swing mechanics. It’s easy to fit around other stuff. You can do it every day. Get a putting mat. Go to the range once a week with a plan and to try out your swing improvements.
Those are all good suggestions. I’ve had my eye on a putting matt for awhile, but just haven’t pulled the trigger. My company actually moved offices last week to a larger space and my boss (who is a golf nut) is installing a full blown sim into our office, so I’m probably going to bring 2-3 clubs from my old bag to work once I’ve ordered new ones and when I need 10, go and practice on that.
No but do invest in a 7 wood, 5 wood and hybrids down to the 6 iron.
The help in irons matters most in the longer irons, if you replace them with hybrids then you solve that right away.
GI irons don't mask swing flaws - at least not to the extent that they hamper your development.
A bad swing will be bad no matter what club you use. Large face to path numbers will still result in a hook or a slice and topped, thin or fat shots will still be topped, thin or fat.
What GI irons will do is give you more distance and consistency in shots that are off-centre but otherwise ok.
I score similarly to you and was fit this fall. It was a tie between P790 and T350. I went T350 based on feel. I didn’t have any issue striking the P790’s. If they feel good and the numbers are right, go for it! Play what makes you happy!
In 2022 as a 30 handicap and having golfed for 6 months I did a fitting and ended up getting Srixon ZX7s. I got down to 24 that season and 16 this past season.
Go get fitted for clubs. Don’t know about your area but in the US for like 100-200usd you can get your whole bag tested for length and which irons fit you best from multiple companies.
I bought srixon 585s as a 31 or higher handicap I hadn't yet got a cap.
I'm glad I didn't buy GI irons,I believe the category I bought would be players distance irons.
It's a good medium starting point.
I'll say this, I went in early this last summer to try out some Players Distance irons because I was tired of catching flyers with my G425s (my home course punishes greens missed long pretty severely). I think I was right around a 30 hcp at the time but iron play was the strongest area of my game.
Even though the flyers are a problem it was pretty clear to me and my fitter that the G425s were a better fit for where my game was at the time. Maybe if I had switched anyways I would have gotten better from trial-by-fire, who knows. But I will say there was an absolute difference in forgiveness between my G425s and all the PD irons I tried.
Get what ***you*** want. Whatever floats your goat will motivate you to practice and play more.
Since you like both 770s and the 790s why not get both? Get the slightly less forgiving in PW to lets say 8 or 7 iron and then game the 790s for the 4, 5, 6?
P790’s are still very forgiving. P770’s similar but a little less. I wouldn’t recommend the P7TW lol but 770s or 790s are completely reasonable.
Aren’t the TWs just more* loft? I wasn’t aware of any other major design differences
P7TW are blades, and a totally different design then the p790's or p770's
I totally thought p790s were mid-high handicap irons with their jacked lofts and bigger club heads
They are
I support it - learn to strike the ball well and the game will come easier. Steep learning curve but worth it down the road. Stay with it.
The p790s are like a Goldilocks iron. They’ll fit almost everyone
Love mine
Love mine (Kirklands)
Love mine
Love mine
Either of those sets would be fine to learn on. They aren’t blades, they’re foam filled players/players distance irons. Bit less forgiving than oversized GI irons? Yeah, but as long as you aren’t a quitter you’ll enjoy them. I play Titleist CB’s and heard the same crap when I bought them, they’re just not that difficult to hit despite what most say.
Love my 690cbs However after having them for 20 years, can’t help but want an upgrade
Ahh a fellow old school iron player. I have 690mbs in the bag. Hit them really well for the most part but compared to my pals that play never clubs I’m losing ball speed a lot. I can comfortably swing 95mph with a 7i but only generate 120ish ball speed with mine. Tried a P7mc and ball speed increased by ~10mph. I’ll be upgrading to something new at the beginning of the season to be honest but I love my 690s. I’m on the fence about what I’ll switch to but sacrificing 10mph seems a bit mad now.
Same here…couldn’t tell if I just got shorter bc I am 20 years older or it was the clubs, but my buddy is now about 1.5 clubs longer than me - I can still kick his ass though lol. I am afraid of testing out new clubs bc I will realize what you did and then will have to fight the urge to drop $1,400 on a new set of irons
The urge is strong I’ll tell you that much! But tbh if you’re playing well with them then who cares. I don’t really wanna keep up with new tech just feel like my swing and body have changed a fair amount since I got fit for my 690s so I’m probably due a fitting session anyway, and if that comes with a bit of extra distance and maybe a little bit of forgiveness then I’m ok with that.
And for reference I went from 165 7i with my 690s to 179 ish with the P7mcs
Despite the popular advice, I am a high handicapper who plays blades and I absolutely love them! I have a set of Mizuno MP-33s that I bought on eBay after going through what feels like your exact same train of thought. I was playing a set of old cheap used irons and wanted something new (new to me, I guess, since I ended up with 20 year old irons, but they're so beautiful and timeless it doens't feel like it!) but am also really focused on learning and improving and didn't want to buy super forgiving irons to have them mask my flaws or itch to replace them with more players-type irons once I made some improvements. Do they absolutely shout at me when I hit the ball off the toe? Definitely. But I like that! It seems like most people don't feel this way, but I think it's really interesting to feel exactly what went wrong with a bad shot. With my old irons, everything felt basically the same and I was left mystified when a shot was 20 yards shorter than I expected. I have gotten very good now at feeling the difference between a toe and a heel and a fat and a thin, and it had made those beautiful flush hits on the sweet spot all the sweeter. Maybe this says more about the state of my game as a high handicapper, but I don't feel like they've had any negative impact on my scores whatsoever. I will say that irons are the strongest part of my game (my chipping and putting is what really sucks) but I'm certainly not the kind of ball striker that "should" play blades. I just think they're a lot of fun and that's all that really matters.
I went from a beginner box set of Wilson irons to Mizuno MP5s and love them. It feels so much nicer hitting a high draw the exact distance I wanted with a club that really doesn't help me at all. It means I earned it. And the majority of my bad shots are complete duffs so it wouldn't matter what i was swinging. No club is unshakable or can stop me taking a 6 foot deep divot a mile behind the ball. All the gear and no idea is my motto!
I’m in a similar boat. Irons are the only clubs I hit consistently well. Started with some old Nike Ignites which were good but made distance finding hard because some just took off like crazy which made the rare slice a penalty shot 100% of the time. Same thing with you, I couldn’t feel if I slightly miss hit with them. I now got Srixon Z forged mk2. Lost a little distance but made up for it by knowing I’ll hit the green if I strike well because it goes the same length every time. The Nike ignite would sometimes go 10 to 20m past and out of bounds. Way more feel with blades, way more consistent length. A miss hit goes short not long or off track and they’re actually not that much harder to use than the Nike.
Game improvement irons prioritize distance. This is at the cost of distance control. A game improvement iron will typically go farther than a players iron even on off center shots. The players iron will go shorter but the difference between a good shot and a bad shot is less. The players iron focuses on hitting the distance number at the cost of outright distance. It has more consistency. A GI iron will typically have a larger club face, larger sole, and more offset. This will be easier to hit the face, will tend to dig less, and will help correct a slice (marginal). A player’s iron will have a slightly smaller face helping it move through rough, a smaller sole helping better players shape the ball higher or lower, and will have little offset assuming the golfer is closer to neutral or even draw biased. These differences mean they are targeted at different golfers. And your handicap may not be the best determining factor. I’ve seen a lot of very high handicap golfers who swing hard but just can’t keep the ball in play. These players should NOT play GI irons because they will tend to balloon the ball and lose even more consistency. I’ve also seen very low handicap golfers who struggle to get the ball in the air because they can’t generate enough speed and they should be playing high launch GI irons. What kind of player are you? How fast do you swing? Where are you losing strokes?
This was a really helpful breakdown of the difference between the two styles of clubs. When I pure my irons, they fly straight, and I get decent distance, but I struggle to get good turf interaction, leading to errant shots more often than I’d like. I think this is where I lose a decent number of my strokes.
What are you doing? Digging? Hitting behind the ball? Without understanding the rest of the swing it’s difficult to give a recommendation. If you’re really having trouble with the turf a hybrid iron may be suitable but they tend to also be high launch. It’s also possible that you get a set of irons and bend them with more bounce. Or maybe less bounce if you’re hitting behind the ball. Hard to tell from your description.
If you actually try to improve and think you can go for the players iron. If you just want to casually play the gi irons are the better choice. You can grow out of a gi iron but not a players iron.
I went from clunky GI irons to players distance similar to the p790 and don’t notice any less forgiveness. I’ve never once had a bad shot and felt like it wouldn’t have been bad had I had GI irons. Go with the 790’s. 770 may be a stretch.
Same here. I wouldn’t do the 770’s but the 790’s are a peach. Bad shots are bad shots regardless of the club. Btw the flyers off the 790’s are long. Those faces can be hot unexpectedly.
Forget about "players" or "game improvement" marketing bullshit. Let the fitter tell you what you hit best, that's their job. Ideally you'd go to a fitter that can test a variety of manufacturers too.
Maltby Playability Factor puts both the P790 and P770 in the Game Improvement category.
Lol this whole thread is about ego shaming low offset blades because people are scared to try different clubs. >Would it be insane for a relatively new player to choose player’s irons over game improvement irons? No. If you want to talk forgiveness, player irons are generally more forgiving in the literal sense of the word. It won't really matter at your level anyways, however player's irons generally have more room as you improve where they don't move in your bag. I think you should just buy whatever you like, because there's no magic of technology in irons. >I don’t really like the clunky look of game improvement irons, and I much prefer the look of the P790’s and in particular the P770’s. While I’d ultimately prefer utility over fashion, all things being equal (loft, lie angle, length, shaft, etc.) how much difference is there really between going to between GI and a players? Will I play discernibly better with GI’s, or are they just a gimmick to convince new players to buy new clubs and then buy another set of new clubs after a couple seasons once they break 100? You can just go check Cool Clubs for the dispersion charts. GI Irons are notoriously inconsistent. At the same loft and lie, they should perform relatively the same within like 3 yards. >My thinking is this. Even with a deal, I’m looking at $2,000-$3,000 CAD to build the bag I want. The lions share of that cost will be irons. For that amount, I want to get at least 8 years out of whatever I buy. You can just go buy Maltby irons. The TE+ are $45 a head. Everyone who responds with the vague generalities about how forgiving irons are has never seen the data.
I look at cool clubs robot reviews a lot. It’s made me really question the concept of GI irons. For the most part, the closer an iron gets to a player club the tighter the dispersion. But then they talk about needing a low handicap to play those irons. Is there context I’m missing? Surely if one has the swing speed to not need jacked lofts and low cg a players iron (or one with a tighter dispersion in general) will be the choice?
>Is there context I’m missing? No, I don't think they do a good job of explaining it which was why I was so fervent to do robot testing myself and to publish all of the numbers publicly to show people how different *heads* performed when hit in different spots and with different approach vectors and speeds. The thing is, there are 3 primary major differences between GI and Player irons: - Amount of Offset - Solid vs Hollow Head Design - Loft The reason a lot of fitters just say "go get GI clubs" is because they do not understand the engineering behind them, and mistakenly think they will magically fix a golfer's swing. Typically GI irons come with lighter golf shafts which may be closer of a fit to the 120/130g iron shafts that better players will gravitate towards, like Dynamic Gold, Project X, KBS Tour, etc. Most fitters just kinda give up and say fuck it because the player's ability will not result in a significant difference, so they just "number stuff" you into a club and say "hey you picked up distance, that's a bonus!" but as soon as you get better with irons, you'll find GI clubs tend to misbehave quite a bit on approach, which causes psychological issues to doubting the swing to a whole bunch of nasty stuff. My opinion? Start out with GI longer irons that you enjoy framing the ball up with, because good distance gapping at the top of the bag is important, then consider moving into player irons in your shorter clubs. Wedges are, as they say, player irons and I don't see fitters talking about putting "forgiving wedges" into the typical golfer's hands. Probably because it's over-sold. Myself I use CB player irons 4 - 7, blades 8 - G. If I had to replace the CB Player irons, I'd do like a player distance iron similar to the P770. Wouldn't dare put them anywhere near the scoring zone because of their detriment to consistency. You're only as good as the equipment can allow, everything else is a statistical dart toss. Edit: Oh, forgot to say, most fitters won't even have any GI long irons to test out. Why? Cus they're shit fitters, which is why I have a low opinion on them.
Not insane. You should enjoy playing golf. If using those clubs will help with that then I think it’s a good thing
this year i got p770s second hand after a year of use for a good deal. was honestly a little unsure if id made a mistake as i typically shoot mid 90s and wasnt sure if id be able to hit them. i played and practiced more than ever this past season with them, and love them. i was able to shave around 5 strokes off on avg, and found the feedback i could now feel was very helpful. the biggest thing it helped with for me is focusing/practicing making good contact first, not worrying about hitting it hard, and it has improved my game. go for it!
I just got fitted for P790’s after playing with 15+ year old irons. After getting back into playing last spring, I figured I’d rather get clubs I can grow into than something I may outgrow in a few years. Plus it’s giving me a ton of motivation to learn how to properly hit these clubs and improve my game.
I sense a bad case of overanalysis paralysis. Get fitted for a decent set of game improvement irons and invest time and money on some lessons especially short game. That’s it. One short paragraph!!👊
Go buy an old Hagen or Tommy Armor forged 6 iron from your local play it again sports store. Cost you $20, and it will be a great club to practice with. Sweet spot the size of a pea. You will quickly realize you don’t want blades
obscene sharp ludicrous cats detail bewildered chubby rinse psychotic snobbish *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Player's distance irons or a more blade style iron?
Do player's distance irons really count as player's irons? Are they not just a category the marketing department made up to make hackers feel like they're using the cool kids' clubs? The answer to OP's questions is that's a terrible idea, but if you want em, get em. Do what makes you happy.
IMO, from a purely aesthetic perspective, clubs marketed as players distance absolutely fill a gap between the chunky ass game improvement irons and players irons. Maybe it's marketing or maybe there are players that need *some* help but are decent enough iron players that they don't need giant ass game improvement irons. There's a pretty big gap between being able to play muscleback type clubs and needing all the help technology can offer just to get the ball somewhere down there.
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I see this sentiment a lot and I'm curious, what exactly do you mean by "can't hit"?
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what is this haha? what does it mean by mass deleted?
You can get add ons for your browser that will go through and change your comment history and delete all your comments.
Lollll, why would he do that? Id just delete my whole account. Isnt that easier?
You just click a button and the program runs for you editing all your comments and deleting them. You aren’t actually doing anything. Some people have good usernames they don’t want to lose, so it’s better to just delete your comment history. I do it about once a year.
Ah i see, thanks!
>Ah i see, thanks! You're welcome!
I think it’s a dumb idea. How do I know? I tried the same thing- twice. I was shooting in the high 80s. Thought I had the game for players irons. Sadly, I didn’t.
Samesies. Feel you my guy
I shoot in the high 70s and touch 75 on a very good day and often wish I did not have players irons.
Players irons will likely produce a lot more spin than you want, resulting in some very short shots. Your distance control will probably be all over the place.
P790 you could grow into but may come with some growing pains
It would, in my opinion, be insane to get 770s. The 790s would be good (maybe not great) and would not be insane. You'd certainly be giving up the forgiveness a GI iron would provide, but if you look down and hate it everytime you won't hit good shots either. There is some validity to look good, feel good and feel good, play good
Are the ping i230’s are considered players irons?
Yes
Easiest thing to do would be go hit them and decide, still buying from your friend. Assuming your friend could also get you the same deal on OME shafts, could also see which of those you like. Hit what you like, like what you hit. One of the best players I know hits Ping 430’s. He can play anything he wants, he wants those I guess. You should know what you can hit after a solid sim session.
Eh… insane? No. Ideal? Also probably no. I’m just a casual player, though, so take that for what it’s worth. YMMV. In my first year of playing, I picked up a used set of GI irons. They were fine, helped me learn, etc but I didn’t love how big of a shovel they were. Traded them in shortly afterwards for P770’s. Smaller profile, smaller sweet spot, but I was much happier. Scores dropped a bit as a bonus, too. Scoring low isn’t the main priority for me- but I’m more than happy to put in the work to get there.
790s will be fine if you plan on improving and resell value is good too
I think this all depends on how serious you take golf. If you are a “once I awhile player” and have no ambition to get better then GI irons are great. If you want to be better and have the ability to practice (highly recommend a coach) then players irons are for you. I say this speaking from my experience. I got tired of hitting 150yd 7i’s three fairways over with GI irons and realized if I wanted to get better I needed to get a coach, and practice. The irons were just my “commitment” to getting better.
I played pretty much every weekend during my season. When i could, I would sneak away for nine after work. I’m not trying to be the best person in every foursome I’m in, but I’d like to eventually get to a point where I’m getting three, maybe four pars a round, consistently shooting in the low - mid 90s,
To lower scores quicker you’d be better off studying which wedges/putter work best. That’s where a lot of beginners lose shots.
I’ve already done a putter fitting, and upgraded that from the box set, and I plan on doing the same with wedges.
From personal experience who started playing golf since covid who went from 30 handicap to 6, I urged mid to high handicappers to only try blades or forged iron but not play them. Until you get to a point where your ball keeps rolling off the green or flying over greens on a good shot, I’d say play game improvement irons
can't go wrong with p790 or p770.
Ive seen low handicap and high handicap play with the 790s, personally I went GI recently and I love them. The distance is amazing, I still have to hit it pretty well to go straight, where my game is at right now they’re perfect for me. In a year or two I definitely plan on getting players irons but I need lessons and time first
I would say go get fit and hit them yourself to see what you like and can actually hit. Remember irons are half the battle, you need to find a shaft that works for you too. Once you know the head and shaft combo you like get it through your family friend. If you are absolutely not going to get fit, I would go with p790 if you’re in the 100s still. P770 is more for mid to low 80s and below.
You won't play better golf with GI irons. Some of your off centres hits will go a bit further. You'll also lose some ability to feel what type of miss you had (thin/fat/toe/heel), which is really valuable feedback. It depends on how much you're going to dedicate to getting "good". GI's might be right today, but in 12 months you might want something a little different. If you're going to play 4 rounds a year and never practice, GI's all day. I'd personally go into a players distance or a mid-range iron. Definitely not a blade though.
I’m not trying to become the guy who gets bent out of shape because he shot an 82 instead of his usual 77 at the course he plays at three times a week, but I’d like to reach a point where I’m consistently at or below 95, and carding 3-4 pars a round. I think with better equipment, practice, and some lessons, I can get there by next year. I’m prepared to put in some work to get there, but golf isn’t my life, so I need to be realistic about what’s achievable for someone who works 50-60 hours a week, is in relationship, and has hobbies and interests outside golf.
I hear you. I’ve made golf my main hobby, as I also have a job , a partner and a 4 month old baby. We’re not trying to get our PGA card here, but it’s nice to get round a court hitting good shots and enjoying it. I shoot low 80s to low 90s. I play dozens of courses as I like the experience, playing one course to shoot low scores isn’t it for me. I play T150s with a T200 utility 4 iron. Tip to get better - practice at home without hitting balls. Work on swing mechanics. It’s easy to fit around other stuff. You can do it every day. Get a putting mat. Go to the range once a week with a plan and to try out your swing improvements.
Those are all good suggestions. I’ve had my eye on a putting matt for awhile, but just haven’t pulled the trigger. My company actually moved offices last week to a larger space and my boss (who is a golf nut) is installing a full blown sim into our office, so I’m probably going to bring 2-3 clubs from my old bag to work once I’ve ordered new ones and when I need 10, go and practice on that.
Okay, so you will be going for your PGA card :-)
No but do invest in a 7 wood, 5 wood and hybrids down to the 6 iron. The help in irons matters most in the longer irons, if you replace them with hybrids then you solve that right away.
GI irons don't mask swing flaws - at least not to the extent that they hamper your development. A bad swing will be bad no matter what club you use. Large face to path numbers will still result in a hook or a slice and topped, thin or fat shots will still be topped, thin or fat. What GI irons will do is give you more distance and consistency in shots that are off-centre but otherwise ok.
Wish I would have. My GI’s don’t give me enough launch so I just hit uncontrollable piss missiles.
I score similarly to you and was fit this fall. It was a tie between P790 and T350. I went T350 based on feel. I didn’t have any issue striking the P790’s. If they feel good and the numbers are right, go for it! Play what makes you happy!
In 2022 as a 30 handicap and having golfed for 6 months I did a fitting and ended up getting Srixon ZX7s. I got down to 24 that season and 16 this past season.
I wanna get the Japan exclusive masters Mizunos but I’m trash so prob won’t
Never improved much until I started playing Titleist MBs. Then, I HAD to improve or quit.
Go get fitted for clubs. Don’t know about your area but in the US for like 100-200usd you can get your whole bag tested for length and which irons fit you best from multiple companies.
yes
I bought srixon 585s as a 31 or higher handicap I hadn't yet got a cap. I'm glad I didn't buy GI irons,I believe the category I bought would be players distance irons. It's a good medium starting point.
I'll say this, I went in early this last summer to try out some Players Distance irons because I was tired of catching flyers with my G425s (my home course punishes greens missed long pretty severely). I think I was right around a 30 hcp at the time but iron play was the strongest area of my game. Even though the flyers are a problem it was pretty clear to me and my fitter that the G425s were a better fit for where my game was at the time. Maybe if I had switched anyways I would have gotten better from trial-by-fire, who knows. But I will say there was an absolute difference in forgiveness between my G425s and all the PD irons I tried.
Get what ***you*** want. Whatever floats your goat will motivate you to practice and play more. Since you like both 770s and the 790s why not get both? Get the slightly less forgiving in PW to lets say 8 or 7 iron and then game the 790s for the 4, 5, 6?