Mbrodeur86 needs new irons - looking for advice

[mbrodeur86]

Friends,

 

I put my beloved Wilson Staff FG Tour V2's up for sale. I really love the feel of these irons and they are long but my problem stems from low ball flight where I have trouble hitting the 4 iron and have trouble getting the 5 iron airbourne. I'm thinking that I need some sort of combo irons. I am not fussy on brand and am looking to buy used but no older than 5 years old. Was looking at a few like the Mizuno MP-H4 irons or the Nike Pro combos. The shafts, I believe, do not help me with my problem either as the kbs shafts I believe launch lower. I also prefer forged.

 

Anyways, Is there an iron I should look into or an iron/ shaft combo? Again, not fussy on make or model, prefer forged but will consider cast.

 

Thanks for any input!  

[Undershooter]

Friends,

 

I put my beloved Wilson Staff FG Tour V2's up for sale. I really love the feel of these irons and they are long but my problem stems from low ball flight where I have trouble hitting the 4 iron and have trouble getting the 5 iron airbourne. I'm thinking that I need some sort of combo irons. I am not fussy on brand and am looking to buy used but no older than 5 years old. Was looking at a few like the Mizuno MP-H4 irons or the Nike Pro combos. The shafts, I believe, do not help me with my problem either as the kbs shafts I believe launch lower. I also prefer forged.

 

Anyways, Is there an iron I should look into or an iron/ shaft combo? Again, not fussy on make or model, prefer forged but will consider cast.

 

Thanks for any input!  

I would not suggest the Nike pro combo's if you are looking for higher flight out of the 4 and 5 irons. They are a cavity back but definitely a players model similar to the fg tour v2 cavity backs. 

 

The mpH4 or 5 line would be a good place to start. Also some form of flighted shafts would be a good idea to raise the launch of the long irons and keep everything else where it is. 

Ping i20 are also a decent place to look. Its a cast iron but doesn't feel too bad. Tmag's TP CBs are also a decent place to look. There are options. Flighted shafts are my recommendation though.

[fozcycle]

My suggestion would be the Hogans. You want more ball flight and the Hogans do just that.

[NiftyNiblick]

[Blade]

KBS Tours launch high C-Tapers launch lower. Which KBS are you referring to?

[mizuno_lover]

Before you get too much information thrown at you I would recommend the MP H5 in the 4 & 5 iron and maybe the MP 25 or 54 for the rest.  I was struggling with low ball striking and I had a lesson addressing that and the pro had me setting up with more tilt or spine angle away from the target. Said I was too much straight up and down with my angles and I bought 3 - 6 iron in the MP H5 with XP 95 shafts that launched higher and put them in my 54's as well.  I was healed and my ball flight went from low to mid/high.  I used to love hitting my 4 iron for lay ups on par fives, watching the ball launch high and long.  For feel you just can't go past the Mizuno's IMO.  Finding the right shaft is the trick.  Good luck.

[westy]

Why not keep the wilsons? Drop out the 4 and 5 iron and create your own combo set with either the c100 or d200?

 

You could them bent to ensure gapping is alright, match the shaft etc.

 

I've done it with my pings, putting G30 4 and 5 iron in with my i25's - it works great.

 

Save you money as well.

[fozcycle]

Why not keep the wilsons? Drop out the 4 and 5 iron and create your own combo set with either the c100 or d200?

 

You could them bent to ensure gapping is alright, match the shaft etc.

 

I've done it with my pings, putting G30 4 and 5 iron in with my i25's - it works great.

 

Save you money as well.

 

 

Good idea Westy.....I am sure the D200 have some hybrids that will play.

[mbrodeur86]

KBS Tours launch high C-Tapers launch lower. Which KBS are you referring to?

 

 

Kbs fst tour. I believe they are the stock shafts for the irons. 

[mbrodeur86]

Why not keep the wilsons? Drop out the 4 and 5 iron and create your own combo set with either the c100 or d200?

 

You could them bent to ensure gapping is alright, match the shaft etc.

 

I've done it with my pings, putting G30 4 and 5 iron in with my i25's - it works great.

 

Save you money as well.

 

 

I did think about this but I seem to be hooking my PW and the short irons. I take a practice swing but before I do I always line up the face to where I want the ball to start. Than I take a practice swing and when I align back the face of the club, it is closed. I noticed this and it makes it very difficult to hit greens. I will line up to the right of the green and hook it to the opposite side and not hit the green. 

[jbil8802]

I did think about this but I seem to be hooking my PW and the short irons. I take a practice swing but before I do I always line up the face to where I want the ball to start. Than I take a practice swing and when I align back the face of the club, it is closed. I noticed this and it makes it very difficult to hit greens. I will line up to the right of the green and hook it to the opposite side and not hit the green.

Because of the clubs or because of your swing?

[mbrodeur86]

A little bit of both. I do sometimes come in too flat but when I don't, I still hook it.

[Jmikecpa]

May be worth a lesson or two before you change irons.  I am generally not one to talk anyone out of buying new gear, but sometimes it is the indian and not the arrow.  I changed irons earlier this year from the Hogans for a bit since I thought it was the arrow....turns out it was me and I could not hit anything well with the bad swing I had going on.  I struggled to hit my AP2s well and with my game that should just not happen.

[mbrodeur86]

May be worth a lesson or two before you change irons.  I am generally not one to talk anyone out of buying new gear, but sometimes it is the indian and not the arrow.  I changed irons earlier this year from the Hogans for a bit since I thought it was the arrow....turns out it was me and I could not hit anything well with the bad swing I had going on.  I struggled to hit my AP2s well and with my game that should just not happen.

 

 

I know but no one does any fitting locally. I'd have to go 2-4 hours away to get fitted. Time is another issue.

[Undershooter]

I know but no one does any fitting locally. I'd have to go 2-4 hours away to get fitted. Time is another issue.

Jmike isn't suggesting a fitting but rather some work with a local pro or teacher. It's cheaper than new clubs and may help you more than new sticks.

[mbrodeur86]

Jmike isn't suggesting a fitting but rather some work with a local pro or teacher. It's cheaper than new clubs and may help you more than new sticks.

 

 

We don't have a club pro here believe it or not. I'm in a pretty bad spot for golf and by that I mean, no golf shops or pros.

[westy]

Wowser that's not great.

 

Your description of getting your long irons air born, hitting the ball left with other clubs would (from my non professional eye) suggest a small flaw causing the club to hood slightly.

 

So in the absence of a pro, do you have access to a range and have a camcorder?

 

Might be worth just checking your fundamentals with the aid of video, could be something very simple.

 

Had a similar problem last year, I found my grip had got very strong (it starts off pretty damn strong), my feet weren't quite aligned and I was actually setting up with the club face slightly closed. if you are hooding the 4 iron at impact then it's delofting and no surprise is harder to get up in the air.

 

It's amazing how many times I've worked out a flaw myself with the aid of two alignment sticks and some range balls.

[BIG STU]

All pretty good suggestions and I will throw mine into the ring if I may. You say you love the forged Wilsons. I will give you a little tip. Change the shafts in the long irons to softer tips in other words soft step them and add maybe 4 grams of lead tape in the bottom at the back. I re engineered my beloved Macgregors a few months back like that overall. I have gotten older and my swing speed decreased along with my range of motion. I ended up putting a set of S300 high launch shafts in them and am glad of it. Now they do not make the high launch shafts per say any more but you can achieve the same thing by soft stepping any shaft 1x or 2x. Also I have seen some guys actually play steel in short and mid irons and go graphite in the 5 iron up. It may be worth the drive for you somewhere to get this done. Do not know where you live at but I wished you lived near me I would be glad to help

[mbrodeur86]

Thanks guys. I live in northern New Brunswick Canada. A place where even the federal government could not point out on a map lol. It sucks, tonnes of jobs losses and cutbacks and it's getting worse every year now. It's a very small town of about 4-5000 people. 

 

I have them listed on ebay and decided I was going to pull the plug on them and keep them but the auction has 9 hours left and someone has bid on them. I tried to cancel but you can't cancel when there is under 12 hours left Whether I like it or not, I've got to buy some irons  now.

[Blade]

I did think about this but I seem to be hooking my PW and the short irons. I take a practice swing but before I do I always line up the face to where I want the ball to start. Than I take a practice swing and when I align back the face of the club, it is closed. I noticed this and it makes it very difficult to hit greens. I will line up to the right of the green and hook it to the opposite side and not hit the green.

I used to do that. What was causing for me was my grip wasn't firm enough. The club had some movement in my left hand at the top of the swing. As soon as I added some grip pressure on the way down, it would "ratchet" shut compared to where I started. On the way up the grip is pressing into your palm on your lead hand. As you change direction at the top, it now puts pressure into your fingers. If there's any slop there, as your grip tightens out of necessity on the way down, it will be more closed.

 

No idea if that's what you're doing. I just know I was.

[mbrodeur86]

No not really Blade. I actually have a tendency to tighten up during my swing. 

 

Well the auction is done and now I'm on the hunt. Really think I would benefit from combo irons. Either something with hybrid 4 and 5 or game improvement 4-5 but blade or blade like 7-pw. Maybe some s300 shafts or flighted. Was looking at Adams xtd forged with the hybrids but the shafts are all kbs low launch which is the opposite of what I need. Anyways, need to figure this out soon!! 

[Undershooter]

No not really Blade. I actually have a tendency to tighten up during my swing.

 

Well the auction is done and now I'm on the hunt. Really think I would benefit from combo irons. Either something with hybrid 4 and 5 or game improvement 4-5 but blade or blade like 7-pw. Maybe some s300 shafts or flighted. Was looking at Adams xtd forged with the hybrids but the shafts are all kbs low launch which is the opposite of what I need. Anyways, need to figure this out soon!!

 

S300 are not the way to go if you want to launch higher than kbs tours. If I were you I would look for DG XP shafts or something similar. Regular DG are very low launch. Definitely lower than KBS Tour.

[mbrodeur86]

The purchase has been made. First time ever I will be using ping i20 irons. A set popped up on ebay with yellow dot (what the ping fitting system recommended). I found an article that said from my wrist to floor measurement I needed to base my 5 iron off of 38 inches so I checked what the 5 iron length was on a few sites and it said 37.75 the irons I bought are 1/4 inch longer so if all falls into place they should already be fit. All I need to do is get midsized grips and I'm all set. The shafts are dg stiff so hoping my long iron situation is fixed. Anyone know if I need .580 or. 600 round grips?

[NiftyNiblick]

.580 grips fit tighter and will thus expand outward to be a little bigger than .600 grips.  If mid-size is your goal, you probably want .580s. I like standard size and thus go with .600s.  

[Undershooter]

The i20 should launch higher than the Wilson's. The DG will launch lower than the kbs though. Not sure how that will end up working out overall. Hopefully you just needed a change of some kind.

[mbrodeur86]

Not sure about that Undershooter30 as I've had dg's before and I would hit them maybe mid high. I like that trajectory so I'm hoping to get that again. Should be interesting to say the least. I've hit the i25 irons at a demo day last year and they were really good. I can't remember the shafts that were in them and from I read the i20 were really close to the i25

[mbrodeur86]

.580 grips fit tighter and will thus expand outward to be a little bigger than .600 grips. If mid-size is your goal, you probably want .580s. I like standard size and thus go with .600s.

[mbrodeur86]

Thanks Nifty thinking of going with lamkin rel 3gen 360.

[Blade]

Not sure about that Undershooter30 as I've had dg's before and I would hit them maybe mid high. I like that trajectory so I'm hoping to get that again. Should be interesting to say the least. I've hit the i25 irons at a demo day last year and they were really good. I can't remember the shafts that were in them and from I read the i20 were really close to the i25

Yea DGs launch lower than KBS Tours most definitely.

[mbrodeur86]

So I should expect a mid launch since the i20's launch higher than the v2's but the dg shafts are lower launching than the kbs tour's?