David Leighton Reid

I sent you a PM.  I graduated from SWBC in 1981.

I employ this technique... but with a caveat.  I played blades for 25+ years, so for me it is taking it back to basics to re-groove my swing.   Most of those years I played the MP33's, but I now have a set of MP68's that I pull out for range sessions and some on-course practice.  One of the things I use them for is to manage my swing path.  With the blade, even a solid center contact with a bad path will DEFINITELY accentuate my standard fault (outside in path resulting in a weak fade/slice or a dead pull).  Technology of PD and GI clubs help me with that as well... but I prefer to not place a band-aid on my swing wound... and try to address the root cause (This is my Tim Root Cause Analysis 😉 ).  I also usually pick up one of my blades when I'm swinging on my home range... as I'm not as focused on distance (the traditional lofts of the MP68's compared to my current gamers are from two different worlds regarding distance - but I'm not here to debate that, haha).  
If I can groove the butter feel with the blades, I have more confidence when I head out to the course with my gamers.  
I am constantly battling the distance vs. feel argument in my head.  I would have no issue gaming the blades, other than the fact I have lost so much swing speed in my ripe old age, my gapping distances are all bunched together between 95 and 155.  The GI irons give me some more spread and I can get out into the 180-190 range without having to put a 2 iron knife in my bag.  Also, I have grown to appreciate the all the help the GI irons give me in the middle of the round when I make a bad swing.  So, I have pretty much committed to the blades being my practice set when needed, rather than putting them into play for scoring.  
That is my approach, anyway.  YMMV.
 

I had blades (still do, but now as wall hangers) as gamers and I can't say it helped that much. 
Altho i think in theory it could work, the different swing weights or feels could be a factor. It would not only just be the heads, but also shafts and grips that would need to match which could be tricky. 
I would imagine other forms of training could be better and cheaper even just foot spray to see where you are hitting may be of greater benefit.

... It is an absolute staple topic at wrx and comes up at least once a month and has for about 20 years now and has caused many threads to be shut down by Mods when it gets too contentious. Several have been banned or given a time out. Will MB's make me a better ball striker? I am a mid index can I play MB's? Should I practice with MB's? Are MB's harder to hit? I play GI's will MB's lower my index? And on and on. I have probably put 10 folks on ignore over the years because they get arrogant, snarky and dismissive. And because that place is so pro MB's I have never seen an OP listen to any of the negatives and it can be clear in many cases they aren't asking for opinions, just justification to use MB's. Again I have no issue with anyone playing MB's or wanting to play MB's but really hate to see golfers sincerely looking to improve get set back in their progress because MB zealots think MB's are the only irons anyone should be using and try to convince everyone they should too. And to be fair some SGI advocates get equally combative. 

... Thankfully it only pops up here about once every two years because most here are interested in playing better golf and understand technology is their friend. As always the question with any equipment is how much tech do you need or want at your level of play, and the answer of course is different for every player. But I like to use the LPGA as an example where yardages and distances hit are more similar to forum members than the PGA, although we certainly have some long hitters here. The difference between them and Ams is level of ball striking and you just don't see MB's on the LPGA Tour, with the exception of 2 players. 

... That said, testing a theory for fun and curiosity sounds like an interesting idea if it truly interests you. 👍

As it should be. I am glad that everyone was willing to share their opinion, and I had no idea when I posted that the topic was so divisive. I am just not sure why some chose to question my motivations for asking or assumed that I was seeking to validate an opinion I had already formed. If someone thinks an OP won’t consider a response or is otherwise insincere, why post a response? 

Fwiw, I am not inclined to try this idea at the moment because I feel my time is better spent working on grip, stance, ball position, etc. A blade isn’t going to fix my current tendency to hit my irons a bit heavy. Though based on the responses in the thread, I think hitting a blade in practice could have some benefit under the right circumstances. We will see. I’m half-tempted to design a test of this theory to see what the data says, or, at the very least, buy the set of Hogan Apex II irons I found for cheap and compare them to my current Apex 21s in a manner similar to the MGS Retro Golf videos. Mostly because I think it would be fun. 
 
Anyway, apologies accepted. Let’s get back to talking golf. 

This is the extent of my practice for the next several weeks.

So, an update from me in regard to the GWX and my 3W. I finished my build last night. Callaway Epic Flash subzero at 43.25" with the Grafalloy GWX in A flex. I have it set at 14 degrees. I went to the range on lunch break and hit a small bucket. Range is mats only this time of year so basically just worked on hitting off the deck. I have a Swing Caddy 200 plus PLM I use at the range which gives basic ball speed, club speed, smash factor and either total distance or carry distance. After a proper warm up through the bag I jumped into 3W!  Hit around 20 balls. First few were a little high/fadey until I started syncing the tempo.  The last 4-5 were consistently in the 255-275 carry range with a mid to high penetrating flight.  Miss hit seems to fade a touch but with no slice in sight and maybe a 6-8 yard high fade in the 250 range.  Swing speed averaged around 105-108 with ball speeds in the low 150s.  I am playing Saturday and cannot wait to hit a few seeds with this new weapon! Very good fairway wood shaft if anyone else has been looking for something to try. 5 grams heavier than the GPLB and it has a really clean look at address.
 
Thanks for the suggestion @azstu324

Just another OP story..
Played 13 holes yesterday before it got too dark to continue. Jumped from 12 to 18 just to finish up on the last hole. The ball was visible but my shot definitely wasn't. Hit a drive that absolutely felt like $#it. Probably the results of a number of things.. including playing in the dark and being in a hurry. Teed up a 2nd because I was certain the 1st was in the adjacent neighborhood. Well the 2nd didn't feel much better. So I jumped in the cart and proceeded down the left side wall where I was hoping to find either ball. Both just felt like snap hooks. Well I didn't find either ball.. down the left side. I decided to pack it in and just end on that note. So I'm driving back across the fairway diagonally toward the cart path and what did I happen to find about 10 yards apart way up in the middle of the fairway?.. both balls! I used a yellow Maxfli Tour and a TM TP5X PRACTICE. Neither of which could be confused for another ball. Could it be that the OP really is magic? 😜

Thank you for this compliment!  I'm sure some others would like to shake me by the neck 🤣 

Your experience is very similar to mine and I appreciated your comment about how it seems "so much easier to go after it". I just find that it is confidence inspiring to feel the kick in the shaft and it makes my downswing almost feel like I am "riding a wave" of momentum vs a stiff or x stiff shaft where I can't really feel it. 

Well tried TSR 2-3 didn't like them but my TS3 255ish metres rules, I'm ecstatic and would like to shake @azstu324 by the hand and buy him a beer. He's a genius thank you for thinking outside the square, I'm obviously taking some credit as I was swinging the golf club and "Nutted it" was a beautiful sound off the face...

This one may or may not have been a seed planted by me..😜
I only trolled a couple YouTube reviews but I'm hearing about this popping up in a bunch of places that I don't usually visit. 
Here's an awesome story.. 
I was playing with a couple of guys a few weeks ago. One of the guys was playing some nice Wishon CB's and made a comment about my Maltby irons so we were getting along really well. On one of the holes he said "ahh so you are playing the poor man's Autoflex too!". He then said "yeah I recognized the Garafalloy shaft from a bunch of forums". MGS being one of them. We then proceeded to nerd out for the remainder of the round. Lots of eye rolling from our playing partners 😂
 

I don't know a thing but love the price!

Anybody know much about this shaft? I am going to try dropping it in my Hybrid (bumping down from a stiff Tensei Blue that is 85g) so I will be dropping about 15g of shaft weight and one "flex" (going with regular) even though we all know the flexes aren't consistent between manufacturers. If no one knows anything, I guess I will be the guinea pig! 


 

I'm quite a bit north of you in Sun City Center, but I think @00sportsman is closer. He hasn't been on the Forum for a while but if you send him a DM he might be available. 
p.s. if you haven't done it yet you should put your location in the member map that way others can contact you. 

I am a member at GreatLife Golf and Fitness in Lebanon, MO.  It is the only course in town and the dues are less than $600 annually for a family.  I don't take advantage of the fitness center, but I do try to play golf twice on the weekends and at least once a week during league season.  

We currently visit Venice for our vacations 4 times a year, which is probably 20 - 30 minutes north of you.  We will be visiting again in April and I would be happy to meet you at a course somewhere in between.  The great thing about SWFL is there are lots of courses to choose from.  

I can't help with any course recommendations, unless you detour south to SW MO.  However, I admire your playing as a single.  Each time we go on vacation, I play as a single and have been paired up with some very nice people.  In fact, I have made some friendships that continue to this day.  

That's about right! 

Thanks for letting me know, I initially clicked on it and it involved a political thing and I was sweating that it was going to post that one. 

It just pained me to think of you out on the course and not killing-it on style points.  Hope it's the right size 😉.

My family knows our Christmas routines well, anything but a bag of tees brings 'the look'.