Are players irons really only for 'players' ?

[JohnSmalls]

Bringing a whole new meaning to butter knives....

 

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Where do you find all of this stuff!?

[Shankster]

Where do you find all of this stuff!?

Countless hours of looking for “The Ones”

[Shankster]

Oh.. that.. haha. Typed Golf Butterknife, it was the first thing to pop up.

[StrokerAce]

Countless hours of looking for “The Ones”

A relentless and agonizing pursuit...

 

If I make my first hole in one without "the ones" I will regret it until the day I die...

 

Sent from a bunker filled with mana

[STUDque]

A relentless and agonizing pursuit...

 

If I make my first hole in one without "the ones" I will regret it until the day I die...

 

Sent from a bunker filled with mana

 

Not me. I'd still be happy if I made my first one with a hosel rocket off a borrowed, bent, and rusty Spalding Top Flite.

 

 

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[Shankster]

Not me. I'd still be happy if I made my first one with a hosel rocket off a borrowed, bent, and rusty Spalding Top Flite.

 

 

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My first one was a banana slice with a sky marked up, bent hosel, ladies flex Adams Air Assault driver.

 

True story.

[StrokerAce]

My first one was a banana slice with a sky marked up, bent hosel, ladies flex Adams Air Assault driver.

 

True story.

Now imagine how much better that will feel with your new Cobra blade 5i from 192!

 

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[JTexGolfer]

My first one was a banana slice with a sky marked up, bent hosel, ladies flex Adams Air Assault driver.

 

True story.

I'd take it! Still don't have one so I wouldn' care how I got it.

[Shankster]

Now imagine how much better that will feel with your new Cobra blade 5i from 192!

 

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[Kor.A.Door]

Now imagine how much better that will feel with your new Cobra blade 5i from 192!

 

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I had one this past season, and trust me it wont matter what club it is. I never once said or even thought “man I wish that was with a different club”.

[STUDque]

OK I'll share mine. I don't have many old clubs but I actually gamed this 2 iron for a few full seasons until I bent the hosel. My stock shot was a fade but I could hit draws with this club. I would play it off 2-3 tees per round because I could hit a bullet that got on the ground quickly and ran way up the fairway.

 

 

 

How's that for offset?

 

 

 

 

After I bent the hosel, it still had a little loft at address but would have negative dynamic loft so I could only hit top spin balls.

 

 

 

 

 

I definitely give this club credit for teaching me to strike the ball correctly because oh boy do you know it when you hit it wrong.

 

 

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[Shankster]

Put it up before, but I cleaned out the pictures a while back. This... is an offset club. I've used this on the course, it's actually forgiving and you get an amazing ball flight with a modern ball. This is why I think I'd like hickory golf. That top line and sole are literally butter knife thin.

 

 

[StrokerAce]

What more can you want when researching older irons and you run across these descriptions...

 

Any guesses on what irons they're referring to here?

 

 

LOOK: Receives top marks; great-looking sticks -- testers love the traditional, thin topline and minimal offset; high-tech touches are subtle and hidden; the sight of it convinces you that you're a better player.

 

BOTTOM LINE: One of the top-rated models. A superb option for the shotmaker who seeks a sleek, smooth-swinging blade with some all-terrain versatility.

[Shankster]

What more can you want when researching older irons and you run across these descriptions...

 

Any guesses on what irons they're referring to here?

 

 

LOOK: Receives top marks; great-looking sticks -- testers love the traditional, thin topline and minimal offset; high-tech touches are subtle and hidden; the sight of it convinces you that you're a better player.

 

BOTTOM LINE: One of the top-rated models. A superb option for the shotmaker who seeks a sleek, smooth-swinging blade with some all-terrain versatility.

Nope. But I like the sounds of it.

[StrokerAce]

Nope. But I like the sounds of it.

 

http://www.golf.com/equipment/adams-idea-cmb-irons-clubtest-2013-review-iron-reviews

 

...also a perfect 100 score from MGS in the Looks category.

 

They are perfect.

Paired with the stock KBS C-Taper shafts, and White and Black GolfPride New Decade Multi-Compound grips, and I'm inclined to agree with everyone. The Adams CMB may very well be the single best looking iron we've ever tested, and that's saying quite a bit.

MGS LOOKS SCORE: 100

[PMookie]

Back in the day, when I was growing-up in the 70s, all that was available were what we call “players clubs” now. With that in-mind, current offerings are supposedly more forgiving than those of yore, so I'd have to say no.

If one learns with “blades”, would they know any different?

Marketing tells us a LOT about what we should be playing... Try em all and see for oneself!!!!

 

 

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[StrokerAce]

Back in the day, when I was growing-up in the 70s, all that was available were what we call “players clubs” now. With that in-mind, current offerings are supposedly more forgiving than those of yore, so I'd have to say no.

If one learns with “blades”, would they know any different?

Marketing tells us a LOT about what we should be playing... Try em all and see for oneself!!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

 

If someone was starting golf now at... say... 25 and they were relatively athletic -- not a D1 sports player but had basic coordination, balance, etc. -- what would you start them with and would they ever "graduate" to something different?

 

I mean eventually, if you get good enough, you'd think you'd at least try a 'players' club ... there's got to be a point of diminishing returns with SGI or even some GI clubs - spin, ball height, ability to move the ball, etc.

[MaxEntropy]

I will hopefully be getting new irons some time this year. I am definitely going to swing a few "player's" irons to see what happens. Due mostly to time constraints and to a slightly lesser extent, money constraints, I have my doubts that I will ever see a single-digit handicap, but if I can start hitting irons like I did 15 years ago, something like a JPX Tour might very well agree with me. If I can never again hit them like I did back then, GI or SGI irons may be my future. I honestly don't care as long as they allow me to score the best and get the most enjoyment out of the game.

[shadow0861]

Mark Crossfield talks about this MANY times on YouTube. In his opinion, “forgiveness” is never something that can be measured as strike conditions vary wildly with amateurs. He can't really see the difference in forgiveness either, when he plays GI irons.

 

What he DOES see is a drop in spin, to the point that fliers fly way to far to the point of being uncontrollable with GI irons. But players irons are more consistent in distance even with amateurs.

 

Personally, I own a set of Mizuno MP5's and play just as well, if not better, than when I had JPX-EZ, original M2, or others. It all depends on what feels good when you use it, not the category that it may or may not be made for.

 

 

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[Flipper554]

Back in the day, when I was growing-up in the 70s, all that was available were what we call “players clubs” now. With that in-mind, current offerings are supposedly more forgiving than those of yore, so I'd have to say no.

If one learns with “blades”, would they know any different?

Marketing tells us a LOT about what we should be playing... Try em all and see for oneself!!!!

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Same for me, when I started playing there was no such thing as game improvement clubs. In the late 80's a friend of mine got into club making and made me a metal headed driver, the first one I ever played. I still have it and it is smaller than my current 5 wood. When the first Big Bertha came out it was 190 cc's and at the time looked like a pumpkin on a stick. So back then you had to swing well within youself to make good contact. With the size of clubheads today I think people tend to swing too hard thinking how can you miss. With players clubs tending to be smaller I actually think that you are forced to make a more controlled swing and therefore perhaps make you a better player. I play game improvement irons because I'm old and like the extra distance.

[mooremikea]

Mark Crossfield talks about this MANY times on YouTube. In his opinion, “forgiveness” is never something that can be measured as strike conditions vary wildly with amateurs. He can't really see the difference in forgiveness either, when he plays GI irons.

 

What he DOES see is a drop in spin, to the point that fliers fly way to far to the point of being uncontrollable with GI irons. But players irons are more consistent in distance even with amateurs.

 

Personally, I own a set of Mizuno MP5's and play just as well, if not better, than when I had JPX-EZ, original M2, or others. It all depends on what feels good when you use it, not the category that it may or may not be made for.

 

 

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It really seems like spin should get far more attention than it does.  Most of the new low lofted super game improvement irons will launch high with low spin.  As Crossfield mentions the spin can also be inconsistent.  For better players the more consistent spin should mean more consistent distances.  

 

For higher handicap players that come up short 80% of the time having less spin might help the ball take a hop onto the green instead of stopping short?  The downside is if spin gets too low then the ball won't stay in the air long enough.  

 

This is not even taking into account the differences in stopping power looking at decent angle and spin rates.  

[shadow0861]

It really seems like spin should get far more attention than it does. Most of the new low lofted super game improvement irons will launch high with low spin. As Crossfield mentions the spin can also be inconsistent. For better players the more consistent spin should mean more consistent distances.

 

For higher handicap players that come up short 80% of the time having less spin might help the ball take a hop onto the green instead of stopping short? The downside is if spin gets too low then the ball won't stay in the air long enough.

 

This is not even taking into account the differences in stopping power looking at decent angle and spin rates.

The inconsistency of the spin in my opinion would turn me off to the GI irons. Also, in my opinion, players that come up short should club up and know their distances instead of just buying stronger lofted clubs that are 6 irons with a 7 on the bottom. All my opinion.

 

 

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[Shankster]

The inconsistency of the spin in my opinion would turn me off to the GI irons. Also, in my opinion, players that come up short should club up and know their distances instead of just buying stronger lofted clubs that are 6 irons with a 7 on the bottom. All my opinion.

 

 

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I think we could be good friends Sir.

[mooremikea]

The inconsistency of the spin in my opinion would turn me off to the GI irons. Also, in my opinion, players that come up short should club up and know their distances instead of just buying stronger lofted clubs that are 6 irons with a 7 on the bottom. All my opinion.

 

 

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I agree with you, for my clubs I want consistent spin and closer to traditional lofts.  For the players I am talking about they will get clubs with stronger lofts and then take one less club and still come up short.  

[MaxEntropy]

I honestly wonder if the average golfer knows about the jacked lofts, etc. or even care. They just see that a 7 iron went from 145 to 160 and think "wow, these clubs are looong". Combine with the fact that a mid to high handicap isn't hitting many greens, so the spin characteristics likely don't matter much. Pure speculation, of course.

[cnosil]

I honestly wonder if the average golfer knows about the jacked lofts, etc. or even care. They just see that a 7 iron went from 145 to 160 and think "wow, these clubs are looong". Combine with the fact that a mid to high handicap isn't hitting many greens, so the spin characteristics likely don't matter much. Pure speculation, of course.

Distance is king for the average golfer. They see tour players hitting clubs unbelievable distances and want to do the same. If they are able to hit a PW 180 yards one time that seems to become their distance measure.

 

IMO For the knowledgeable golfer the lofts shouldn't really matter either. They should know to focus on filling distance gaps and being able to hit specific distances consistently.

[Kor.A.Door]

I agree with you, for my clubs I want consistent spin and closer to traditional lofts. For the players I am talking about they will get clubs with stronger lofts and then take one less club and still come up short.

I too want consistent spin, but I really don't care what Number is on the bottom of the club. I just want it to have good gapping, and consistent spin, especially 7-PW which is what I use a lot.

[StrokerAce]

For all you guys that want good gapping, what are you looking for?

 

Let's say you have an iron set made up of 4,5,6,7,8,9,P

That's 7 irons; assuming full swings how far do you want your 4i to go down to the P and what type of distance gaps are you looking for between clubs?

i.e.

4 - 210

5 - 190

6 - 170

7 - 155

8 - 145

9 - 135

P - 120

 

as you can see my gaps in the long irons are larger than the short irons ... is this what you're after or do you want a consistent # between every club?

[cnosil]

I want consistent distances between clubs. Usually in the 10-15 yard range. I get less concerned about precise gapping as I get to the longer clubs. when I get to PW and lower I want to be able to hit 10 yard gaps. As I start to get under about 80 yards it means doing the gaps with partial swings.

[Kor.A.Door]

My carry distances are all pretty much 10 yards.

Because of roll the overall distances can vary, but I know that my 6i carry is 185, but will end at 192ish with roll. 5i carry 195 depending on roll could be 205.

My favorite yardage is 120 and 100. 49* wedge and 57* wedge. Those are just a smooth full swing with those and no worries