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The Real Reason Pros Play Blades


Hamachi Style

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Been following this thread for awhile and would like to offer some comments. I do agree with some previous posts or the intent what the poster was stating and I respectfully disagree with some statements regarding center of gravity but will speak to that in a separate future post. Having a background with club fitting, club making I think there is some confusion regarding center of gravity and what that truly is.

The comments below are in reference to why/why not professionals use blades. **Disclaimer I define a blade as a muscle back style small club head. I do not define a small forged semi cavity back style a true blade -- some people do and I get that. I just want everyone to understand my descriptions below and possibly better understand what I am attempting to articulate. I welcome feedback/discussion. This is a great subject to discuss. 

Regarding professionals. Well my best advice is sign up and volunteer at a PGA/Champions Tour event and work the driving range. I have volunteered over 10 years for Champions Tour, a Women's US Open at Shoal Creek, and get to see what the professionals hit. I can tell you there is a mixed bag for most but some still game traditional muscle back blades and imo it might be based on the golfers age or era they came up in. 

(These comments are about irons and regarding professional not amateurs)

Several of the LPGA players had true smaller muscle back blades. The commonalities among the LPGA's that I saw with small true muscle back irons were most were tall (i.e. appeared to be taller than me / 5'8) and I am sure they have +100 mph swing speed. But like the Champion Tour players I have seen, all the LPGA's had latest greatest hybrids, fairway woods and drivers. Absolutely enjoyed watching them tee off and practice on range. 

Most of the younger Champions Tour players I have seen have more modern forged cavity backs. Most of the older Champions Tour players I have seen had mixed bag of irons with some small forged cavity backs combined with true muscle back blades. All of them have the best fluid motion with every club they swing. It is mesmerizing watching them hit balls on the range. I have never seen a bad bad shot. They each have a rhythm, tempo and ball flight that is picture perfect regarding consistency swing to swing. They hit straight, move the ball left to right, etc, etc at will.

 I have watched Tom Watson and Bernhard Langer hit lasers with true muscle back blades and its a thing of beauty. Right beside them I have witnessed golfers ten years younger than them with more of a modern APEX style (reference model) forged cavity back like iron but same thing, picture perfect ball striking. I really believe the iron of choice is a lot about what you learned the game with possibly and influences from the era you started in. I will admit all the professionals I have seen up close and in person have the latest and greatest hybrid, fairway woods and drivers. But irons, I can almost predict based on their age/era they learned the game if they game a true muscle back forged style vs a semi blade -- forged albeit smaller cavity back (i.e. Callaway APEX).  

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14 hours ago, aerospace_ray said:

Been following this thread for awhile and would like to offer some comments. I do agree with some previous posts or the intent what the poster was stating and I respectfully disagree with some statements regarding center of gravity but will speak to that in a separate future post. Having a background with club fitting, club making I think there is some confusion regarding center of gravity and what that truly is.

The comments below are in reference to why/why not professionals use blades. **Disclaimer I define a blade as a muscle back style small club head. I do not define a small forged semi cavity back style a true blade -- some people do and I get that. I just want everyone to understand my descriptions below and possibly better understand what I am attempting to articulate. I welcome feedback/discussion. This is a great subject to discuss. 

Regarding professionals. Well my best advice is sign up and volunteer at a PGA/Champions Tour event and work the driving range. I have volunteered over 10 years for Champions Tour, a Women's US Open at Shoal Creek, and get to see what the professionals hit. I can tell you there is a mixed bag for most but some still game traditional muscle back blades and imo it might be based on the golfers age or era they came up in. 

(These comments are about irons and regarding professional not amateurs)

Several of the LPGA players had true smaller muscle back blades. The commonalities among the LPGA's that I saw with small true muscle back irons were most were tall (i.e. appeared to be taller than me / 5'8) and I am sure they have +100 mph swing speed. But like the Champion Tour players I have seen, all the LPGA's had latest greatest hybrids, fairway woods and drivers. Absolutely enjoyed watching them tee off and practice on range. 

Most of the younger Champions Tour players I have seen have more modern forged cavity backs. Most of the older Champions Tour players I have seen had mixed bag of irons with some small forged cavity backs combined with true muscle back blades. All of them have the best fluid motion with every club they swing. It is mesmerizing watching them hit balls on the range. I have never seen a bad bad shot. They each have a rhythm, tempo and ball flight that is picture perfect regarding consistency swing to swing. They hit straight, move the ball left to right, etc, etc at will.

 I have watched Tom Watson and Bernhard Langer hit lasers with true muscle back blades and its a thing of beauty. Right beside them I have witnessed golfers ten years younger than them with more of a modern APEX style (reference model) forged cavity back like iron but same thing, picture perfect ball striking. I really believe the iron of choice is a lot about what you learned the game with possibly and influences from the era you started in. I will admit all the professionals I have seen up close and in person have the latest and greatest hybrid, fairway woods and drivers. But irons, I can almost predict based on their age/era they learned the game if they game a true muscle back forged style vs a semi blade -- forged albeit smaller cavity back (i.e. Callaway APEX).  

I agree with your sentiment. The thing I think many people miss when discussing blades vs. GI is that every model of every blade and GI iron is different. The mass and dimensional properties of every model of club out there is different so they all play differently. I personally believe playing with smaller profile iron heads is more mental than anything. There also may be a little bit involved with feel as well. I don't think playability has much to do with anything as you can work the ball with any type of iron any direction. If you hit the ball with the face of blade or massive GI iron in the same closed position, both will hook the same amount (assuming loft is the same). The issue I see with some GI irons is that they chase distance which usually means the designs are trying to decrease spin. This is what likely causes your rockets or it could be VFT faces really launching the ball on sub-optimal strikes that have way less spin, causing really long flyers. 

Pros have been trending more towards cavity backs for awhile and I expect that trend to continue. However, I expect pros will continue to play with irons that have little offset, relatively narrow soles, and be solid forgings in the shorter irons. Consistency is the name of the game for them and not many clubs provide that outside of solid forgings (CB or MB). The narrow soles are the only thing I would say makes them more playable but only under the idea that they won't held back on certain lies where wider soles may make it more difficult to go after a certain shot. 

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On 1/9/2021 at 12:57 PM, Hamachi Style said:

So... pretty much every 'justification or explanation' of the benefits of blade style irons I've seen/heard/read seems to refer back to the same old boiler plate: Workability.

 

No doubt workability is part of the equation, but I'm not convinced it's the whole story, or even the main reason.

In my personal experience with different styles of irons, the main difference I've noticed is this. Bigger, game improvement or super game improvement style irons do have a longer maximum distance. But to achieve that maximum distance, it must be hit properly (square, flush..) The 'forgiveness' people talk about is the distance on mishits. But those two numbers are always going to be different, depending on the nature and severity of the mishit. And I'd say that even minor mishits clearly do not go the maximum distance of those flush hits. This is a known fact for those of us who play game improvement irons.

 

This is true with all clubs of course, but during my testing of blades (I'm not good enough to game them, yet, but I have some old Nike VR's and Mizunos that are fun to practice with) blades have a more reliable total distance. In other words, when you catch one nice and square, it's not going to take off like a rocket.

 

 

So everyone says the reason pros play blades is workability, but I think it might be more distance control. When you factor in front to back as well as side to side in dispersion and accuracy assessments, it does seem like blades are more accurate. Otherwise, pros would play game improvement irons. Sure there would be a little bit of pride at stake, but if they were really better, and once someone was clearly using them to get a competitive advantage, the field would soon follow.

 

Thoughts?

"forgiveness" is a marketing term that has brainwashed the entire golf community.  If you have a bad slice or hook, a SGI club is NOT going to do anything for you....if you hit a SGI off the toe, sure it may go a few yards further than a blade but the price you pay trying to hit a wide sole club out of a deep rough will cost you shots minimum.....what does a SGI club do for you in those situations?  The "middle of the road" clubs with "forgiveness" built in, like a nice CB or an Apex pro perhaps gives you the best chance at SCORING better throughout the round.....IMO pros play blades because they know EXACTLY how far each club will go on a well strick shot. If they caught flyers all day with SGI's, they would be shooting in the high 70's every round. 

Golf is cool

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7 hours ago, Tsecor said:

"forgiveness" is a marketing term that has brainwashed the entire golf community.  If you have a bad slice or hook, a SGI club is NOT going to do anything for you....if you hit a SGI off the toe, sure it may go a few yards further than a blade but the price you pay trying to hit a wide sole club out of a deep rough will cost you shots minimum.....what does a SGI club do for you in those situations?  The "middle of the road" clubs with "forgiveness" built in, like a nice CB or an Apex pro perhaps gives you the best chance at SCORING better throughout the round.....IMO pros play blades because they know EXACTLY how far each club will go on a well strick shot. If they caught flyers all day with SGI's, they would be shooting in the high 70's every round. 

I think you are right about SGI clubs to a degree but I wouldn't tell everyone to go buy a set of Apex Pros to start with. Sure, I think the whole idea of forgiveness has been blown out of proportion but at the same time wider soles, offset, and a lower/more rearward COG are all factors that do make it easier to get the ball in the air. Wide soles may cost the occasional stroke on thick lies but for someone who hacks the ground, they will find wide soles to offer tremendous forgiveness and save several strokes all things being equal. Shovels may not be the answer to scoring low but it can put the mind at ease for higher handicap golfers. Heck, it's not unusual to find low handicappers using Big Berthas or Ping G series irons. I think Viktor Hovland uses Ping i210s which are chunky by most standards. SGI irons can shoot just as low as a blade because if you make identical swings with a blade and SGI iron, they will likely have identical results. Shovels with a lower COG are easier to hit with a "solid" feeling and will likely provide a lot more confidence than playing with a set of Titleist MBs. I personally find more compact clubs to be more accurate for me. I don't know if it's because having a more centrally concentrated mass and less offset gives better feel or if it's strictly mental. However, I have rotated a few sets of clubs through the bag that were harder to hit (MP 68 primarily) and they caused me to become a worse ball striker with irons because I lost confidence in my ability to hit a solid shot. MP 68s are great feeling irons and more forgiving by blade standards but the COG is too close to the hosel making it very difficult to hit truly solid shots with anything other than a short iron. 

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13 minutes ago, Kansas King said:

Sure, I think the whole idea of forgiveness has been blown out of proportion but at the same time wider soles, offset, and a lower/more rearward COG are all factors that do make it easier to get the ball in the air.

Not to mention forgiveness means different things to different people.

14 minutes ago, Kansas King said:

Shovels may not be the answer to scoring low but it can put the mind at ease for higher handicap golfers. Heck, it's not unusual to find low handicappers using Big Berthas or Ping G series irons.

I know someone who played the Cleveland launcher irons and regularly shot around par

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14 hours ago, Kansas King said:

I think you are right about SGI clubs to a degree but I wouldn't tell everyone to go buy a set of Apex Pros to start with. Sure, I think the whole idea of forgiveness has been blown out of proportion but at the same time wider soles, offset, and a lower/more rearward COG are all factors that do make it easier to get the ball in the air. Wide soles may cost the occasional stroke on thick lies but for someone who hacks the ground, they will find wide soles to offer tremendous forgiveness and save several strokes all things being equal. Shovels may not be the answer to scoring low but it can put the mind at ease for higher handicap golfers. Heck, it's not unusual to find low handicappers using Big Berthas or Ping G series irons. I think Viktor Hovland uses Ping i210s which are chunky by most standards. SGI irons can shoot just as low as a blade because if you make identical swings with a blade and SGI iron, they will likely have identical results. Shovels with a lower COG are easier to hit with a "solid" feeling and will likely provide a lot more confidence than playing with a set of Titleist MBs. I personally find more compact clubs to be more accurate for me. I don't know if it's because having a more centrally concentrated mass and less offset gives better feel or if it's strictly mental. However, I have rotated a few sets of clubs through the bag that were harder to hit (MP 68 primarily) and they caused me to become a worse ball striker with irons because I lost confidence in my ability to hit a solid shot. MP 68s are great feeling irons and more forgiving by blade standards but the COG is too close to the hosel making it very difficult to hit truly solid shots with anything other than a short iron. 

agreed on most points......and i think were kinda on the same page.....if you can hit a ball relatively straight and keep it out of trouble, a GI or SGI can help flight the ball higher and maybe save a few shots in the course of a round.....but for players who spray it all over the course and have to play out of trouble on most holes, SGI's do nothing to improve scoring. playing out of rough and sand all day with SGI's can really make your score balloon.......im not against SGI's by any means, but for an average golfer who scrambles most of the day and plays from off the fairway a lot, the benefits of an SGI may actually turn into a negative......  

Id love to be Hoviland and look for any edge i could to cut half a stroke or more off my round, but unfortunately 99.9% of golfers are hackers who can barely break 100.  They shouldnt play MB's eaither.....find that nice middle ground with a nice CB of some kind.....like a Titleist T300 possibly. strong lofts and "forgiveness" built in, but still very playable in all situations. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

 I think I heard Tiger say he likes blades because when he misses it he knows it’s going to come up short. He doesn’t want miss the green pin high left or right he would rather be short. But I think that talks to the larger point about why better players like blades. They know where they are going to go! If they misfit it they know where it’s going to go and if the flush it they know where it’s going. When I have hit game improvement irons or even players distance irons there is the occasional look up and see the ball flying somewhere I didn’t expect it to be going. For better players / pros that is something that is unacceptable. 
 

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On 1/9/2021 at 12:57 PM, Hamachi Style said:

So... pretty much every 'justification or explanation' of the benefits of blade style irons I've seen/heard/read seems to refer back to the same old boiler plate: Workability.

 

No doubt workability is part of the equation, but I'm not convinced it's the whole story, or even the main reason.

In my personal experience with different styles of irons, the main difference I've noticed is this. Bigger, game improvement or super game improvement style irons do have a longer maximum distance. But to achieve that maximum distance, it must be hit properly (square, flush..) The 'forgiveness' people talk about is the distance on mishits. But those two numbers are always going to be different, depending on the nature and severity of the mishit. And I'd say that even minor mishits clearly do not go the maximum distance of those flush hits. This is a known fact for those of us who play game improvement irons.

 

This is true with all clubs of course, but during my testing of blades (I'm not good enough to game them, yet, but I have some old Nike VR's and Mizunos that are fun to practice with) blades have a more reliable total distance. In other words, when you catch one nice and square, it's not going to take off like a rocket.

 

 

So everyone says the reason pros play blades is workability, but I think it might be more distance control. When you factor in front to back as well as side to side in dispersion and accuracy assessments, it does seem like blades are more accurate. Otherwise, pros would play game improvement irons. Sure there would be a little bit of pride at stake, but if they were really better, and once someone was clearly using them to get a competitive advantage, the field would soon follow.

 

Thoughts?

 

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Forged irons control distance per individual iron easier, whether blade, CB or hollow body!

The blade, with skill, will give control of distance, height and direction easier, more precisely, than any other material!

I played blades my whole life except for last two sets; Apex 16 and now Epic Forged, both of these are distance player clubs, but The Epic Forge per individual iron swing produce the exact same yardage as a blade, because of the heads being forged! The lofts are jacked, the weight is low, but at 65, I can still get great results with no flyers from short grass!

This was not the case for Apex 16 were less distance consistent With occasional flyers from short grass!

For the pro, one year of extra distance on level greens means nothing, but firm, fast with hills, distance, as always, is king!

Once out of scoring clubs 7 up or 6 up depending on your shot height, anything that adds distance with accuracy is good to go, hence the 7wood is back and more PGA players are hitting hybrids!

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Points on distance control have the greatest merit in my opinion.  Todays Player distance and GI options increase overall distance however the drop off in distance resulting from sweet spot contact compared to heel/toe mishits is very significant.  While blades or even CB options offer less overall distance, the drop off for mishits ( as a percentage of total distance) is less significant.  This results in a smaller "spread" between sweet spot pure contact and heel toe slight misses and better overall distance control.  Typical pro's are not in need of the additional distance, control is the greater goal.   Amateurs' are most always looking for the extra 10 yards total distance on their irons  as a primary goal. 

An example of this is the Mizuno 210 vs the Hot metal options for the same club.  No question the 210's are super consistent however they are probably a club shorter than the Hot Metal version of the same club.  The spread on the Hot Metal club on sweet spot vs toe/heel hits can easily be a full club.  Flush on the mark sweet spot hits can sometimes add a full club distance.  The 210's are a half club difference at the most on comparable contact differences.    Not a scientific analysis but if you hit the two clubs I would suggest you may see similar patterns.   

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Never understood why anyone cares what equipment anyone chooses to play.

Blades are no harder to play than anything else at a pro level, hence they are practicing, and playing alot. You will get competent with this game and equipment when your swinging day in, day out.

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Related to all of this, I remember a great quote from an old golf book, which is essentially still true: "Jack Nicklaus in his prime could beat your and my best ball, hitting a headcover with a rake" ....

When we talk about mishits, there's a HUGE disparity between a mishit from a Tour pro / legit +5 handicapper vs. a scratch player vs. a "low" handicap amateur vs. a 7-12 handicapper vs. a 15+ hcp player. Most of us "low" handicappers would kill for Tour-level mishits!

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 2/28/2021 at 10:43 AM, bens197 said:

I don’t think most truly understand how good Professional Golfers are at their craft. 
 

If you’ve ever played with a CC scratch golfer, we could all agree they’re good. 
 

Now, take that golfer and knock off 4-6 shots from that scratch handicap. 
 

Now, consider they’re playing courses with 13-14 stimp greens at 7,300 yards at their peak condition. 
 

Professionals play blades because they expect to hit the center of the face every single time. 

100% agree. I worked in the golf industry for many years before getting into finance, and spent many of those golf industry years in FL.

While there, I played a handful of rounds with dudes that were scratch/+ handicap golfers and were on the Moonlight Tour, Hooters Tour and many other mini-tour circuits in the Central FL area ... most them played with blades and I could only dream of achieving their ball striking abilities. 

But then I would attend the Bay Hill or TPC at Sawgrass, and the level of play for Tour players is light years better than that of the mini-tour guys. I simply can’t explain it other than their ball flights were just THAT much better. 

To that end, I’d say it’s workability and more specifically, distance control that is the benefits of blades. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

There's one thing I'd like to add to this. Someone earlier pointed out that workability means launch conditions (spin and trajectory) as well as curvature. "Feel" doesn't just mean the sensation of a strike, but also precision. With an MB you can better feel when a strike is minutely off-center, and that allows them to identify and correct a problem earlier on.

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Have played blades for 25 years, just this year went with the MP20 HMB which has the muscle back look, with some internal tech (don't consider them a true blade).  My favorite all time... MP33 - Blade.  In a few words why do I play them as an 11? - look and feel.  Thin top line, little to no offset, butter when you hit the center, instant feedback when you don't.  It made me a better ball striker, because I had to be.  I'm giving the HMB's a solid chance this season... a little thicker top line, a little more offset than I'm used to, better end results on marginal mis-hits, less immediate feedback.  But won't hesitate to go back to a forged blade next season if I feel I'm missing the feel and look.  Obviously - not a pro.. but my personal two cents.  

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  • 3 weeks later...

On this topic, I saw Morikawa pulled out his TM P730 short irons (muscle back blades) in favor of the TM P7MC (muscle back cavity) last week because he "wasn't hitting the center" of his irons. Of course, his expectations and demands of a club are extremely high but I am hard pressed to think of a better iron player right now that Collin Morikawa. I totally agree that everyone should play what they like but I always find it interesting when a phenomenal ball striker like that elects to move out of a blade. Add to that he went out and won the Open with his change in short irons!

:mizuno-small: STZ 230 9.5* ➖ PinHawk SLF 16* ➖ :mizuno-small: STZ 230 Hybrid 21.25* ➖ MALTBY TS1-IM 5-GW ➖ :benhogan-small: Equalizer II 54* ➖ :ping-small: Glide 4.0 (S) 58* ➖ L.A.B. Directed Force 2.1 
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1 hour ago, vandyland said:

On this topic, I saw Morikawa pulled out his TM P730 short irons (muscle back blades) in favor of the TM P7MC (muscle back cavity) last week because he "wasn't hitting the center" of his irons. Of course, his expectations and demands of a club are extremely high but I am hard pressed to think of a better iron player right now that Collin Morikawa. I totally agree that everyone should play what they like but I always find it interesting when a phenomenal ball striker like that elects to move out of a blade. Add to that he went out and won the Open with his change in short irons!

The story I read attributed the change to the sole grind differences between the two clubs.

 

Driver: TM Original One 11.5* set to 11*, Aldila NV75 X, 43.5" -or- SpeedZone, HZRDUS Black 75 6.5, 43.5"
3w:  Cobra King LTD, RIP Beta 90, 42" -or- Stage 2 Tour, NV105 X, 42.5"
2h or 3h:  TaylorMade Stage 2 Tour, Aldila NV105 S -or- RIP Alpha 105 S
Irons:  3-PW Mizuno MP37, Recoil Proto 125 F4 (reshaft in progress, slowly); 1i & 3-PW Golden Ram TW276, NV105 S; 2-PW Golden Ram TW282, RIP Tour 115 R
GW: Dynacraft Dual Milled CNC 52*, Steelfiber 125 S; Scratch 8620 DS 53*, Steelfiber 125 S
SW:  Ram TG-898 56*, DGX ss2x; Ram Tom Watson 55*, DGX ss2x; Wilson Staff PMP 58*, DGS; PM Grind 19 58*, stock shaft
Putter:  Snake Eyes Viper Tour Sv1, 34"; Ping Scottsdale TR Craz-E, 35"; Cleveland Huntington Beach 1, 35"
Ball:  Wilson Staff Duo Professional, Bridgestone Tour B-RXS, Callaway Chrome Soft

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Huh, this is what I saw on Golfwrx...yes they said turf interaction but the other two items "more centered ball strike" and a "touch more forgiveness" seem to suggest other aspects as well. 

image.png.26e84a44426440940c6f11fad62e6113.png

In the pgatour article they reference sole geometry as well which you are also likely alluding to. In any event, he switched from a pure blade to a, less than blade, right?

:mizuno-small: STZ 230 9.5* ➖ PinHawk SLF 16* ➖ :mizuno-small: STZ 230 Hybrid 21.25* ➖ MALTBY TS1-IM 5-GW ➖ :benhogan-small: Equalizer II 54* ➖ :ping-small: Glide 4.0 (S) 58* ➖ L.A.B. Directed Force 2.1 
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He did switch, yes.  But I find this interesting:

image.png.f4590675ef5e3d45f4d144d1326d7ee7.png
image.png.c88252870b4b59f133be327ddd003180.png

The P730 has a higher MOI than the P7MC.  Meaning, it twists less on mishits.  Some of that could be related to the relative heavier clubhead that GolfWorks measured; higher weight means higher MOI.

What's possibly more interesting is that the P7MC has the CG just under a quarter inch farther from the hosel.  The P7MC CG is also slightly lower.

Fun stuff.  🤔

None of this accounts for any individual mods that may have been applied to either clubhead for Morikawa....
 

Edited by NRJyzr

Driver: TM Original One 11.5* set to 11*, Aldila NV75 X, 43.5" -or- SpeedZone, HZRDUS Black 75 6.5, 43.5"
3w:  Cobra King LTD, RIP Beta 90, 42" -or- Stage 2 Tour, NV105 X, 42.5"
2h or 3h:  TaylorMade Stage 2 Tour, Aldila NV105 S -or- RIP Alpha 105 S
Irons:  3-PW Mizuno MP37, Recoil Proto 125 F4 (reshaft in progress, slowly); 1i & 3-PW Golden Ram TW276, NV105 S; 2-PW Golden Ram TW282, RIP Tour 115 R
GW: Dynacraft Dual Milled CNC 52*, Steelfiber 125 S; Scratch 8620 DS 53*, Steelfiber 125 S
SW:  Ram TG-898 56*, DGX ss2x; Ram Tom Watson 55*, DGX ss2x; Wilson Staff PMP 58*, DGS; PM Grind 19 58*, stock shaft
Putter:  Snake Eyes Viper Tour Sv1, 34"; Ping Scottsdale TR Craz-E, 35"; Cleveland Huntington Beach 1, 35"
Ball:  Wilson Staff Duo Professional, Bridgestone Tour B-RXS, Callaway Chrome Soft

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That is interesting. To further support your point and opinion, TXG did a video on it and they are talking almost exclusively about turf interaction and sole design...as you noted. You were right, I was wrong. Always good to learn something. I took this conversation in the wrong direction and I am admitting that and thankful you corrected course, haha.

According to Ian, the MC has a sharper leading edge and slightly less bounce. Also has some relief on the trailing edge. So even thought it is an MC with perimeter weighting, they are arguing it has the effect of having a "narrower" sole. At least it will play like that and will be cleaner in and out of the firm turf rather than skipping or bouncing off it with the blade. Which is counterintuitive to me but shows that there is nuance to every club design. Love this! 

:mizuno-small: STZ 230 9.5* ➖ PinHawk SLF 16* ➖ :mizuno-small: STZ 230 Hybrid 21.25* ➖ MALTBY TS1-IM 5-GW ➖ :benhogan-small: Equalizer II 54* ➖ :ping-small: Glide 4.0 (S) 58* ➖ L.A.B. Directed Force 2.1 
Maxfli Tour X Official Review -- https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/63068-testers-announced-maxfli-tour-x-golf-balls-with-max-align-technology/?do=findComment&comment=1021832

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I am a mid hc with aspirations to be a single one day and I have always played small cb or blades. Honestly, from the 28 deg. on up I don't see a lot of difference in forgiveness, then again I don't try to hit my irons very far. I do have a problem hooking and the blades with little offset help that to a great deal. Also, I recently switched to some old Titleist P990B's because I feel like so much toe weight on my other newer blades caused me problems getting the clubface open enough at the top, which worsens my tendency to hook.  I think this is probably one of the reasons why pros prefer to have the cg closer to the hosel at least in the wedges, it makes pitches much easier.

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