I don't know how they did it...

[niblick]

In a fit of morbid curiosity one day, I bought a set of old Tommy Armour blades on Ebay. They were in great shape for 40 year old clubs, and it was only about $50 for the whole set. I just had to know what is was like to learn to play in an era when tiny forged blades were the only thing there was.

I've dinked around with them here and there, but decided today to spend my entire practice session with them.

Holy crap. I've realized that while my Callaways are appropriate clubs for a 20 handicap, they may be doing me a bit of a disservice. It's tough to know when I've hit a good shot, and when I've just gotten away with something. It will be years before I'm ready to put the Tommys in play on the course, but what a great training aid. There's no question about when you've hit it well and when you haven't. It also made me see why the sweet tempo of guys like Sam Snead and Byron Nelson was so important. You just can't hit a good shot with those clubs if you're not swinging with control.

I'll stick with the Callaways when I'm playing for a score. But I'm serious about my game, and I really think working with the merciless clubs on the range will help. Thoughts?

 

[Bravo]

I can't relate to this...although the following story is true...

I am old enough to have played plenty of golf before the invention of the cavity backed club. For the first 25 years of my golfing life, I played blades like everyone else.

My last set of blades were Dunlop Australian Blades - which I played for at least 15 years. Then, along came the cavity back revolution and I tried a set of Tommy Armour 845 knockoffs - called 767's. (After these, I went to my Titleist DCI Golds for 12 years and now to my TM r7XD's. Even though I am a fairly decent ball striker, I am shameless about trying to get the longest and most forgiving club I can....I'm just trying to have fun out there.)

I dropped four strokes from my handicap in the first 8 weeks after shelving the blades. I kept the blades in the closet for several years and hauled them out to the range one day for fun. Couldn't hit them to save my life.

After that, they just rusted away until I chunked them.

Tiniest head I could ever imagine...

 

[Bravo]

I can't relate to this...although the following story is true...

I am old enough to have played plenty of golf before the invention of the cavity backed club. For the first 25 years of my golfing life, I played blades like everyone else.

My last set of blades were Maxfli Dunlop Australian Blades - which I played for at least 15 years. Then, along came the cavity back revolution and I tried a set of Tommy Armour 845 knockoffs - called 767's. (After these, I went to my Titleist DCI Golds for 12 years and now to my TM r7XD's. Even though I am a fairly decent ball striker, I am shameless about trying to get the longest and most forgiving club I can....I'm just trying to have fun out there.)

I dropped four strokes from my handicap in the first 8 weeks after shelving the blades. I kept the blades in the closet for several years and hauled them out to the range one day for fun. Couldn't hit them to save my life.

After that, they just rusted away until I chunked them.

Tiniest head I could ever imagine...

Believe it or not, GG has these for sale...here is a photo...

MaxFli Australian Blade Iron Individual 2 Used Golf Club at GlobalGolf.com

 

[SiberianDVM]

My 1999 Hogan Apex blades are only slightly larger than my 1981 Hogan Apex II blades. I find the 6 through PW easy to hit. But when you get into that long iron category of 2 through 4 or 5 iron, then it's easy to become frustrated.

Interestingly enough, I bought this 1981 set used about 2 years ago for $15. The 6 on down are heavily used and need to be refinished. The 2 through 5 irons look almost brand new, so even players back in the day didn't use them that much.

 

[Rockford35]

Believe it or not, GG has these for sale...here is a photo...

MaxFli Australian Blade Iron Individual 2 Used Golf Club at GlobalGolf.com

When I clicked the link, the first thing that went thru my head was "9 dollars for the whole set?"

Then I realized that was for the 2 iron alone. :laugh:

My grandfather used to play the original Karsten Ping CB's. Those things made it about halfway up the ball in terms of face height. It made no sense how the club actually contacted the ball, but I bet it was more than possible to completely whiff under it if you went pelting.

R35

 

[WelshGolfer]

I'll stick with the Callaways when I'm playing for a score. But I'm serious about my game, and I really think working with the merciless clubs on the range will help. Thoughts?

I spent my early golfing years learning to play with Golden Ram Tour Grinds. Not the most forgiving clubs, I still wince when I remember the "finger-tinglers" I would frequently get on a cold winters morn.
But I firmly believe that playing these clubs forced me to concentrate more and therefore made me a better striker on the whole. I was playing a hell of a lot back then though. All I can say is that if you plan on playing/practicing more than 3 times a week then the blades may help but if you only play one or twice a month then don't bother as they will frustrate you.

 

[niblick]

I spent my early golfing years learning to play with Golden Ram Tour Grinds. Not the most forgiving clubs, I still wince when I remember the "finger-tinglers" I would frequently get on a cold winters morn.
But I firmly believe that playing these clubs forced me to concentrate more and therefore made me a better striker on the whole. I was playing a hell of a lot back then though. All I can say is that if you plan on playing/practicing more than 3 times a week then the blades may help but if you only play one or twice a month then don't bother as they will frustrate you.

I practice 5-6 times a week, and play every weekend. I'm a little sick in the head.

 

[Andy299]

Guys,

I am glad to see the blades are cheap. Not that I need more sets, but most likely to pick up a few just for the heck of trying them out (I am becoming a Ho just like many of you):laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:.


I am still playing my Spalding Tour Edition set that I bought twenty years ago. They were second hand club going cheap in a local pro shop in Perth WA. Ping cavity clubs were the status symbol in those days. My seven iron is wearing out the fastest as there was a period I used to practice punch shots and three quarter shot only with this one club and did that seven days a week. Since than I picked up a Wilson FG49 set (3-9, pw, sw) in pretty good condition. Once I no longer can use my current set I will use the FG49s. To be honest I never expected to keep my Tour Editions for so long, but I just love them and they still do a pretty good job when I take my A swing to the course.

I must say that I love the look of the blades at address and being a confidence type golfer, that is one good shot makes me confident hitting another good one and equally one bad shot can make my confidence go out the window, I just love my blades. They tell me how I am swinging. There are no if and buts about them.

I also get the right amount of spin with them which I find very important. Generally, my three iron landing on the green in a flat area will pull up within 10 feet, my 5 iron within 5 feet, 6, 7, 8, 9, pw, gw, lw within one or two feet the most from where they landed. I can hit my three wedges with so much spin that they suck off the green especially if they land into any slope, but I find it difficult to control where this spin will take my ball. So for that reason I hardly ever hit my wedges to their full yardage.

I like to watch it on tv how pros can hit the ball 20 feet past the hole and suck it back right next to the pin, but when their ball land next to the pin and then suck it still back 20 feet, it makes me wonder was it an error in distance judgment or was it an error in spin amount on the ball? Too much spin is not for me.

I have tried cavity back clubs at least every two to three years, but just can't enjoy them. Yes, mis-hits will go further than with a blade, but I just do not have a clue how I am swinging and have no feel what so ever. Having said that, the cavity back clubs of recent years are far better clubs than they were twenty years ago, (personal opinion and could be totally non-factual). Maybe I need to do some demoing again at least to see where they are (how they feel) today.

On a final note: I believe that shaping shots is fairly difficult with cavity back clubs compared to blades. Again this my opinion and it may not be a fact.

 

[MGP]

I still have my late 70's Wilson X-31 forged blades. I actually played these irons up until about 2 years ago. I still take them out once in a while and hit them and even re-gripped them this year.

I also have a Wilson forged driving iron that's always a hoot to take to the range. I actually had that in my bag when I was in high school and really hit it well back then. Now that thing looks like a blade putter with a long shaft on it to me... :laugh:

 

[MGP]

On a final note: I believe that shaping shots is fairly difficult with cavity back clubs compared to blades. Again this my opinion and it may not be a fact.

I actually think the balls of today have about as much to do with this as clubs themselves. Most balls these days are designed to reduce spin (at least to some extent) when struck hard and (hopefully) go straighter and longer. The better balls do have soft covers for imparting spin on softly struck shots though. That's not to say you can't work today's balls, only that they make it harder to do. I saw Jack Nicklaus recently in an interview say that a lot fewer players on tour work the ball as did when he played because of the ball and club technology.

Just for grins, I played a few holes with some old balata Titleist PTs and my new P2 irons. I had no trouble bending the ball right or left, especially with the longer irons. On the other hand, I have a lot harder time bending the ball with all of the "modern balls" I currently play.

 

[niblick]

Something else I've observed: I tend to hit it really high. I don't think to the point of costing me distance, but when I flush a shot, it tends to tower over the green before coming down. The combination of my clubheadspeed and a steep swing produce this, and I'm fine with it. This is all well and good unless it's windy, and then I'm hosed. I've really been working hard on learning to hit that low piercing short iron. I noticed right away that it's much easier to do with the blades. My offset cavity back perimeter weighted Cally shovels launch it so high, it's tough to control the trajectory.

 

[Andy299]

I practice 5-6 times a week, and play every weekend. I'm a little sick in the head.

Oh No, I did not realize that practicing several times a week was an illness.:laugh: If my back is good I practice nearly every day and if I can, I do it twice a day an hour or so. Is there hope for me? :laugh: I doubt it!:laugh:

My swing is getting better, but the scores are not improving.

Seriously, I took up golf twenty years ago in my mid thirties after a car accident, I had chipped vertebra in my neck and torn all the mussels in my right shoulder in the accident. The doctors wanted to operate but would not guarantee more than two years without pain so I declined it. The physiotherapist treating me at the time told me that he can give me exercises but in his experience no one sticks to them for years. He said if you do not want to end up crippled take up golf and play as much ass you can fit in.

So I started practicing golf seven days a week after work and playing twice on the weekends. I went through a lot of pain doing so but after a year my muscles got stronger and the pain started to reduce. My handicap improved rapidly in the first year and every time I had a good first seven or nine holes I thought I had this game figured out only to be brought back to earth on the back nine faster than a comet entering our atmosphere.

I am told I am a perfectionist and I know I do not like being defeated. This game brought me to my knees a few times, but I just get back up and try again. I am still trying to figure out why it is that I can /could play any moving ball games I played very well, while in golf the ball is stationery yet I struggle to master it. I have to admit I love playing and love practicing at least as much despite or maybe because it is not as easy as it seems.