- Aug 20, 2005
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I finally assembled some ultra forgiving irons yesterday and brought them out to the range for a test drive. I have been playing blades and modest cavity backs for 27 years now, and never really considered some of the modern cavity backs mostly due to vanity and clubhead appearence.
Last month I was able to purchase some Golfsmith Jetstream S-290 iron heads at an absolute steal (67% off retail) and figured it was worth an experiement. While they do have a thicker topline than I am used to, you can not really see the enormous cavity at the adress postion so I figured I could live with it. The real draw to the irons was the S-290 steel micro thin face. I have the Jetstream fairway woods with the same S-290 face and loved them, so I was looking to capture that same hot feel in my irons. When the package arrived, I was a bit horrified at the width of the sole. I swear that the soles are almost as wide as a hybrid. Monstrously wide. Although you can not see that width at address, I was a bit concearned.
The clubs went together fairly easily with no major assembly issues. Based on one of Lyle G's posts, I decided to go with the progressive swingweighting through the iron set to try and simulate a MOI matched set. Once the clubs were finally assembled and dry, I decided to go to the range and see how bad I could swing them.
I warmed up with my new GW (matching my SW and LW) and could tell right away it had been a few weeks since I hit a golf ball. My swing was way off. I felt like it was the first time I had swung a club in a year. Switching over to the new PW, I was expecting the worst. Much to my surprise, I instantly started to hit some solid shots with my PW. I was astonished. I know I was putting some bad swings on the ball, but no matter how badly I swung my club I hit an acceptable if not good shot. Checking the face, my contact spots were all over the place. One on center and several way left and way right of center. Stupified, I pulled out the 9-iron figuring that the loft of the PW was saving me. The same thing happend with the 9-ron. Same thing with the 8-iron. Same thing with the 6-iron. The 4-iron unfortunately, could not make up for my poor swings as well as the others. I needed to put a good swing on the 4-iron to get it to work. Back down to the 5-iron and it was just like the PW and the rest of the short irons. No matter how poor the swing, an acceptable shot occured. The 7-iron, same deal. This forgiveness stuff actually works!
The downside to the forgiveness is that you really do not get a whole lot of feedback as to where on the club you strike the ball. Unless you hit a hosel rocket (have not done it yet with the new clubs , but I am sure its coming) or an extreme toe shot you can not tell by feel whether it was solidly struck dead center or poorly struck off center. The only way I could tell was to check the face to see where the contact point was. Without this feedback, I am not certain how well I will be able to adjust or try to imporve my swings through out the course of a range session or round of golf.
I was kind of shocked at how easy it was to hit decent shots knowing full well my swing was out of synch. I always assumed that those max forgiveness irons were just a load of BS in an effort to sell more clubs, but I was sorely mistaken. There really is a noticable difference when I played the forgiveness iron versus a tradional blade or cavity back. Another shock to the system was how easily I transitioned into the new iron set versus my experience in the past switching irons. Normally, I can not hit a ball anywhere close to good during the first session or two with new irons and it takes close to a month to get comfortable with them on the course. With the new set, from swing one I had good command with the irons and feel confident enough in them after one range session that I could play close to my handicap with them when I take them out on the course.
I am going to give the new irons a shot in the bag for a while as I can not seem to find the time to practice and play as often as I used to and the added forgiveness could really help out when my swing heads further south. My only fear is that I will lose the ability to correct my swing without the feel feedback and my game may get even worse.
Last month I was able to purchase some Golfsmith Jetstream S-290 iron heads at an absolute steal (67% off retail) and figured it was worth an experiement. While they do have a thicker topline than I am used to, you can not really see the enormous cavity at the adress postion so I figured I could live with it. The real draw to the irons was the S-290 steel micro thin face. I have the Jetstream fairway woods with the same S-290 face and loved them, so I was looking to capture that same hot feel in my irons. When the package arrived, I was a bit horrified at the width of the sole. I swear that the soles are almost as wide as a hybrid. Monstrously wide. Although you can not see that width at address, I was a bit concearned.
The clubs went together fairly easily with no major assembly issues. Based on one of Lyle G's posts, I decided to go with the progressive swingweighting through the iron set to try and simulate a MOI matched set. Once the clubs were finally assembled and dry, I decided to go to the range and see how bad I could swing them.
I warmed up with my new GW (matching my SW and LW) and could tell right away it had been a few weeks since I hit a golf ball. My swing was way off. I felt like it was the first time I had swung a club in a year. Switching over to the new PW, I was expecting the worst. Much to my surprise, I instantly started to hit some solid shots with my PW. I was astonished. I know I was putting some bad swings on the ball, but no matter how badly I swung my club I hit an acceptable if not good shot. Checking the face, my contact spots were all over the place. One on center and several way left and way right of center. Stupified, I pulled out the 9-iron figuring that the loft of the PW was saving me. The same thing happend with the 9-ron. Same thing with the 8-iron. Same thing with the 6-iron. The 4-iron unfortunately, could not make up for my poor swings as well as the others. I needed to put a good swing on the 4-iron to get it to work. Back down to the 5-iron and it was just like the PW and the rest of the short irons. No matter how poor the swing, an acceptable shot occured. The 7-iron, same deal. This forgiveness stuff actually works!
The downside to the forgiveness is that you really do not get a whole lot of feedback as to where on the club you strike the ball. Unless you hit a hosel rocket (have not done it yet with the new clubs , but I am sure its coming) or an extreme toe shot you can not tell by feel whether it was solidly struck dead center or poorly struck off center. The only way I could tell was to check the face to see where the contact point was. Without this feedback, I am not certain how well I will be able to adjust or try to imporve my swings through out the course of a range session or round of golf.
I was kind of shocked at how easy it was to hit decent shots knowing full well my swing was out of synch. I always assumed that those max forgiveness irons were just a load of BS in an effort to sell more clubs, but I was sorely mistaken. There really is a noticable difference when I played the forgiveness iron versus a tradional blade or cavity back. Another shock to the system was how easily I transitioned into the new iron set versus my experience in the past switching irons. Normally, I can not hit a ball anywhere close to good during the first session or two with new irons and it takes close to a month to get comfortable with them on the course. With the new set, from swing one I had good command with the irons and feel confident enough in them after one range session that I could play close to my handicap with them when I take them out on the course.
I am going to give the new irons a shot in the bag for a while as I can not seem to find the time to practice and play as often as I used to and the added forgiveness could really help out when my swing heads further south. My only fear is that I will lose the ability to correct my swing without the feel feedback and my game may get even worse.
, but the move into technology makes it feel as though it has been quickened. Great post.
