PLayas how about a follow up on your blades??

[VtDivot]

Was reading thru some older threads from the beginning of the summer and enjoying a nice Valpolicella (wife has friend over - I'm in hiding and the Nats are getting blown out by the Astros)... anyways, I found a thread where a lot of the guys that either just switched to blades this year, or have been blade players for a while, were struggling with mis-hits, distance control, overall feel and some confidence issues.

I was wondering if you guys (Loop, Rock, BD, Farq, YG, etc) have seen any improvement, or have any updates? What's your mid-year report card look like?

I am loving my irons now, have cured the hook issues, and the mis-hits while still occuring are far less frequent.

Overall, I think this was one of my better equipment decisions I'd say. I guess when I was reading thru that older thread we might have detered some folks from giving the blades a go, perhaps this thread may have some more positive experiences

 

[Loop]

I was on muscleback TA1, and although only slightly forgiving, I loved them.
Then about 8 weeks ago, I won a bet against my brother, and that's where the Mizuno MP33 came in
Now these are still blades, but it has a half cavity.
It's more forgiving and stable on mishits, with some distance gain versus the TA1.
But this is the minus: it's so forgiving, I can't even tell where the ball went off, and where I've hit it. And I get pretty sloppy when practicing with them.
I'm still on the MP33, but I'm really thinking about getting back to the TA1. Actually, I'll give them a spin on tomorrow's round.

BTW VT, I agree, we really need to play together next month. For competition sake, we'll do a little bet, so we'll battle it out till the end

 

[VtDivot]

MP-33 half cavity??? What the heck are you on? I've heard people call G2's, RAC TP's (the full CB version) and i3's blades.... give yourself some credit man.BTW - both TA1 and MP33 are nice sticks. And if you won the Miz, I'm not sure we should be betting when we play... you may be driving away in my truck

 

[Youngun5]

well, although when i originally switched it was in the winter, and the mishits combined with the cold were too much for me to take, so i went back to my cb's for the h.s. golf season with a promise that i would dedicate this summer to really get to know the ta1's i'd say i'm all but adjusted to them, now i like them, don't get me wrong, and i got them for what i think is a pretty good price, at first i lost quite a bit of distance with them which i hated, the very high trajectory has changed my playing style which has been somewhat of a pain on windy days, i have to be much more precise which i would think is a good thing, everyone talks about the great feeling of puring one and it feels just like my supersteels when hit off the screws,

they are good and all, but i'm just not seeing too much of an inprovement over my TM supersteels

i'm not completely won over, but i have some more work to do before i can really answer this and feel that i've been honest

 

[VtDivot]

Great post YG - excellent feedback. My experience is you won't even be able to go back to the supersteels after you get intimate with the TA1's. Addressing the ball will just start to look wrong to you. Repetitions are the key, keep pounding the TA1's kid!!

 

[Loop]

lol... you're right... I'm totally buzzed...
I meant mp30 instead of mp33...
oops

 

[dave.]

I use Titleist 690s,and they are superb clubs.I tried an Rac LT and couldn't hit it at all.

 

[MyGolfDomain.com]

This is my third season to use 690MB's. I don't have any desire to buy other irons and this has been a bad season for me so far. I played yesterday and had my best 18 hole round this season (74). I am still struggling with the 3 iron on long approach shots, but that is to be expected and why hybrids were made hehe. I have never had a problem with distance control with these irons. They are pretty predictable unless completely missed.

Here is a link to the round from yesterday. There are pictures of the course and even fly fishing pictures after playing.

http://www.mygolfdomain.com/round_view.php?round=729

 

[dave.]

I dropped the 3 iron for a Callaway Heavenwood,although I've kept the 2 iron for off the tee.the Cally is fabulous for out of the rough,hitting high shots to drop dead and also around the green.The 2 iron takes the place of the lob wedge

the 690s are lovely clubs and i haven't any inkling to chop them in either.They fly for miles and have a lovely shot shape to them as well

 

[bdcrowe]

Well...

As ya'll may recall, I've changed back to a flatter/ "One Plane"-type swing. That made my blades too upright. In leue of getting them bent back flatter, I started playing my set of Orlimar sf302 playa's clubs that are flatter.

They turned out to give great feedback, maybe a bit more forgiveness... Anyway, I am shooting lights out with them, so they are still in the bag.

They have all the benefits of a muscleback, with a bit more forgiveness. A nice blend.

 

[Rockford35]

This is a great thread. Mid season update.

Well, i've been hitting my irons alot better as of late. So much so that I've retired the hybrid 3 iron and gone back to the Mp-33 to finish the set. The long irons are getting better and better every round.

Would I buy a new set of blades? Probably. Would it kill me to go to cavity backs again? No way. In fact, if I could hit full on blades for a year and go to cavity back forged blades, I think my irons would be that much more improved.

Positives: Great feel, more consistent "north/south" shotmaking instead of having a little "east/west" in there. They go straight, even if you don't kiss it. And puring one keeps me coming back...

Negatives: Soft heads. The heads get dinged for everyday use. In no way does it affect performance, but it's sorta a bitch considering the price you pay for them. I'm not letting it get me down tho, if they stay at the level I'm hitting them at, I'll keep them in the bag till they rust through.

Overall, i'd give them a 9 out of 10.

R35

 

[dave.]

I've long since stopped being bothered by dings tbh.I just love the crisp feel when you smack a 2 iron,I can forgive the dings for that feeling alone.

I hit a Callaway Fusion thing today,borrowed it off the bloke next to me at the range.Or should I say shanked it.

Once you've got used to minimal offset,they aint anyway back imo.

 

[nsherman2006]

alright, knowing ho is gonna lay it on the line

i have played everything from shovels(Callaway X-16 pros, Mizuno MX-15) to blades(Nike Forged, Mizuno MP33) to slight cavities(Titleist 690cb, Cleveland TA3)

i am a 6 handicap

I have found that the slight cavity backs, specifically the Cleveland TA3's, fit me the best. I like the small head of a blade, which these have, and a bit of forgiveness. Blades penalized distance way too much on mishits, but i liked that i could control distance/trajectory/shot shape with them. Cavities did not have any shotmaking capabilities to them, and while i hit them consistently the correct distance, i would spray shots with them. So i found that the TA3's were a perfect compromise. I just spent quite a bit of time looking for a perfect setup for me

Blades- Pro: Good shot shping capabilities, and allowed a good feel for the ball
Con: Distance penalties on mishits, demand perfection

Shovels- Pro: Good distance on mishits, very forgiving, consistent trajectory
Con: did not allow shot shaping and had poor feel

Muscle-cavities- Pros: Feel, shotshaping ability, more forgiveness than blades
Cons: Not as forgiving as shovels

IMO, unless you are an extremely consistent ball striker, do not go for pure blades. All you need is feedback, which can be had by using slightly more forgiving clubs. However, cavities do not help as much as one may think, as they can be hard to put consistently on line

 

[VtDivot]

Great post NSherm - that about sums it up.


I am happy to see that overall most people are happy with their equipment. As much as I TM300 try to send TM300 NSherman sublimanal TM300 messages about selling me some CB irons, I like Rock am sticking to these Mac blades until there are no grooves left.... well.... at least until TM300 the season is over

 

[Tenminutestolate]

I havn't really Experimented with blades, but We got an old set laying around, and They didn't feel right compared to when i was using my tommy aurmors. I'll have to give them a go in a few weeks here and see If i can feel much of a difference.

I'm using Adams Performance GTs right now.. Once i try out our blades, i'll post and tell everyone what I thought of them.