Are BLADES Really That UNFORGIVING? - MythBusters
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2024
- It's widely believed that blades are only suitable for highly skilled players as they're very unforgiving when it comes to mishits. Simon puts this belief to the test to determine if it's myth or fact.
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Simon, this is as I had hoped! When I first met you (way back) it was as a result of my search for a set of Miura’s - given I’m now several sets of almost the same head down the line my observation is that blades have forced me to seek a better way of striking the ball and if you haven’t tried them, my advice is to buy a set and seek to do the same!
Thanks DB 😎👌🏼👍🏻
I've got blades from the 7i thru wedges. Loft is part of forgiveness as well. That's good info about blades being worse on toe strikes and the feeling of a mishit vs. the actual performance dropoff. I did putter testing with an old school 8802 blade vs. perimeter weighted and high MOI clubs and I concluded the performance was nearly the same but the feeling of a mishit was very different.
Now that is a bit of golf porn right there!! The dilemma is whether you can deal with feeling the miss hit as no matter what head it comes up short (albeit more with a blade) but if you don’t notice it you’re not as concerned by it!
Have switched between CB, Blades and Power Bats over the last 6 years. Currently switch between MP20 and i530’s having used Titelist 716 MB/CB combo. Now only use irons from 6-9i then move into wedges. Interestingly my miss is typically heel side. Found while the stronger more forgiving irons go further my GIR stats have changed very little with either Blades or more forgiving clubs. Played a season with the Mizuno HMB but found that the dispersion front to back was not as consistent and prone to getting a low spin knuckle ball especially off a low tee. Less of an issue with the i530’s which I have found to be very stable and consistent once you get past the “feel” thing.
Everything you say is spot on. The i530 are a good head for performance but not as much feel
You said going from the blade to the T100 is a noticeable improvement on "forgiveness" but not massive, more of a feel thing. What about between the blade and the T150? Would you then see a more significant amount of help, beyond just the loft difference?
Yes - the T150 has the channel behind the face from 7i upwards but the lifts are 2 degrees stronger too so that makes a difference too
great dilemma, i use blades but my mental game is shit so im basically trying to fix my swing after every minor mishit that ended up 7-10 yards short. maybe i need to switch to something more forgiving to give me the confidence of good strikes. at the end the mental aspect of the sport is the most difficult to master(for me).
Totally hear you. Blades require you to accept the miss hit comes up short so the more forgiving head should mean you aren’t so hard on yourself but you don’t need to change head style too much to see a difference!
What a great video. Super informative, let alone impressive ball striking skills. Thanks Simon. 🙏🏻
Many thanks Nick
Those first were center strikes? Weren’t they 8mm and 15mm towards the heel each? Your toe strikes with the blade were more center than your center strikes??
The sweet spot in a blade is actually slightly heel side of centre which is why the strike point from the absolute centre of the club head is actually a slight toe miss
@@Precision_Golf Makes perfect sense…I guess we know now why I prefer blades…I tend to hit a little heely…
I have spent years looking for what works best for me. I get a few eye rolls bcuz I'm a 24 hcp and I use Titleist 714mb. I've been through plenty of GI and SGI with different shaft weights and flexes, and these strike best for me. A fat toe miss is the worst distance killer, but I don't see much difference between being maybe 10 yd short with SGi/GI vs 10/20 yd short with a blade, I'm still short and my next shot seems to have the same chance of getting on. I finally went for an iron fitting in 2022 and they reccomended that I stick with what I have, mostly bcuz of spin and angle of descent.
Some players truly are better with less forgiving heads as it can help get feedback and dial in strike. If you enjoy using them and can handle a little extra distance drop then stick with them!
Are the lofts the same? How does the lead tape on the blade impact it? But feeling the off center hit with blade but similar performance would lead me to like the blade. Plus you know your misses
Great point and thoughts. I'd also highly recommend you to try out blades.
Speaking of 620 MBs and T100s there is a 1° difference in lofts between the PWs to 6 irons. The 5 irons, of both sets, have the same loft, of 27°.
I'd say the lead tape is more of a feel, in terms of e.g. swing weight, rather than actual outcome of performance. In theory lead tape obviously could help to hit further, straighter, pulling back CG, highering/lowering the trajectory and spin. But 1 gram lead tape isn't really equivalent to tungsten, and is only marginal in a test like this clip above.
Same lofts - the lead tape purely is for swingweighting and makes no difference to performance other than swing timing. If you want maximum feel then blades are the way to go- but maybe go more forgiving in the long irons!!
@@Precision_Golf There's a few Titleist players on tour playing blades from 7-9 and something like a T100 or T150 up to 3 iron and then T200 as their driving iron...and vokeys for all their wedges.
I have watched more than a few fitting videos that talk about planning the gapping based on ball speed. Each club gap needs to be about 5 mph in ball speed. So when you start moving through the set of blades and you stop getting a 5 mph gap, that's the boundary to switch to the more forgiving club.
Great comparison.I do think though Blades are dead for all but the very best Ball Strikers.
Thank you!
How do you feel about 58 vs 60 degree lob wedges Simon? 60s are in almost every PGA pro bag, 58 in most LPGA bags. If you're only using it as a short game club and don't hit full shots, does those two extra degrees make a big difference for versatility for better players? Is it different between american and european courses?
Potentially that is about gapping. PGA most players using PW at 48 degrees. Making wedge setup at 52; 56; 60. LPGA all but the bigger hitters using slightly stronger lofts with PW at c.45 degrees leaving wedge gapping at 50; 54; 58…….
I think so - the extra loft from thicker rough around the greens that you see in the US means shorter shots are easier with less manipulation so for PGA tour makes sense. Players who are better at taking distance off might err to a stronger loft (58) but for accuracy from short yardages higher loft allows you to be more positive with the swing
Great review Simon. Blades are great for training
Thanks!
My very first set of golf clubs was a set of Wilson "progressives" where the 3 iron was a cavity and the 9 iron was a blade. I formed a completely inverted mindset of "cavity - hard to hit" .... "blade - easy to hit" .....have stayed with them ever since. Couldn't live without the feedback.
Hey Turtle! 🐢 😁 Thanks for watching and hope to catch up soon
Tried cavities but hate the top line. I'm mid handicap but have a few sets of blades ranging from Hogan red lines from 1970's thru to srixon pro 100 but play my Titleist ZM-B as my main clubs.
Won't swap any of them for any modern irons
Blades have not really changed - they only change when a brand tries to make a “forgiving” blade and then they screw up the design as it loses what a blade is meant to be. If you like the feedback from a blades strike and can accept a little less margin for error then it will be very hard to move away from them!
Very interesting. It looks like you've got a piece of lead tape high across the back of the blade. How would that have affected forgiveness?
By the way, I'm really looking forward to getting my new irons from you after last week's fitting with Tom. 😁
No affect at all, just for fine tuning swingweight. Thanks so much for watching and for coming in!
I use Miura TC-201s. They look like blades at address but have a surprising amount of forgiveness if you slightly miss hit them. But make no mistake they are very short heal to toe so you have to be on your game.
Lovely heads!!
I have them in Accra TZ115i shafts trimmed to S+. I’m very lucky to have such nice clubs, I’m thankful for them every round I play.
Would like to have seen 'thin' strikes as well, since that is one of the most common mis-strikes for the average golfer.
Noted for future tests!
Went from the 2019 titlest 100 to the 350. Yep I hit 9 iron 150 somewhere. Have lost the control with the bigger stronger lofted clubs.
And that’s the issue. The T150 might have been the better option for more performance but not making them bombers!!
Your timing is ironic having just got back from visiting grandkids. My son has my Nike VR Pro Combo set with S300 shafts in them. Never fails, I pure them every time I touch them. Bought a ZX5 and ZX7 Combo and strike the ZX7’s better in my opinion. Around here fitters will look at your handicap instead of what suits you IMO. Love what you guys do. Take care. My best, NWH
Thanks Mr Warhound! Got to understand the player and work to that rather than just handicap!
The thin soles on blades are better for my delivery. I also have gapping issues with distance irons.
T100 isn't a distance iron. T150 and up are stronger lofted....T100 is traditionally lofted - just a little more forgiving due to the tungsten weighting heel and toe.
If you have a shallower delivery then the wide soled irons can be a little clumsy
@@Precision_Golf There isn't a lot of difference in the sole width between a blade and a T100 (or even a T150 really). The more "players distance" you get and going into GI irons then the sole width might become an issue for certain swing paths dependent on how well players know where the bottom of their swing is and what their normal divot pattern looks like.
After playing MP33 blades for over 20 years, I got into Titleist 620CB's thinking that something more forgiving would work better for me. After two months, I'm going back to blades and getting a set of 620MB's.
Even the small shift in CG does make a difference but not always a good one!
We usually play for money.
For over forty years we’ve played for money, friendly money. A big win in a foursome gets $60, usually 2 foursomes so as much as $140 is on the line. A big loss therefore could be as much as $200.
Not BIG money but it hurts to lose.
Started playing in 1970 with hand-me-down Hogan Apex irons and played Nicklaus Muirfields in the ‘80s, Wilson Staff, the Mizuno Blades that Tiger (MP 32, was it?) used in the late 90’s. We sneered at Ping Eye2 players back then.
So I played blades all my life. Won some, lost some.
Two years ago I hung up my NS 950 stiff shafted MP blades and found a set of Ping Rapture J2’s with 60 gram SR graphite shafts.
(J2- not so much offset.)
I haven’t lost a single dime in two years.
My 175 carry with my Muirfield 5i, DG S400 S shafted 27degree club forty years ago is 155 with the soft 25* Raptures but in the last two years I’ve won enough in our weekly games to buy a full set of clubs.
Truthfully it took me a while to get over the embarrassment of such fat ugly clubs in my bag.
I still have my Nicklaus VIP’s that were used by Greg Norman. The dime sized wear marks on the faces are impressive but I sure can’t hit them anymore.
Blades are beautiful and great. So is money.
If you’re young and a reasonable ball striker, go with the blades and hone your swing. Hitting it all over the face and getting good results doesn’t develop respect for a pure strike. You’ll thank yourself when you reach 70, like me.
PenguinGolf
There is a place for all head styles! Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Won’t this be different for slower swing speeds.?😊
Forgiveness no but other heads will give more ball speed
@@Precision_Golfthen why not simply bend them to stronger lofts? Or buy a 4-pw rather than a 5-a wedge?
When you miss hit a blade in winter do your hands still hurt for a few holes 🤷♂️😂
You bet it does!!
I've got a set of titles blades from 1979. If anyone has any doubt as to whether blades are forgiving, please let me know and we can watch you try to hit a 2 iron with a sweet spot the size if a dime.
A 2 iron blade is certainly a tough ask!
Fitters shrug their shoulders whenever you ask to be fitted for blades, ask your handicap, then go on about how tour players aren't even using them. Shaft choice is really important. Iron shafts don't droop as much with blades as in tungsten filled heads as there's no weight in the toe, so for example, a 620Mb on a KBS tour goes left, and a T100 on a KBS Tour goes straight. Same loft and lie.
It really does affect strike point and some players really do find strike better with a less forgiving head but you also have to find out what someone plays for - that feedback of a centred strike is addictive!!
This needs to said.
Thanks for watching!
Timely, as im replacing a set of Bridgestone J33 with either the JPX923 Tour, Srixon ZX7 or Titleist 620 irons@@Precision_Golf
Yes. Next 😂😂
Thanks for watching it though!
@@Precision_GolfI had a fitting last year and tried Titliest 630 blades and the strikes off the centre were absolutely amazing! Like butter! Just incredibly soft off the face. However my misshits with the blades were really quite unforgiving to the tune of 50-60 yard difference between the good and bad strikes. but yeah, the good strikes were just amazing! However I settled for the T150’s in the end 😊
@@boswellwhanau sounds like a good decision. Golf ultimately is about how good your misses are!!
are you a professional golfer
If you mean am I a professional player then no. If you mean regarding playing blades there are plenty of amateurs who actually strike a less forgiving head better than a head with heavy tungsten weights in heel and toe, however we would not recommend them for many players!
im an amature i play mizuno mp18 blades love them beutifull clubs cudnt hit a chunky club make me sick lol@@Precision_Golf
Yet again grest video do you play with blades?
Thank you! I do and have done for 30 years. I enjoy the process of ball striking and find that satisfaction of strike something that I really enjoy and play for and can give up some forgiveness to get that feedback. Maybe why I didn’t earn much money playing though!!
Another golf youtuber (Askgolfnut) have more or same forgiveness test on most of clubs.
It is player dependent and if you are a very good ball striker then it makes little difference!
It’s the golfer not the club,
learn to forgive yourself,
You think you can, but NO
Your comment about learning to forgive yourself is a great phrase for all golfers no matter what standard!