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I am very new to the sport, mostly playing on par 3 courses at the moment, but having a lot of fun with it. I have been using some old irons of my dads, but I think it is time to move onto something I can really start improving with.

At first I was attracted to the 'game improvement' clubs (ping g2, taylor made ht's). The more I thought about it, I wasn't sure if they would help me really learn the right swing - after hours and hours at the driving range. Would they to an extent back up bad habits by being so forgiving.

I am not exactly sure what the real definition of a 'blade' (iron) is, if anyone could clear that up. All I know is that they are what more experienced players use for more control over the way they hit the ball.

That seems like the ultimate goal to me. Am I way out of line by thinking about starting out with something like the Ping S59 series of irons? I don't want to improve my game only to a point where I hit a brick wall - and then have to start over with a new approach to the ball.

I would rather put in the struggle up front and progress with real skill.

If the S59's are not the ideal "blade", what else should I look at?

Blades will help you be more consistent and give you feedback as to what you may be doing wrong. Below is a blade. There is no cavity or perimeter weighting to hide mistakes when not hit on the sweet spot. Because there is more mass behind the sweet spot on a blade, an experienced golfer can work the ball more readily.

Remember, until PING came along, all irons were blades and everyone learned on a blade. I played with blades since I was 6 - 28 years - and just recently bought my new irons just to try something different. But I kept my blades and will still play them, too.

I've hit the S59 and they felt great, I just did not like the appearance of the club. The are supposed to be a great blade style iron.

Since that was your first post, welcome to Golf Rewind.

thanks drstroud. I looked online for days trying to find a good golf forum, and was happy to come across this one finally.

changing the topic just a bit (since obviously starting with blades *is* an option), I have been looking at www.pinemeadowgolf.com - a "clone" golf club maker.

Maybe their stuff is poor quality, maybe not. They certainly offer a lot of convincing information on their site as to what they do and how they do it.

You can get great looking iron sets from them modeled after the big boys...for 150-250 bucks. Just wondering if that would be a bad way to go. Especially if I went with blades, maybe found them too frustrating. It wouldn't be a huge loss.

They have these called 'game improvement blades'

http://www.pinemeadowgolf.com/golf-c...s/irons.i3160a

as well as these

http://www.pinemeadowgolf.com/golf-c.../irons.i3131-2

neither seem to be as 'pure' a blade as the S59. And I'm sure the quality of the set is sub par, so to speak. Typically you get what you pay for...but maybe pinemeadow is an exception?

Wes - this has been debated on the golf forums ever since the dawn of the internet. Some feel that blade (less forgiving) designs will impart a good swing, and others feel that you're just as well off with a decent cavity back design.

My thoughts are to choose a nice cavity back design that isn't going to kill you, and will still produce great shots, and you can grow into. there are many PGA tour players who play cavity backs with no problems.

My thought pattern is to choose a club without a lot of offset. I think that too much offset compensates for a swing, and is not a good thing in the long run. I would look for a moderate offset club like Cleveland TA7 Tour, Ping I3+ "blade", Mizuno MX-23, Hogan Apex Edge Pro, TaylorMade RAC HT (or LT), or many of the other fine used and new clubs out there.

Getting a good quality set of irons without a lot of offset will allow you to grow into them easily. I know some folks that have 10-year old Ping Eye2's, or other clubs like that, all they do is change the shafts as their swing improves and their swingspeed gets faster. Demo several irons, and you'll find some you like.

I thought that the RAC HT was supposed to be the epitome of 'easy to hit long and straight' - or, taken another way - there isn't as much room to grow with that set of irons.

When you talk about offset - you mean 'perimeter weighting'?

i got blades for you...check the for sale section of this site, and you will find some Mizuno MP-14s for sale

Golf is difficult enough to learn. Get something game improvement. Half the tour pros use game improvement clubs.

brianf

Some clubs are easier to play than others, especially for a beginner, but no club will make up for a really bad swing. I suggest you get with a good pro for a few lessons and get his feedback on clubs that will help you based on where you are and where you want to go. Best of luck to you.
Jerry

Several tour players do not even play blades. as a beginner i highly doubt that you are worried about working the ball with your irons. so why get irons that are harder to hit when they do the same thing as irons that are easy to hit? i would recommend something like RAC OS2, RAC LT2 or titleist 704.cb. As others have said, get some lessons and then when you are ready to work the ball with your irons (which i can say with some confidence, will not be for a while, i have been playing for several years and only work the ball with my woods) then get blades.

cool. well that being said perhaps I will just stick with my dad's clubs for a while, or maybe move into a game improvement club.

I don't want to get anything too 'forgiving', as i have read other threads and reviews saying it can make for some bad habits.

when you talk about several tour players not playing blades - are there any disadvantages or different styles of play in place there?

or it just means that with the right skill and confidence, any good club can work for a good player?

No matter what kind of club you have, a bad swing will still not result in a good shot. I have a pretty up to date driver, and still managed to hit it into the woods twice yesterday.

I'd go game improvement. There are a lot of pros who play Cavity backed irons, including Phil Mickelson (and anyone else who plays Callaway).

This is the debate that will not go away. It is the chicken or egg thing. Everybody so far has made a good point. Except for one….and that is how disciplined are you and do you know today that you will stick with the game. If the answer is yes to both get the blades. Like drstroud stated all clubs at one time were blades. The debate is that blades are harder to hit…and that is the truth….and if a new golfer finds his clubs harder to hit he is more likely to give up the game. So the theory goes the new golfer should get “game improvement” clubs. They are clubs that are cavity back with a lot of offset and a thick top line. They are easier to hit and help the golfer get the ball in the air. The draw back is when you make a mistake the club tends to fix it for you and you don’t realize you did something wrong…..unless it is way wrong….and you ingrain bad swing habits. Blades on the other hand well let you know when you mess up just a little bit. The trick with blades is to know how to fix the problem once you recognize you have one……..that is the real reason you hear that experienced players play blades. Not because they have a prefect swing but because they know how to fix their swing from the feed back they receive from blades.

Blades tend to cost more because they are usually forged. Game improvement clubs are usually cast and are cheaper to make. Not that they are cheap clubs….some game improvement clubs will cost more than blades….such as Callaway’s. The school of thought for blades and the beginner says that if you’re disciplined and can make up your mind now that you will stick with the game, get help with your swing…i.e. lessons….you will save money in the long run by getting blades. Most people progress to blades after they go through several sets of game improvement clubs as they get better they get clubs that are less improvement. Blades can last forever too. Forged-R-Best has been playing his blades for about 30 years.

While we are on the topic of blades, Scott how do you like your 690.mbs?

I love them....of course everybody says that about their clubs. They are much easier to hit than I though they would be. They have a lower ball flight....but that is to be expected with blades.....but they are easy to hit high if you need to. I would compare them to the Mizuno MP-33 but the 33's are just a little bit heavier and hence feel different. Most MP-33 players will tell you that Mizuno forgedings are best feeling out there but all I have noticed is that they are just a little heavier which will translate into feel but the 33 are no softer then the 690’s IMO.

The 690 are a little larger then the Nike blade or the Titleist 670 and 680 blades. The feed back is great. Off center shot are not penalized in distance but you will not hit where you aiming. I figured when I got them I would either slice or hook an off center shot. That is not the case with the 690's. Off center shots result in a straight push or pull. If I hook or slice....usually a hook in my case....it is because my swing path not where I hit the ball on the club face.