Anyone use a Blade (6 iron) to hone ball striking/accuracy
Does anyone use a blade (say 6i) as a practice club to really hone their striking accuracy? I was thinking of trying this as when you hit a blade badly you know about it, and using that to refine my swing/tempo etc.
As a junior I always used to hit blades and never had any real issues with ball striking. I have only just started playing regularly again over the last 4 months and changed to cavity backs earlier this year but my iron striking doesnt seem to be where it used to be. I am wondering whether because of this forgiveness I am finding it hard to tell what was a bad shot and what wasnt?
I got a mp 33 6 iron about 6 months ago for range work and I have improved tremendously...I have also been working hard on my swing, flexibility and have taken a few lessons as well...who can tell if it helps, but if nothing else it saves the wear on my set...it can't hurt...
I would agree with all of the above statements. I recently purchased a set of Wilson Staff blades for 20 bucks. Just get a set and try them out. I think that you are on the right track, blades are the ultimate game improvement clubs.
I got a new looking set of left handed Wilson Sam Snead blades. I need to get them reshafted and regripped (to midsize grips), but then I plan on using them.
On another note if you are using these purely for better striking you may want to get em extended so they are the length of now a days irons. I do feel these help though. I have pulled out an old set of blades I have occasionally when my game goes sour, truely does work.
get the loft/lie checked too. with forged blades, it's really easy to adjust.
i'm a big supporter of custom fittings, and if you're using something that is on the opposite end of the spectrum from "forgiving," it would be a good idea for it to be calibrated properly.
I have a collection of all sorts of 6, 7 irons that I picked up from from 'used-bins' at pro-shops. I bought them to study the effects of using different style clubs, for fun, and to practice (so that I won't put excessive wear and tear on my complete set). And yes, I end up practicing with an old Titleist blade a lot, and also with a Natural Golf club that is not a blade but has a lot of mass behind the point of impact. The reason for practicing with these is the very 'satisfying' feel on solid hits, and the workability with these clubs. If it improves ball-striking, that would be a nice side-effect!
I read this a lot here at the forums and don't really understand it. I really don't see how you can become a better ball striker by using a blade rather than cavity back.
Its true that with a blade, it's a little (very little) easier to tell where you made contact with the ball on the face, but really, it's also easy to tell with cavity backs.
I mean, truthfully, how many people do you know that are above about a 5 handicap that can honestly tell you that if they make a swing, hit the ball out on the toe/heel/etc, and know exactly why they did it and can correct it in the next swing? Few and far between.
If your swing is flawed, it's flawed. If you can't hit your cavity backs well, changing to a blade wont do much except make you mad, since you'll probably hit them even worse than your cavity backs. Simply switching to a blade, doesn't teach you to hit the center of the clubface.
Simply switching to a blade, doesn't teach you to hit the center of the clubface.
I know its not that simple.
Its not a case of not being able to hit the cavity backs, what I mean is that they let you get away with a lot more. A bad shot may still find the green, even get close for a birdie. You may walk off with a good score, even win the competition striking the ball badly. You dont have to work as hard on the range fine tuning your swing/ball striking, possibly even getting a little lazy?
When I was younger (17-23) I played Titleist Tour Model blades, I spent a lot of time on the range hitting balls and learnt how to hit them well, I thought my hcp then was 13 but after watching an old lesson video and heard myself say that I was 11.3. At the time shortgame and putting was rubbish. I am now a 10.5 with a semi decent shortgame/putting but rubbish iron striking .
My goal for next year is to get into single figures. I know I can do it, I just need to improve my iron stiking. I was just wondering (before spending any money) if anyone had given this a go and if they had found it helped.
I managed to pick up an Ben Hogan Apex 5 iron last night in excellent condition for £5, even looking at it makes me want to hit balls. so I will give it a go at the weekend.
One thing about blades is they don't play the game for you...I think it a great idea to keep a blade for range work....it will force you to make a good swing...over the top casting is never going to yield even a remotely decent shot with a blade.....I was a 12-14 handicap when i got the 32's since then i have really had to check all the positions of the club throughout my golf swing to hit the ball correctly...now i play a tight littl draw with the 32's and i can hit them low or high....you are wrong as a 12 handicap when i first hit the 32's i could tell where i was hitting the ball... Off the toe....i couldn't tell that with my cavity's....same thing with a buddy of mine....he got down to scratch with a set of tommy armour 945's....but he always hit a huge draw with every club...he recently purchased the mp 33's and all of a sudden he has problems shooting 80.....blade will not allow him to make the same ****** swing and get good results....it's very frustrating for him right now but when he puts a good swing on it he knows that it's going to improve his ball striking...
do i think everyone needs blades...no some of the other just minimal CB's are good too...like the mizuno 60's or the 795 cb's, or cg2's, and even the nike forged combo set is nice.......but the slingshot oss, or most any callaway irons....it's too much, why not just pay someone to hit the shot for you, you obviously don't want to learn how it's supposed to be done........
I've just swithced from the BIgBertha Callaways to a new set of MP32's. Have yet to play on the course (this weekend) and expect it may well open my eyes. The BB were very offset and forgiving. From the grass/range so far the Mizuno's when hit well feel effortless and will almost certainly improve me as a player, but as a guy who tends to hit on the heelside of the sweetspot i'm expecting a few hozel rockets or poor results to begin with.
I've just got to the 14ish handicap where iron striking is my strongest facet and thought that these new clubs may help (with lots of practice) to take me up a level. They are also lovely looking clubs to boot compared to the massively chunky Callaways
....it will force you to make a good swing...over the top casting is never going to yield even a remotely decent shot with a blade.....I was a 12-14 handicap when i got the 32's since then i have really had to check all the positions of the club throughout my golf swing to hit the ball correctly
Thats what I was thinking, if it forces me getting back into these correct positions rather than being a little slack, it should help me on the course in hitting my BH-5s better.
Although I would like to hit blades again, I am not going to rush out and buy some. If next season also goes well and I do make it into single figures then maybe the following year I will be able to go back to my Titleist 990s?
October 31st, 2006, 05:35 AM
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so I will give it a go at the weekend.
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