Do golfers need to be good first to play blades, or do they become good by playing blades?

Question

i tried some real blades awhile ago and loved them, the feel and feed back is great. but people if u hit a bad shot u know! u hit a bad shot, but isn't that a good thing and wouldn't that help you make a more consistent swing?

Answer 1

Your learning curve will go by quicker a very forgiving set of irons. You will also score better when playing. But after you get to a single digit handicap, go to blades learn to play them and score and enjoy even more.

Answer 2

When I first started playing golf (1963) the only type of clubs made were blades.  Not too many people stuck with the game after a couple of frustrating rounds shooting over 120.  But those that did learned to hit the ball using a fundamentally sound repeating swing and became decent golfers (under 10 handicap) if they stuck with it and had time to practice.  

Younger players today start with easier to hit perimeter weighted cast clubs, which promote the "over-the-top" move and correct for some swing flaws.  These people are more likely to stick with the game because they can get the ball airborn and hit more straight shots.  But in the long run they do not have good fundementals, and their swing will not hold up under pressure.

Stick with the forged clubs, you will be a better golfer in the long run and enjoy the game more due to the feedback you get from your clubs.  You will also be able to hit chip and run shots and low knock down shots when needed which are very difficult to pull off with irons that have too much weight away from the sweet spot of the club.  And you will be able to shape shots left to right or right to left which is also almost impossible with perimeter weighted cast clubs.

Answer 3

I believe it does help you become a better ball striker.  I played a set of Mizuno T-Zoid True Blades 6 years ago.  This was after a brand I bought from Walmart when I first started playing.  They stung when I didn't hit them properly whether it was hot or cold.  Once I figured out that I needed to hit the ball, I loved them.  They were a little too stiff for my liking shaft wise.  I've been playing Nike Pro Combo's since 2004 and they're more forgiving(plus I'm partial to Nike).  Mizuno makes great irons and I looked at a set of MP 57's a couple of months ago, but I wasn't in the market for a new set of irons as of yet.  Maybe one day I'll get those Nike forged blades.  What a beautiful set of irons.

Answer 4

you need to be good first unless they are very forgiving blades

Answer 5

You definitely need to be a advanced player to play blades. I your decent i suggest the calloway x-20.

Answer 6

I started playing my first set of blades when I was 18.  I was good enough to play them but looking back its more of an ego thing, most of the time.  If you look on tour i would say 30-40% of the guys play blades, and it may be less than that.  If 60-70% of those guys dont wanna play blades then I know i shouldnt be.  But yes if you are considering playing blades, I would suggest you are a 3 handicap or less otherwise it would not be beneficial to your game.

Answer 7

Blades are unforgiving. But i bought them. for two weeks my scores went up, until i learned to hit them pure. Now i shoot in the 80's everywhere.

Answer 8

Having seen a few answers above, they have already told you the first part of my answer.  My second part is to do with confidence.  Having confidence goes a long way, and if playing with blades gives you confidence, and you're a good enough ball striking skill, then I guess it's your choice.  But if it's me, knowing that I have to hit it on the nail everytime will cause my swing to suffer.

Answer 9

I think it pays off to be good before you start playing blades because they are very unforgiving.  But having said that I love the feedback you get with blades, you can tell more about how you are hitting your shots with blades than you can with cavity back oversized irons that are so popular now.  The only problem I have is that when I dont play a lot and try to play again my irons are so unforgiving that I really struggle, but if you play all the time that wont be a problem.

Answer 10

No question, if you are asking the question, then you really shouldn't be playing blades.  One of the posters wrote previously that if a lot of pros aren't using them, neither should you, and he hit the nail on the head.

From personal experience, I used to have "the dream" that I would soon be playing on the TOUR, I got my handicap down to a 5 and thought to myself, "OK, it's time to upgrade to the blades"  but in hindsight, it was purely an egotistical decision, and a poor one at that.  There is no reason that anyone other than a pro should be using a blade.  It's simply foolish to not take advantage of the technology.  

Johnny Miller once did an illustration of the difference between hitting blade vs. hitting a "cavity back" iron, (so, just saying "cavity back" already tells you this was a few years ago).  He made a circle on the ground about 2-3" in diameter, then he held a ball at eye level and attempted to drop the ball into the circle, describing that this is relative to the difficulty of hitting a blade on the sweet spot.  After that he expanded his circle to 2 ft. in diameter and repeated the same exercise, explaining that this was relative to hitting a "cavity-backed" iron on the sweetspot, obviously much easier.

In summation, don't follow your ego like I did, take advantage of as much technology as you can, and if you surpass Tiger on TOUR and are winning at will and are looking for a new challenge, then I say start looking at purchasing a set of blades.