You CAN hit blades

I've been playing golf seriously now for less than 2 years and went to the Mizuno MP-32's this year on the recommendation of my coach. They are more or less blades, but with the "cut muscle" they give a bit more forgiveness.

Well...

I was just hitting demo irons at lunch and grabbed every decent blade they had. I came down to hitting the MP-37 and the 690MB. Both are pure blades. Mind you, I've been playing for less than 2 years. When I first hit the 37, I was comparing it to the MP-32's that I play now. I was blown away at the difference. A much cleaner feel at impact, for lack of a better term. You can't even feel the ball hit the clubface. Then I hit the 690MB's and I have to say, they were both absolutely incredible. Now I'm thinking of going to one of the two for my next set.

What got me going on this is the common presumption that you have to be a scratch player/expert to hit blades. At least for myself, I don't find this at all to be the case. After hitting a few dozen balls with those two clubs today, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to put either set in my bag.

Any thoughts? Why do people make such a big deal over blades?

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Mike Ryan
Rhinebeck, NY

TaylorMade R5 N, 8.5*
TaylorMade V-Steel, Aldila NV 65 Stiff, 13*
TaylorMade Rescue Mid, 25*
Mizuno MP-32, 4-PW
Cleveland Tour Action 588 Wedge, 52*, 56* & 60*
Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport 2
Nike Tour Accuracy TW

"You can talk to a fade, but a hook won't listen."
- Lee Trevino

I've come to exactly the same conclusion myself. I'm a 14 handicapper and I bought a set of Titleist 690MB's over the summer after playing with Hogan cavity backs before. The difference is sensational! The feel and trajectory of my shots is so much better than before and I don't hit more "bad" shots with the blades than I used to with the cavity backs. I've gained accuracy with my PW, 9 and 8-iron too as I can dial in the distances much more easily than before.

You do need a sound, smooth swing to hit blades that's for sure. I believe cavity backs can partly compensate for problems with basic swing fundamentals which blades cannot (although I'm happy to be corrected if I'm talking ********). I think I've got the fundamentals about right but I'm just not consistent enough....more time on the range for me I think!

Man, I was hitting the 690mb's at the store today - SWEET!!!! Those and the MP-37's was like a knife through warm butter. Absolutely LOVED them. I think I liked the Titleists a little more, but they were both absolutely sensational irons!

I used to to use blades (Wilson something I forgot) as well when I was playing golf seriously and consistently every week. They definitely do feel much nicer and give much more control than standards cavity back clubs. Anyone can hit blades but the word is can they hit it consistent? The key difference is forgiveness. The Blades' sweetspots are generally much smaller so you will see quite a difference in distance when you dont hit it quite in the middle. The cavity back clubs are designed so that pretty much the whole clubface is a sweet spot (a bit of an exaggeration here).

Again, if you are someone who generally has good ball striking (sounds like both of you) so go with a blade if you like the feel (and have the $$). But for people who still struggle to hit it sweetly, go for cavities.

When I stopped playing for a while, I noticed that my ball striking wasnt as good and that made my not so bad shot even worse with blades (and the score ended up worse as well). I eventually got rid of them and bought the the original DCIs and definitely felt how much more forgiving they were. I am currently using the DCI990 but am thinking of using blades again since I am starting to play more seriously again.

I have to agree with Matt,

Be carefull before buying blades, it's one thing hitting a dozen in the shop off a mat, they seem forgiving and with the added confidence when you hit a couple of good ones.

I don't want to put a dampner on blades because in the right hands they are great, but unless you have a h/capp of say 5 or less then I really don't think your ball striking will be up to them.

If possible take a demo the the course, you may find under pressure with not so good lies your confidence and ball striking my not be as good.

Good Luck


Ian.

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Once you learn the swing, your next step is mastering golf psychology................

I bought the TaylorMade RAC MB's a few months ago and I really like them.
I was using a very old(15+ years) set of (small head) cavity backs but felt I wanted some of the that newer technology in my hands.
I dont find that I hit any more bad shots than before, thought perhaps I would be hitting even less with a set of CB's, who knows.
I like the feel and I really like the look of them.
Each to their own I guess, but you really do need to be at a certain level before you go there I think.

Just to add something...

Cavity back forged clubs in my opinion feels pretty much as good as blades while giving slightly more forgiveness as well. I think getting the right forged club with good metal composition can give you that nice blade feeling.

I am thinking of getting the Titlest 690-CB at the moment....

Buy blades.

It will improve your game in every department.

ya i agree.

i am now scoring in the high 70's, so not really yet a handicap 5 and under. However, I got my mp-33 in 2003, when i was playing in the 90s's but dropped back to 100. Back then I sucked pretty bad, so it didn't really matter whether it was cavity or blade. The reason I wanted to get blades because I wanna be better. I didn't want the club to cover my mistakes for me, so i could learn the feeling of both good and bad shots. Once in a while I'll hit couple balls with my friend's cavity clubs when he is arond. I have to admit that cavity clubs really work, in terms of helping ball flight and direction; bad shots turn into good shots. I think which one to get is really a personal choice, if not playing on the tour. If now I am alot better and can compete on the PGA tour, I think I would use forged cavity that could cover mistakes that might apart u from a champion and a runner-up. Cuz at the level it's more emtional as a factor than mechanical when mistakes occur, so any help is good~

So now i'm really using my mp-33 as a training tool. However, one thing i want to warn anyone who would like to do the same. It's tough cuz it truly reveal how bad u are... very dreadly along the way... u just have to be strong to get over the frastruation and devistation. Oh and, the feeling of wanna give up golf doesn't just happen once. It comes back every now and then until u really figure out and understand the swing.

I took infrequent lessons from 2004 til the passing July, which now i am seeing a PGA professional every week since. I've worked very hard on improving my swing from 2003 to now. So really figure it out what is it u want in golf. If u just wanna have fun and whether score in the 70's or 100+ doesn't really matter to u, why make it so hard on urself? If you really wanna ur body to learn a good swing, maybe blades are so bad after all...

the choice is yours.
keep it up!

I disagree.
They will force you to improve your swing but they wont help you.
If you dont improve your swing you are in for a lif of misery.

I never said they would help you I said they would improve you.

They will do this by forcing you to make a better swing on the ball instead of just taking a swipe with a shovel of a club.

It can be quite a balancing act. Before I went to the Hogan Apex Plus irons, I used the cavity back Taylor Made Burner irons. The Hogans are not quite blades but are forged with a blade-like design and little forgiveness. My score has not improved but I feel like my swing has improved to adjust to the smaller sweet spot of the irons. I often wonder if I would score better now with a more forgiving iron.

Just recognize that the penalty for a bad swing is more severe with the blades. I believe Jack Niklaus once said he only hit 3 or 4 really good shots per round at his best. I guess his "off" swings were better than most.

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Mizuno MP-37 Irons
Mizuno F-50 Fairway Wood
Taylor Made 19d Rescue Hybrid
Ping Si3 Driver
Cleveland Tour Action 588 54 Wedge
Titleist Scotty Cameron Putter