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Forum Thread of the Day: “Why play a split set with blades? And why are we drawn to blades??”

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4 years ago

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Today’s Forum Thread of the Day comes from mxkier who currently plays, and adores, his Apex Pro 19s but has an attraction to blades. Anxious about the forgiveness of blades from the low end of the bag, mxkier wants to split his bag by using them from 5-PW. Our members have been discussing the idea of playing a split set in our forums.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

  • smithy23: “The split set is a happy compromise and a bit more confidence-inspiring. I have two sets Mizuno jpx 900 tours and Nike vapor pro blades. I’m an 11 HCP so arguably not low enough to play blades but personal preference whatever etc. (another argument that one). If you love the way the blades look at address and strike it well get them, and just play your Apex pros in 4/5/6 etc. for the known feel distance etc. and then your blades in the rest. It’s what I do play 6 upwards in blades on the nikes and use cobra utility 4 iron and Mizuno 5iron. When I really start to get off things I go back to full mizzy bag. Split set is a great way to go, why do tour pros do it ?? cos its a good fit.”
  • WristySwing: “As to the question why, here it is. Blades are typically easier to shape shots with due to their weight distributions being more neutrally biased as opposed to the extremes of the perimeters. They also typically have higher CoGs, meaning they will flight the ball a bit lower, which is what most better players are after since they create enough height and lift due to their ball speed naturally. Lastly, there is no pro or con to playing a blade if you are good enough (solid, mid-low single-digit player at a decent course, not some dinky goat track that you can play with your eyes closed) apart from what I have outlined. I have hit fliers with blades just as well as I have with GI irons; fliers are caused by a significant reduction in spin due to a lack of efficient contact with face and ball. Rarely, if ever, is a flier caused by a “low spin” face…it just means the loft and/or ball aren’t fit to you properly.”
  • BCULAW: “I gravitate towards blades because of feel. Mind you; it isn’t not so much the feel of the strike – there are plenty of CBS that feel outstanding on contact. Rather, for me, there is a distinct feel of a thin-sole iron through the turf that a thinner sole iron cannot replicate. Without that “feel” of turf interaction, contact doesn’t feel solid to me. As a result, I want the thinner soles, which usually are found on blades. I generally don’t put much but stock in “forgiveness,” but I expect there will be a time when I will struggle to elevate blades to an appropriate trajectory. I’m not there yet, so I play a full set of MBs. The search will be an interesting one for me when the day arrives when I need help. At the end of the day, a lot of us don’t play for scores. And, even if we did, there’s plenty that will score as well, or better, playing blades for precision as opposed to something else for other reasons (distance, forgiveness, etc. ). Play what will provide you the most joy.”
  • Cptwiggly: “To me, the benefit comes with how the club goes through the turf. I grew up with Hogan and Mizuno’s in my bag. I don’t know if I was always steep or I became steep because I was hitting blades. Regardless, that’s where I am now. As I move to longer irons, I become less steep, and the wider soles become less of an issue. I tried to go more forgiving this year and put z585s in my bag. Even with the v sole, I can still don’t like the short irons, and I feel like I am a club short sometimes. When I get through the turf really clean, I’m 15 yards past the pin. Some of that comes from low spin fliers, but it makes it really hard to feel comfortable with my yardage. I just ordered a set of Z Forged with the same Modus 105s I have in my 585s. I’ll probably keep my 585 4 and 5 iron and go z forged down. I’ll have to adjust the lofts a little of course on the 585s, but I’m looking forward to going back to blades.”
  • Cachualo: “I have been playing blades for a bit, and my hcp does not support it…I love the feel of the good shots but recognize the lack of forgiveness in the longer irons especially. I am intrigued by the idea of a split set but haven’t moved that direction yet, hit the MP20 MMC the other day thinking it would be a night and day difference in forgiveness, but I did not feel the 7i was any easier to hit than my MP32s. I probably am leaving some shots on the table by playing a full blade set but with the amount of golf I play (not a ton) I can live with it.”

Entire Thread: “Why play a split set with blades? And why are we drawn to blades??”

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Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at [email protected].

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Streelman WITB 2024 (April)

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6 hours ago

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Apr 29, 2024

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  • Kevin Streelman what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.

Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X

3-wood: Titleist TSR3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X

5-wood: Ping G (17.5 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 10 X

Irons: Wilson Staff Model CB (4-9)
Shafts: Project X 6.5

Wedges: Wilson Staff Model (48-08, 54-08), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks (58-L @59)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (48), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (54, 58)

Putter: Scotty Cameron TourType SSS TG6

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Check out more in-hand photos of Kevin Streelman’s clubs here.

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Equipment

Choose Your Driver: Which 2012 driver was your favorite?

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7 hours ago

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Apr 29, 2024

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The year was 2012. Gangnam Style ruled supreme, its infectious beats and ludicrous horse-riding dance moves hypnotizing us with their stupidity. Everyone was talking about the Mayan calendar, convinced that the end of days was near. Superheroes soared on the silver screen, with the Avengers assembling in epic fashion. Katniss Everdeen survived The Hunger Games. And the memes! The memes abounded. Grumpy Cat triumphed. We kept calm and carried on.

In much the same way that automotive enthusiasts love classic cars, we at GolfWRX love taking a backward glance at some of the iconic designs of years past. Heck, we love taking iconic designs to the tee box in the present!

In that spirit, GolfWRX has been running a series inspired by arguably the greatest fighting game franchise of all time: Mortal Kombat. It’s not “choose your fighter” but rather “choose your driver.”

Check out some of the standout combatants of 2012 below.

 

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Nike VRS

Often harshly critiqued during its years releasing golf equipment (right, Phil Mickelson?), Nike’s tenure in the club-and-ball business gets a gloss of nostalgic varnish, with many of its iron and putter designs continuing to attract admirers. Among the company’s driver offerings, the 2012 VRS — or VR_S, if you will — drew high marks for its shaping and toned-down appearance. The multi-thickness, NexCOR face was no joke either.

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

Callaway RAZR Fit

Callaway’s first foray into moveable weight technology (married with its OptiFit hosel) did not disappoint. With a carbon fiber crown, aerodynamic attention to detail, and variable and hyperbolic face technologies, this club foreshadowed the tech-loaded, “story in every surface” Callaway drivers of the present, AI-informed design age.

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

Cleveland Classic 310

Truly a design that came out of left field. Cleveland said, “Give me a persimmon driver, but make it titanium…in 460cc.” Our 2012 reviewer, JokerUsn wrote, “I don’t need to elaborate on all the aesthetics of this club. You’ve seen tons of pics. You’ve all probably seen a bunch in the store and held them up close and gotten drool on them. From a playing perspective, the color is not distracting. It’s dark enough to stay unobtrusive in bright sunlight…Even my playing partners, who aren’t into clubs at all…commented on it saying it looks cool.” Long live!

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

Titleist 910

While there’s no disputing Titleist’s “Titleist Speed” era of drivers perform better than its 2010s offerings, sentimentality abounds, and there was something classically Titleist about these clubs, right down to the alignment aid, and the look is somewhere between 983 times and the present TS age. Representing a resurgence after a disappointing stretch of offerings (907, 909), The 910D2 was a fairly broadly appealing driver with its classic look at address and classic Titleist face shape.

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

TaylorMade RocketBallz

The white crown. The name. You either loved ‘em or you hated ‘em. TaylorMade’s 2012 offering from its RocketBallz Period boasted speed-enhancing aerodynamics and an Inverted Cone Technology in the club’s titanium face. Technology aside, it’s impossible to overstate what a departure from the norm a white-headed driver was in the world of golf equipment.

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

Ping i20

Long a quietly assertive player in the driver space, Ping’s i20 was more broadly appealing than the G20, despite being a lower-launch, lower-spin club. Ping drivers didn’t always have looks that golfer’s considered traditional or classic, but the i20 driver bucked that trend. Combining the classic look with Ping’s engineering created a driver that better players really gravitated toward. The i20 offered players lower launch and lower spin for more penetrating ball flight while the rear 20g tungsten weights kept the head stable. Sound and feel were great also, being one of the more muted driver sounds Ping had created up to that time.

Check out our coverage from 2012 here.

GolfWRXers, let us know in the comments who “your fighter” is and why!

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Equipment

Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (4/29/24): Krank Formula Fire driver with AutoFlex SF505 shaft

Published

11 hours ago

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Apr 29, 2024

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At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a Krank Formula fire driver with AutoFlex SF505 shaft.

From the seller: (@well01): “Krank formula fire 10.5 degree with AUtoflex SF505.  $560 shipped.”

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Krank Formula Fire driver with AutoFlex SF505 shaft

This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules

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