MB Irons Skill Level?

scotts33 · 2019-03-24T13:59:38+00:00

Who is playing muscle back irons whether Prophet MB's or another model. What is your skill level (low, mid, or high hdcp.) and your opinion on who should be...

scotts33

BTW, the more I experimented with smaller heads I kept comparing them to larger what I would term mid-size cavity back heads Wishon 771CSI and Alpha C2 Fly Forged. Hit the C2 Fly Forged 5i 25 deg. and 7i 33 deg. in my Minimalist set on UST Recoil 660 F2. They compare to the 771's much like and as or more forgiving. The 771's are nice but the C2 Fly Forged are even nicer and even more sweet. ☺

sdandrea1

scotts33

HEY! This is a muscle back thread! 😉

scotts33

sdandrea1 HEY! This is a muscle back thread! 😉

Basically it's skill level thread or that is what I meant it to be. For me I have found thru enough trial and error and experimentation I believe muscle back blades with SMALLER HEADS do make a player concentrate and hit the center of the face more. Do I think a player of my skill level at a senior age where I have lost mid-iron swing speed should play this type of iron design? Probably no. IMO it takes a decent skill level player with above 78 mph mid-iron SS and a later release to use MB blades.....that's not me. But it is for others seniors and good rec. players. I get your point Steve. 😉

sdandrea1

scotts33 Do I think a player of my skill level at a senior age where I have lost mid-iron swing speed should play this type of iron design? Probably no. IMO it takes a decent skill level player with above 78 mph mid-iron SS and a later release to use MB blades.....that's not me.

I don't know my SS with mid irons, but I do know I can't launch a 5 iron very high. I'm attracted to shiny forged heads, and especially attracted to MBs. I can hit the MBs high from 7i down. The Maltby Tricept is a nice larger version.

sdandrea1

I broke 80 today (79) with my Maltby Tricept irons. Pretty large head for a muscle back iron and are pretty easy to hit. This was my best round with them to date. 6i was the longest iron I hit today. Lots of 7, 8, 9, W shots. The 5i is the longest iron in my bag, so I'm in the easier to hit area, but they are blades. Me likey.

Tomcox

I am currently using Titleist 714 mb and my hcp is usually between 18 to 20. I have been all over the map with the club styles that I have used and it wasn't until I tried a friends 1976 Titleist bullet back blade 1 iron, that felt sooo awesome, that I bought some blades to try out. I have struggled with the whole concept of "high handicappers can't hit blades". This baffles me as I don't think that having a high hcp tells the whole story. I can hit what I feel like are some nice clean ball strikes with these blades. If I hit one thin it can come up a little short or sometimes roll through the green. If I hit one fat it comes up about 10-20 yards short. If I hit it on the toe then it's about the same as a fat shot. If I do all of these things with a cavity back I end up with the same results. Maybe there are a few yards of difference but not enough to matter because I'm still not on the green. My handicap is generally higher because I have several 3 putts, a few bladed chip shots, a few flubbed chip shots, several bad pitch shots, a few bad drives, etc. These are things that happen weather I use blades or cavity backs or super game improvement irons. This week I decided to stop switching clubs and stick with the blades. Time will tell.

Tinker

The whole cavity back forgiveness thing is greatly exaggerated. The truth is that years ago manufacturers decided casting steel clubs was way cheaper and more profitable than forging and plating. Add the fact the forging process required skilled craftsman. They needed a marketing pitch to justify a product of inferior materials so they went all in on the perimeter weighting concept. There are advantages for novice golfers with super low center of gravity and large toe weighted clubs but a miss hit is still a miss hit. 10 or 15 yards short makes little difference. Inability to square a large head with a heavy toe causes as many miss hits as any other iron feature.

sdandrea1

Tinker

Agree. I've tried them all and I can't really tell the diff. A bad swing yields a bad shot with the shovels and the blades. Feel is different in a perimeter-weighted head on a toe hit, but a center strike feels good on all style heads. I'm only using 7i and weaker in my irons anyway, so I have a lot more center strikes on the shorter stix.

scotts33

The deal on high hdcp'ers using shovels on the over size heads isn't the largest factor of a lower skilled player (missing the center of the face) It's the sole width and hitting "fat" shots IMO. Players blades of nowadays are way more forgiving than blades of old. But blades in general have thinner soles than shovels and don't allow for easy strikes on "fat" shots. If one is a flipper adding loft and hitting behind the ball which most all high hdcp'ers are then the wide sole will help alleviate "fat" shots some what it won't eliminate them but it will help.

Weirfan

Played many, many sets of blades over the years and cb's are far and away easier to hit, easier to hit straight and more forgiving.

the Super game improvement irons with wide soles and better forgiveness make a big difference to high cappers ( as long as the fit is correct)

despite a ton of studies showing that the new , lower lofted head not only go longer and straighter but also as high or higher, i was still skeptical. Having recently moved to the new , modern design with lofts that are 1 club stronger in loft than what i had previously played.... my iron shots not only go way further ( pw from 120 to 135/40 and 6iron from 165 to 185/90) but they also go higher , straighter and this with a greater angle of descent than the older school lofted clubs they replaced...... has had me playing my most consistent and best golf in a very long time. I can now use a 4i off the tee, get 220/25 , straight so have removed my fav club and trusty Ashton x1 , 5w which which provided a similar distance and had been in the bag for 10+ years.

oh and the blade size is smaller than the two previous sets I used past 10 or so seasons, Wishon 560 and Ping i5.

sdandrea1

Weirfan Having recently moved to the new , modern design with lofts that are 1 club stronger in loft than what i had previously played...

Titleist AP irons?

Typhoon

Weirfan

You are spot on Peter. I’ve said it before and it pisses people off because they say the lofts are jacked and that’s all they say. My claim is the shorter shafted iron makes you more accurate now from 185. You see it and I see it because I know I’m hitting more GIR, closer and scoring better.

Soles, yup Scott...all I need for proof on the wide sole is watching my guys use the xe-1 65 degree wedge. They look like tour pros for god sakes instead of the 80 year old 30 handicappers they are. I hit it myself and it’s nearly impossible to blade or chunk.

Weirfan

sdandrea1

correct ap1.....my pro wanted me to go mb's or ap3 but decided on the most forgiving head and glad I did. I can still work the ball , but not as much as with the i5's which I could draw/fade a good 20 yards or so. Now it's 5-10 unless I really have to hood one....hit a big , low, 30 yard hook out of some trees with my 8 onto a green the other day ....pretty sweet....mind you with my swing it could have been a 30 yard fade

Weirfan

Typhoon

like you need the extra help ....bast-age😉 lol

however , I am sure that is part of it.

since I put these irons in play my my scores have dropped, hit four season bests all last week 80, 79,79 and a 37, nine hole front score.

Since putting these in play, my fairways hit are 76.3% GIR's 47.2 %.....both well above what they have been for some time. I have been using irons ( 4/5/6 iron) predominantly on 7 of of the 13 non par 3 holes at my course now.

sdandrea1

Typhoon My claim is the shorter shafted iron makes you more accurate now from 185.

Bwahahahahahahaha! If I'm 185 out, I gotta hit two more shots to be putting. You speak of a game with which I am not familiar....... 😀

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