Who plays blades and why or why not?

[bantamben1]

i personally have always played my best golf with blades they seem actually easier to hit with me. think about it if i gave you a callaway big bertha sandwedge and had you hit a 100 yard shot at a flag and a cleveland blade type sand wedge i think you would be able to really hone in on the flag with the blade obviously as the shafts get longer it gets harder to hit the center of the club but in the scoring clubs where its more about control i think blades will make you a more accurate player. really forgiving clubs just make you sloppy and it just makes your swing worse. blades keep your game sharp.

[golfguru]

Might keep you sharp but why cut your nose off to spite your face I have the blades all the way down but I got the easier ones rather than the Muscle backs.

[DDL]

I am considering purchasing a used set of muscle back/blades, to take advantage of their feedfack. I have a set of Ping Eye2s and Cleveland TA-7. I got the TA 7 since they were very difficult to mishit. Tried my Pings for the first time in a year, and they were easier to hit then I remembered. I can better sense when the heel of my irons are digging in with the Ping EYes, probably because of the sensicore shafts of the TA-7s.

According to the PGA value guide website, I should be able to acquire older model blades or muscle backs for under 200 bucks. FG17, the blade version of Ping Eye 2s( I understand that cavity backs haven't improved much since Ping Eyes2s, if at all, and the same goes for FG17s), should be acquirable for well under a hundred. However, according to reviews I have read on golfreviews.com, blades are susceptible to denting and groove wear,which the EBAY auction descriptions denote. Brand new sets would cost 800 full retail, so that is definately not an option.

So, any recommendations for a used set of blade/muscle backs?
THx

[mb6606]

http://stores.ebay.com/3balls-Golf
They usually have some excellent sets particularly in the off season.
They move a ton of equipment, leases, closeouts etc from the manufacturers.
The club conditions are usually much better than what they list them as.
I have had very good luck with 3balls golf.

[onemomentintime]

here is an interesting article regarding this debate....
http://www.departures.com/tr/tr_0998_mb1irons.html

..i agree with what Ernie is saying.

[bantamben1]

has anyone seen any testing ever done between some of the newer game improvement clubs like a callaway x 18 and a mizuno mp33 the main difference for me would just be forgiveness on off center hits, i wonder if you miss the sweetspot with a blade verses a x 18 by a quarter inch how much yardage you would lose

[wanole]

I've always played blades then went to cavity back and that was a big mistake. I hated them. So I went back and bought the mp-32's and will never look back. I've had the mp-14's and 32's and will never play a different iron than Mizuno. Simply nothing compared IMO.
Hitting blades in the 80's was a lot different than todays. If you didn't hit the sweet spot you knew it. The hardest blades I ever hit were the Hogan Apex. I think the sweetspot was the size of a pin.

I do miss the balata ball because it felt so good hitting with a blade against one of those balls.

[kmmcnabb]

While I'm not a low handicapper, I have used blades since I began in 1976 and love the way they feel when hit on the sweet spot. I have tried cavity backs on the range and don't like the feel even when hit on the sweet spot. Feels dead to me.

Everyone who has tried my Hogan Musclebacks love the feel when hit right. Of course, you have to hit it right.

[tradekid]

When I started playing(1970)I was using mass produced cast irons like the Wilson Sam Snead Blue Ridge. Drifted away from golf for a while but when I returned in the early 90's I played Hogan Redline's, BH Grind's and Titleist Tour Model's (bulletbacks). I now play Mizuno MP37's, SWEET. Once though I had a set of Hogan Edge's for a back-up set. I liked them but something was just missing. I find blades just force you to not get sloppy. You got to give them your full attention.

[magic43]

Hi All,

As I was reading thru the various posts on the pros and cons of blades vs. cavity backs, a thought struck me. I know, I know, a rare occurrence indeed! In looking at the average handicap over the past 20 years, it would seem that there is really only an insignificant improvement.

That said, if the so called game improvement irons were really that much better, then wouldn't it stand to reason that the average national handicap should have decrease significantly?
I know that there are a lot of factors other than just the clubs that figure into this, but, and I am serious here, are game improvement irons really that much better for the mid to high handicapper or have we just become victims of the club manufacturing industry's advertising hype? Sometimes I wonder.

Although, I currently play a set of Armour 855s, I have a set of Burke blades, circa 1960, that I occasional play and other than the more harsh feel on mishits, the only real major difference between them and the 855s is that the 855s are about a club to a club and half longer due in part to the stronger lofts.

So my question to the group is, "Are the game improvement irons really that much better that the blades, or is it as it has always been the Indian and not the Arrow?

Regards,
Magic43