The downside of Game Improvement clubs

[sacul1573]

As many of you might already know, I used to play gigagolf's 922 irons, and have recently upgraded to the Nickent 4dx CB irons. The 922s were a solid GI iron, very forgiving all over the club face. The Nickents are not as forgiving on off center hits, but have a little more mass directly behind the impact zone.

I've never had good yardage gaps from my 5-7 iron. My 5 was around 170, 6 around 160, and 7 around 155. I always thought it was a fault of my "cheaper" clubs. Then my Nickents came, but I was seeing the same results.

Last week I was hitting at the range, and my PW started flying 25-30 yards farther than I've ever hit it. I mean, it was approaching 7 iron distance. Utterly confused. I went home even more frustrated at my iron game, now that almost all of my irons were hitting around 150ish, give or take 20.

Yesterday, I looked at my new 7 iron, and noticed that the majority of scuffing and wear on the new surface was towards the toe, about 1/2 to 1 inch from the center. Right where the grooves meet shiny metal. Then I looked at my PW... on center. So, I went to the range today with the intent on lining the ball up a bit closer to the hostel. Sure enough, PW about 135ish, 7 iron about 165 now, and 5 iron a whopping 195. And the ball striking felt PURE.

Moral of the story for you GI players: I HIGHLY recommend you take a look at where you are striking the ball on the club face. It might feel solid and pure due to it's GI characteristics, but you might be off to the toe or heel, robbing you of distance. I would have never discovered this if I hadnt taken a closer look at my clubface. If anything, pick up an old blade and hit a few, it'll probably let you know what you might be doing wrong!

 

[JR]

great insight. I used to think my 9 iron would only go 100 yards, the I brushed some dirt on it to form a kind of impact tape, and saw i was being wildly inconsistant . I learned to hit with a consistant impact, and its going around 40 yards further. And it didn't hurt my hands, lol

 

[CharlieMoy]

I also found that GI clubs lack versatility, because they have such 'hot' faces and such

 

[Hacker Charlie]

So did I miss the "downside" to GI clubs? Sounds to me like this is a post about the downside of less than perfect swings.

 

[JR]

So did I miss the "downside" to GI clubs? Sounds to me like this is a post about the downside of less than perfect swings.

The downside is that GI clubs make it harder to tell if you are making pure contact. All over the face it feels pretty similar.

 

[Hacker Charlie]

The downside is that GI clubs make it harder to tell if you are making pure contact. All over the face it feels pretty similar.

Maybe for some, but I can't personally agree with that. I play GI Irons, and I can definitley feel the difference with a shot as far off center as the OP described, vs. a shot off the "sweet spot", by feel and sound usually. Though I still usually get a serviceable shot or even exactly what I wanted from the shot sometimes, there is a definite feel and sound difference to me.

 

[JR]

Maybe for some, but I can't personally agree with that. I play GI Irons, and I can definitley feel the difference with a shot as far off center as the OP described, vs. a shot off the "sweet spot", by feel and sound usually. Though I still usually get a serviceable shot or even exactly what I wanted from the shot sometimes, there is a definite feel and sound difference to me.

Thats how it is with mine, and there is a difference, but with a good GI club some people don't notice this until they actually hit one in the sweet spot, which may not happen as often with a new club. I know it took me a while to start hitting the sweetspot on the ones I use now. And it feels so much better, now that I know the difference. He hadn't been hitting it pure, so he thought the off center feel was what the sweet spot felt like. Is that about right Sacul?

 

[JB]

I also found that GI clubs lack versatility, because they have such 'hot' faces and such

I challenge that. I can play the ball high, low, left, and right with mine and just about every one we test.

 

[JB]

Sacul,
This to me seems to have less to do with the clubs you are using and more to do with the clubs fitting properly. A properly fit set will change those toe shots dramatically.

 

[Sunday_Hacker]

thanks for the insight sacul and contuined good luck with the new irons

 

[Tmex]

Great insight sacul. I think it also depends on the GI irons the player is using. While my handicap may not indicate it haha, I can usually tell where my misses are just by feel and sound. I had some Burner XD's and couldn't feel a thing. The BP's I can feel where the miss is and they have a built in impact tape! The grooves shred balls. Also could be a swing thing

 

[sacul1573]

I'm not arguing that some GI irons are different than others, or that some give more feedback than others, I was simply stating that the forgiveness given from my previous set did not allow me the opportunity to realize my mistakes.

JB, while I do feel more comfortable with my current clubs, I think the issue was more me than my clubs. I was setting up a little too far from the ball, with both my previous set and current one. I've been setting up too far from the ball for 10 months! My current set just afforded me the opportunity to realize that it was my mistake and not the club. I did mention that I started off hitting the Nicket long irons horribly as well. As much as I want to blame the arrow, I think it's the indian this time around. Maybe just for grins, I'll take my previous 5 iron out and try hitting it again.

 

[sacul1573]

I challenge that. I can play the ball high, low, left, and right with mine and just about every one we test.

I agree with this. I was able to hit draws or fades at will. High and low was a little more difficult for me, without calling it a punch shot.