What does one gain going to a less forgiving players iron? Especially as a straight ball hitter

[loki993]

I've been looking at a lot of club reviews as I'm thinking this is going to be the year I get an actual new set of clubs. Ive always used either hand me down clubs or stuff Ive gotten used for relative cheapy. So instead of messing around with stuff that may work Im going to get fitted to something that will work, sell or trade all my old stuff and be done with it. 

 

Ive always used some form of game improvement irons, usually pings as I just seem to get along with them. I hit some irons last year as I was thinking of upgraded and I thought I hit G430s pretty good, but this was just me alone hitting them in the demo bay at Carls. 

 

I hit a bunch of clubs last weekend because GG is doing a free fitting event. I hit GI irons and I hit players irons. The players irons had the best dispersion for me, interestingly enough the G440s which I though I would like I didn't. Now, Im probably a 20 HCP, but Im a 20 that hits irons relatively decently I would say and when Im not hitting well there is no club that's going to help me. I've really concentrated on getting better with my irons the past couple years too, so maybe that helping too. My biggest surprise was launch, I'm a bit of a low ball hitter and I figured that GI irons would help me with that, they didn't really. All the clubs I hit had similar launch and landing angles, in fact the 1 GI iron that I hit decently had slightly worse launch and landing angles then the players irons I hit well. 

 

Now Ive seen people say there are plenty of single digit HCPs out there that play GI irons. 

 

I also see people do videos saying, insert whatever GI irons they are hitting, these are so easy to hit why wouldn't everyone use them...and then they don't use them in their own bag. 

 

I see people always complain about the chunky look of a GI iron. Im guilty of it myself, I prefer the look of a nice thin players iron, but I never felt like I was good enough to hit them so I avoided them. 

 

If a players iron is actually harder to hit and GI iron is so easy what is the actual advantage of using a players iron?

 

For someone that doesn't or cant really work the ball, what does going to a players iron get you?

 

[vandyfan]

7 minutes ago, loki993 said:

For someone that doesn't or cant really work the ball, what does going to a players iron get you?

 

Not an expert, just someone who went down a rabbit hole on this. I didn't want to be the ego golfer so I got big cavity backs (Cobra F8) and hybrids for 4i and 5i, higher lofted driver, CBX wedges, etc. I was probably an 8-10 hdcp at the time. Always thought that wide soles and offset were the answer. I just wanted to hit the ball high and straight. Not surprisingly, these clubs did not give me that. 

 

As a joke, I picked up the old Cobra Rev 33 irons (cartoonishly blade-y to me) and was like "I won't even be able to elevate these." I flushed like 3 7 irons in a row. Obviously that did not mean I needed blades but what I was struck by was (1) the turf interaction, for my swing, was SOOOOO much better. Those Rev 33s got in and out of the ground so well. (2) As long as I wasn't hitting the out and out toe or heel, the Rev 33s were hitting more consistent distances. This led me to test pretty much any iron I could get my hands on instead of looking at the OEMs "suggested handicap range" on the clubs. Tried Mizuno, Cobra, Callaway, New Level, Ben Hogan, Titleist, Taylormade and Ping over a series of weeks. The common theme that I found I liked was thinner sole with some camber, a smidge of offset, closer to classic lofts. I went into PTxPros and my enjoyment went up and my iron play improved, though I can't say it was incredibly significant because, again, it is mostly about your swing and your game. Now I am in Maltby TS1-IMs and I like them even better. I would think of them as maybe "players distance" irons even though they don't have crazy strong lofts. 

 

Same goes for shafts - I was convinced I needed a lightweight, somewhat flexible shaft. Those were very hard for me to control and feel in my swing and led to a lot of inconsistency. Finally I tried some 115-125g shafts (instead of 90g) and, voila, I could get into the slot better, balls came out better and I was swinging at the exact same speed even with 30g more shaft weight. Same issue with driver shafts, I never thought of myself as an "X Stiff" guy and thought that was ego for a lot of people. It is not, at least not in most cases. I fought with regular flex and stiff flex light weight driver shafts for YEARS until I finally blind tested 60/70g shafts in Stiff and XStiff and I ended up in a 72g X shaft (blue profile) whereas I was trying so hard to play a 60g stiff red profile. 

 

A final thought, I always thought that mid hdcp players that wanted to play blades or zero offset clubs were crazy. They might be but I underestimated personal preference and its impact on my game. You should try to unbiased test/demo clubs as much as possible. There is a lot of golf digest/golf channel/whatever outlet out there saying "EVEN THE PROS DON'T PLAY BLADES ANYMORE" which is true in some cases and the extension of that is "YOU SUCK YOU SHOULD BE PLAYING HUGE SHOVELS BUDDY."  Again, that may help some people but it actively hurt me. Low spin rates on a lot iron shots, no feel so I could never tell where I hit it on the face without footspray, clunky/weird turf interaction, huge variance in launch angles with the same club. You get the drift. Just my experience(s), I am no expert. 

[DTorres]

Consistency in Distance and Flight control. I could absolutely hit straight balls all day with GI irons but I won’t be able to shape them as extreme or consistently as my blades

[animalgolfs]

Mats - go try outside on grass before a decision is made

[Jraallen]

Tighter dispersion is probably the biggest one. Some people also hit irons stupidly far and the stronger lofts and extra distance help in gi or players distance irons may not be ideal for gapping the rest of their bag. And then of course even if you can’t work the ball now that doesn’t mean you won’t want to in the future so having that as an option is nice. 
 

you mentioned looks, and while yes how the club looks hitting the ball may not matter.. IF seeing a nice slim players iron that YOU LIKE the look of and get excited to hit inspires confidence in yourself then that’s a good thing. 
 

I don’t personally like players irons much, I either want ALL the help/distance or NONE, and players irons at least for me are this kinda awkward middle ground that does neither very well. But plenty of (prob most) people would say that middle ground is precisely what they’re looking for so it really comes down to trying a bunch of stuff and seeing what you connect with.

[loki993]

 

21 minutes ago, animalgolfs said:

Mats - go try outside on grass before a decision is made

 

Yeah I get that, what would one expect the difference would be from a mat to grass? for me on a mat I really have to concentrate on getting good ball first contact since I have a tendency to come in steep and if I fat it on a mat it kills my ball speed and I instantly know it. 

 

 

19 minutes ago, Jraallen said:

Tighter dispersion is probably the biggest one. Some people also hit irons stupidly far and the stronger lofts and extra distance help in gi or players distance irons may not be ideal for gapping the rest of their bag. And then of course even if you can’t work the ball now that doesn’t mean you won’t want to in the future so having that as an option is nice. 
 

you mentioned looks, and while yes how the club looks hitting the ball may not matter.. IF seeing a nice slim players iron that YOU LIKE the look of and get excited to hit inspires confidence in yourself then that’s a good thing. 
 

I don’t personally like players irons much, I either want ALL the help/distance or NONE, and players irons at least for me are this kinda awkward middle ground that does neither very well. But plenty of (prob most) people would say that middle ground is precisely what they’re looking for so it really comes down to trying a bunch of stuff and seeing what you connect with.

 

So what you prefer blades? Im not talking really about players distance irons which I find sort of odd myself. I don't get the category. If you are a better player you should have enough speed that you no longer need the help if the lower lofts player distance irons seem to have. 

Edited February 5 by loki993

[bcflyguy1]

Every equipment choice is a compromise to one degree or another.

I play off zero-ish, but I'd say I'm below average as an iron and wedge striker amongst those with similar indexes. In other words, my ability to shorten a golf course should allow me to have a better index than I do have. I still play a relatively demanding "players" CB that you may see in the bag of someone who plays for their livelihood. One would be tempted to think that I might benefit from an iron marketed as more friendly, but I wouldn't be caught dead with them. Vanity? To a degree, perhaps, but there's more to it than that.

 

So why play the iron thought to be more demanding? Because I'd rather get what I deserve (good or bad) than get "help" I don't want/need on the rare occasion that I do strike a pure iron shot. Seeing a gorgeous mid-iron I think is going to knock the flag out of the cup end up flying over the back into a horrible spot too often was enough to convince me that the supposed "help" wasn't helping at all. Did it bail me out some on sketchy strikes? Probably, but it wasn't nearly enough to tip the philosophical scale back in the less demanding irons' favor. That's what it really boils down to most of the time; a philosophical choice. What are you willing to give up in order to get what you want/need most.

Edited February 5 by bcflyguy1

[Bunkersarebigcups]

1 hour ago, vandyfan said:

 

Not an expert, just someone who went down a rabbit hole on this. I didn't want to be the ego golfer so I got big cavity backs (Cobra F8) and hybrids for 4i and 5i, higher lofted driver, CBX wedges, etc. I was probably an 8-10 hdcp at the time. Always thought that wide soles and offset were the answer. I just wanted to hit the ball high and straight. Not surprisingly, these clubs did not give me that. 

 

As a joke, I picked up the old Cobra Rev 33 irons (cartoonishly blade-y to me) and was like "I won't even be able to elevate these." I flushed like 3 7 irons in a row. Obviously that did not mean I needed blades but what I was struck by was (1) the turf interaction, for my swing, was SOOOOO much better. Those Rev 33s got in and out of the ground so well. (2) As long as I wasn't hitting the out and out toe or heel, the Rev 33s were hitting more consistent distances. This led me to test pretty much any iron I could get my hands on instead of looking at the OEMs "suggested handicap range" on the clubs. Tried Mizuno, Cobra, Callaway, New Level, Ben Hogan, Titleist, Taylormade and Ping over a series of weeks. The common theme that I found I liked was thinner sole with some camber, a smidge of offset, closer to classic lofts. I went into PTxPros and my enjoyment went up and my iron play improved, though I can't say it was incredibly significant because, again, it is mostly about your swing and your game. Now I am in Maltby TS1-IMs and I like them even better. I would think of them as maybe "players distance" irons even though they don't have crazy strong lofts. 

 

Same goes for shafts - I was convinced I needed a lightweight, somewhat flexible shaft. Those were very hard for me to control and feel in my swing and led to a lot of inconsistency. Finally I tried some 115-125g shafts (instead of 90g) and, voila, I could get into the slot better, balls came out better and I was swinging at the exact same speed even with 30g more shaft weight. Same issue with driver shafts, I never thought of myself as an "X Stiff" guy and thought that was ego for a lot of people. It is not, at least not in most cases. I fought with regular flex and stiff flex light weight driver shafts for YEARS until I finally blind tested 60/70g shafts in Stiff and XStiff and I ended up in a 72g X shaft (blue profile) whereas I was trying so hard to play a 60g stiff red profile. 

 

A final thought, I always thought that mid hdcp players that wanted to play blades or zero offset clubs were crazy. They might be but I underestimated personal preference and its impact on my game. You should try to unbiased test/demo clubs as much as possible. There is a lot of golf digest/golf channel/whatever outlet out there saying "EVEN THE PROS DON'T PLAY BLADES ANYMORE" which is true in some cases and the extension of that is "YOU SUCK YOU SHOULD BE PLAYING HUGE SHOVELS BUDDY."  Again, that may help some people but it actively hurt me. Low spin rates on a lot iron shots, no feel so I could never tell where I hit it on the face without footspray, clunky/weird turf interaction, huge variance in launch angles with the same club. You get the drift. Just my experience(s), I am no expert. 

Those Rev33s are special. My pro uses them and they are surprisingly fun to hit. Not that I would Score well with them on the course but I can hit them really well on the range 

[Mark_Tha_Tinkerer]

2 hours ago, loki993 said:

 

 

 

 

For someone that doesn't or cant really work the ball, what does going to a players iron get you?

 

A higher handicap.  

[AFcelica]

I can’t hit large irons out of the rough well nor do I need stronger than a 34° 7 iron or 46° pw or else I’d have to buy all new wedges for proper gaps. There are also arguments made that blades are more accurate. 
 

also for some reason I hit my 34° 712mb 6 iron farther with more spin and ball speed than my 34° t100 and it feels a lot better too🤷‍♂️. On the fence right now on if I should find another players club like the t100 or switch to very narrow soled blades or true cbs. 6-7 cap fwiw. Cant putt like broke 80 with 40 putts level of cant putt. 

Edited February 5 by AFcelica

[ssp]

A simple explanation I use.  Players/MB iron for the consistency of trajectory/yardage/dispersion on a 'WELL' struck shot.  GI iron for the same on a 'OK' struck shot.  Part of the reason that mixed set of players in scoring irons and GI in longer irons.

[AFcelica]

2 minutes ago, AFcelica said:

Sorry double post

Edited February 5 by AFcelica

[PJE]

I’m not a club fitter but this is what I’ve found from playing or testing lots of different irons over the years:

When you refer to player’s irons, I’m thinking of blades or near blades. 

The advantages of a player’s iron are: 

a) Generally, you can more easily hit different shots with them,especially knock downs, than you can with GI clubs. 
b) They look better than GI clubs. I think there is actually some truth to the “aim small, miss small” adage. 

Your swing and your consistency will let you know if player irons are a good choice for you.
Most player irons are intolerant of thin misses.

GI irons also are often more tolerant of slightly fat shots and flipping than player irons. 

Be wary of the stock shaft weight and tip profile in players irons. Usually, it’s heavier and stiffer, respectively, than in GI irons. This may or may not be good for you. Just something to consider. Going up or down 20-30 g in shaft weight can be tough.  

Ultimately, play what you like. For example, I played blades for about a dozen years and then I got Pings. I didn’t hit the ball any different except the Pings went a little further on thin strikes. 

For me, the sweet spot is a “somewhat refined” GI iron like the Hot Metal Pro. Maltby STi2 is also a fantastic GI iron. I’m also eager to try the Hot Metal Forged. 

Edited February 5 by PJE

[Jraallen]

1 hour ago, loki993 said:

 

So what you prefer blades? Im not talking really about players distance irons which I find sort of odd myself. I don't get the category. If you are a better player you should have enough speed that you no longer need the help if the lower lofts player distance irons seem to have. 

I would say it’s more that I prefer the extremes (at least with my current club options), some rounds I may want all the help the club can offer and try to shoot a good score because it’s fun. Other times I may want to be completely punished by every mistake made with the blades, because that helps me to be more aware of the bad things I’m doing and allows me to work on them. But I don’t personally get as much out of taking the middle road. 

With that being said I do plan on my next fitting/new set likely being a players distance set, I think that might be a good place where I get what I want from the GI’s (some distance+a touch of forgiveness) but in a smaller/sleeker cleaner head and a little less spin/ballooning but without having to be as “on” as I have to be with blades. I just don’t think I’ll buy another set of pure players irons because they just don’t meet a need/want I have.

[Warrior42111]

Biggest trade off I see is forgiveness vs consistency. You can get away with a mis hit on the face more with a GI than PI. However, in my experience a PI is going to be more consistent in center strikes that a GI iron.  I'd say have an honest look at your ball striking, not what you think but use some tape.

 

Another note, make sure if possible to look into turf interaction. Different companies have different grinds on irons. To me it makes a difference YMMV. 

[Bridges]

Players irons feel better and they can give you great feedback on bad shots that feel significantly worse than gi irons though 🙃 

[Glock917]

There are not many pros that see and feel straight shots. I am the same way. 

 

I rarely setup and imagine a dead straight shot. It is either falling left or right and high or low, whatever. 

 

GI irons tend to have CG back with more MOI which means is helps to launch it and keep it straight.

 

Pros cant make due just hitting straight shots. They need to shape it curve it carve it etc. It needs to be versatile. But they are going towards forgiveness as not many are using blades and all using a players muscle or players cb that offer forgiveness but that can shape when needed.

 

Hope this really does not open up that "are GI irons as workable as blades/cb?" nonsense lol 😆 (answer - Its not!) 

[loki993]

So I guess I have to preface what I am talking about when I say a "players" iron. Its not a blade, I have no desire to try blades, I have no desire to punish myself quite to that extent yet. 

 

Players cavity back? mmmm...maybe I could get away with that but I think I still need more help then that too at times. Players Irons Im talking about are maybe borderline players distance. The 2 that I really like are ping i230 and the Cobra King Tour. I also hit the Mizuno 925 Forged, which maybe is more in the players distance category maybe? I actually hit that one the best but I dint love the feel interestingly enough considering everyone raves about how good Mizunos feel. 

 

 

1 hour ago, PJE said:

b) They look better than GI clubs. I think there is actually some truth to the “aim small, miss small” adage. 

Your swing and your consistency will let you know if player irons are a good choice for you.
Most player irons are intolerant of thin misses.

For me, the sweet spot is a “somewhat refined” GI iron like the Hot Metal Pro. Maltby STi2 is also a fantastic GI iron. I’m also eager to try the Hot Metal Forged. 

 

The aim small miss small thing is something that Ive though about a lot. I know that my body and brain will not allow me to completely miss the ball, therefore with a large GI irons there is more face to hit on, sure they have a tendency to have larger sweet spots but looking at some of the askagolfnut reviews a lot of the better players irons sweet spot aren't tiny by any means. So sometimes I think with a smaller club I should , in theory be hitting closer to the sweet spot just by the fact that I cant completly miss the ball. 

 

1 hour ago, Warrior42111 said:

Biggest trade off I see is forgiveness vs consistency. You can get away with a mis hit on the face more with a GI than PI. However, in my experience a PI is going to be more consistent in center strikes that a GI iron.  I'd say have an honest look at your ball striking, not what you think but use some tape.

 

Another note, make sure if possible to look into turf interaction. Different companies have different grinds on irons. To me it makes a difference YMMV. 

 

To be completely honest I was high and toey during most of that fit sessions and the King Tours and the 925 Forged didn't really seem to care. I was not losing anything compared to the GI clubs. Now...I took a couple whacks with a P7CB and yeah the distance drop off was very noticeable. I think I went from a 150 carry to 130. 

Edited February 5 by loki993

[Jraallen]

1 hour ago, loki993 said:

So I guess I have to preface what I am talking about when I say a "players" iron. Its not a blade, I have no desire to try blades, I have no desire to punish myself quite to that extent yet. 

 

Players cavity back? mmmm...maybe I could get away with that but I think I still need more help then that too at times. Players Irons Im talking about are maybe borderline players distance. The 2 that I really like are ping i230 and the Cobra King Tour. I also hit the Mizuno 925 Forged, which maybe is more in the players distance category maybe? I actually hit that one the best but I dint love the feel interestingly enough considering everyone raves about how good Mizunos feel. 

I’m no expert on club categories but I think the i230 is probably a perfect example of a players iron. Very tight and consistent, and definitely not long. If you wanted more distance I think the i525 is the players distance iron to look at if you’re liking ping specifically.

 

its really funny you mentioned liking the i230’s, those are the players irons I was talking about above that for me are “too middle of the road” but are probably perfect for someone else. 
 

for the record, despite not being MY favorite iron I do highly recommend them if they check the boxes on your wishlist, they’re a fantastic club (which is why I can’t seem to bring myself to sell them) even if they aren’t doing it for me right now

Edited February 6 by Jraallen

[b.mattay]

The easiest answer is spin. You typically get more spin with a players iron than a GI iron (although a lot of this is due to loft differences, some of it is also due to construction). Can potentially allow you to hold greens better.

 

Honestly, this is why I love my i210's. They are more forgiving than a blade but spin the same, allowing me to get in a window of spin that I really like (club number +500rpm, which is definitely on the higher end but something that I personally prefer).

Edited February 6 by b.mattay

[betarhoalphadelta]

IMHO you have two categories of golfers:

 

1. Golfers who create generally good impact conditions. I.e. ball before turf. Descending angle of attack. When they hit it well, they get the ball up in the air regardless of how much loft the club has. I.e. they hit the same apex with a 6i as they do with a PW. 
2. Golfers who, well, don't. They can't seem to get the ball much in the air no matter how they hit it or what club they use. They're sweeping because they're afraid of chunking and so they never hit the ball in the sweet spot--always low on the face. 

For those two categories of golfer, I think you have 5 categories of iron, and those can be broken down into the two categories that match up with those two categories of golfer:

 

1. Blades / Cavity Backs / Players Distance: Obviously these align with category 1 of golfer. These clubs are not designed to overly "help" you get the ball in the air, as Category 1 already knows how to do that. The differences within this group has more to do with how they're able to perimeter weight the club to help retain speed on mishits. But the assumption is that the impact conditions are good, it's a matter of how consistently you actually contact the sweet spot.
2. GI / SGI: These would align with category 2 golfers. These clubs ARE designed to help you get the ball in the air. CG as low and as far back as they can get it to produce a higher launch and flight for players who can't do it via swing mechanics (and hitting too low on the face). They need a wide forgiving sole because they're as likely to hit ground before ball as not, so they need a club that won't dig and lose as much CHS as a player's club. 

 

I'm a bad category 1 golfer. So I work with players distance irons as I need the forgiveness on mishits but I don't need help getting the ball in the air. I could play blades or CBs. I wouldn't have a problem hitting them at all on my good shots with a 100' apex, whereas a category 2 golfer would be hard pressed to get the ball more than 20-30 feet above the turf with those clubs. The advantage for player's distance for me is the forgiveness when I miss center. 

 

So if you've got the swing to be a category 1 golfer, you probably don't need GI. That doesn't mean you should be gaming blades if you want to score your best... It just means that you don't need help getting the ball in the air. 

[chinaski]

Loft and spin, sole design and feedback. More spin/More loft are easier to control. Sole design for turf interaction. Feedback for improvement. If you are on the fence a blended set is the way to go. Hitting short irons isn't all that difficult, but hitting a compact 4 iron is another thing entirely. 

[Bridges]

Try the Wilson Staff CB's just for gits and shiggles. Your thinking No Way, just try them.

[loki993]

1 hour ago, Bridges said:

Try the Wilson Staff CB's just for gits and shiggles. Your thinking No Way, just try them.

Oh ive definitely considered them, just haven't had a chance to try them yet. 

[Hawkeye77]

4 hours ago, loki993 said:

I also hit the Mizuno 925 Forged, which maybe is more in the players distance category maybe? I actually hit that one the best but I dint love the feel interestingly enough considering everyone raves about how good Mizunos feel. 

 

If the 925 Forged are anything like my 923s you aren't good enough for them! 😀

 

And . . . .  . kidding.  You could call them "players distance" and some may, but that's not how I'd classify them.  For me not too crazy on the lofts and feel is personal, but having hit a lot of irons over many years they are hands down the best feeling irons I've ever had.  Is that down to head/shaft/both?  Who knows, but I love them.  You sure you weren't hitting the "Hots"?

 

Don't over think it.

 

Play what feels good, what fits and what you find the middle of the club face with most often - whatever that is.  

 

Edited February 6 by Hawkeye77

[AdExec]

You gain the bag intimidation factor and an easy out for any sub par swings mostly 

 

I personally find thinner soles and smaller heads easier to move in both directions 

[new2g0lf]

8 hours ago, animalgolfs said:

Mats - go try outside on grass before a decision is made

100% this, you can't tell how an iron interacts with turf off of a mat.  Mats hide a lot of swing flaws and bad contact.   

[is1ander]

6 hours ago, loki993 said:

So I guess I have to preface what I am talking about when I say a "players" iron. Its not a blade, I have no desire to try blades, I have no desire to punish myself quite to that extent yet. 

 

Players cavity back? mmmm...maybe I could get away with that but I think I still need more help then that too at times. Players Irons Im talking about are maybe borderline players distance. The 2 that I really like are ping i230 and the Cobra King Tour. I also hit the Mizuno 925 Forged, which maybe is more in the players distance category maybe? I actually hit that one the best but I dint love the feel interestingly enough considering everyone raves about how good Mizunos feel. 

 

 

 

The aim small miss small thing is something that Ive though about a lot. I know that my body and brain will not allow me to completely miss the ball, therefore with a large GI irons there is more face to hit on, sure they have a tendency to have larger sweet spots but looking at some of the askagolfnut reviews a lot of the better players irons sweet spot aren't tiny by any means. So sometimes I think with a smaller club I should , in theory be hitting closer to the sweet spot just by the fact that I cant completly miss the ball. 

 

 

To be completely honest I was high and toey during most of that fit sessions and the King Tours and the 925 Forged didn't really seem to care. I was not losing anything compared to the GI clubs. Now...I took a couple whacks with a P7CB and yeah the distance drop off was very noticeable. I think I went from a 150 carry to 130. 

 

If you love the i230s and hit them well, get them. I think they're on sale at some spots. They go plenty high in the long irons and I also found them very forgiving. They might take you from a 20 to a 14 by the end of the season. I love players clubs for the playability and the precise sole interaction. You can get right behind the ball, even with mediocre lies and can work the bump and runs with Pw and 9. I'm beginning to think maybe sweepers do better with GI irons and diggers don't because the bigger soles just bounce off the turf and go all over the place, hah.

 

 

[mantan]

I've been on the board for 20 years and seen a whole lot of 20 handicap 'good iron strikers' talk themselves into clubs they can 'grow into'. Sometimes it works, usually it doesn't.  (Side note, the percentage of single digit handicaps who say they are 'not good ball strikers' and mid-high handicaps who claim to be 'good iron strikers' makes me think there is a difference in the definition. There's a difference between 'usually making solid contact' and consistently compressing the ball on the sweet spot with the ability to manage trajectory/spin and work the ball consistently).

 

I'm an advocate of playing the most forgiving iron that you can stand to look knowing that somebody with half your handicap has them in their bag. Golf is about limiting the damage from your misses more than the great shots we hit each round.

 

But I also know the heart wants what the heart wants.  And OP will likely want to take plunge a whole lot of us did into more irons than we could handle for our game. Hitting a club off a mat in the store is completely different than being 175 out from a sidehill lie in the semi rough needed to carry the water in front of the green. 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 6 by mantan

[bannermannn88]

If you can swing the “investment”, I have thoroughly enjoyed my methodology as a 7 HC and I recommend it. Set A - the fitted clubs I need to go as low as possible that won’t proverbially kick me if the shins for a low toe strike; Set B - the clubs I lust over, take out for Sunday 9s and truly love to hit on the range. 
 

ZX5s and an old, used set of 620 MBs I got for a couple hundred bucks. If you end up getting confident enough with your “fun” set of MBs/blades, offload the shovels and old blades and get some brand new shiny butter knives. 

Edited February 6 by bannermannn88