Blade irons and hand soreness

[wesray]

Hey all,

I just bought a set of very slightly used Titleist 690.MB Forged blade irons (S300, all default). I'm coming from a set of Titleist 962 irons and my hands are slightly sore after hitting a bucket on the range with my new irons. I realize that blades are far less forgiving, but I'm wondering if it goes as far as soreness.

 

I'm a scratch golfer and I hit the sweet spot on these irons about 80-90% of the time, my driver swing speed average is about 112mph and I'm sure much slower with irons.

 

So, I'm wondering, and would appreciate the feedback if anyone can tell me if they have the same issue with blades and their hands tend to get fatigued a bit more than normal cavity back irons and if it persists, should I switch back?

 

I love the blades, they are awesome. I shot 2 under par my first round with them.

 

Cheers,

Wes

[Aithos]

[quote name='wesray' timestamp='1341538143' post='5223992']
Hey all,
I just bought a set of very slightly used Titleist 690.MB Forged blade irons (S300, all default). I'm coming from a set of Titleist 962 irons and my hands are slightly sore after hitting a bucket on the range with my new irons. I realize that blades are far less forgiving, but I'm wondering if it goes as far as soreness.

I'm a scratch golfer and I hit the sweet spot on these irons about 80-90% of the time, my driver swing speed average is about 112mph and I'm sure much slower with irons.

So, I'm wondering, and would appreciate the feedback if anyone can tell me if they have the same issue with blades and their hands tend to get fatigued a bit more than normal cavity back irons and if it persists, should I switch back?

I love the blades, they are awesome. I shot 2 under par my first round with them.

Cheers,
Wes
[/quote]

Unless you aren't actually hitting them on the sweetspot you shouldn't notice any other difference in fatigue unless there is another factor contributing. I'm by no means a "pure" ballstriker, I make good contact and I hit the ball nearly on the sweetspot most of the time (when I don't it tends to be very close or a bit thin, not heel/toe) so I'd image you would have to be well off the sweetspot for it to be the only factor (unlikely since you're scratch).

Other possible causes (more likely): different shafts that don't absorb shock as well, different grip that also doesn't absorb shock as well, swinging the club differently, gripping too hard, etc. I know the biggest adjustment for me from each set is grips/shaft and almost nothing to do with the clubheads themselves...

[Nspiel58]

Are the grips the same size as your 962s? If they are smaller, you could be squeezing your hands more causing the fatigue. Just a thought.

[wesray]

I had w5 winn grips on my other irons. These are used clubs so they were some pretty worn golf prides. I'm going to put the w7's in there.

[Yuck]

If you hit a lot of balls off a mat to get used to a new set, and you take relatively large divots, that will cause your hands to hurt. I can't imaging s300s would hurt your hands unless you are arthritic.

[pingfool]

2under 1st time out w/ new blades?

think i might figure out how to deal with the fatigue...really.

new grips surely worth it....not a fan of winn, though.
lamkin makes a new synthetic grip w/ shock absorbtion layer.

[wesray]

I might try those grips. Though the pain is not in my fingers, but the center of my palm

[Petter Player]

I'd say, you somehow miss the sweet spot anyway. Or hit steep divots.

What I recall from the 690-series, they were not on the softest end of the forged feel scale. Same thing with Cally X-forged few years back.

One thing pops into my mind...
If your grip pressure has changed unconsciously, you may suffer from slight fatique.

[stage1350]

Grips make a huge difference. I got a setof blades with original Victory grips on them. My hands stung for three days After regripping to Tour Wraps, no problems whatsoever.

[moonshine]

[quote name='Petter Player' timestamp='1341550938' post='5225084']
I'd say, you somehow miss the sweet spot anyway. Or hit steep divots.

What I recall from the 690-series, they were not on the softest end of the forged feel scale. Same thing with Cally X-forged few years back.

One thing pops into my mind...
If your grip pressure has changed unconsciously, you may suffer from slight fatique.
[/quote]
Sorry I have to LOL just a bit, but not so far as to spit coffee just yet. It seems to be common fatigue OP and yes grips make a difference...however I believe your body is telling you enough for the day. Congrats on the 690...I can't wrap my eye around a few of the iron shapes on that set...also Titleist chrome can be a tad harsh in the older models.

[Badgergolfer2]

If your hands hurt, you clearly arent hitting the sweetspot every time. With blades, when you hit the sweetspot there is no vibration, as if the ball isnt even there.

[kellygreen]

If you are fresh from a set of Titleist 962s, I doubt that you are hitting those blades in their true sweetspot....which is probably the source of your hand discomfort.

The impact feel of a blade that is truly hit in the sweetspot is very soft...almost like there was no impact at all. Because it produces very little vibration that gets transmitted up the shaft to the hands. Off the sweetspot or thin...and you get increasing amounts of vibration. (You haven't really lived until you've slapped a shot off the toe of a blade 2-iron on a cold day....)

You are probably missing the sweetspot slightly because the sweetspot (as part of Titleist's old DCI line) on the 962s were engineered to be in the center of the clubface. But the sweetspot on the vast majority of true blade irons is actually slightly towards the heel of the club because of the mass of the hosel.

So I would suggest that you start slowly and work up to hitting lots of balls, in order to give yourself time to adjust your swing to the changed location of the sweetspot. Once you've done that, the pain should go away.

[Aithos]

[quote name='kellygreen' timestamp='1341588186' post='5226520']
If you are fresh from a set of Titleist 962s, I doubt that you are hitting those blades in their true sweetspot....which is probably the source of your hand discomfort.

The impact feel of a blade that is truly hit in the sweetspot is very soft...almost like there was no impact at all. Because it produces very little vibration that gets transmitted up the shaft to the hands. Off the sweetspot or thin...and you get increasing amounts of vibration. (You haven't really lived until you've slapped a shot off the toe of a blade 2-iron on a cold day....)

You are probably missing the sweetspot slightly because the sweetspot (as part of Titleist's old DCI line) on the 962s were engineered to be in the center of the clubface. But the sweetspot on the vast majority of true blade irons is actually slightly towards the heel of the club because of the mass of the hosel.

So I would suggest that you start slowly and work up to hitting lots of balls, in order to give yourself time to adjust your swing to the changed location of the sweetspot. Once you've done that, the pain should go away.
[/quote]

Good advice here +1. I would still change the grips as they can make a big difference...

[wesray]

[color=#000000][size=3]Thanks for the posts, going to go ahead and get some Winn Grips. I'm trying to decide between the [/size][/color][color=#000000][size=3][left][b]Winn Dri-Tac Midsize Grip (+1/16")[/b] and [/left][/size][/color][b][url="http://www.golfsmith.com/product/30064000/winn-dri-tac-standard-black-red-grip"][color=#000000]Dri-Tac Standard Black/Red Grip[/color][/url][/b]

[HoldTheLag]

I recently made significant changes to my swing (about a week into it now) which has my strikes being more solid than ever before. Unfortunately this means off-center strikes hurt a whole lot more. The first day I hit some balls with the new swing my hands definitely felt it, but they were ok the day after. Unfortunately, after a few rounds and buckets worth of balls later, I am getting roughly the same pain as the OP - in the center of the left palm/slightly into the left wrist. Not only that, my left middle and ring fingers hurt like crazy after a strike, almost like they are broken. Luckily I don't think they are broken since they don't look funny/aren't swelling up. They don't hurt when the hand is doing nothing.

I may have to look into getting softer grips at a minimum - probably have to get reshafted as well. I don't think I am supposed to be playing such stiff shafts, but that's what they came with As far as the blade heads, I think I am getting to a point where I can hit them good more often than not, so I'd like to stick with them.