does technology help?

[EdZ]

I have recently been doing some equipment experimentation. I've been a blade player nearly all my life, aside from a set of TA3's a few years back.

I decide to experiment to see if I could find a solid set of 'forgiving' irons, that wouldn't break the bank. Something I could tell a new player of the game - "yeah, those will serve you well until you are into single digits".

My first experiment:

MasterGrip 283MC Irons.

Thinking that the average new player wouldn't spend a ton on clubs I decided to try these out because of their fair price, and solid design. The Verdict: If they made them out of a softer material and offered more shafts, they would be a good choice (they would basically be Pings . Certainly forgiving, but harsh feeling compared to many others out there.

I will say, I was very surprised at how exceptionally well balanced the clubs feel when swung. Better than most on the market. The performance just didn't match the balance due to materials used.

My second experiment:

Tour Edge JMax QL

These are a really nice club for the money. High ball flight and decent feel for such a forgiving club. Quite a hefty top-line coming from blades, but the hybrids were very solid. Not sure why they don't offer them in more shafts. I might actually considering playing them if they sold a shaft that could hold up to my swing (I think they are basically rifle shafts, which I don't care for much). A very forgiving club.
I was also surprised by the quality of the wedges. They can hold their own against much more expensive brands. Not quite tour quality, but a good choice for the money (again, hard to say if the shaft was the key issue for my swing).

Next on the list...

G5's, CG4's, MX-900's, MX 23's.


So far, the biggest difference I see with both sets is that while you can still work the ball 'some' with these designs, it is much more difficult to control trajectory. I tend to attribute this a fair amount to the shafts however.