Are blades DEAD?

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are blades dead big question right well in this video I’m going to try and answer that question bladed irons have definitely declined in popularity in this video I’m testing these though the New Ping blueprint T irons a new bladed iron they look phenomenal but are they functional [Music] it’s absolutely [Music] incredible our blades dead no now it’s really interesting this over my golf career I’ve had blades in the back definitely and there’s lots of advantages to blades they really are first off looks I mean these brand new ping blueprint tons look incredible in this fesal golf bag I mean they’re absolutely gorgeous uh there’s something quite kind of historic nostalgic around bladed irons um they also look great behind the golf ball bladed irons always look super behind the golf ball really clean sharp lines um just very kind of classic as traditional I think if you asked a non-golfer to draw a golf club it would end up looking like a blade wouldn’t it it’s just it’s the traditional element to it but what’s interesting over all the years that I’ve reviewed products blades have definitely had kind of ups and downs in popularity at the moment I really feel like they’re on the the downward spiral you’re not seen as many tour Pros use blades that’s a fact you know you even saw me review recently the Adam Scott maora blades he isn’t even using them he’s using a a set of clubs that’s giving him more forgiveness a little bit more help so many have transitioned over the last few years um and then the average golfer really the average golfer a handicap of 7 18 are never going to be using blades and even now if you look at the best players in your Club I can almost guarantee they’re probably not using blades or if they are very little to who is buying them and soon are they going to disappear off the face of the golf planet now with all that being said and done I’m still going to review these ions as I would do normally I want to see how they feel how they fly um I think what’s important with bladed irons as well which I think we’ll maybe see in this video is seven iron which I’m going to start off with 8 iron 9 iron pitching wedge for the majority of golfers they can use those clubs they can they can use a blade in those clubs as soon as you start going into six five and four Ron obviously the blade gets even you know less inviting behind the golf ball you see a lot more golfers now with split sets where it’s cavity back in the long irons and then blade in the short irons you definitely see a lot more of that now right let’s hit the first shot and I’ll give you a little bit of spiel about the ping blueprint irons it’s like I said it’s just a seven irons kick things off there is no question they’re absolutely gorgeous behind the golf ball small from toet to heel very small very thin Top Line but just look gorgeous really you know it almost reminds us as as kids growing up I’m going to play Blaze I’m going to play in the open I’m going to win The Masters these are the clubs you dream of [Music] using tiny bit heavy and I think almost straight away I mean it found its way onto the green but almost straight away that just that little bit of a heavy contact because the blade length because the sole is so slim that just digs into the ground and I got away with that but I think that was uh borderline that could have been really bad uh let’s hit let’s hit a better one let’s start this video with a good shot I rest my case I rest my case there’s two shots there fatted the first one I slightly misstruck the second one and it’s Mr Green by a mile anyway let’s talk about spec first 8620 carbon steel to give it that really good feel developed with Tor Pros in mind that’s such a big factor certainly blades Tor Pros have a very specific look they want from their irons very narrow Soul um now it’s funny how that’s on the spec sheet narrow soul is good for if you are a good ball Striker having that narrow Soul gets that real compression and gets that strike as good as it can if you need that little bit of help a wider soul is definitely more recommended and these irons have one on tour like these are twinning ions from fouron to pitching W the price is £ 1,319 so definitely not cheap and you you don’t often find a cheap set of bladed irons U I think a lot of the engineering that goes into a blade orbe it the very simple looking is still very in depth what’s also interesting with bladed irons and this is something really worth noting the loft is normally quite traditional or in this modern day quite weak so for example the 7 I is 33° of Loft now tiger in his Heyday was using like a 35 36° lofted 7 iron so these are just a tiny bit stronger than even from the ear kind of 2000s but for right now in 2024 that is considered a fairly traditional almost weak lofted 7 iron to put that into perspective the Big Brother of these irons the g430s the loft of the 79 is 29° it’s pretty much a club the six line of these sets is 29° so pretty much a club longer really um so that’s also something to notice with for you’re not getting a lot of distance you’re not going to be hit it further uh you’ve got to strike the middle you’ve got to get that perfect That Kind of Perfect connection really at the moment the first two I didn’t let’s see if we can find some Rhythm let’s see if we can find some good golf shots but when you do hit bladed irons well the feel the feel that was a good shot it leaked a little bit right but that was right in the middle of the club face again I’m not getting huge distance there only carried 162 yards um that’s not long again because of the Loft and because there’s not much kind of substance behind the hitting area you’re not getting maximum ball speed but the feel it’s something that every golfer in the world needs to have experienced whether you knew to golf or you’ve play golf for a long time a centered strike on a bladed iron nothing feels better and I’ll stick to that till the day I die nothing in golf feels better than when you’ve absolutely centered oh not quite a bladed iron that’s not bad but it’s still not quite centered and again if you are of that caliber where every single shot you hitting you’re absolutely middling it like these Tor Pros you know the guys who are still using bladed clubs which isn’t many of them now and you are striking the middle how satisfying that feel must be all the time but I just I’d love to morph into the body for a driving range session where they just strip 10 s9s in a row i’ Be A Satisfied Man I I could never play golf again if that’s the case but you ju that that middle strike and these are really nice feeling irons that that second to last one that I’ve just had and normally I’m looking here even just hitting on the simulator my eyes instantly go a little bit higher in the flight they pop up a touch higher just again cuz that Loft setup um really nice i’ i’ don’t feel like I’ve done them service just yet I wouldn’t say I’ve hit one brilliant let’s just hit a couple more and then we’ll move into a different Iron that’s the one that’s the one if if I could do that every single time I would use nothing but blades but that’s the issue doing that every single time is not easy it really isn’t God they feel good okay so then moving into the pitching wedge floth wise 45 degrees now most players even if you’re a higher handicapper you start to use a more bladed looking wedge where that’s a more specialized wedge so for me a lot of golfers could use a bladed wedge not a problem I mean this is another gorgeous looking Golf Club I really like the shaping I I like the high toe I love the very uh almost quite sharp Leading Edge gorgeous looking irons right let’s set a couple of nice pitching wedges into this [Music] green pulled it a tiny bit but again feel wise was absolutely incredible typically with a bladed iron as well you’ll get that little bit of extra spin you’ll be able to kind of manipulate shots I think that’s where again better players might if they able to if they hit the center of the club enough lean more towards bladed golf clubs you can typically manipulate them a little bit more you can hit a big right to left left to right high low you can kind of work a little bit more magic with a bladed Golf Club again for the average golfer not so much they’re not going to be able to do that really if anything it’s going to be by a bit of a happy accident um I I definitely the more certainly more I’ve played golf now you know I’ve been playing golf for 20 plus years I’ve definitely now started to see less even even new golfers coming through even really talented young golfers they’re not using blades so much anymore they’re using cavity I I do think we’re at the tail end of bladed golf clubs I really do and it’s a shame because there’s still a very very very very very small percentage of golfers that could utilize blades but I do think now certainly if you mooving into golf to make money using blades isn’t isn’t massively helping you as much now as a nice set of cavity back irons this wedge is lovely to hit going back to kind of the Real review of these irons they do feel good I mean ping blades in the past that the blades isn’t their speciality um this is one of the real true blades that they’ve ever made um it’s not their speciality they’re much more gear towards kind of forgiving golf clubs you typically want it if you’re looking for blade you normally maybe lean towards tight list or mauno uh miora as a kind of quite an exotic brand um ping aren’t normally in the blade conversation but I mean almost just as they’ve cracked the blade Market or making a great blade is what I’m saying they’re becoming kind of uh obsolete that’s nice with the wedge yeah I’m not I’m not quite getting that extra few yards out of it but I’m not expecting to either really nice feel right let’s go for nah the other end of the spectrum for Ryan 22 and a half degrees of LW I mean this is where realistically honestly even if tall players are using bladed golf clubs now it’s very rare and they still using a bladed long iron so this is where the funning games begin just behind the golf Ballard again you’ve just got to be an incredible ball Striker to be able to kind of absolutely find that sweet spot the sole is thin the top line is delicate let let’s hit some cuz if I can if I can middle one it’ll make my day it might even make my week come on let’s hit a good strike oh yes there she is woo every day if I could stand there every day and hit that golf shot there is just something so incredible of that kind of you don’t feel the ball come off the head when you when you strike it in the middle of a blade you just don’t feel it come off the face that was gorgeous 202 yards carry that little penetrating draw um I mean that that’s as good as it gets for me that is as good as it gets I almost I almost don’t want to hit another one because I don’t want that that takes to go away but obviously I need to hit a couple more have a great strike I just pulled it a touch still felt good off the face this isn’t going as bad as I thought it was going to be actually there not too bad shots there um that’s it I want to finish one with one more real bullet so close just just the the the difference between a slightly open face or a slightly Clos face is vast and that’s the thing with with kind of better players when they’ve got this versatility this bladed Golf Club where they feel like they can leave the face open and cut it up a little bit shut it down and be able to kind of hit one nice little draw when you’ve got that blade length and this style of Club it’s so much easier to do just that when you’re trying to hit a straight shot and it doesn’t quite pay off the the effects are quite damaging really um let’s go one more come on you’ve got this middle a I’m going to hit a little tight draw straight on that flag perfect oh yes that’s the shot to finish on our blades dead no let’s look at some data and then I’ll talk about whether I think blades are dead or not God that last shot was good that was really really good if we dive through the data 7 iron 163 yards a carry 4 iron 202 pitching wedge 134 no huge surprises I’m you know they are what you expect from a from a bladed Golf Club um me using a slightly more cavity back iron now I probably I probably had about maybe certainly with the seven iron and the four iron maybe kind of five six yards on top of that for my own personal uh performance now but um it’s just the Miss strikes you just get a little bit more punished Ablaze dead they’re not yet that being the imper imperative word they’re not yet yet still going to be a golfer who can use these to their full potential who can make bladed Golf Club sing but I believe that number is getting smaller and smaller and smaller incredible set of golf clubs the Ping blueprint te’s let’s just be honest for most people watching this video they’re not going to be for you thanks for watching and we’ll see you next time