In our forums, our members have been discussing whether forgiveness can ultimately hinder a player’s progress. WRXer ‘CW13’ comes from a tennis background and says:
“I’m coming at it from a tennis perspective, I currently play pretty high level tennis, and my racquets are the equivalent of blades (heavy, smaller head size, etc.). If I ever tried to use a beginner type of racquet, I know my game would suffer significantly. So I was wondering if golf clubs function that same way once you get to a certain level.”
And our members have been having their say on the matter in our forums.
- Wooderson: “I don’t think it’s an easy question to answer and is probably player perspective. One thing I always remember is that 40 years ago players only had blade irons or almost blades to play and yet with all the “forgiveness” we have, the average score has not gotten better.”
- sean2: “I think forgiveness is overrated. Regardless of what type of clubs you play, you still have to put a good swing on the ball.”
- PowderedToastMan: “It’s not about forgiveness as much as it is about how your swing holds up to certain sole widths, bounce angles, leading-edge sharpness and how that affects turf interaction. Some skilled players have impact conditions that are favourable to some extra bounce and blunted leading edges, whereas many benefit from more classic player’s designs. As you improve, you’ll probably need to change irons, not because you necessarily need less forgiving irons, but because your impact conditions have changed and you need an iron to match up better with your dynamics.”
- braincramp52: “This is only my experience. The only thing that has lowered my scores and handicap over the last 33 years is the amount of golf I play. What I’m swinging has had very little to do with it.”