NIKE VAPOR PRO FERS (2014)/ outlet 4-PW/ X FLEX KBS TOUR C TAPER 130 ARBRES

• BRAND: NIKE
• MODEL: VAPOR PRO
• YEAR OF RELEASE: 2014
• SET MAKE UP:4-PW

• IRON TYPE: MUSCLE BACK
• FORGED OR CAST: FORGED
• CLUBS ARE AIMED AT: TOUR PROS AND LOW HANDICAPPERS

1. DIY LIE ANGLE CUSTOM FITTING FOR IRONS AND WEDGES AND WHY THEY ARE VERY IMPORTANT.

SHORT VERSION:

(Please scroll down for a longer version)

The lie angle of a golf club is the angle between the shaft and the sole of the clubhead when the club is in the address position.

Getting the correct lie angles in your irons and wedges for your own individual stance and swing is very important because the soles of the clubheads need to be square to the ground at impact to allow you hit the ball out of the middle of the clubface and at the target.

If you are unsure of what lie angle spec you need in your irons and wedges then what you can easily do yourself at home is to use Ping's colour code chart to give you a good estimate, even if you are buying irons (or wedges) from another brand of clubheads.

However, you do not have to have lie angles adjusted on your irons and wedges if you are prepared to alter your stance to suit the clubs you are using. I go into this in more detail in the longer version of this guide.

Method:

1. Wear normal shoes and have a friend measure the vertical distance between your wrist and the floor in inches when you are standing upright with your hands hanging down naturally by your sides.
2. Do a google search for ‘Ping colour code chart' and look at the first image result.
3. Match up your wrist to floor measurement with a lie angle specification.
4. Buy an iron set within plus or minus two degrees of that specification.
5. Do an easy DIY check with your recently bought irons (or wedges) to see if any further lie angle adjustments need to be made. Do a youTube search for ‘DIY lie angle check' and watch the first youTube result by ‘50 yards longer' which is a short, helpful video that shows you how to do it.
6. Do this test off either a range mat or use a tee when on grass. Do the test with either all of your irons and wedges or to save time you could do it with perhaps three or four clubs instead such as a long iron, mid iron, short iron and shortest wedge. If the lines are not going straight up and down the clubfaces then leave the lines on the clubfaces and hand all of your clubs to your club pro to make lie angle adjustments which should cost £3-5 per club.
7. Clean the lines off the clubfaces using water and a sponge or cloth and dry the clubheads afterwards using a towel.
8. As an alternative to having lie angles adjusted, you can alter your stance to suit the lie angles of your irons and wedges. If the clubheads are toe-down at impact then you need to bend your knees more and/or be more bent over at your waist in order to lower your hands at impact. If the clubheads are toe-up at impact then you need to stand taller, i.e.less knee bend and/or be less bent over at your waist in order to raise your hands at impact.

SHORT VERSION:

(Please scroll down for a longer version)

I would advise anyone who is unsure of what new or second hand iron set they should buy to get custom fit for irons. This is more important to do if you are planning to spend significant money on your set of irons and your scoring is important to you. In most cases, every time you buy and sell an iron set it will cost you significant money just to change clubs so it's good if you can buy a suitable iron set on your first purchase.

There are different types of custom fitting available but before paying to get custom fit I advise checking that you will be able to try out a significant number of different shafts of different weights and flexes and also different clubhead options as well. In my opinion the most important thing to learn from a custom fitting session for irons is what sort of weight of shaft you most prefer, followed by shaft flex. This is because getting a suitableshaft in your irons for your own individualswing and shaft weight preferences is more important than getting suitable clubheads. I believe that all of the well known brands of clubheads make (almost) equally good clubs and they all will sell very similar clubhead options in irons from one brand to the next, from a set of non forgiving muscle backs at one end to a set of very forgiving cavity backs at the other and then there will be 2-3 sets in between those two extremes. The ‘type' of clubheads you choose in your irons should be mainly decided by how much forgiveness you want on off-centre hits, followed by the clubs that you like the look of when the clubs are in the address position. This is because from my research I believe that all iron clubheads from all of the top brands will perform (almost) equally well when you strike it out of the middle of the clubface, but some will perform a bit better than others when you miss-hit it. For off-centre hits, the most forgiving irons such as game improvement irons will perform better than the less forgiving irons such as muscle back irons for both carry distance and accuracy. Game improvementirons will have stronger lofts than muscle back irons so that is the main reason you will be hitting game improvementirons further than muscle backirons but even when taking that into account game improvement irons will outperformmuscle backirons on off-centre hits.

In nearly all cases, the brands that make the iron shafts are completely separate to the brands that make the clubheads, so it's possible to get almost any shaft that you would be trying at your custom fitting session in any second hand iron set that you would find on eBay afterwards from any of the main brands of clubheads such as Titleist or Taylormade etc.

Make a note or take a photo of shaft labels of the specific shafts (and the flex) that you like during your fitting and then I would advise to save yourself hundreds of pounds and buy a second hand iron set on eBay afterwards (that are in good condition) that have one of your preferred iron shafts by doing an eBay search for ‘golf irons' plus that specific shaft, for example, ‘golf irons Dynamic gold S300 stiff'. That would be the safest option, to choose an iron set that have shafts that you already know you like or as an alternative you could choose irons that have shafts which are of very similar weight and the same flex to your most preferred shafts at your custom fitting session, but this will be a higher risk option because you may not like how that shaft feels or performs for you even though it's the same weight.

(You may need to use google to look up the weight of any iron shafts that you see in second hand irons advertised on eBay.)

Iron shaft weights can be broken up into different weight brackets which I would describe as:

Heavy/ tour weight: 120+ grams

Mid weight: 100-120 grams

Light weight: 80-100 grams

Super light weight: Under 80 grams

The most popular iron shaft on the PGA tour is True Temper Dynamic Gold which is at the heavier end of iron shaft weight and the Dynamic Gold shafts weigh between 127-132 grams depending on the flex. At your fitting I would advise all golfers to ask to try this shaft first in all three flexes to find your preferred flex and then ask to try a shaft which is ten grams lighter in weight in the same flex and keep going down by ten or so grams at a time until you think the shaft weight feels right for you. Go with your first instincts on this when you first try a shaft. You will swing a club and think that it feels too heavy or too stiff etc and you won't like it. Some golfers will be much more sensitive than others in how much of a difference they actually notice between different iron shafts and how much of a difference a ‘right' or ‘wrong' shaft actually makes to their shots.

Whenever you do find a shaft you like and are performing well with you could then ask to try different shafts in that same weight category to try and find other shafts that you like, which will give you more options to choose from on eBay afterwards. Finally, it may be worth asking to try your most preferred shaft in the different flexes available to just double check that you know what the best flex option is for you.

Key points to remember before and during your fitting:

1. It's always safest to buy a second hand iron set from a seller on eBay that accepts returns because worst case scenario is you will have to pay to post the clubs back to the seller for a full refund if you don't like the clubs. If you buy a new iron set and you try the clubs out and don't like them then you won't be able to return them for a refund and you will likely have to sell them to someone else for significantly less than what you paid for them.
2. Beware that your fitter may be on commission and may think that you are going to buy a new iron set from them, in which case they may be trying to point you towards the most expensive shafts and grips available.
3. Get a fitting at a time that you have recently been playing regular golf so you can learn the most from it.
4. Hit at least 20 balls first before you start comparing any clubheads or shafts to make sure you are warmed up.
5. Line up every shot at a consistent target and use your normal, full swing with every clubhead or shaft option that you try so that whenever you are comparing accuracy with different heads and shafts you have something to go on. It may be easier to put a club or alignment stick down on the ground to allow you to consistently aim to the same target.
6. Take short breaks between shots when you need to so that your swing speed isn't slowing down too much during the fitting.
7. When comparing different iron shafts mainly use ‘feel' to decide which shaft you like the most but look at where your all your shots end up via the launch monitor as well.
8. Don't be afraid to keep asking to try a different shaft. This is partly what you are paying for.
9. Make a note on your phone (or take photos of shaft labels) of the exact names of anyshafts (and the flex) that you like best/ perform the best with, for future reference when you are looking at second hand iron sets on eBay.
10. Shaft weight is more important than flex. I believe too heavy is better than too light (for scoring) because accuracy and consistency of ball striking is more important than distance so if in doubt, err on the side of too heavy (although lighter weight shafts are easier on your body so golfers with a bad back etc may need to reach a compromise between pain and scoring. If the shaft is too light and/or not stiff enough for you then you may have to slow down your swing speed and/or tempo to suit the shaft. When you are nervous, it is easier to strike the ball well and be accurate when you hit the ball hard (but in control) so you need a shaft that works for your 80-90% swing.
11. If you are open to using clubheads from any of the top brands, you will have more options to choose from when you are looking at second hand iron sets on eBay afterwards with your preferred shaft and flex.
12. The loft of the club has by far the biggest influence on launch angle and spin rate etc, not the shaft.
13. If you find out how long your fitting lasts beforehand and what time it started you will know how much time you have left at any point and you can also make sure your fitter does not rush you through it or end it early.
14. Your fitter may be recommending golf club lengths based on your height and ‘wrist to floor' measurement. This is not super important but if your irons are too short in length for you (in particular your short irons and wedges) then you will have to adjust your stance through bending your knees and/or bending over more in order to suit the length of the clubs you are using. This is normally only an issue for people who are either really tall or for golfers who like to stand very tall and upright during their swing. I mention club lengths and also lie angles in more detail in my ‘DIY lie angle custom fitting guide' elsewhere on this eBay listing.
15. It's worth trying all of the different range of clubhead options available for irons at your custom fitting, just to see how much difference you actually notice between a muscle back iron and ‘game improvement' cavity back iron.
16. Please read the longer version at the very bottom of this eBay listing if you would like more detail on anything above.
17. Please read my ‘value for money in an iron set' guide elsewhere on this listing for advice on this.

Short version:

(Please scroll down for a longer version)

With all second hand golf clubs (but for second hand irons and wedges in particular), the most important part of a club condition wise is the clubface because the clubface is what is making contact with the ball. For irons and wedges, the less the clubs have been used the sharper the grooves will be. Sharp grooves give you the highest and most consistent backspin levels possible which is important when you want to stop the ball quickly. Grooves on irons and wedges gradually get less sharp over time after hitting many golf balls- it is a gradual process. Sellers' photos on eBay can be deceptive so it's often hard to see what state the grooves are in and I think you really need close up photos of each clubface in the right lighting to properly show up clubface wear and stone chips. A photo which shows all of the clubfaces together in the one photo won't allow you to properly see clubface wear because the camera is not close enough to the clubfaces.

The market value of second hand golf clubs is decided by a combination of the age and condition of the clubs (relative to the price they were when they were new) and it's the older but good condition iron sets that I believe are the best value for money because many people won't want them just because they are ‘old' which lowers the price but they will have sharp grooves so they will actually outperform newer iron sets that have been used more. However, the older the irons and wedges are the more likely it is that the clubs will be well used and in bad condition but this isn't always the case.

If you are someone who wants a brand new iron set, you can get a much better deal if you buy a new iron set that isn't one of the latest ones. The top brands of clubheads release a new range of irons every two years or so and if shops have not sold all of the previous models the price will come down to shift them before the new range comes out. These older iron sets will cost you significantly less money than any of the latest irons would cost, often by hundreds of pounds but you may only be able to get the clubs with the ‘stock' shafts which may not be what you want but the clubs will certainly be better value for money than the latest new irons from any of the main brands of clubheads.

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4. DIFFERENT IRONS AVAILABLE AND THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEM

There are three different ‘types' of golf irons available:

1. Cavity back irons
2. Bladed irons (or ‘blades')
3. Muscle back irons

Cavity back irons:

A cavity back iron is one that has a hollow section in the back of the club. This removes mass from the centre of the clubface and distributes it to the outside edges of the clubhead, which provides lots of forgiveness. ‘True' cavity back irons look quite chunky behind the ball i.e they have big clubfaces, thick toplines and will also likely have a lot of offset, which is how far the leading edge of the clubface is to the right hand side of the hosel (for a right handed golfer looking at the club in the address position). Cavity back irons will have a significant amount of offset because it makes it easier to square the clubface at impact and most amateur golfers either fade or slice the golf ball, particularly higher handicappers.

Since cavity back irons are so forgiving, you can hit the ball out of the toe or the heel of the clubface and you should find it difficult to tell where on the clubface you made contact just based on the sound and feel, apart from if the ball didn't go quite as far as expected. However, if you thin the ball or hit it heavy, you should be able to tell as soon as you hit it.

All irons that are regarded as ‘game improvement irons' (which are aimed at mid to high handicappers) are cavity back irons.

Bladed irons:

Bladed irons (or ‘blades') are traditional, ‘old school' looking irons with a very thin top-down look and small sweet spot. The clubfaces of bladed irons will also be smaller than cavity back irons. A blade sounds great when you strike the ball out of the centre of the clubface but it will be very obvious when the centre of the clubface is missed because it won't feel or sound the same. Off-centre shots also result in a larger loss of distance and loss of accuracy compared to cavity back irons.

Hardly anyone actually uses true blade irons anymore because they are so unforgiving. Some pro golfers and very low handicap golfers that consistently hit the ball out of the centre of the clubface may choose to use blades because of either looks, feel and because many people think that blades give the most control over trajectory and shot shape (draws or fades), although many people disagree about that (more on that further below with a good youTube video).

Muscle back irons:

Muscle back irons also get called ‘blades' by many people but they are not the same. A muscle back iron will have a thicker base and sole than a blade. The increased mass in the back of a muscle back iron gives the club more forgiveness on off centre hits compared to a blade but muscle back irons and bladed irons look nearly identical to each other to the golfer when the clubs are in the address positon. Muscle backs and blades both have that thin top-down look which most good players like the look of and the clubfaces are smaller than on cavity back irons.

Even though muscle back irons offer less forgiveness than cavity back irons, many golfers like that the reduced forgiveness provides great feedback. What this means is that the low levels of forgiveness of muscleback irons will make it obvious to you when you hit the ball out of the toe or heel by a significant amount, based on the feel and the sound of the ball off the face.

Confusing points on muscle back and cavity back irons:

You can get irons which I would describe as a sort of muscle back/ cavity back hybrid because brands will take a muscleback iron and put a small cavity or holes in the back of the clubhead to make the clubs more forgiving but these clubs are neither true muscle back or cavity back irons because they have features of both. For example, Titleist are one brand of clubheads that bring out a set of irons every two years which they call ‘CB' which stands for cavity back. The Titleist CB irons look very much like musclebacks to the golfer when the clubs are in the address postition but they have a small cavity in the back for increased forgiveness compared to the Titleist ‘MB' (muscleback) irons. Other brands will sell something similar and could get called either muscle backs or cavity backs by the brand. These clubs would all be aimed at good golfers and tour pros who want muscleback irons that are a bit more forgiving. They also could have a little bit more offset than muscleback irons as well. (That's the case with the Titleist CB's compared to MB's but it's a very small difference.)

Some cavity back irons will actually look like muscle back irons when you look at the back of the clubheads, (such as the Taylormade P790's) but these clubs do actually have a cavity in the backs of them, ie part of the clubhead is hollow but you just can't see it. So sometimes when you are looking at second hand iron sets on eBay you will need to use google to find out if the irons are cavity backs or not.

Mark Crossfield did a youTube video called:

‘GOLF CLUB MYTHS - CAVITY OR BLADED IRONS WORKABLE TEST'

(Please do a youTube search for that if you would like to watch it). In this video he and other good golfers compared a ‘game improvement' cavity back iron to a muscle back iron when they were trying to work the ball. Both clubs in their test had the same loft (31 degrees) and they also had the same shaft. What they found was that they were getting near identical results with both clubs when they were trying to hit draws and fades, as well as hitting the ball high and low.

Cavity back irons versus muscle back irons- which should you use?

If you are someone who wants as much forgiveness as possible in your irons and this is your top priority, then ‘game improvement' cavity back irons are your best choice. One potential problem though I think with game improvement irons are that in most cases the ‘stock' (most common) shafts in them are either light weight steel or graphite shafts which I think are actually lighter than ideal for many golfers because in general, light weight shafts make it harder to find the centre of the clubface and hit the ball solid compared to heavier weight shafts, although this is just my opinion based on my own past golfing experience. The lighter the iron shaft is, the faster you should be able to swing it which most often makes it more difficult to hit the ball solid and your misses also get bigger. How light is too light and how heavy is too heavy will vary from golfer to golfer so without trying iron shafts of different weights out you won't know what shaft weight is most suited for you. Please read my ‘short version' guide on custom fitting elsewhere on this listing for more information about this and how to best use a custom fitting session when your aim is to buy second hand afterwards.

(Lots of golfers have become too concerned with distance and I think that is why the top brands of clubheads are all using light weight shafts as the stock shafts in game improvement irons. It is possible to get heavier weight shafts in game improvement irons but you have to pay extra to get these shafts as a custom fit option when buying a new set of irons, which most golfers aren't doing so most of the second hand ‘game improvement' cavity back irons on eBay will have light to midweight shafts, ie under 120 grams.

If your priority in a set of irons is great feel and feedback and you hit the ball well and often out of the middle of the clubface and you also like a thin top-down look in your irons then go for a set of either muscle back irons or a set of the muscle back/ cavity back hybrids that have the features of both.

Extra points:

Golf is part mental and I think that if a golfer believes that the irons they are using are forgiving on off-centre hits then that belief can give the golfer more confidence and that confidence can make it more likely that they will make a good swing and hit a good shot. If a golfer believes that the irons they are using are not forgiving then that belief can scare a golfer a bit which can make it more likely that they will have negative thoughts during a swing and therefore more likely to make a bad swing and hit a bad shot. This is a sort of placebo effect so based on that, I think that many golfers will perform better with either cavity back muscle back hybrid irons or full on cavity back game improvement irons not only because the irons are more forgiving, but because a golfer believes they are more forgiving. This placebo effect may also be bigger when a golfer is nervous.

The clubheads you choose in your irons should be mai.