In our forums, our members have been discussing if an iron that is ‘too forgiving’ can be detrimental to the better player. WRXer ‘MaddMaxx’ asks WRXers if his game could be made worse by going overkill on forgiveness, and our members have been offering up their thoughts on the issue in our forum.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

• Mitchell: “Totally depends upon how you deliver the club into impact, typical conditions faced, and sensitivity to bounce/sole width offset, etc. Play regularly with a group of 12 guys that are all 4 or better in handicap, and three of them use what would be classified as GI irons because help them reach preferred trajectory windows with good distance and spin for their respective speeds and deliveries.”
• DJ17: “The entire point of irons is controlling distance, trajectory, and spin consistently. If you can do that, then it doesn’t really matter the type of irons you have.”
• ProjectX: “Kenny Perry won 14 times on the PGA Tour with “Game Improvement” irons while hitting nothing but draws. Couldn’t hit a fade to save his life and that probably held him back at times maybe even from winning a major. But 14 wins on the PGA Tour and 10 so far on the Champions Tour I would say that’s your answer.”
• Valtiel: “Really the only thing that would “hold back” a better player using those types of irons would be the inability to control either spin, trajectory, or distance due to strong lofts, offset, and certain types of face tech. But if they can control their spin/distance and aren’t losing strokes on approach caused by the aforementioned, then it is all good really.”
• bsavy83: “I’m 37 and started playing at age 8. Handicap around 3. I have never used a game improvement iron. I have certainly been tempted, but for me, there is a lack of feedback. To me, irons are all about feedback. Without it, you are grooving a bad swing. I heard some pro way back in the day say he spent all winter hitting into a net in his garage and the shots felt great. Gets outside that spring and realized he spent 3 months grooving a duck hook. That’s why I like an iron with feedback. I know what I’m doing wrong so I can stop.”

Entire Thread: “Can a better player be held back by playing a set of irons that are too forgiving?”