What's your handicap? When you move to blades the sweet spot on the club gets much smaller meaning your miss hits would potentially happen more often and be worse.

I'd say anyone with more than a 5 handicap should stay away from blades...I'm a 7 and the thought has never crossed my mind. I have a friend that is about a 10 and used to play blades and they made him worse. He switched back to the AP2's recently and is hitting the ball much better now. Just not much room for error with blades. I'd check out the AP1's or AP2's if I were you. Love my AP2's...I'm able to work the ball pretty well and I still have some forgiveness.

Blades...what an interesting topic! When you are swinging well there is nothing better for feel and shot shaping. They do have a dark side. Mishits don't tend to fly very well and if your swing is a bit inconsistent, blades will really let you know it.

I would suggest that you go see a good fitter and see how they fit your swing and game. I would be an expensive mistake to make.

I suppose a large part of the decision making process has to do with the "state" of your ball striking. Are you a consistent ball striker? (I Don't mean PGA Tour consistent of course).

If you are capable of putting a regular and fairly consistent strike on the ball, and if you are willing to invest in some new blade style irons, then all the more power to you. I am looking at moving into a combo set of T-MBs (long irons) and the 716 MBs for the short irons. I strike the ball fairly consistently and with continued practice and dedication at the range and on the course, I know that I will be happy with them. It's my belief that they can help make any golfer a better ball striker with the caveat about practice.

As an aside, you may wish to consider the CB's as well, they are a very popular item with better players too. And, look at the AP2 set of irons ... Tour Professionals like Jason Dufner and Jordan Speith both play the AP2 irons. The AP2's are a really good alternative to the straight out blades and CB's.

True story...I'm a 15 and I've always heard these exact same stories about blades...but...I was at a yard sale a couple years ago and there was this set of early nineties titleist blades for 7.50...couldn't resist...I had been playing some dci's and I was hitting them decent...my buddies over and he sees this set of blades in the entry way...we play golf together often...he's seen me have a bad hole or two...he chuckles and tells me to save myself the headache and sell them on ebay...I laugh...they sit there for a year...finally I get tired of looking at them...I'm gonna sell em...but first I gotta try to hit these things first...I go out shoot a 39 on 9...been playing them ever since...I like my misses because they may not go far but they usually find the fairway...

Your best bet would be to go see a professional fitter. I wanted to switch to blades because I loved the looks of the MBs. I went to a titleist fitter and tried everything. It was a great experience and I ended up with the 716 CBs, I couldn't be happier. They have a nice thin top line, sound great at Impact plus with the added tungsten weight in the longer irons makes them more forgiving. Definitely go see a fitter and hit everything.

Good luck

blades are very difficult to play!
Even on tour you only see a few guys playing them!

suggest to get fitted from a professional Titleist representative who can tell you which Titleist clubs suit you most

Try the blades!!! I've switched around from AP2's, CB's, MB's and even just had a full set of the T-MB's, I always ended up going back to the blades, my scores are better and they have made me a much better ball striker.
My story is this... wanted to be a better golfer, everyone kept telling me to go more forgiving until I had a really good Titleist fitter say the blades these days are more forgiving than ever but give you more feedback about your shots and ball striking.. if you want to be better... play better and play with something that forces you to play better golf.
So I did... I tried them and loved them, nothing feels as good as striking a 3 iron blade... kind of scary at first but then you easily fall in love.
Then I'll start thinking maybe if I go back to the CB or AP2 I'll be even better because I'm playing better.... not the case... I never felt as good feedback and also noticed I didn't enjoy playing the other irons as much... kind of weird I know.
I tried the T-MB and although the ball went a mile I just didn't feel as consistant and confident with the MB's, so I switched back finally to the new 716 MB's with S400 Tour Issue AMT and it is a dream come true, my brother who play's the new AP2's kept using my MB's because he said they there a blast to play with.
This is just me... I may be different from everyone else but I would give the blades a try... you'll never go back:)

I love the look of the mb but the inconsistency is what would drive me away, I have heard the CB is a great alternative and highly looked over or forgotten . The ap2's are and have been a proven class leader, so many exceptional reviews from some many players...

Personally I have been playing bladed irons all of my life, even from a junior 30 years ago to now. I'm not one to go,all in on the argument that blades are only for good players.

As has been said get on a launch monitor and try them all out with differing shafts, you might be surprised.

Hey RT,

Tough decision and lots of good comments above so I will not repeat. I have played with blades for many years. Here's what you should do. Go out to the driving range with either your old blade 5 irons, or borrow one. Put an impact tape on the club face. Hit 50 golf shots. Take a look at the impact tape after 50 swings. If your shot pattern does not fall within the size of a dime for all 50 swings then you should consider a more forgiving club like a CB, AP2, or the T-MB. Don't make an expensive mistake. Do what you know is best for your game and I'm sure you'll make the right decision.

Good Luck,

DV