I think I just answered your V sole question on another post, but we do not have, nor will we ever have a V sole iron. I understand that that the feel of the irons you tested was good and that’s great. The fact is that a V sole design tends to raise the vertical CG more than on an iron with a traditional radiused sole, and in my testing and experience is less turf forgiving for most players. Raising the cg does not enhance or improve the MPF. Of course the Masters champion used a club with a V sole and did just fine, so some players don’t mind it, obviously. Width and the right radius over the entire sole front to back is what creates favorable turf interaction. With V soles, you basically are eliminating have the sole from having any effect on the turf interaction. Again, just my opinion and each player needs to determine if that kind of sole design will work for their game and on the turf conditions they play the most.
Blade profiles and what looks good to anyone is totally a personal thing. Heel heights getting too high make it difficult for the design to yield a high playability. Higher heel heights in the shorter irons tend to look chunky, in my opinion. I have most of the new models for 2021 and all of the “Players” type designs the toes are rounded more than they are square. Heel heights seem to be not as high as some in the past. I would say that toe heights seem to be getting slightly higher. Tigers iron from last year is definitely one that only he could play, in my opinion. Short blade length, high heel, long hosel = 282 MPF rating. In short, the look is important and you have to like what your looking at, but understand that some of these “blade” designs do not have the mass and dimensional characteristics that produce stability, which results in higher overall playability. If you strike it dead solid perfect every time, like Tiger, it doesn’t matter what the playability is. However, if you miss hit it even occasionally, it does matter on those shots. The blade I am currently designing and am really excited about is going to be a classic profile, with more rounded toe than square, maybe very slightly higher toe, and with the proper heel height, offset and sole design to give us a highly playable, classic muscle back that is stable and solid. Hopefully will be a spring or summer 2022 model. We also have a progressive players cavity design that Pete designed and it should be a Super Game Improvement design that is truly a players cavity profile. Spring of 2022 on this one is the plan.
Britt Lindsey