Equipment

Nike Slingshot 4D Review

By Valerie ⋅ April 23, 2008 ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

Nike Slingshot 4D Irons

Spring has finally arrived for me! After a long winter without any golf, I finally got in 27 holes this weekend. The motivation for this early and cold round was a set of beautiful new Nike Slingshot 4D irons that have been staring at me for about 3 weeks. These impressive new clubs arrived one day and I’ve been itching to play with them since I eyed their shiny new faces with fancy yellow coloring. I initially started swinging them in the house waiting for the day when I could finally try them out and see for myself if they were as fantastic as they looked.

Waking up early on Saturday morning, I walked the dog as the sun rose tempting me to think about a round of golf. Although there was a chill in the air, I figured since the sun was out and shining brightly it might be warm enough to golf. I asked my husband if he wanted to play and he was packing our clubs in the car before I could finish my sentence. He, unlike me, will play in temperatures usually reserved for ice skates not golf shoes!

I dressed as if I was about to head into a blizzard wearing long underwear, pants, a turtleneck, a sweatshirt, a wind jacket, and a winter hat. I figured I was definitely prepared for the chilly temperatures and excited to start the 2008 golf season. On the first tee, I decided to use my 3 wood even though it had been a long winter with little to no golf for me. It showed on the first shot as I duffed the ball which only traveled about 20 yards. Chalking it up to new season nerves, I remembered what had brought me out on this cold day and grabbed the shiny new Nike 5 iron from my bag for my second shot. The feeling that I got when I hit that ball was something that I had felt too infrequently in my golf career. I stepped back and said, “wow” as I watched the ball travel about 150 yards down the middle of the fairway landing just short of the green. No longer worried about being rusty after my winter laziness, I was just excited to hit these new Nike irons and hope that every shot felt like that! I was not to be disappointed.

We only played nine holes because, even with my extra layers, the wind got the best of me. That being said, I was actually playing pretty well. I was amazed at how quickly I had adjusted to this new set of Nike irons. I had only swung them a few times in my living room and I was hitting the ball better than I had in my life. The Nike irons are very light and I just felt immediately comfortable using them. Even when I didn’t hit the ball well, it still wasn’t a horrible shot. It was amazing how confident I felt hitting each new iron in my bag. I didn’t hem and haw about which club to use and just went up and hit them. The five iron was traveling 150 yards which is a very good distance for me. The ball rose beautifully from the club head when I made contact and it felt great. It made me realize how much I truly missed golf and I wondered why I didn’t start playing with this amazing set of irons three weeks sooner. To me they were the miracle clubs…they were making me into a decent golfer!

My husband and I ventured out again today and played 18 holes. It was a beautiful day and the course was nearly empty…it felt like our own private country club. The Nike irons helped my game again although my driving and putting were very inconsistent as I went from parring one hole to getting a double bogey on the next. My husband had his gps system and would ask me if I wanted yardage marks and I declined just getting a feeling that I was choosing the right Nike iron. It sounds weird, I know, but I honestly felt incredibly confident with every Nike iron that I put in my hands except for the sand wedge, but that’s my own battle with the bunker. With these new irons in my bag, I hope to practice bunker shots and become more comfortable with the sand wedge. I also hope that as the summer progresses and I use the clubs more frequently I’ll gain some distance as well as consistency. I’ve set some ambitious goals for myself this summer and using these Nike irons I have confidence that I’ll not only achieve these goals, but surpass them. Golf is such a mental game that I feel that I’m already ahead of the game having such confidence in my clubs. Now I need to get the same confidence with my hybrids and woods and I’ll be all set to really start shooting some low scores on the course.

Specifications

• Slingback - Positioned strategically on each club head to achieve desired ball flight needed
• Variable Sole Width - Progressive Center of Gravity for higher, softer landing golf shots
• Progressive Offset - Greater offset in long irons for high, straight shots. Decreased offset in short irons for precision
• Head Shape Change - Extremely forgiving, while enhancing control and accuracy when you need it most

Conclusion

The Nike Slingshot 4D irons are a set of game improvement irons for the player not looking for a super high MOI set of clubs. If you are a very high handicapper, looking for the most forgiving set of irons, have a look at our review of the Nike Sumo iron set. If you are looking for something a little more ‘workable’, but still extremely forgiving, the Slingshot 4D irons could be a great option for you. It doesn’t hurt that these irons look great in the bag as well! These irons can be had for $599 with steel shafts or $699 with graphite shafts, really quite a bargain for a new retail set of game improvement irons. If you’re do not mind a used set, you can also find them on ebay in the $400 range.

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