Blades / Cavity backs

[flandango]

I have seen a lot of debate regarding bladed clubs and them being harder to hit than cavity backs?

My question is...Why use them?

What benefit is there from using them?

 

[theeaglehunter]

They have greater playability which means you can more easily move the ball in the air on a consistent basis. You can also manipulate the height of shots etc more easily if you are good enough.

Blades also offer better, more precise feedback so the player can tell exactly how / where they have struck the ball on the club face. Thinner soul grinds also mean they can be played better off a variety of different lies and the face can be opened / closed with more success.

These apply to the better player though who is good enough to use them.

They also look great and are much sexier than large cavity backs and show less at address due to a narrow top line which appeals to many people.

 

[ademac]

I think the benefits are more workability and feel. However I do think that people want to use blades because of the "status" thing. A lot of professionals don't use blades because they are soooo unforgiving! It kind of mirrors, "Beckham wears predators so I'll wear them, and then I'll look/play like Beckham" It happens in every sport and always will.

 

[Herbie]

Blades have a very small sweet spot.
Flexible shot making with blades is an advantage but only if you have a consistant enough skill to keep hitting them sweet.
Mis-hit with a Blade as a player with average standard and you will know it and can be costly.
Try a fade with a blade and mis-hit and you have a major slice, same error trying a draw and you have a severe cock up in the oposite lock.
Even hitting consistantly accurately in the centre with a blade, the slightest out of centre hit can produce a wayward shot unexpectedly.
I had a set for years and I fancied myself as a golfer a lot back then, but as soon as I started losing that consistancy of strike, my demise was rapid, from a comfortable and consistant 6 h/c player capable of parring several courses played, to someone who could hardly muster a round of 85 or 90. Change of clubs got me playing decent golf again.

So if you find you have an afinity for blades and prepared to work hard, then go for them I say, but today there is really no need for them.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Pretty much covered in the previous answers. A blade will give you more playability and better feedback. As a decent player I useto think the world revolved around blades (I really wanted a set of Maxfli Australian blades) but after giving the game up and having to hit them some ten years later it became clear that times had moved on and my ailing game needed first aid in the forms of a more forgiving club.

I don't think I'll ever get to be that good a ball striker again but feel I do get the benefit of some degree of manoeuvreability with the forgiveness of a cavity with the tour version of the burners

 

[Imurg]

Robert Karlsson uses blades from 3-pw but he uses a cavity-back 2 iron. The reason? "It's just too difficult to hit. I think Olazabal is the only one who uses a pure blade 2 iron now"

And that's from the European No.1.

Blades look good and in the hands of a good ball striker can work wonders. Generally, in the hands of us, we could hit a length of 4x2 better! Cavity backs forgive a miss-hit shot. You may not hit the Sweet Spot but you will still get some distance and accuracy. Miss-hit a blade and you'll lose distance and accuracy.

But its not set in stone. A few guys on here play blades when their handicap suggests they shouldn't. If you want to try some and they work then use them.

 

[ademac]

But its not set in stone. A few guys on here play blades when their handicap suggests they shouldn't. If you want to try some and they work then use them.

I bet the guys on here who play blades would score better with more forgiving clubs! And if they're honest then they would say the same!

 

[birdieman]

There are lots of players playing blade(muscleback) irons.
Musclebacks are preferred by players that hit the ball too high naturally - the muscleback has a higher centre of gravity so hits the ball lower than a cavity back which has a very low centre of gravity.
Cut muscle is somewhere between a cavity back and a blade.

I have chopped and changed between both types over the years and the concept that cavity back is easier to hit has never really washed with me.

I have a combo set which gives cavity back long irons and blade short irons. That works for me. For short game play - greenside chips and the like I much prefer a blade, CB's are too clumsy for this IMO.

 

[ademac]

I have chopped and changed between both types over the years and the concept that cavity back is easier to hit has never really washed with me.

I have a combo set which gives cavity back long irons and blade short irons.

Bit of a contradiction?

 

[USER1999]

I have switched to a combo set from blades. The long irons are too inconsistent with my ability to swing a club. I still like bladed short irons though. I get a lovely strike with my bladed short irons, and tbh, can't stand looking down on a clumpy 9i, it just looks wrong.

 

[MVP]

I think the benefits are more workability and feel. However I do think that people want to use blades because of the "status" thing. A lot of professionals don't use blades because they are soooo unforgiving! It kind of mirrors, "Beckham wears predators so I'll wear them, and then I'll look/play like Beckham" It happens in every sport and always will.

i brought predators and they were [****],, adidas world cup boots are the best!

and as for blades ..i got a blended set to give me the best of both worlds!

 

[birdieman]

I have chopped and changed between both types over the years and the concept that cavity back is easier to hit has never really washed with me.

I have a combo set which gives cavity back long irons and blade short irons.

Bit of a contradiction?

I suppose it is. What I am saying is I haven't found any obvious difference in difficulty between CB/MB but I am happy to have CB's in the long irons because they are supposed to be easier to hit, even though I haven't really noticed. I'm not saying it isn't true.

I played Ram Tour grinds which really were a pure blade, back in the day when Ram was a good club. Blades have never frightened me as I played my first 5 years with pure ones.
Oh well!

 

[ricardodaintino]

Interesting reading the above. I had considered this arguement in December when I had already won first prize in the Nike competition (in my head only unfortunatly).

I know the realist in me would have taken the mid cavity set, but the tw*t in me would have put up a really strong arguement for the blades even though it would have destroyed my game!

I think once I take more lessons and the handicap creeps down I'll get a set of the mixed irons because I think the short game is so much about feel that blades would have a great benefit to that part of my game, but certainly not the long game!

 

[Macster]

I used my Zing 2's for over 12yrs, and they were VERY forgiving clubs, not to mention powerful tools too.
They took me down to my 11 H/C, at which point, (Sept) I decided to change to Titleist AP2's, which are beautiful.

They are taking me some time to fully get used to, particularly as winter means not too much time on the course, but the feel you get with a sweet strike is definitely better.
They arent stronger clubs tho, my distances are shorter if anything, but I love them.

Blades are a bridge too far in my opinion, unless you are a very sweet striker of the ball.
Time will tell if the AP's are the beasts to get me lower, but they are inspiring me to work on my game more, which hopefully may achieve the end result

 

[bernix]

I have switched to a combo set from blades. The long irons are too inconsistent with my ability to swing a club. I still like bladed short irons though. I get a lovely strike with my bladed short irons, and tbh, can't stand looking down on a clumpy 9i, it just looks wrong.

same with me, but for driving range practice I still use an old set of Mizuno MP11s - fine stuff they are

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Even the TM Tour preferred or the TP forged are not a true blades anymore and both have a cavity. I know the Cally protoype X were a serious blade and Mizuno have always had pure blades. I like the idea of a combo set and to be honest it isn't an option I have ever considered but makes sense.

Most players seem to hit 7 downwards reasonably well so I can see how that would appeal to a wider range than blades alone. I bet the 9 and PW look great and have lovely feel

 

[andiritchie]

I can shank the largest of cavity backs just as easy as a blade,if there is a hosel i can hit it.

Having said that most modern blades are playable apart from the long irons,they are just a little better to move around in the air if needed and come with no offset which is nice instead of the hooded in game improvement irons

 

[TonyN]

But its not set in stone. A few guys on here play blades when their handicap suggests they shouldn't. If you want to try some and they work then use them.

I bet the guys on here who play blades would score better with more forgiving clubs! And if they're honest then they would say the same!

Although I dont play out and out blades, my cut muscle 52's and my 18HC suggest I may be kidding my self. This is not the case, I strike the ball really well and beleive I only play off A HC that high because my last set of clubs, X20's cavity backs didn't suit me (it was the shafts really)

I was in AG today and picked up the 22's to see what had changed, nothing, they still look huge. I dont like cavity backs, looking down on the fat top lines and motorway wide soles is not very insipring.

Looking down on my 52's is alot better, although the 4 iron can give me the shakes first thing in the morning

 

[HomerJSimpson]

That is why I prefer the tour models. Still not a sleek top line of a blade but certainly a lot less metal to look down on and with a lot more playability and still with the forgiveness. I've not seen the X22 tour version yet but I thought the X22 were a little smaller in terms of head size (width) although still chunky on top

 

[TonyN]

To be quite honest, I dont really care for playability in clubs at this time, so why am i using them and making things harder for myself you ask? Too me, they aint any harder to hit than my old X20's but they feel 10 times better to strike and launch the ball on a higher trajectory. Mizuno irons are something else and I must say, someone will have to make something special for me to ever even consider not playing Mizzy irons in the future.