Why do golf blades increase playability?

[HTL]

Why do advanced golfers use smaller headed clubs? Surely they mess up every now and again and would benefit from a nice big cavity back, and why does a small blade style club head give playability? I just don’t get it.

Surely the bigger head would mean more contact time and spin on a ball when drawing / fading shots?

 

[benny]

I think more mass behind the ball in the smaller head is why - the smaller head and greater bulk behind the ball produces better effects whereas a big head with the mass spread out over the perimeter of the club means that you'll get a decent contact even from the outskirts but nothing like as good as the blade from the middle.

You do get some pro's using cavitys but the best strikers who work the ball well and want to really get a handle on trajectory and spin play blades.

 

[Nico]

I dont have a definitive scientific answer but I know why I use them.

I feel that I get a more consistent response and that my related distances are better.
Because more of the mass is behind the ball I feel that I get a better response.
My shot making has certainly improved with my latest set but that could be down to the fitting,I cant tell.
I love to look down at them,love the way they sit behind the ball,it fills me with confidence that I dont get with so called "game improvement" irons.

In the past I have had a couple of sets of Ping's (Nickel headed ISI's and Eye3's) and they felt dead next to forged clubs and they looked clunky. I genuinely dont think blades are as hard to use as people think but I have no doubt that cavity's are more forgiving on less well hit shots.

I have certainly noticed that more tour players are using cavity's these days so perhaps our days are numbered?

 

[Deleted member 1147]

I'm sure that the types of metals used is involved in this answer. But can't be certain as I'm no metalurgist(sp?)

Cast, cavity backs use hard metal with little flex/give.

Forged blades use softer metal which deforms differently.

Does this seem reasonable ?

 

[benny]

Forging has lots to do with it too mate yeah, thats why Nike and Mizuno are getting great results with forged cavity irons like the CCI and the MP series - a whole host of Pro's are using them - even Nick Faldo is using forged cavities in the latest issue of Golf World.

 

[Nico]

I am sure that being forged helps. If you look at the Vega or Miura websites there is a lot about the process.

Certainly never got "bag chatter" from my Ping's .

On the playability thing,not sure how much that is required these days. Aside from distance control there is not the requirement or ability to move balls around like they used to.

Got a mate who is still a pro but gave up the shop etc to become a sparks,he has got some old stock Titleist Balata's, they feel like hitting sponges and you can make them move miles.

 

[MVP]

cavity backs are designed to STAY SQUARE and give forgiveness on off centre hits, blades are designed to go where the player wants them too if he/she has that abilty! therefore making it easier to open /close the face at impact if necessary!

 

[John_Findlay]

MVP has hit the nail on the head! Why didn"t I think of it that way?

You could also say that cavity backs are like a reliable old donkey. They'll always do the job. Blades are like a thoroughbred racehorse. Temperamental but a joy to experience on the right day. Just expect to get thrown every now and again!

 

[RGuk]

I'm using forged cavity irons.....I have to say the strike seems sweeter than my old cast cavities. Either way, I've never struggled with deliberately shaping shots. BUT, I've never used an out and out game improvement iron and can only speculate that subtle shaped shots are going to be pretty hard to play with big forgiving heads.

 

[Nico]

Real,are they as good as 845's?

I did hit one 3 iron on Saturday,under a tree with draw up the fairway on a par 5 and it was a moment.

Lost the hole to a birdie but had big silly grin on my face al the way to the next tee.

 

[RGuk]

There's not a huge amount in it, but the original Silver Scott 845s were minimal offset, quite small headed and t.b.h. not really forgiving like the modern Callaway 12/14/20s I've hit and similar clubs. I don't entirely know what type of player my Macgregor 565s were aimed at, but they are very sweet and offer a more direct trajectory rather than the slightly frustrating "rainbow" flight of modern improver irons.

I enjoyed using my TP 11 Mizuno blades at the time, they weren't as beastly as some people might think, but it's certainly fair to say that the "nearly flush" hits were often punished with quite a big loss of distance and more unwanted bending mid-flight from side-spin.

 

[madandra]

....... Just expect to get thrown every now and again!

Or have your filling shaken out when you catch a 3 iron off the toe.

That was MY idea of a STINGER shot.

 

[Nico]

I still think they look awesome tho, take a look at Mizuno MP60 and think where they got the head shape from?

Mad, also knifed a 3 iron on Saturday and I can still feel it!!

 

[benny]

Anyone see Anthomy Kim winning the Wachovia on Sunday?

HRH Faldo was saying that he'd had a look in Kims bag the night before and picked up his 2-iron that he'd been using for all his Stinger*TM tee shots (in Tigers absence I might add). Faldo sounded flabbergasted that it had 'about 12 degrees of loft on it, and was shaped like a bread knife.'

Imagine moosing that bairn off the tee infront of the clubhouse crowd

 

[TonyN]

I find it scary enough picking up a 4 iron, although last night i did sit one in the middle of the gren from a good 190 yards.

But most of the time i feel like am swinging a bloomin digerydoo!