Switching From Cavity to MB's

[Brooklyn]

So i got my first set of MB's today and went to the driving range. Off the mats i was hitting awesome and singing the praises of muscle back irons... This was my first time hitting them... So then i decided it was warm enough to go hit off of the grass and went outside...

WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY!
I couldnt hit the ball right to save my life... I was chopping them... going to deep and making huge diviots while the ball would go maybe 60 yards with my 5 iron....

Anybody have any imput on why this was going down??? Is there a learning curve to these things... When i did get a good hit i did infact get a good hit... And i now know what people are talking about "butter".

[larlev]

I personally think hitting off mats should avoided.

Sounds like a posture issue to me...just guessing
Are these clubs the same length? Try taking a nice easy, flowing swing...and don't go back all the way, have the shaft vertical on your backswing....this always works for me, when I get out of whack.

Shouldn't matter IMO what clubs your using....a good golf swing is a good golf swing...a bad one is a bad one

[MrKadash]

Hitting off the mats indoors is probably the worst thing you can do to accurately judge how well you hit any iron. You could hit the mat 3 inches or more behind the ball and still get a decent shot. It's hard to say what you got going on without seeing your swing, mechanics, etc. Concentrate on tempo and try to imagine the ball being three inches or so ahead of the actual ball position, meaning you want to swing down ahead of the ball. That's what seems to work for me when my ball striking is off.

[x-forged]

So i got my first set of MB's today and went to the driving range. Off the mats i was hitting awesome and singing the praises of muscle back irons... This was my first time hitting them... So then i decided it was warm enough to go hit off of the grass and went outside...

Those musclebacks you got most likely have a very thin sole compared to your cavitybacks, so they will have a tendency to dig into the ground and take bigger divots unlike cavity backs. now if your chunking them, maybe your coming down on the ball to hard. keep in mind, divots are perfectly fine as long as you hit the ball first and they are not excessively deep. I had this problem when i made the switch. It was more mental for me making the switch. I would suggest just practicing a lot until you get the feel for them. good luck, you'll like the clubs, everyone likes musclebacks!

[Dent]

I have a question also. Is it bad to Not take a divot with Musclebacks? Im using cavity right now and never take a divot. When i make the switch to MBs. Will I need to take a divot? Or can i still sweep right through with them?

[DavidFehertysBike]

I could be just ignorant here, but ive noticed little to no difference in the cavity titliest 695's i play and the MB version - they felt like the same clubs to me. TBH i think its more about machismo than anything..

and i agree with the comments about mats in this thread, its always a little better to hit off of grass, if you can.

[jdumoit]

Out of curiosity: what blades did you end up getting? x-forged has a good point about the sole width.

To offer a personal example: I bought my wife a set of Wilson hope CB irons. I hit them just for fun last time we were at the range. While I only hit them 85% as far as I hit my blades, I hit 9 out of 10 what I'd describe as perfect. With my blades, I hit 1 of 10 maybe 'perfect', but the less-than perfectly struck shots generally don't differ in ball flight that much from the perfectly hit ones. If I happen to catch on perfectly on the course, it will go 5-10 yards further than a 'normal' one and feel extra-crisp. Since I've played for a month consistantly in the last 11 years; I expect my 'perfect' percentage to improve over the next several months.

In short: there's definately a 'sweet-spot' difference between CB's and your typical blade I think.

[Brooklyn]

Out of curiosity: what blades did you end up getting? x-forged has a good point about the sole width.

Taylormade RAC MB's.... But i think what im gonna end up doing is making a combo set with them... And get the LT's for the 4,5,6 but maybe not... ill just learn how to use them like i should. After two days at the range i am probably 75% with the 8,9,PW. I really can tell a difference.

[x-forged]

I have a question also. Is it bad to Not take a divot with Musclebacks? Im using cavity right now and never take a divot. When i make the switch to MBs. Will I need to take a divot? Or can i still sweep right through with them?

no, its not bad not to take a divot. Its perfectly fine if you hit it clean off the turf. You wont need to take a divot with muscle backs, but they are made to take them, so take advantage of divots if you can. for some reason when i made the switch, I automatically started taking larger divots then with the cavitybacks, dont know why...

[HytrewQasdfg]

When i make the switch to MBs.

When? As in "when I become a better golfer"?

There are plenty of tour players that use cavity backs. You don't gain any advantages by using a muscle back, but you do lose the advantages of using a cavity back. Other than ego, there is no reason to move from cavity backs to muscle backs. Not one.

[nykfan4life]

Generally, with any type of iron, a shallow divot about 2 inches long starting just after your ball shows that your swing properly bottomed out, and you hit the ball on the downswing. However, you can have a good swing without a divot.

[jdumoit]

There are plenty of tour players that use cavity backs. You don't gain any advantages by using a muscle back, but you do lose the advantages of using a cavity back.

I've never been a pro, but I'm pretty sure 'ego' isn't the reason a lot of tour players use blades...

It's a hell of a lot easier to shape your shots with a blade than with a CB. In return you give up some forgiveness. That being said; there are some excellent forged CB's these days that might be a good compromise.

[r7 425]

Yes but its a huge difference switching from cavity to forged....The mis hit factor is something that you have to take cautiously...As far as switching from a cavity to a muscle back--it is a good transition...a lot of muscle back (non blades) like the titlesit 990's are pretty forgiving and provide adequate feedback

[jdumoit]

Titleist 990's are cavity backs in my opinion. They do have that muscle back-like crease, but MB is synonymous with blade in my vocabulary. The first is a type of the latter. The 990's, mp-57's/60's, Tommy SS Forged CBs, cleveland cg reds, cobra pro cb's, etc are all forged, but I wouldn't call them MBs.

[iacas]

Yes but its a huge difference switching from cavity to forged....The mis hit factor is something that you have to take cautiously...As far as switching from a cavity to a muscle back--it is a good transition...a lot of muscle back (non blades) like the titlesit 990's are pretty forgiving and provide adequate feedback

WTF are you talking about?

1) The Titleist 990s are cavity backs. 2) Musclebacks are blades. Good luck finding one that isn't. 3) cavity:forged::apples:tape measures. I've got forged cavity-back clubs. 4) cavity -> blade is obviously "the same" difference as blade -> cavity r7, I've said so privately a few times now, but you're going to be banned or put in the penalty box if you can't stop posting drivel just for the sake of "hearing" yourself type... On to the original topic: mats disguise poor contact. You can hit the ball two inches fat and the club will slide along the mat and the ball will get airborne. If you're truly a high handicapper, you may want to lay off the musclebacks for awhile, though I AM an advocate of using "harder to hit clubs" so that you can really, really keep a swing in check and keep hitting the center of the clubface. But you've gotta have a repeating swing before you have to worry about keeping it there...

[The Gill]

I agree that hitting off mats can ruin you. It allows you to get away with murder.

I live near Seattle, and there are zero ranges or courses that allow you to hit off grass right now, so I'm stuck with mats.

This is what I do: Lay a towel (one you really don't like) about an inch behind the ball. If you hit the mat first, the towel will go flying. After a few times of walking out on the range with your tail between your legs, you'll start hitting down. You can start moving the towel closer to the ball once you start making good downward contact.

You can actually go the other way and start swinging too steep though. Mats should be last resort. You'd probably do better flighting irons on a soccer field.

[Brooklyn]

I agree that hitting off mats can ruin you. It allows you to get away with murder.

Same situation... I live in slc so its warm one day snowing another... So the place i go has mats on cold wet days and grass on warm ones... but yeah i opt for grass when ever i can...

[unscathed]

Here's one: workability.

When? As in "when I become a better golfer"?