Semi - Blades AKA muscle cavities

[allin]

I do find it puzzling that anyone would assume they know what clubs a pro should play. I do think it is fair to point out as some have that many pros do play more forgiving clubs, both cavity backs and hybrids, as well as many who still play blades. If you are a pure ball striker and like to work the ball, one choice, if you are long but maybe not quite as pure maybe cavity backs, or if you need help getting your long irons up ? etc. etc. etc. I think the lesson we should get from pros is that they try to address what they need to do on the course with the clubs and set composition they choose. I don't think most worry at all that people might think less of them if they play a more forgiving club or a more traditional club as long as it helps them hit the type of shots they want to.

[drizz]

i play blades and i love them im only 16 and have played them since i was 15 ......if your'e a daily player and have a decent handicap i think you will benefit off a players club if you have a decent swing the shot shape is very consistent!!! and deadly accurate

[RX Phoenix]

I have both blades and semi cavity backed forged irons.

The blades require a very crisp and accurate strike but are extremely accurate pinseekers.

The semi-cavity irons are much easier to hit especially when one is not in a good ball striking groove, so i switch between the two sets depending on how i feel.

I can always hit the cavity backs OK, but do not necessarily hit the blades OK every time, so when in doubt I go with the cavity backs.

[Trev]

I learned in the 1980's using blades and have only once considered something else.
I made the mistake of buying some mizunos in my mid teens and played awful for about 6 months until the pro who sold me them finally took it upon himself to show me there was nothing wrong with them by swopping clubs for 4 holes, the result was I played the best I had for ages even with his lead taped up old MT's that where about 2' too long and he played like a hacker.
The next day he did me a swop for a half set of tour grinds and it was heaven!

Strange that mizunos make the best blades now (if you read adverts) yet I still wouldn't touch them.

[RX Phoenix]

LOL . . . i have a full set 2-PW of old forged MT's in my shed, they are too good to let go of, i'm going to take them out soon and use them, talk about a great feeling set of irons! . . . good enough for Jack!

[wachesawgolfer]

It is not really equipment as it is practise to play well. You cannot buy a golf game with clubs. If blades are fit to the right length, lie, shaft material and flex, anybody can hit them. They just look so thin compared to the big over sized, wide-soled cavities, that they instill fear and lack of confidence. And confidence is a big part of the game. The actual sweet spot on a giant cavity is just a tiny bit bigger than a blade and the forgiveness is not that much. What a cavity does is muffle the impact so you don't really know whether you caught it sweet or not.

[Golfer7945]

I really like to hit forged blades wedges through 9 Iron, from 8 Iron through 5 iron i like progressive cavity's long irons are now hybrids... I play the evolution forged from KZG great technology and forgings.

Go with technology and tradition the best of both worlds:

http://www.kzgolf.com/Irons_Evolution.aspx

[Golfer7945]

"If you want to need to identify a problem with us amateurs, I'm a firm believer that anyone below a PGA tour level of ability who spends more time on the range beating irons and woods rather than putting and chipping is hurting their game and ability to score."

kudo's to NCGolfer... Putting and chipping.... is the key! look at Tiger from last year and this year only a few putts kept him from winning two majors last year and the two most recent events this year in Asia...

[duke]

I like blades and feel today's are forgiving enough. Funny thing for me is that I hit my long irons great but struggle with my scoring clubs at times. I actually feel like getting a combo set but the other way around with cavities on the scoring clubs and blades 2-6.

Makes a little sense as your short irons you really don't need to bend much but the longer irons are clubs which you need to shape at times.

all that being said, I'm a blade man and always will be. They lookm great at address and give me confidence. Plus when you are dialed in its a very fun day.

[BritBoy]

I played Nike Slingshots for a few years and promise myself a new set of irons as soon as I dropped below a 10 handicap. For the longest time I was telling people that I was getting MP 60's but then I tried the Taylormade LT's and was hooked. Much softer feel that the MP's.

Taylormade calls them a players iron but they are very forgiving and yet I can still work the ball high, low, left, or right. I was worried about the switch from a game improvement club like the slingshot but as it turned out I think they were holding me back.

[uglande]

For anyone who is not a low single digit handicapper (and even for most of them), I don't think there is anything to be gained by choosing blades or muscle-backs over cavities. Most players -- even most GOOD players -- are not able to work the ball consistently and precisely enough for it to be an advantage. And if you DO have the skills to work the ball, you should be able to move it reasonably well with any iron (excluding some of the most goofy "game improvers"). None of the pros would use cavity-backs if they could not move the ball, yet most of them DO NOT use blades.

I think most golfers who like to work the ball have selective memory. They remember the one time they cut their 6-iron 180 yards into a guarded pin to make birdie, but they forget the other times they bladed it, mis-hit it and ended up short of the green, or overworked the ball off into a bunker.

[BritBoy]

Well said Uglande!!!!

Shaping the ball is not something that us mortals should be attempting too often, but it is a nice shot to have in the bag. If I'm stuck behind a tree it is nice to have to options to go at it and maybe end up in the green side bunker rather than just punching out.

I definately dont need as much concious effort to shape the ball with my LT's as I did with the Slingshots..... in fact with the Nike's, a lot of times it wasn't even an option.

[The Turlock Kid]

Yeah I'd say shot shaping is going to be a hard thing to do for most golfers. However, it's up to you. I can usually pull it off to my expectations. Sometimes I like to use a blade 8-SW and a cavity back 3-7 iron. Makes the longer stuff more forgiving, but allows me to shape anything I need on that shorter stuff.

[cmarkmyers]

I need and play some pretty thick cavity backs but I do like messing around on the range with blades. I think I may get a 6-iron from Golfsmith as they advertise a very fogiving forged club: http://www.golfsmith.com/s7_popup.ph...20Head&page;=cm

[Naruto]

hmmm....anyone who's not a tour level shouldn't play blades......if you are a 5 handicap with blades you are hurting your game....hmmmm

Personally as a single digit handicap, i feel that if i am going to drop those last few strokes i need to putt better....cant say that i've ever hit a 3 iron and said darn had i had a cavity back that ball would definitely had been another 2 feet closer.....

most single digit guys dont struggle with ballstriking which is the only thing that blades affect.....

i would say anyone who is a single digit and doesnt have blades or something very close is hurting their game....with cavity game improvers how do you know when you hit it a little on the heel or toe??? there isnt a pro out there that at one time didn't play blades...even phil before he went to callaway...if callaway made anything besides shovels he would play them....phil put down the blades for the dollars not the forgiveness....

blade users may not score a lower score than you today...but give them a little time and they should have a solid repeatable swing that they can trust....thanks to the blade...

[uglande]

There is one more important reason (other than feel or workability) that some players might prefer blades or musclebacks: OFFSET. If you are a player whose misses are left (like Erik and myself) the offset on most iron sets works against you. It is very difficult to find a set of irons that has low offset AND any of the normal game-improvement features (thicker sole, low cg, etc.).

So, there are many reasons why someone might prefer blades or musclebacks to other iron sets. Still, I think that for most players -- including most good players -- there is more to be lost than gained with blades.

[Naruto]

the offset was the main reason i switched....just to emphasize the effects of offset...

i have a buddy who is a single digit and early this year he picked up some 33's...well a month ago he lost his 6 iron...just threw his tommy armour 845s silverscott 6 in till he could find a replacement....well he rarely hits the 6 and this weekend he found himself 185 to the flag....his normal ballflight is a 3-5 yard draw....so he hooks the armour about 20 yards offline....ask me for my 6 iron (32's) and hits another from there to 12 feet left of the pin...so if you are a single and especially if you naturally draw the ball you need to be in a minimal offset set....typically found in blades....

and if you are a single digit handicap and you are leaving shots on the course due to iron play...you must have one HELL of a short game.....kudos to you

[gas_can]

  Naruto said:

the offset was the main reason i switched....just to emphasize the effects of offset...

Naruto,

Much like closed driver faces, iron offset is one of the great myths of golf. Offset in a club is not there to turn shots right to left, its main purpose is helping position weight further back behind the ball and raise ball flight. True the presence of offset does allow for an extra split second for a player to close the clubface, but the time is so minuscule that it's effectively negligible. Even a super game improvement club like the Ping G5 or Nike Slingshot OSS with half shaft offset isn't enough to turn a one yard draw into a thirty yard hook. What is likely happening in this case is the golfer is holding the clubface "toe in." If you hold the clubface perpendicular to the target line like you are supposed to, the club will go the same direction as a zero offset blade. Besides there are plenty of minimal offset cavity backs which offer the looks and feel of a muscle back with added forgiveness.