Cavity-back vs Muscle-back

[prutkows]

what do muscle-back irons have to offer in terms of playability?

[cmay119]

Well if we're talking completely forged irons, muscle backs offer a little more ability to work the ball than a cavity backed version. However, the cavity back irons are usually more forgiving than their muscle backed counter parts.

[supercow]

I've also found that they're also significantly easier to hit off tight lies due to their reduced bounce and reduced sole width (which means that they're more likely to dig into the ground than bounce off of it if you mishit :() Another thing you may consider is alignment. I find it much easier to align a thin top line than a thick top one. For some strange reason, I find it incredibly difficult to align newer Callaway style irons and new fangled 460cc, honky-tonk drivers.

Binh.

[ttee9]

I've also found that they're also significantly easier to hit off tight lies due to their reduced bounce and reduced sole width (which means that they're more likely to dig into the ground than bounce off of it if you mishit :() Another thing you may consider is alignment. I find it much easier to align a thin top line than a thick top one. For some strange reason, I find it incredibly difficult to align newer Callaway style irons and new fangled 460cc, honky-tonk drivers.

... It's that vision thing, the address thing .... some just can't get used to it, some prefer it ... in your case, you know the "why" part of it - it's the look - the view from topside ..

One of my friends played a thin top line iron set for years and never played well, now he prefers the Cobra style and has done very well with them .. but he never understood why ... he's been on the hunt for a new driver for 9 months and finally decided on the Cleveland Hibore .. when asked what prompted his decision, he finally understood "It's that vision thing, the address thing" ... It's always best to take your time and "quietly" look for the clubs of your choice ... getting barraged at the golf shoppes has a tendency to skew your decision making process ...

[iacas]

I've also found that they're also significantly easier to hit off tight lies due to their reduced bounce and reduced sole width (which means that they're more likely to dig into the ground than bounce off of it if you mishit :() Another thing you may consider is alignment. I find it much easier to align a thin top line than a thick top one. For some strange reason, I find it incredibly difficult to align newer Callaway style irons and new fangled 460cc, honky-tonk drivers.

Do you actually use the topline - and not the leading edge or the grooves - to align? How? It's diagonal.

[supercow]

I normally use the bottom groove to align but I like to take a good look at everything before taking a shot. I guess its something of an optical illusion (for me anyhow). That's why I recently ditched my old wood style hybrid (Precept ECU) for a iron style hybrid (Cleveland LDI).

Don't even get me started on the Hi-Bore. That thing REALLY threw me off. I probably hit one out of ten where I wanted when I demoed it. It was about as straight as a banana (probably didn't help that they didn't have any proper stiff shafts though).

Binh.