Blade vs cavity backs

Henry Ting

18/12/2005 at 00:32

I tried some blades (clones) at the practice range a couple of days ago and compared with my Mizuno's cavity backs, I cannot help noticing how easy, straight and accurate they were. I also notice the unique feel fo the blades where my MX-23 is lacking. The only difference is that they are steel shafts and about 10 yards shorter in distance compared with the cavity backs. But with the kind of control and accuracy that it provides I am just surprised with its performance. Within 120 yards, using the 7 iron I could land the ball 10 times out of 10 within a 5 yard radius. To me, that's the kind of control I never had with my MX-23 (and they are custom sets).

Those were the first time I ever tried the blades. I'm surprised considering what I read and non-pros should stay away from the blades. I'm merely a 90 average golfer and my first experience with the blades are totally favorable. I'm just very surprised that the blades are such easy clubs to use and wondered why all the negative views about the blades.

What am I missing here ? Comments ???

Lugly

18/12/2005 at 01:08

Nope if you like the feel then play them but do be aware of the rise in combo type sets. Most golfers can hit, and enjoy, blades in the short irons. But there is nothing quite like the sting from a badly hit bladed long iron. Definitely seems to numb your fingers for longer than the equivalent with a cavity back.

SBL

18/12/2005 at 08:48

Henry, I play MP32's and currently playing off 17 and don't find them hard to hit at all. I went through the same "too hard for you to hit" comments but my game has improved massively since changing to them from Callaways. My iron play now is without doubt the best part of my game, it's very much the short short game and putting that costs me very dearly.

Threeputter

18/12/2005 at 11:05

I've just ordered a full set of blades after borrowing a set and hitting them sweetly. I had a brief foray with a set of pro combos (nikes) bought off ebay at a steal some months ago, however these didn't suit me mainly because they were graphite shafts and too soft for me. The set I've ordered is off my pal who is a clubfitter and these are custom built - I'll let you know how they play in battle when I've had them for a bit.

Rob Court

18/12/2005 at 11:24

you say you tried a set of cloned blades. Who were they made by and what blade were they a clone of?

The Regulator

18/12/2005 at 13:02

I have a full set of blades (Slazenger Seve Replicas) and a full set of cavities (Makser AS4). I use the blades from 8 to SW. And cavities from 7 downwards.
I play off 28 (have been playing for 1 year) and like Henry find that the blades give increased accuracy.
However - whilst I can hit the 8 blade sweetly, the 7 blade of the same set is a blade too far; couldn't hit it to save my life.
And that will be the issue for less accomplished players. The longer irons in a blade set will be too difficult. And the Slaz blades have a good amount of offset (easier for a high-handicapper like me).
There are other Slazenger blades around - I have seen them in JJB at a knockdown price - so if you wanted to have a dabble at a cheap(er) price, this could be an opportunity.
I will definitely consider a combo set for my next set of irons.

MisterS3

18/12/2005 at 16:28

henry
remember your graphite shafts may have a lot to do with your accuracy and feel too.

i have just bought a combo set macgregor 1025cm's after using slazengers for a year. 3,4 full cavity, 5,6 semi cavity and 7-pw musclebacks. but i also got myself tp-11 mizuno's real cheap, proper blades and i can hit them pretty well all the way through the set at the range. but have yet to pluck up the courage to use them on the course. its the
occassions where my (timing) swing dissapears for a few holes and with cavity's i can still get the ball down the course. with blades i'd be playing hockey.

but again each to their own and i know a lot of people who only played blades from day 1 and pros like Monty who use cavitys.

Wormburner(1)

18/12/2005 at 17:13

They are harder to hit that perimeter weighted clubs if you don't regularly hit out of the sweetspot,and the flight is generally lower,something better players tend to prefer from under 150 yards.

JimP ( 7.9)

18/12/2005 at 19:26

If you are deciding if blades (or any set of clubs) are the right thing for you, you should not decide based upon what they do when hit in the middle of the club. What you should do is to deliberately hit some off the heel and then some off the toe and then ask yourself "can I live with that degree of innacuracy in distance/direction" if the answer is yes then you know what to do .

I do this with every set I try out and have hit some clubs which have been absolutely superb with a strike in the centre but have been so awful off the heel/toe I would not go near them again.

For example my existing set of clubs actually hit the ball further when hit off the toe which may not suit some players but I can live with it because they still hit it straight

penfold ace

18/12/2005 at 19:35

i have always used a forged club though i'm now using a set of macgregor 1025cms, cavity's in the longer irons through to muscle back blades in the short. My feeling is this, when i'm swinging the club well i wish i had blades throughout because i sometimes struggle to keep my long irons' trajectory into the wind. When i'm swinging badly, there isn't a cavity back invented yet that'll make my ball go in the direction i want it to.
i prefer to get equipment suited to when i'm playing well and enjoying the game.

EXMAX

18/12/2005 at 22:19

it may not be if its a blade or cavity it may be an offset issue
Blade refers to the leading edge of the club and has no offset, not the sahpe and style
You can have a cavity club that is also a blade like the revolution, or what most people think is a blade which are musclebacks
If you attack the ball from the inside blade leading edges work much better
Outside attack favours offset

Wormburner(1)

18/12/2005 at 22:23

good point,I only play blades because of minimum offset,no other reason.

Henry Ting

18/12/2005 at 23:51

The set of blades that I demo-ed were Polo Meisdo. Quite frankly I'ver never heard of them and the rep told me that they are OEM suppliers and they market their own name under Polo Meisdo. The blades are surprisingly easy to hit and in comparing with my MX-23, the heads are smaller. Admittedly it doesn't have the distance as my Mizunos, but with the minimum offset, it cured my tendency to hit my shots to the left.

wilky (11)

19/12/2005 at 15:22

Blades look and sit better behind the ball which is a confidence booster for starters.

Creosote

22/12/2005 at 07:30

"Are blades really that hard to use?"

Yes!
They are a club that requires a consistent and pure ball striking ability and all but the very best amateurs would be better served using a cavity back.

But they are fabulous! Both in looks and the wonderful feel of a purely struck shot. Take a forged shiny chrome blade out of your bag and nail it and there is no sweeter feeling in golf. But ultimately most of us would do better with a more forgiving club. I've just switched my MP32's for LT2's and its just so much easier not having to hit the ball 100% pure which let's face it, we don't do that often.

If scoring is most important to you, get a cavity back. If looks and kudos are more important then shove a set of MP32's in your bag.

EXMAX

22/12/2005 at 08:15

Creosote you can use a cavity but it still has a blade leading edge.
So muscle back blades yes require a more accurate strike
cavity blades dont require the same precision but will or will not work dependant on the line they are swung back into the ball

ben chapman 2

08/08/2007 at 14:34

I heard alot of off putting stuff about blades when I got my first set and I was really expecting the worst when I took them to the range for the first time. I was an 18 handicapper at the time but after a month of having blades I was down to single figures and shot my first under par score.

The confidence they gave me was brilliant and I would recommend them to anyone - it is an experience for any serious golfer to try. They may have smaller heads but a blades eventually will train you to find the smaller sweet spot and improve your ballstriking. Go back to a Cavity set after blades and you'll be amazed at how good you often you can middle them. Its like when you practise putting - make a smaller target than the regulation cup to hit in practise and you get out on the course and the hole seems massive. Same with blades - they'll improve your conifidence and ballstriking if you stick with them.

Chris Curry

08/08/2007 at 17:20

18 down to 9.4 in a month! Lummey, sell me those irons bud! I'll give yah double what you paid for 'em!

WAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Josh The Nosh

08/08/2007 at 18:27

those there are magic clubs!

honey monster

08/08/2007 at 20:18

Older members of this forum will recall a time when irons were considered easy to hit and woods were impossible, and there were plenty of little Hitlers (usually including the entire club committee) ready to berate anyone seen teeing off with an iron on anything but a par 3 as it was making the game too easy and thus wasn't the correct form (and if you don't believe me, try getting hold of Michael Green's The Art of Coarse Golf published in the late sixties - there's a wonderful mickey-take of the issue in it). And back then all irons were blades ...

It would be far more accurate to say that cavity irons have a slightly larger sweet spot than blades, but blades aren't exactly difficult to hit. The reality is that some folks like and suit one, some like and suit the other. Some higher-handicap players may suit blades because the harsh feedback from a mis-hit forces them to concentrate on accuracy. Others lack that level of fine motor control to mend their ways and thus will suit cavities better. As with so much in golf, it's a case of horses for courses.

Of course you will always get wiseacres saying that blades are the only irons to play if you're serious about golf. If that's true, then there's a Hell of a lot of pros on the tournament circuit playing cavity backs these guys should be lecturing to, as I guess they haven't heard the news yet.

john owen 4

21/08/2007 at 16:26

I play blades off a 2 handicap at the moment. And I will say that there is a wider range of inaccuracy in a bladed club than there is with a cavity. The thing with them is timing. If your release is slightly mistimed you will get a wildly different ball flight than with a cavity. This is due to the fact that there will be a lot less moment of inertia with a bladed (musclebacked) club than with something which has perimeter weighting. Look at the newer driver models for examples of this. In addition there is a much lower ball flight with most bladed clubs. This is as the weight is generally higher on the face than the strike zone. I would recommend that only the stronger players with a high flight goe for a blade. Other players will lose distance and that will cause scores to go up sooner or later. Proof... hitting 8 iron 150 into a par three is easy. Trying to hit a 5 iron into the same hole is a much more difficult prospect. Stick to the clubs that give you the most control.

Wormburner

21/08/2007 at 17:11

I agree,I've played since 1979 with blades obviously,thats all we had,but its not what matetrs on the practice ground that matters.There will be many mnay higher handicappers that can get a good range session going and wonder what all the fuss is about but golf on the course is a game of misses,and off centre with a blade will cause more damage than off centre with a cavity.

Even off 17 if you don;t need the offset of a cavity back then you may get along fine with blades,until you mishit,then you may need the foregiveness of the extra weight around the edges of the iron to mreduce spin rate

RichF

21/08/2007 at 22:36

Good posts, one-and-all.

I must chip-in here cos I had a lesson tonight with my golf-shop pro and I asked him how he thought I'd get on with using blades after such a short time using cavity-backs.

He said 'if you can hit as cleanly as you are doing with cavity-backs, then hitting with blades really shoudn't take that long to adjust to - as long as you can mentally get over more mishits than you're used to when you're out on the the course'.

I don't even have a handicap....

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