Let’s face it, Golf is a hard game for a complete beginner to get their head around, one common question is what iron should a beginner should use, cavity backs or blade irons? Let’s discuss.
A beginner should not use blades, they are thinner and have a lower sense of gravity than cavity back irons having far less margin for error due to a smaller clubhead sweet spot. A beginner will get frustrated easier with blades as they lack an established swing,
In reality, this question isn’t that straightforward, this is an age-old question in Golf. Keep reading and I will give reasons for and against using blade, read on find out.
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Why A Beginner Should Not Use Blades Irons
Blades Are Less Forgiving Than Cavity Back Irons
The difference between the more modern cavity back irons and the classic 80s-style blades is the way the back of the iron is designed and shaped. Blades are thin and solid while cavity backs are thick, making blades far less forgiving because the center of the clubhead(sweet spot) is smaller.
The point of cavity backs irons is to make off-center shots perform like sweet spot center of the face shots. Shots on the heel or toe(bad) will carry more ball speed and go further with a cavity back than a blade.
The club head will twist less giving more margin for error and the shot will be straighter. If you play with a blade your mishits will be shorter and go less straight than with a cavity back.
The average Golfer, beginner or not, misses this sweet spot center most of the time, so with a blade, your shots will go far shorter than with a cavity back iron.
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Blades Have A Lower Centre Of Gravity (CG)
Blades have less loft(launch) due to the placement of the club head center of gravity being higher in the clubhead, whilst a cavity backs center of gravity is lower making it far easier to hit, making it more likely your balls will fly high and far landing on the green.
Loft is very important in Golf, imagine if you have to hit an iron over an obstacle like a tree. If you are a beginner, using blades you will get more and more frustrated if you don’t manage to hit the harder-to-hit blade sweet spot.
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Blades Have Higher Spin
Golf ball spin is great for stopping your ball when it lands, but it’s bad for accuracy which is terrible for a beginner, whenever you hit a slice or hook with added spin it will make these unwanted curves even worse.
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Blades Are More Frustrating To Learn
Golf is not an easy game to learn, there is such a small margin for error even if you hit a blade clubhead just an inch off center that would make an almost great shot turn to a bad one.
Cavity back irons will dramatically increase your consistency and give a much higher ball flight, giving you the awarding feeling of hitting a great Golf shot after all that hard-earned practice more often.
It will be far more enjoyable and rewarding learning to play Golf hitting it around the course striking the right kind of shots as you learn, then constantly coming 20 yards short because you didn’t quite hit the sweet spot.
Choosing cavity back instead of blades could make all the difference in your longevity of the game, why get frustrated constantly hitting bad shots when you just miss the sweet spot and risk giving up the game altogether when you can learn and improve and still enjoy a game of Golf whilst not making flawless sweet spot contact?
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Why A Beginner Should Use Blades Irons
Blades Force You To Have Good Ball Contact
Making good contact with the ball is the crucial difference between a good and lousy Golfer, learning with Blades will force you to have good ball-striking contact as you don’t get the forgiveness from cavity back irons.
It won’t be easy, but learning with blades will be frustrating initially as you lack an established swing, but will show you immediately what you have to work on, slow down and know where you are going wrong with your swing.
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With blades, you can’t get away with hitting the ball on the toe or off-center, and this immediate feedback is a good way to learn and adjust your swing.
The average Golfer has serious flaws in their Golf game, that get covered up with modern Golf technology, but as the cavity backs cover up these mistakes they keep on practicing their fundamentally incorrect swing making it even harder to correct later on in their Golf journey.
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Blades Give You Vibrating Feedback
Blades are thinner than cavity backs, so if you hit a ball off-center you will get feedback leading from the shaft of the club to your arms.
This isn’t fun at 7 am on a Sunday morning when it is freezing out, but this vibration is a good indication you are striking the ball incorrectly, and need to work on your swing.
Blades Look & Feel Good
Blades look and feel awesome, and many players love to have them in their bag when maybe they shouldn’t, even as a Beginner if you see your clubs as a way to express yourself on the course and you like the look of blades there is nothing wrong with that.
This could have a psychological effect on how you play as Golf is a very mental game. Some golfers view blades are a stamp of approval that they’re good Golfers, so if as a beginner you use clubs that are harder to use you know the ball goes far because of YOU, giving more confidence on the course.
Blades also have a lower launch, some players who play in the wind find a lower launch angle to be more accurate and predictable landing on the green more often. Also, Blades have higher spin which is key to players to maximize distance and improve the stopping power of the shots.
These factors are only relevant to more established Golfers, but as a beginner, it’s important to know all the differences.
Your choice of blade irons or cavity back irons definitely matters, but how about the quality of the clubs, do you always get value for money with expensive clubs? Learn the facts in my article.
A Golf Beginner Can Use Blade Irons
If you were a Golf beginner in the 80s, cavity backs were far rarer than they are today so it would be your only real option, did that hurt any of the beginners in that era?
Ultimately, it is your choice if you want to use Blades, you can see in the above video a beginner Golfer hit some good shots with a bladed iron, a lot of the differences are in the player’s head.
You should use what you feel comfortable with using, go to a Golf store and ask someone to show you a cavity back and blade, and see what choice jumps out to you.
If you choose a bladed iron and a short time after you want a cavity back I can guarantee you will be FAR better having exclusively used bladed irons without any of the safeguards of a cavity back, you will hit cavity back irons far further and straighter because of the experience with the far less forgiving and more difficult bladed irons.
Irons are the most important clubs to splurge on irons are the clubs you will use the most throughout each and every round.
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