Forged Irons Vs Cavity Back Irons – What’s Better And For Who

Playing the right irons for your game is extremely beneficial.

Blade and Cavity Back Irons are very similar in terms of the way they are made, the sound and feel you get of the club face and performance with regards to distance.

They are generally for the better golfer, as there is little to no forgiveness and distance elements to these Irons. They are built purely for consistency and workability. A good player is going to want more workability in their Irons compared to forgiveness

What Are Blade Irons And How Are They Made?

Blade Irons are made from solid steel, the material is melted and then forged into its shape from a press.

This process gives the iron an incredibly soft feel off the face with consistent performance.

Blades have a small profile, the heel to toe length is short and top line and sole are thin. Better players like this look as they aren’t worried about forgiveness and would prefer to be able to shape the ball. The small head shape makes it easier to do this.

Blades have very little forgiveness as the majority of the weight is close to the face. This provides the golfer with consistency with regards to distance and gives them the ability to work the ball.

What Are Cavity Back Irons And How Are They Made?

A Cavity Back Iron is made in the same process as a Blade Iron. Steel is melted and then forged into its shape by a press.

This gives the Iron a soft feel off the face, with extremely consistent performance.

A Cavity Back Iron has exactly the same characteristics as a blade, but with slightly more forgiveness. You can still expect precise distance and incredible workability. The Cavity Back Iron has a little bit more forgiveness, this is because some of the weight is moved away from the centre of the face and put lower down in the head. This takes the CG away from the face and provides a higher MOI.

This process almost forms a cavity looking shape on the back of the head, hence the name Cavity Back.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Blade Irons

Advantages

  • Very consistent with regards to distance
  • Maximum ability to shape the ball from left to right and right to left, as well high and low
  • Very clean look at address, this can give the right player confidence when standing over the ball
  • Soft feel and sound off the club face
  • Provides the ultimate feedback when striking the ball

Disadvantages

  • Very little to no forgiveness
  • Will launch too high if they are the wrong Irons for you
  • Sweet spot is very small as well as no distance help
  • Will spin to much if the Iron is wrong for you
  • Small club head can be intimidating to some

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Cavity Back Irons

Advantages

  • Consistent with regards to distance
  • Good ability to shape the ball to the left and to the right, as well high and low
  • Clean look at address can give the right player confidence when standing over the ball
  • Soft feel and sound off the club face
  • Provides the great feedback when striking the ball

Disadvantages

  • Very little forgiveness
  • Will launch too high if they are the wrong irons for you
  • Sweet spot is small as well as very little distance help
  • Will soon to much if the iron is wrong for you
  • Small club head can be intimidating to some

Who Should Be Using Blade Irons?

I recommend only good ball strikers use Bades. At the end of the day you want to make the game as easy as possible, without giving up certain attributes.

Unless you are a scratch golfer you shouldn’t even be looking at purchasing Blades. With the way Cavity Back Irons are made nowadays you can get 95% of the performance of blades, but with more forgiveness.

Who Should Be Using Cavity Back Irons?

Cavity Back Irons should be played by your low single digit golfers and below. You still need to be a very good ball striker to hit these Irons.

The best Iron player in the world Collin Morikawa uses Cavity Back Irons, you would think he would use Blades. Cavity Back Irons give you almost everything a Blade does, but the bonus is some more forgiveness.

Slower swing speed and mid handicap golfers need to stay away from these, even though they are more forgiving than Blades, there still isn’t enough distance and forgiveness for that type of player.

Can High Handicappers Use Forged Irons?

I highly recommend high handicappers not to use forged Irons, unless you are improving dramatically and can see yourself in the single digits in a few months.

There just isn’t enough forgiveness in forged Irons for high handicappers.

If you are one of those fast improving players, I recommend going with a Players Distance Iron, some examples are – TaylorMade P790, Mizuno Hot Metal and Titleist T300. These Irons are a forged head packed with game improvement characteristics. You get that great forged feel like you would from Blades and Cavity Back Irons, but have similar forgiveness and distance traits like you would from game improvement Irons.

Can Cavity Back Irons Improve Your Game?

Yes they can, but only if they are right for you. Many players go from Blades to Cavity Back Irons and see a major difference in terms of forgiveness and easiness to hit.

On the other hand I see many low handicap golfers or even players that are mid handicap golfers going from game improvement Irons to Cavity Back Irons and seeing a massive improvement.

Sometimes you need to take the jump, and the consistency you get from the Cavity Back Irons are incredible.

The problem with game improvement Irons if you are a better player that has a fast swing speed, is you will get a few ‘hit shots’ from the game improvement Irons, this means all of a sudden you’ll hit a shot 10/15 yards over the green, unfortunately that’s just the nature of the game improvement Irons, with the Cavity Back Irons, you won’t be getting those are all.

Game Improvement Vs Cavity Back And Blade Irons

Cavity Back and Blade Irons are both forged clubs, this is going to give you a very soft feeling off the face.

There is also very little forgiveness in these Irons, as they are made to give you consistency in terms of distance and maximum ability to shape the ball.

Game improvement Irons are the opposite. They are cast Irons, this means, the steel is melted and poured into a mould and then cooled. This process allows manufacturers to add distance and forgiveness attributes to the Irons, for example – thin face, perimeter weighting, low CG, artificial material. These things all account for more forgiveness and more distance.

With all this technology you lose the soft feel you would get from a Blade as well as the ability to shape the ball and have consistency with distance, with all the technology you will sometimes get a ‘hot shot’, which flies 10/15 yards further than expected.

How Do They Compare On Price?

Prices will change between brands, but generally within each brand your ‘Player’ Irons will be the same price.

This is because they are generally made in the same way with similar material.

What Do Pros Use?

20 to 30 years ago all professionals played with Blades, nowadays you find a lot have moved over to Cavity Back Irons.

This is because the technology has come so far, when playing the Cavity Back Iron you still get everything out of it as you would from a Blade, but with a little more forgiveness.

A few of the professionals play a combo set, this is a combination of the Blades in the shorter Irons and Cavity Backs in the longer Irons. Longer Irons are harder to hit, so getting a little help from the Cavity Backs is beneficial even for the professionals.

Best Blade Irons – Ping Blueprint Irons

Ping has always made exceptional products, and the Blueprint Irons are just that. The beautiful looking Iron is fully forged from 8620 carbon steel, this gives this Iron incredible feel and performance.

This club is built for the really good ball strikers, it has a short blade length, very little offset and narrow sole.

The way the club is forged provides a very tight grain structure within the carbon steel giving you maximum control and consistency with regards to distance.

It has a tungsten toe screw weight and an internal heel weight. This allows them to be extremely precise when it comes to swing weighting the Irons, the hydropearl finish also reduces glare on sunny days

Pros

  • It has an exceptional feel off the club face
  • You are able to work the ball extremely well
  • Weighting in the heel and toe allow precise swing weight
  • Short blade length, very little offset and narrow sole give your great turf interaction
  • Hydropearl finish gives a classy look

Cons

  • Not very forgiving
  • Very expensive

Overall Score: 92/100

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Best Cavity Back Irons – TaylorMade P7MC

There is a reason the best Iron player in the world plays these irons. The Classic shape, minimal offset and perimeter weighting, give you the perfect amount of control, precision and forgiveness.

The machine milling process gives you an unmatched level of precision, quality and aesthetics.

It is forged from a 1025 carbon steel, using a 2000 ton press, this is going to give these Irons an incredibly tight grain structure, which provides unbelievable feel and consistent distance.

The Iron is designed with the input of TaylorMade’s staff players, including Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa. The narrow sole and tight leading edge gives you consistency through the turf.

The Cavity Back allows them to distribute the weight giving this Iron great forgiveness, while not compromising sound, feel and consistency.

Pro

  • Incredible sound and feel
  • Amazing ability to work the ball
  • Cavity back allows for perimeter weighting, giving you extra forgiveness
  • A narrow sole and tight leading edge gives you consistency through the hitting area
  • Tour inspired shaping

Cons

  • Expensive
  • Not Forgiving compared to Player Distance Irons

Overall Score: 93/100

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Best Player Distance Irons – TaylorMade P790

The TaylorMade P790 took the world by storm in 2017, and in 2021 it’s doing it all over again. The incredible sound and feel, with extreme distance and workability makes this Iron the best in its class.

This Forged Hollow Body Construction Iron is not to be taken lightly.

SpeedFoam is the Irons claim to fame, the special ‘gel like’ material provides a unique sound, feel and distance unmatched by any other Iron.

It is made from 8620 carbon steel, this allows them to make the face extremely thin, while distributing the weight low and to the perimeters to give you maximum distance and forgiveness.

The Speed Pocket gives the face increased flexibility, this keeps the ball speed and distance up when the ball is struck low on the face.

The heavy 31g tungsten weight gives extremely low CG, this creates stability and forgiveness.

Pro

  • Very soft sound and feel
  • Hollow body construction and SpeedFoam gives to maximum forgiveness and distance
  • Speed pocket assists with miss hits
  • Low CG provides extra stability and forgiveness

Cons

  • Not as workable as a Cavity Back or Blade
  • Expensive
  • Club head may be to large for some players

Overall Score: 94/100

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Conclusion

Blades and Cavity Backs have very similar characteristics, you can expect incredible sound and feel from both Irons as well as the ability to shape the ball to the left or right with ease.

The consistency with regards to distance in both of the Irons will be extremely good.

The two differences are, Blades will have a slightly smaller head and less offset, and the Cavity Back will have more forgiveness.

I suggest getting a fitting and hitting them both. You can compare data and weigh up the pros and cons, from there you can make your decision.