GET THE RIGHT SET
Muscleback or Cavity back? Performance Improvement or Performance Enhancement? Before you start looking too closely at specific golf clubs it's important to understand what type of irons are suitable for your game. There are two main categories of irons, 'muscleback' (game enhancement) and 'cavity back' (game improvement). They're referred to by various other names but we'll stick with these for now.
Muscleback Irons
Muscleback irons are so-called because more weight is placed behind the sweet spot on the club. This produces a longer, straighter ball trajectory if hit in the center of the club, ie the sweet spot. Because most of the weight is centered around the sweet spot, shots that aren't hit pure are difficult to hide.....they'll be shorter and with an unpredictable trajectory. Muscleback irons are more suited to lower handicap golfers, who can take advantage of the greater feel and workability of the irons.
Cavity Back Irons
Cavity back irons are just that, there is a cavity behind the center of the club, rather than the mass associated with the muscleback irons. This design distributes weight around the perimeter of the head, producing a larger sweet spot and therefore greater margin for error. Off-center shots are more forgiving, producing a longer, straighter ball flight than off-center shots hit with a muscleback iron. Cavity back irons are more suited to middle/high handicappers, who are looking for more consistent results from their shots, rather than being able to work the ball.
If you are a single figure handicapper you may want to consider muscleback irons. However, consider this.......slightly more than half of the pros on the USPGA tour use cavity back clubs. Sure, they're custom made to suit their game, but there are relatively few pros who feel the muscleback is better for their game. If you're on the fence, you should probably take a set of each out for a test run! Alternatively, you could look for a set of irons that are a cross between the muscleback and cavity back - the Titleist Forged 695CB is such a club that has the feel of a muscleback with some of the forgiveness of the cavity back.....it's had some good reviews as well.
GET THE RIGHT FIT: Some people wouldn't even consider buying golf clubs anywhere else but in a retail store, where you can get properly fitted. I can understand this view, it's very important to get clubs that are right for you. That's not necessarily easy to do when you are buying online.....how do you make sure that you get the right shaft length, shaft flex, lie angle, grip size, etc?
Club fitting is probably one of the biggest barriers to people buying golf clubs online, so it's not surprising that online stores are investing in the technology to make online fitting possible.
Here are a handful of stores with online fitting systems......expect others to follow:
o PING Web-Fit - shaft flex, shaft length, grip size but NOT lie angle
o Golfsmith SmartFit - shaft flex, shaft length, grip size AND lie angle
o GigaGolf eFit- shaft flex, shaft length, grip size AND lie angle
o The Golf Warehouse - provides online fitting for some brands/models only
o Odyssey Putter Fitting Tool
Muscleback or Cavity back? Performance Improvement or Performance Enhancement? Before you start looking too closely at specific golf clubs it's important to understand what type of irons are suitable for your game. There are two main categories of irons, 'muscleback' (game enhancement) and 'cavity back' (game improvement). They're referred to by various other names but we'll stick with these for now.
Muscleback Irons
Muscleback irons are so-called because more weight is placed behind the sweet spot on the club. This produces a longer, straighter ball trajectory if hit in the center of the club, ie the sweet spot. Because most of the weight is centered around the sweet spot, shots that aren't hit pure are difficult to hide.....they'll be shorter and with an unpredictable trajectory. Muscleback irons are more suited to lower handicap golfers, who can take advantage of the greater feel and workability of the irons.
Cavity Back Irons
Cavity back irons are just that, there is a cavity behind the center of the club, rather than the mass associated with the muscleback irons. This design distributes weight around the perimeter of the head, producing a larger sweet spot and therefore greater margin for error. Off-center shots are more forgiving, producing a longer, straighter ball flight than off-center shots hit with a muscleback iron. Cavity back irons are more suited to middle/high handicappers, who are looking for more consistent results from their shots, rather than being able to work the ball.
If you are a single figure handicapper you may want to consider muscleback irons. However, consider this.......slightly more than half of the pros on the USPGA tour use cavity back clubs. Sure, they're custom made to suit their game, but there are relatively few pros who feel the muscleback is better for their game. If you're on the fence, you should probably take a set of each out for a test run! Alternatively, you could look for a set of irons that are a cross between the muscleback and cavity back - the Titleist Forged 695CB is such a club that has the feel of a muscleback with some of the forgiveness of the cavity back.....it's had some good reviews as well.
GET THE RIGHT FIT: Some people wouldn't even consider buying golf clubs anywhere else but in a retail store, where you can get properly fitted. I can understand this view, it's very important to get clubs that are right for you. That's not necessarily easy to do when you are buying online.....how do you make sure that you get the right shaft length, shaft flex, lie angle, grip size, etc?
Club fitting is probably one of the biggest barriers to people buying golf clubs online, so it's not surprising that online stores are investing in the technology to make online fitting possible.
Here are a handful of stores with online fitting systems......expect others to follow:
o PING Web-Fit - shaft flex, shaft length, grip size but NOT lie angle
o Golfsmith SmartFit - shaft flex, shaft length, grip size AND lie angle
o GigaGolf eFit- shaft flex, shaft length, grip size AND lie angle
o The Golf Warehouse - provides online fitting for some brands/models only
o Odyssey Putter Fitting Tool
