Tour spec irons

Hey guys, anyone of you have an idea:

1) Why does tour spec irons have a smaller club head (smaller sweet spot)

2) And what does the tour spec iron's smaller sweet spot gives other than its harder to get a good contact?

example would be if you would like a hit a nail into the wall,

1. hammer - smaller head but larger force as mass is concentrated.

2. frying pan - larger head, larger hitting area but mass distributed.


hammer (example blades) will give u more distance when hit straight.

frying pan (larger cavity backs) will be more forgiving on off centre hits.

my 2 cents.

Interesting example, Eden! Certainly well-said!

Well put, Eden

Jiantong, i believe you were confusing tour spec irons with blade irons. Not all tour spec irons are blade irons, e.g. Tourstage has a number of playing pros on the JPGA who play with midsized cavity backs, and there are players on the PGA who do so as well.

There is also a myth that blades are very much harder to hit than cavity backs, but that is not entirely true.

The reason i was asking was because i switched from an oversized iron set to a cleveland set (cavity back) tour spec irons with a smaller club face.

Just wondering what difference the smaller club face makes.

Totally agree with ghook as i tried a blade 7 iron but it wasn't as hard to play with as i thought it would be.

Smaller club face means smaller hitting area which gives you smaller sweet spot. That being said, it is not as forgiving as oversize club head. Most smaller heads give you the advantage of workability too, where most oversize irons give you straighter shots even on some mishit.

The difference between players' cavity iron and blade these days are minimal. Manufacturers have somehow found a way to produce cavity back irons with the workability of a blade. On the contrary, they somehow managed to give us a blade that is not so hard to hit. However, blade tends to give me a lower trajectory than cavity backs...

Jiantong wrote:

The reason i was asking was because i switched from an oversized iron set to a cleveland set (cavity back) tour spec irons with a smaller club face.

Just wondering what difference the smaller club face makes.

Totally agree with ghook as i tried a blade 7 iron but it wasn't as hard to play with as i thought it would be.

Move up to the longer irons and you may not be singing the same tune. Especially if you compare your old oversized 3 iron against your Cleveland (CG7 Tour?) 3 iron. You will find as the club gets longer, the harder it is to get good impact, launch the ball, and control dispersion. Controlled accuracy are the important factors to consider with irons, since the objective is GIR as close to the pin as possible.

agree with yarra. one good examples are AP2 and Nike Cavity Forge which alot of Tour Pro are using. I think those Pros who still uses blades has ego problem

Birdman wrote:

Jiantong wrote:

The reason i was asking was because i switched from an oversized iron set to a cleveland set (cavity back) tour spec irons with a smaller club face.

Just wondering what difference the smaller club face makes.

Totally agree with ghook as i tried a blade 7 iron but it wasn't as hard to play with as i thought it would be.

Move up to the longer irons and you may not be singing the same tune. Especially if you compare your old oversized 3 iron against your Cleveland (CG7 Tour?) 3 iron. You will find as the club gets longer, the harder it is to get good impact, launch the ball, and control dispersion. Controlled accuracy are the important factors to consider with irons, since the objective is GIR as close to the pin as possible.

Couldn't agree more...

Try playing a 2i

Thanks guys for your inputs. Just one more question:

Will playing longer irons like a 3i improve my consistency for 4i and 5i?

I do take my 3 iron to the range just to practice. Found that when I grove my swing around the longer iron, it'll be much easier to move down the rack... But to actually play the longer iron in an actual game is not a good idea. Maybe it's just a case of me not having the ball to game the longer iron, I don't know. I just try to enjoy the game and make it as easy as I possibly could...

Jiantong wrote:

Thanks guys for your inputs. Just one more question:

Will playing longer irons like a 3i improve my consistency for 4i and 5i?

personally, when i go to the range i would skip a club...example:

PW to cover 9 iron
7 iron to cover 8 iron
5 iron to cover 6 iron

maybe for you, training 3 iron MIGHT be ok for you to cover 4 iron.

I feel that to play any club it is about being comfortable and confident.
If you think that playing a 3 would give you the confidence to handle a 4 or 5 then chances are you would force less, maintain posture = consistent iron striking.