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Are Cavity Backs Best for Weaker Players, and Musclebacks Best for Better Ones?

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Question: Are Cavity Backs Best for Weaker Players, and Musclebacks Best for Better Ones?
Answer: Cavity back irons are better for higher-handicap golfers, but this is true because no golfer is better off playing a muscleback iron over a cavity back iron unless the golfer is skilled enough to never miss the center of the clubface.

All deep cavity back iron designs will deliver more distance from an off-center hit than will any muscleback iron, because the cavity back iron has a higher moment of inertia about the vertical axis of its center of gravity.

It's a simple formula: Higher MOI = Less Twisting of the Head from an Off-Center Hit = More Distance from Off-Center Hits. Even for the best players in the world.

Currently on the PGA Tour, a little more than half of the pros use cavity back irons while the others use a muscleback iron design. The reason many players use muscleback iron designs is because they are convinced that, one, they can intentionally fade or draw the ball more easily with a muscleback than a cavity back iron; and, two, they are convinced that the "feel" of impact when hitting a muscleback iron is "softer" or simply more pleasing compared to a cavity back, which increases their confidence.

(Do muscleback irons really "feel" softer than cavity backs at impact? See "How do cast irons and forged irons compare?" for that answer.)

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