Distance gain or loss with cavity backs, muscle backs?

[Mjr. D]

Just curious. On average, what type of iron hits the ball furthest? Same swing speed, same shaft, trajectory etc, which typically hit the balls longest? Blades, Muscle Backs, Cavity Backs and why?

[K2_2]

On average... would be difficult to answer as few people would get properly fit, much less compare heads with the same loft, weight, and then pair them up with the same shaft for a proper comparison (anyone done that?).

Technically... I'll let others chime in (Thanks to RG below).

Edited January 10, 2008 by K2_2

[Richmond Golfer]

Blades hit the ball the furthest due to the mass being directly behind the ball at the pinhead size sweet spot resulting in maximum energy transfer. As you move from the sweet spot the energy transfer falls off. Its like hammering a nail with a solid small head hammer (traditional hammer) versus hammering with a larger hollow head hammer. The bigger hammer will be more forgiving for mis**ts due to the larger sweet spot but the small solid hammer will work better if hit perfectly. Cavities get better results for many because the mass is weighted at the bottom, keeping the head of the club down through impact and the sweet spot is a little larger allowing for slight mis**ts. In fact, baby blades, like Miura recently released, perform even better than regular blades when perfectly hit as even more mass is behind the ball with the total head weight still the same as the bigger blade type head.