The term refers to irons with small heads, often made from forged steel, with few if any “game-improvement” features such as perimeter weighting. Blades are favored by many professional and low-handicap golfers, who believe the clubs make it easier to shape shots in different directions. Blade players also prefer the sleek, traditional appearance as well as the distinctive feel of these irons.

Since blades often have a smaller sweet spot than perimeter-weighted clubs, they are more difficult for higher-handicap golfers to hit solidly. Skilled golfers believe the smaller margin for error of a blade iron delivers better feedback to the hands on mishit shots; this awareness allows the player to adjust to specific swing flaws which cause poor shots.