Need Help Selecting new Clubs

Hi all, i am new here and absolutely love the game of golf. I started about 3 years ago with a mix match set of clubs ranging from brands to different stiffness shafts. 2 years ago i purchased a set of titelist 704 irons which are blades for those who don't know and they are stiff shafts. I shoot terrible with these clubs getting about 1 good shot for every 5 swong. I went to the gold and ski warehouse in Hudson MA they told me that the clubs i have are for someone who shoots a 5 handicap. now i am no 5 handicap i shoot boggies with the occasional par.

My question to you is what clubs would you suggest. Obviously i would be looking at a set of cavity backs but do you suggest a stiffness or brand. I dont care if they are a couple of years old my biggest issue is price. I am looking to spend around 400 bucks. I have a pretty fast club swing speed. My thoughts were some king cobra S3 Max or Callaway X22's. Any suggestions would be great, i am not very good with picking out clubs and am affraid to trust sales guys because they just want to sell you what they have.

Thank you Kyle

My advice would be to test every club you can. Don't limit yourself to two options. As for the stiffness, you would have to get your swing speed measured. This will be the easiest way to determine what type of shafts you need. You mentioned the Callaway X22's. They are nice clubs. My brother has them and i like them a lot. You should still hit every set you can. Good luck.

Hartattack52 is correct, go to your local golf shop that has an indoor range to test clubs on and go nuts. All you need to do is ask someone for help getting the irons taped up and head on over to the screen and swing away. Test as many as you can. good luck.

You might combine lessons with clubfitting. For this to work, you would need to find someone you trust, and who will do more than "sell you what they have," as you noted.

Check out different club models to find some you like. Golf club manufacturers such as Titleist and Mizuno give golf shops fitting cases which contain different clubheads, plus different shaft varieties you can screw onto the head. Combine this with launch monitor data, and you can find out which shafts would work best with cubheads you like. No fitting cart: Try the 6 iron from different sets as a starter.

Models which have just been phased out can be a great way to get clubs at a good price discount, providing the shaft works for you.

Like everyone has said...... Try a lot of clubs, get measured and get on a monitor. I'm guessing I live near you, a little advice since price is an issue. The Dicks sporting goods in Framingham is offering a special deal right now due to the GolfTown's opening up in the area. If you trade in your irons, they will give you that value PLUS $100. Trade in value on 704's + $100 should put you in good shape on any game improvement or max game improvement iron set. Callaway has always made very forgiving clubs........ but I wouldn't buy a set of irons today without checking out some Adams.

Dick's is running a special on the Taylormade Burner Plus HT's for 300 which are very nice. You should consider those. I use Ping G10's and love them as they seem to just fit me right. But set aside a few hours and make sure you like the guy that is fitting you or there to help. I hate when the Dick's sporting guys look and act like you aren't buying anything. Make a day out of it and have some fun.

My advice would be as others mentioned go to your local pro shops try numerous brands, find one you feel comfortable then search your local craigslist for great used sets, I m telling you you can save up to 80% off the store price, yes there are beat up clubs out there but trust me that is where I shop.

For example, where I live in Vegas (where you can golf 362 days a year,lol) there are plenty of great deals daily, not junk either , I recently purchased my clubs to the tune of a whopping $350 for everything, and Im talking Taylor Made , Callaway , Nike and a great Izzo bag, I did my research and zeroed in on what I wanted , so instead of forking out over $2600 for new. Remember the price you pay for the clubs doesnt dictate how your score comes out. I love the beginners, intermediate players that run out and buy the latest fancy clubs and dump a butt load of cash and really do not fully understand that it will be there golf skill that will bring better scores not there shinny new top of the line new clubs. And alot of people get hooked on the theory that if they purchase Tour Blades that they will be the best clubs in the world, not taking in the fact that they are just that , designed for the tour player that do not need that much forgivness due to the fact they are pros, and find out they can not hit the ball for crap and blame it on the club, well its not the club, You have to be honest with your self and shop for what your skill level is and gradually move up in the ranks as far as the price goes.  Just my 2 cents worth, be patient, shop around, I know Ebay is another option but I shy away from that idea for the simple fact you never know what the heck you will recieve, at least with Craigslist you can go look at the products first hand, and more often then not you can also negotiate the price down, remember they are for sale for a reason, and the most common reason is , "I cant hit the ball with these clubs", well that goes back to what I was saying before , skill level will dictate mostly how you hit the ball and score. So why not take advantage of there loss and enjoy the savings.  Take care

I would have to agree that there are TONS of used clubs out there.  If your a righty!!! I unfortunately am a lefty which makes my selection go down alot.

I'm a lefty as well, most larger golf stores have a decent selection of irons for lefties to try out and get fitted.  I've found at least here on Long Island that Dicks Sporting has a wider assortment of previous generation left handed clubs in stock than Golfsmith, but Golfsmith usually has at least one of the top manufacturers most current drivers and other woods in stock.  Callaway pre-owned has a number of used clubs for lefties at decent prices online if you know what you want.  They have the X-22's from $349 and up depending on the set, shaft and condition.  They also have a good return policy.  Another online option is Global Golf.