Philosophy about equipment

[Doctorfro]

I played the same equipment for over 15 years and I slowly improved. I have recently upgraded my equipment and I will soon see if there is even more improvement. Were I to go back and play the equipment that I had in 1989 I am sure that I would be better equipped to make those old clubs perform. But I can tell you with certainty that the equipment today makes it far easier to have a chance to score better. But ultimately it comes down to the player and from what I witness, there are far more hackers out there today than there were when I got back into golf 20 years ago. I can understand why scoring hasn't changed much.

[clubhousehero]

One problem with modern irons that no one has mentioned is the stronger lofts. Yes they are more forgiving but a pw is now often 42-43* when they used to be around 48*. This means more distance but has to make it harder for a hack like me to hit it clean.

[iacas]

One problem with modern irons that no one has mentioned is the stronger lofts. Yes they are more forgiving but a pw is now often 42-43* when they used to be around 48*. This means more distance but has to make it harder for a hack like me to hit it clean.

I've seen 45°, but not 42.

And static loft is only part of the equation. With thicker soles and a lower center of gravity, oftentimes the clubs launch at similar launch angles. Titleist, for example, had the 695.MB and 695.CB. The CB was 2° stronger at every club, but you could mix the sets at any point and the distance gaps would be preserved because they launched at the same angles for each club throughout the set.

[Golfer71]

Modern equipment hm..

I've been using a draw biased driver for some time with success and am considering changing it for something without draw bias, perhaps a Cleveland Launcher. I'm hoping the Launcher will improve my swing by punishing those out to in swings and forcing me to learn swing on a better path. Any thoughts?

[Doctorfro]

Modern equipment hm..

I have ditched my draw biased clubs (driver and hybrid) and have seen great improvement. Best equipment move I've made lately.

[DJYoshi]

Modern equipment hm..

i don't like clubs biased for anything... i like when it's neutral... when you can hit it long and straight with a neutral club..you know your swing, grip and setup are on point...

[Awsi Dooger]

I think it's nonsense. I realize no one will agree. I've spent 20+ years in Las Vegas with the conventional wisdom prevailing. Those guys leave town on a bus.

Every era touts the new equipment as vastly superior, an unthinkable advancement over a decade or so earlier. It's the same blather as every presidential election asserted as the most important of our lifetime. No one ever says this election doesn't mean anything, we're merely wading through time until the really important stuff 10 years from now.

I read Tommy Armour's book recently. Not the current Tommy Armour. The book from 1953. He hails the modern equipment as supreme, and says the key is to get properly fit.

LOL. Flash forward 56 more years and I guarantee the themes will be the same.

I have 3 sets of irons now, one from the mid '60s, one from the early '90s and one from a few years ago. There's very little difference. It's world class bunk you are severely disadvantaged playing a set from decades ago. I take them all to the range and sometimes a mixed bag to the course. The lofts are different. The '60s set holds up better cosmetically. It depends on how I'm playing and thinking, not which tools I've got in my hand.

Drivers and graphite shafts have changed bottom line distance. But that's exponentially more true of professionals than blundering amateurs. I keep reading how much more distance is available these days. Meanwhile the same guys I've always played with are hitting from the same places, if not further back. I know I'm further back than when I was in my 20s and 30s.

Just watch those videos of Palmer in his prime. They are showing them all week on the Bay Hill tournament. Look at the brute athletic strength and clubhead speed. That's what creates distance. The new tools are the PR candy of this era. Websites like this one depend on the new miracle device. Nothing wrong with that but it busts me up when young posters think persimmon was a bunters game. Ball flight was different. But anyone who seriously believes there are hitting it as high and far as they did in their prime, that technology makes up for advancing age and lack of strength and pop, is rank looney. I just wish it were posted on the Nevada betting boards. I'd be like that current political party, just say no.

[microcrayfish]

I seriously can't see why anybody cares (beyond curiosity) what other people do with their equipment. People should just play whatever equipment makes them happy. If someone wants to buy a new set of irons every six months because they think it will help their game then all power to them. Maybe that's just why they love golf, because there's all that gear out there and all that technology and they can try it out and see what's best for them and see if they can find "that club" that will magically make them shoot lower.

The great thing about golf is that you can play it on your own terms. If you want to bomb 300 yard drives and never practice your short game then go for it. If you'd rather ease it down the middle of the fairway and get up and down every time, that's just fine. Swing hard or swing softly, practice for hours or just show up and play, take lessons or don't. If you don't care about getting better and just love the feeling of a brand new driver in your hands all the better for you and there's NOTHING wrong with that because golf is a game to be enjoyed and you have every right approach it in the manner that allows you to enjoy it to the fullest.

Personally, I like my equipment to show the results of my swing. I don't want super GI clubs that will hide all my bad shots or a draw driver to straighten me out. When I hit a nice shot I want to be able to say that the ball went where it did because I made it go there. I'm willing to put in the hours of practice to get better and I enjoy playing golf the way I do. And Ain't nobody gonna make me think otherwise.

[iacas]

i don't like clubs biased for anything... i like when it's neutral... when you can hit it long and straight with a neutral club..you know your swing, grip and setup are on point...

That's true to a point, but stops being true when you only really want to play one shot shape (like a fade) with one club (your driver).

I like neutral clubs too, but I'll take an open driver, like many pros, because I don't want the ball to go left.

I have 3 sets of irons now, one from the mid '60s, one from the early '90s and one from a few years ago. There's very little difference. It's world class bunk you are severely disadvantaged playing a set from decades ago.

That's irons. Drivers are a whole other matter, and you are at a disadvantage.

Meanwhile the same guys I've always played with are hitting from the same places, if not further back. I know I'm further back than when I was in my 20s and 30s.

They've aged. Everyone I know - including myself - is hitting the ball farther these days or, if they've gotten to the point where they're older, from the same places. I am hitting the ball further than I did when I was 17 and on the golf team and playing every day... particularly on slight mis-hits.

Just watch those videos of Palmer in his prime. They are showing them all week on the Bay Hill tournament. Look at the brute athletic strength and clubhead speed.

Tiger Woods picked up 15-25 yards when he finally ditched his steel-shafted driver in favor of a graphite/titanium one. "Brute athletic strength and clubhead speed" can only take you so far.

Websites like this one depend on the new miracle device.

No we don't. Some people here may, but the website itself? Nah.

But anyone who seriously believes there are hitting it as high and far as they did in their prime, that technology makes up for advancing age and lack of strength and pop, is rank looney.

So virtually every Champions Tour player who has gone on record as saying they hit the ball further in their 50s than they did in their 20s and 30s, they're all "rank looney"?

[bogeymike]

I think the biggest thing that's helped me is the new balls. They really go compared to golf balls from 20 years ago. New clubs are more forgiving but the shots that really kill beginners and high handicappers are shanks, balls in the woods, chips over the green etc and there's no current club that can really help that.