is it time for new clubs?

[glbrum]

I've been playing the same clubs since 1999. I'll say they've gotten the job done. I got them at the tender age of 14 [now 23] and they've been through the highs and the lows. I know the woods were new, but the irons may have been used.

Driver: Callaway Steelhead III
3/5 woods: Callaway Steelhead Plus
Irons: Cleveland TA 5

My problem these days is my tempo. I have a beautiful snap hook going with my woods [which I managed to remedy, for the most part, this past weekend by slowing my swing down a lot]. The irons are more sporadic; if I get fast they draw, if I'm slow they fade/slice. This is something I should probably fix before new clubs? [obviously not the clubs fault I'm hooking/slicing]

I shot an 80 [par 70] on Friday and an 82 [par 74] on Saturday, so the clubs aren't necessarily dead....According to Scorecard my handicap for the 12 rounds I've put in this year is 9.1

Are new clubs or maybe just woods or just irons going to help me? I've been out of it for so long I don't know what's good and what's not. Suggestions?

EDIT to add: don't pay attention to my handicap index in the side bar, I haven't changed it since i became a member....

[natp0wers]

I'd say you could use some new irons, simply because those grooves have to be worn beyond beleif :)

[David in FL]

Probably time for new clubs........or at a minimum, reshaft of the old ones. It's not likely that shafts that were appropriate for a 14 year old boy are still right for a 23 year old adult......and your control issues seem to support that.

Given the expense of reshafting, and the improvements in club technology over the last 10 years, I'd feel pretty comfortable recommending that new clubs are in order, even though I don't know a darn thing about your game other than this post.

[clearwaterms]

i don't think anybody can comment on if new clubs are right. Go to a demo day and compare some new irons to the irons you currently have. Buying a whole new bag can be a very expensive proposition. However, you might want to update certain clubs in your bag (wedges, driver, get a hybrid) and see the best ROI.

given the inforamtion you posted, I would assume that you are a pretty solid golfer and have a pretty good idea of the fundimentals of the game and you should be able to pick up a new iron and know by feel, look, and ball flight if you will improve with a newer set.

[skwon11]

I would think it's time. I'm not a great golfer but I like reading about golf clubs and the physics behind them and so... those clubs you have, while I think they work just fine, might be holding you back a bit since they are almost a decade old. Some more distance and forgiveness won't make a 25 handicapper a 15 (oh I wish) but... 15 to 10 or, 10 to 5...

[glbrum]

re grooves: beyond getting better spin, what else do fresh grooves do for me? better control?

re shafts: that's a good point. I never thought about that before. I should look into the differences that are out there...

is there any benefit to a new driver or woods? I keep hearing that the new ones have a lot better ball control. true? worth it?

[flopdarock]

you havent grown in size since you were a teen?
id think it a good time to get new clubs that would fit you properly...
even a good used set would do the trick just size wise

[Power_fade]

I would say replace everything but the fairway woods. But still take those to a local fitter and maker sure the lie/loft/legnth are okay. But Steelheads still appear in the bags of many a PGA tour pro, because they are simply one of the best woods ever made.

[Golfaway]

Certainly time for new irons and woods (or at least a driver).
Get Mizuno irons, they're the best according to everyone here.

[Muttface]

I was playing a Steelhead III driver up until about a month ago. I'd tried a few of the newer drivers in the stores a couple of years ago but was having difficulty getting past the size of them. To be honest however, I'm just plain stubborn. One of the top 100 teachers in the country did her best to get me to buy or at least try something more modern but I refused thinking that if I could learn to hit the small headed driver it would help improve my swing.

Then one day in March I took my wife's Sasquatch Sweet 16 out for 9 holes and was just blown away: even with the 16° loft I was getting better distance and hit the fairway every time it came out of the bag. I swing slow so the whippy shaft certainly helped, but the confidence gained by that huge sweet spot was the cincher. My new/used Ft-i just arrived today from Callaway pre-owned and I'm looking forward to trying it out this weekend. My Steelhead III 3- & 5-woods are still in the bag however and I won't give them up anytime soon, mostly because I've not yet found anything better.

In short---and in retrospect---it is almost foolish to not take advantage of the newer driver technology (and that's coming from a very hardheaded stubborn old goat). You can get a killer deal on a 1- or 2-year old driver that will give you confidence and improve your game almost immediately.

[johnL7]

The grooves on your irons have to be so worn out after 10 years of use! I would definitely recommend going to a demo day and trying out a bunch of different clubs.

[glbrum]

so again with the groove question. since my irons are 10 years old and the grooves are worn, what benefit will I see from new[er] irons with fresh[er] grooves?

[Quinn07]

You very might well see a big difference. You should be able to hold greens much better and a big better control. If money is an issue, you should consider looking into last years models and see if you can get the proper shafts and such.

[PiKapp23]

Technology in irons and fairway woods have changed a little in the last decade, but much less than with driver and hybrids. It's been stated by experts in the industry that if you're playing a driver more than 5 or so years old then you can really benefit from a new driver due to increased COR and MOI, not to mention improvement in the graphite shaft technology. Hybrids are the same way, especially since they were still pretty new in 99. If you're not playing hybrids in place of long irons then you are probably leaving some shots out there. If you're playing blade irons then you won't see a lot of improvements from 10 years ago (except bigger grooves), but cavity back irons and game improvement irons in general have improved in that time quite a bit (more forgiving and with better feel). Fairway woods are along the same lines - there have been improvements in COR and MOI, but many good players still play older woods with great success.