Trying out clubs...

[Kellfire]

How do you do it?

I'm in the market for my first set of new clubs, I know I want a set of GI irons and I currently favour Ping but I'm trying to be open and objective when I go into the shop and start hitting clubs on the machines.

So... what is the best way to do it? I think I'd probably start out by asking to try out a range of 7-irons, as it's my favourite club in the bag and that should give me an idea what irons I want to try more of. Is that a sensible way or should I stick to one set at a time, trying all the clubs?

[Golfaway]

Try 6 irons of different brands.

[ks8829]

Be open and go into the golf store and find the salesperson who is both knowledgeable and easy to work with then ask them the questions: I am in the market for a new set of irons how do I find that set?

Let him suggest what iron to hit and what company to try after they ask you some questions about your game and how much you want to spend. The salesperson might suggest using a launch monitor or other computer assisted devise to measure impact, club head speed, distance, trajectory, etc.

I would image you will hit different clubs including the ping you are considering and you will clearly see what is best for your golf swing and future golf improvement.

Finally you might narrow the club selection too two or three different companies and model and you might hit all the clubs in each set and decide with price in mind.

[Kellfire]

Be open and go into the golf store and find the salesperson who is both knowledgeable and easy to work with then ask them the questions: I am in the market for a new set of irons how do I find that set?

This might sound silly but I'd feel a bit of a prick going in and spending all that time with them. I'd feel like I was wasting their time, what if I end up buying elsewhere?

[ks8829]

This might sound silly but I'd feel a bit of a prick going in and spending all that time with them. I'd feel like I was wasting their time, what if I end up buying elsewhere?

One thing that you can do is research the price, of lets say the Pings you are considering buying. Compare the price at the local golf store that you are considering testing out the clubs with the other place you will considering buying from. What is the price difference? $50 or $100? then you will consider factors such as:

1) Does the golf store you tried out clubs price match? 2) Does the golf store offer 90 return policy for other clubs if you do not like the irons you bought? 3) Ask the golf store if they charge for helping you find the right club set 4) How much was the salesperson worth for his time? 5) Can you achieve the same result by asking and not spending 1 hour of the salesperson time. The golf store is offering a service knowing that you might buy else where so they need to be competitive with pricing and they realize that they do not sell to every golfer that they spend an hour trying to fit but that is a necessary step for them to earn your business. Also, remember most salesperson are not paid by commission but hourly, so it does not hurt their salary if you buy from them or not.

[Kellfire]

You make good points. I'll bite the bullet and go in some day soon, I think.

[teamgs]

I would also try a short, middle, and long iron in each set you are looking at. I liked the new Burner 09 irons, until I hit their long irons. At this point, I liked the older R7's better.

Good Luck!

Gary

[NativeTxn]

My recommendation would be to go to a Golf Galaxy (if there is one in your area) around the time they open (10:00 AM most days I think). There will likely be very few people in there at that time, and you can just pull the clubs you want to try off the racks, have them tape them up, and hit away on their launch monitor. The only bad thing about GG is that their selection is a bit smaller than Golfsmith and the PGA Tour Superstore - but they more or less have most of the major GI clubs.

I went to a couple of different GG recently and because there were virtually no other customers in the store, I was able to spend about an hour or more undisturbed on the monitor just trying different clubs. It was great. Every so often, the guy who was helping would come over and ask what I thought, and if I had any questions, but overall they left me alone to hit balls.

Worst case is that if someone else wants to hit, you let them hit for a bit and then get back to it.

As others have said, most of the sales people at the various golf stores are more than happy to assist (some more so than others). If I've found someone who acts like I'm bothering them, I just end after a few questions, walk around the store for 5 minutes, and then find someone else to talk to.

Also as someone else mentioned, these days, the guys at Golfsmith, Golf Galaxy and the like are paid hourly so you're not wasting their time (from a compensation standpoint) by asking them questions and asking to test clubs.

They are there to help you and most of them are very willing to do that.

[fendermallot]

Well if you're thinking of buying Ping's, shouldnt they all be nearly the same price? I heard that they have a strange pricing fix on their clubs. I read an article about them pulling their products due to a store giving price breaks to military men (which pissed me off).

Dunno, good luck with finding the right clubs.

[Kellfire]

My recommendation would be to go to a Golf Galaxy (if there is one in your area) around the time they open (10:00 AM most days I think). There will likely be very few people in there at that time, and you can just pull the clubs you want to try off the racks, have them tape them up, and hit away on their launch monitor. The only bad thing about GG is that their selection is a bit smaller than Golfsmith and the PGA Tour Superstore - but they more or less have most of the major GI clubs.

No GG over here, sadly.

My local shop is American Golf. http://www.americangolf.co.uk/

[tjy355]

I would look for a multi-vendor demo day event at a golf course or driving range. That way you can hit balls outdoors.

I can never seem to get a feel for a club hitting indoors off of a mat.

[Kellfire]

There are literally none near me that I can find. Golf in the UK is on a much smaller scale.

[Kellfire]

Well, I did bite the bullet and tried out a few clubs at the shop.

I'll start with the funny stuff. During the time there I tried out some Mizuno and Ping player irons. That was not fun! Driving the ball so low and it was just terrible golf.

But onto the more serious stuff...

I demoed three sets - Wilson Di7s, Taylormade Tour Burners and Ping G10s.

Didn't spent a whole lot of time, it was just a preliminary try out really to get an idea. The Ping probably felt the nicest but they're also by far the most expensive at £499 fitted. The Wilsons and TM aren't far behind and both played nicely as well, at £249 and £299 respectively fitted. Going back in maybe at the weekend to have a more extended hit with them and use the machines in shop to measure my stats like launch angle, swing speed and so on to see if I can get any more info that helps me pick and also probably going to add Nike Ignites to my try out list as they're a nice cheap club as well.

Also had a good practice with putters and my heart is currently telling me to get the Ping Anser but I'll decide on that when I get a chance to play it side-by-side with my current Taylormade putter.

Really excited to get back in and try them out for longer and try more clubs within the sets.

[golfmentalist]

go to a driving range on a demo day with a instructor or coach and ask him/her what they think of the clubs you are demoing