Starting to play golf again - new clubs?

[O.B. Right]

Hello - sorry if this has been asked before. I did try and search before asking and didn't find what I was looking for.

I am a 36 year old male who used to play golf avidly in high school. I wasn't all that good but I would sometimes break into the upper 80's. I played a half dozen or so times since high school but not in the last 10 years.

Now I want to start playing again and have found my old ferver. I have been to the range nearly every day for a month and gotten 3 rounds in . .2 on a par 3course. I don't hit very well - I slice about 95% of my shots. I sliced a lot back in high school, too. Probably just as bad although I used to be better at compensating for it.

My question is about my clubs. I bought a new, big-headed taylormade burner driver to replace my old, small-headed taylormade burner driver but I still have the old 3 and 5 woods and my old irons. The irons were fitted for me and are Tour Model 2 heads (old-school ping knock-offs) on Apollo Shadow steel shafts (stiff). I am about the same height now as when I had those irons fitted and they are in good condition . .pretty much look new. They are slightly cavity backed but nothing like what you see today.

I am not looking for clubs to cure my slice - I want to cure it with practice. I want to avoid the super-forgiving clubs and just suck it up and practice with something reasonable that I will be able to keep playing on once I start making some decent shots again.

Should I replace my fairway woods and irons or should I just re-learn to play using my old clubs and then get new ones?

[sean_miller]

Hello - sorry if this has been asked before. I did try and search before asking and didn't find what I was looking for.

What words/phrases did you use in your searches?

[O.B. Right]

well that's just it . . . in the advanced search I tried things like new irons, iron technology, learning on old clubs . . . but I couldn't come up with a unique enough phrase to get me to what I wanted. Obviously the words Irons, clubs, technology, etc appear in quite a few posts.

[Cussin hacker]

I'd keep your iron's for now and look at getting some hybrids. Much more forgiving and easier to hit that your old fwy woods. I was kind of in your position early this year and after hitting older woods for a while I ended up going to hybrids. Find a place to hit some to find what works for you. MY .02 anyway.

[uttexas]

golf clubs have come a long way in ten years. I'd get new clubs. Hybrids are easier to hit (for most people) that fairway woods and long irons.

I'd go to a golf store with a flight monitor and check out the following (I listed them from super game improvement to game improvement):

http://www.rockbottomgolf.com/adams-...-graphite.html the store might not have the A2s anymore, but they'll have the A3s (which are a slight improvement on the A2s)

http://www.golfsmith.com/products/NK...&tcode;=fr_home

http://www.rockbottomgolf.com/wilson...set-steel.html

http://www.rockbottomgolf.com/ben-ho...set-steel.html

[sean_miller]

well that's just it . . . in the advanced search I tried things like new irons, iron technology, learning on old clubs . . . but I couldn't come up with a unique enough phrase to get me to what I wanted. Obviously the words Irons, clubs, technology, etc appear in quite a few posts.

Good point(s) - personally, I'd swing the most traditional setup of clubs possible (I don't mean butterknives and persimmon - I mean no offset, marrow soles, slightly cambered sole, etc). Tape your swing with standard set up equipment and compare it to a solid swing - like one of the pullouts from Golf Digest (they recently featured Tom Watson's old and current swings - very nice).

My point is, get your setup (alignment, grip, posture) right and get a proper swing motion grooved first - if you're going to upgrade to better equipment, it would be a good to have know what your basic swing is. Maybe you need game improvement (GI) and maybe you don't. The person at the golf shop will likely try to sell you something with fat soles that many people (especially those with a sweeping swing like me) can't hit to save their lives.

[Cussin hacker]

Those old Tour Model 2's are good club's. I use to know a lot of people who used them. Sounds like your putting in a lot of range time. How do feel about how your hitting the ball?

[kafka01]

Let me try to qoute some announcers comment from a Tour event couple weeks ago: "Amazing how these guys can bomb their fairway woods - thats probably the club that technological advanced most in the last decade".

If you would give me a 30 year old iron set i probably would get a decent round together with it. If you would do the same with 30 year old driver and fairway woods i would be in for a big suprise....

[O.B. Right]

You guys have basically confirmed for me what I was planning on doing, anyway . . . I will keep the irons until I start to develop a swing and feel the need for something different. I only play with 6-SW, anyway. In the near-term I will replace the old 3w. I hit the 5w pretty good so maybe I'll leave it at that for now.

To answer Cussin' Hacker's question .. I definitely don't hit it well which is why I'm spending so much time at the range. I'm improving, though. I still slice a lot but have reduced the average from 50+ yards to about 20 yards right of target. I have recently started to get into grooves at the range where I'm hitting 4 and 5 non-slicing balls in a row. It's awesome the distance you get when you're not slicing.

Thanks again for the advice.

[Supermanwoot]

you can easily make due with old irons. Just get a new driver and 5 and 3 or 2 hybrids. Hit the driver off the tee, hyrbids off the fairway for far shots, mid irons for mid shots and wedges up close obviously. I can hit pretty much all mid irons well. Long irons not so much and woods not so much but hybrids make me not have to so I'm golden.

[Cussin hacker]

Sounds like your heading in the right direction. While your getting better I'd do some research on equipment. There's a ton new technology out there. You may want to start looking at and reading some reviews on clubs. You'll be better prepaired when the time come's to get a new set. Good luck!