Regrets after changing clubs?

[RichF]

Started playing using blades and then moved to cavity-backs (or vice-versa)?
Switched from old-faithful long irons to new utilities?
Upgraded a trusty driver or 3-wood and wish you hadn't?

Stories, experiences, anyone?

[drglew]

Several years ago when i was consistently shooting 80's i went from more forgiving irons (Cleveland TA7's) to more of a "players" iron (Hogan Apex FTX "progressive" set from blades to cavities). LOVED the feel & feedback, but found that "workability" equalled accentuating my swing flaws (i.e. overcooking a draw); plus the thinner soles really made chunks/digging much more frequent. Then i lost confidence, & couldn't shoot in the 80's for about a year. Ditched those irons & went for more forgiving sticks. Now back to the 80's usually (except this week--see my other posts!).

Moral of the story for me: if you're playing well with a more forgiving club, there's no huge reason to switch unless you think the inability to easily work the ball is the reason that's holding back your scores, especially not until your swing is VERY consistent. I think that pretty straight ball flight is quite fine. If I shoot 70's (never done it yet but close a few times), i'm not going to think it's a lesser feat because i didn't use blades. If i shoot even par, no one is going to say it didn't count because of forgiving clubs!

[RichF]

For me, I'm thinking of going the opposite direction: I currently use Titleist 695.MB blades (2-PW), and after 15 months of use, I now feel comfortable with distance, trajectory and control...but just recently, I'm starting to think: "if I can use these with confidence, how much more will my game improve if I switched to an easier-to-hit-iron"?

[ET-Taylor]

I had an old cobra hybrid when the shaft snapped i got my burner hybrid which has too much offset for my liking I wish i put a top quality shaft in my cobra head instead

[Quinn07]

Last winter I sold my Nike SQ to pay for a my FT-9. At first it was the biggest regret I have ever had with selling a golf club. I am now striking my FT-9 much better, but I do miss the consistency of that driver. It had a proto-by-u shaft in it and was an absolute bomber. After that I have promised myself I will never sell old equipment until I have found a proper replacement.

[clubchamp]

I had a Ram zebra putter for 12 years and I switched to a scotty man did I regret that purchase. I just couldn't get my speed down with it and ended puling the zebra back out. I finally moved on to xg #9 but now I have a $300 putter sitting in my basement.


"if you're playing well with a more forgiving club, there's no huge reason to switch unless you think the inability to easily work the ball is the reason that's holding back your scores, especially not until your swing is VERY consistent. I think that pretty straight ball flight is quite fine. If I shoot 70's (never done it yet but close a few times), i'm not going to think it's a lesser feat because i didn't use blades. If i shoot even par, no one is going to say it didn't count because of forgiving clubs"

In my opinion this is a great post...

[ks8829]

I switch from a two ball putter to a blade style putter the Yonex ADX chrome. I am putting just as well with better distance control, feel and feedback.

[ks8829]

I switched from mp30 to mp33 blades. I have played for 24 years and play at least once a week sometime twice. I try to practice once or twice a week on my short game. The blades have improved my overall game with lower scores.

[enis750]

I am such an equipment junkie its not even funny
I usually sell my old gear to fund the new gear, so once its gone, its gone
my most recent regret ..... selling my Nike Pro Forged Combos to buy MP-57's...wow was that a mistake!
I didnt realize how much I LOVED the PFC's until i hit the MP-57's
wish I would have considered the amount of offset in the Mizunos before I bought them

I more recently purchsed some CCi Forged, after many top reviews (and guys also coming from Mizuno AND the PFC's, I feel confiden they will be good)
trying to make a combo set w them to, w some older Nike Blades......we will see what happens

so far, thats my only REAL regret

[Gebus]

I bought another scotty because the one I have now is extremely rusted (I was a bit embarrassed). I tried putters for like three hours and bought a different studio select. Played two rounds and just didn't feel right on the green, just felt odd... sold the putter (for more than I bought it ;) ) and I am still playing with my rust bucket.

[Gioguy21]

Recently bought a scotty '62...liked it for about the first round...then the honeymoon (short) stage was over...couldn't putt with it for sh*t...switched back to my sabretooth and immediately went back to my old putting stats...saving me 6 shots or more a round...awesome. lol

[Leftygolfer]

Lots. I bought MP 60s and suffered for a year. I bought a FT-9 Tour and don't care much for it. I also bought a g5 3 wood that sat in the garage for about a year and half. Just started carrying it again. If you look for deals you are going to have to take risks.

[Gilly]

My regret was not playing my TA3's longer. The grooves were going down hill fast, but they still felt amazing. I sold them to a buddy and picked up my Dad's Nike Forged Pro Combos...no bien. The Nike FPC were nice clubs, but the Cleveland's were AWESOME! Now I've got the old Nike Forged Blades and couldn't be happier!

[Mike Stig]

can i mod delete this? i clicked next thread instead of next page by accident.. sorry.

[WUTiger]

Changed out all my clubs - except putter - between Thanksgiving-08 and May-09. Basically I went from Eye-2 clones with stiff shafts, and assorted circa-2000 metal woods with stiff shafts, to regular flex clubs shown in sig. (GW, SW are wedge flex).

Don't have regrets, but it took me all season long to adjust to the changes. Going from 320 cc. to 460 cc. driver was weird - didn't find out you want to hit 460 on "top half" of clubface until Labor Day. Didn't get my wedge mix down until after season was over.

Optimistic about this year - good practice on wedges and short game. Now if I can escape from the swamp of no-notice emergency meetings and unscheduled rain, maybe I can go out and actually play...

[delav]

I'll usually hold on to old clubs rather than sell them. Sometimes it's fun to hit the old clubs, and sometimes they come back into the bag!

[andef]

I changed iron set and wedges about 8 months ago and I'm glad I did (my previous set was a SGI starter iron set), got home a few hours ago after shooting my lowest round by a 5 stroke margin and the irons were a big part of it!
I'm also in the midst of changing driver, 3 wood and 2 hybrid so I hope the transition will be just the same as it was for the irons.
Although I'm not too happy about this, I'm going to sell the starter set with my trusty driver to get some money which always helps

[nuck81]

I changed iron set and wedges about 8 months ago and I'm glad I did (my previous set was a SGI starter iron set), got home a few hours ago after shooting my lowest round by a 5 stroke margin and the irons were a big part of it!

What was the set you were previously playing on?

I started on Players Irons as a beginner not knowing better, but switched to some midplayability GI clubs about two weeks ago. I can tell a dramatic difference in my striking, but mainly that's due to practicing every day and getting my swing down. My ball flight is getting very consistent, and now I'm starting to firm up my swing and getting more distance out of the ball. The clubs do get credit though. The last two days I've even been killing with the driver on the Range, something I;ve never done before