Clubs or Lessons?

[fadaniel]

Hello ladies and gents. I am a pretty poor golfer due to several things, two of the things I am doing to rectify this are buying new clubs and taking lessons. My question is: would it be better to buy the clubs before or after lessons? My background: I have been swinging clubs for about 10 years with the earlier years including one season of practicing with my high school team (never good enough to actually play the tourneys). I have played, on average, about 4 times a year. I have never taken a lesson. My clubs are a used set of rawlings from the late 80s/ early 90s, not sure. Any tips/ suggestions are welcome. Thank you in advance.

[Fat Slice]

First get professionally fitted by someone who has references you trust. Next get as comfy with the clubs as possible....half-dozen rounds, maybe, same # of times at the range. When you think you've adjusted to them well enough...then set up your lessons. That's my 0.02

[senorchipotle]

yeah, if your clubs are that old, i'd recommend getting new ones. just don't get the big clunky bricks on a stick, cause when you do learn to use the new set, those will severely hinder you when you try to play a smaller faced club with less forgiveness. i'd go for something like a ping i15, nike VR full cavity, or titleist ap1. and definitely get fitted. if you're going to buy a new set, they probably do it for free. and i'd probably take a lesson before you start so you don't groove any hard to break habits. it's easier to start off with a fresh canvas than try to paint over an ugly color. not saying that your swing is ugly, but you get the idea.

[fadaniel]

No, no, my swing is ugly.

[srjorion]

I recommend getting some lessons first, but the best person to ask is the pro you will be receiving lessons from. More than likely he/she would want to fix a few things first and then get you to getting your new clubs. If you have your new clubs custom fit to your current swing and it needs some changes then your clubs may not fit your new swing after working with the pro. Your lie may change, and also your swing speed may change as you fix power leaks which could affect your shaft stiffness.

I went through this two years ago myself. I took three lessons and then my pro said it was time for me to get fitted. I took a couple of lessons after that to tweak a few things and it worked out very well.

[redsox98]

I have been fitted for clubs and I have a very flat swing I guess. I have posted these results once I am 6'1" with a wrist to floor of 38" So I should need a 3.75* upright but off the pad it shows that I need a 2.5* flat . So my question is should I make the club come to me and order the set or work on my swing and try to get it right. It also says I need .25" longer even though a .5" felt better when I swung it and now I am playing off the shelf clubs I do think the length would help for sure it feels like I am bending over the ball more than I should. So do I get new clubs and use the technology out there to help me or work on my swing.

[ks8829]

clubs are only 10% and yours swing is the 90% in my opinion. If you got fitted clubs you will still have the same golf swing. I would say improve you golf swing.

[IcemanYVR]

I would go for the lessons... I would venture a guess that if golfers as a whole spent their money on lessons instead of clubs, the average handicap would actually drop instead of staying the same for the last 20 years.

Custom fit clubs are great, but unless you have a repeatable swing, you won't get the best out of your clubs.

[redsox98]

I have been fitted at 2 different place on different days and have swung alot with the pad because they have a hard time believing that it keeps coming back that way. I can say for sure that unfortunatley my swing is consistantly flat. I am picking golf back up from a 5 year break. When I was playing I was a 85 to 90 player.

[CrazyXGolfer]

I would have to say lessons. Clubs can wait, right now you are just building more bad habits in your swing.

[delav]

What is wrong with your current irons? Until you are close to breaking 90, your money would be best spent working on your swing.

[GaijinGolfer]

Lessons. The best clubs in the world dont mean a thing if you cant swing them properly.

[Zeph]

Lessons. Chances are good your swing will change when you take lessons, so a fitting today might not fit you in a year or two.

[jamo]

Lessons. 'Nuf said.

[redsox98]

I am getting a lesson vibe from everyone. So let me ask this question after getting fitted I did learn one thing that the grips are to small should I have my clubs lengthened with new grips or does that matter much now? The problem with the irons that I have now is that they almost hurt to hit the ball.

[Zeph]

I am getting a lesson vibe from everyone. So let me ask this question after getting fitted I did learn one thing that the grips are to small should I have my clubs lengthened with new grips or does that matter much now? The problem with the irons that I have now is that they almost hurt to hit the ball.

New grips does not cost that much, so it they are worn down, you can change them.

If it hurts to hit a ball, you are not hitting it properly, which is because of a faulty swing. New clubs wont fix that. How much should they be lengthened?

[redsox98]

The fittings say 1/4 to 1/2 inch

[j_moo]

Since everyone is saying lessons. When is a good time to get new fitted clubs?