WOW!! better equipment really makes a difference

[tonyig11]

So after a 6 year break of playing golf i decided to start playing again. I put the clubs down because no matter how much a practiced and played i could never break a 100 score on 18 holes. I had decent equipment but think i was young and dumb.  So before my first round i headed to dicks to update all my clubs with middle or the road stuff. I always wanted taylormade so i choose that brand. I went with the burner plus irons, a R9 rescue 3 iron hybrid, and superfast 2.0 3-wood and driver. well from my first 9 hole round i saw a improvment in my game and was addicted again. I have only played 2 rounds of 9 holes and 2 rounds of 18(back to back on same day!!) I shot 98 and then 95 on the day i played 18.

Now is it the clubs and balls(Penta) or could it be that im older and playing smarter golf. I say smarter because with a smooth swing with the suoerfast 2.0 driver im getting 250 yards down the middle where when i played before i wanted to smack it 300+ and chance it going in the trees. and those irons are so easy to hit im not afarid to have 170 to hole because the 5 iron just flies high and lands soft.

So thats my story. just wanted to share and welcome myself back to this wonderful game.

[shades9323]

It is you and not the clubs.  It is amazing what happens when we slow down and swing within ourselves.

Originally Posted by tonyig11

So after a 6 year break of playing golf i decided to start playing again. I put the clubs down because no matter how much a practiced and played i could never break a 100 score on 18 holes. I had decent equipment but think i was young and dumb.  So before my first round i headed to dicks to update all my clubs with middle or the road stuff. I always wanted taylormade so i choose that brand. I went with the burner plus irons, a R9 rescue 3 iron hybrid, and superfast 2.0 3-wood and driver. well from my first 9 hole round i saw a improvment in my game and was addicted again. I have only played 2 rounds of 9 holes and 2 rounds of 18(back to back on same day!!) I shot 98 and then 95 on the day i played 18.

Now is it the clubs and balls(Penta) or could it be that im older and playing smarter golf. I say smarter because with a smooth swing with the suoerfast 2.0 driver im getting 250 yards down the middle where when i played before i wanted to smack it 300+ and chance it going in the trees. and those irons are so easy to hit im not afarid to have 170 to hole because the 5 iron just flies high and lands soft.

So thats my story. just wanted to share and welcome myself back to this wonderful game.

[mirv]

having quality gear helps, but in the end, it's the indian, not the arrow.  i played two rounds on the same course one day, one with my usual clubs and one with persimmon woods and a set of old hogan blades, and shot 81/82.

[trackster]

I'll disagree to the responses in this post to an extent.  I know you mentioned the Indian and Arrow this just as a metaphor but I shoot archery and getting the right fitted arrow for your bow makes a lot of difference.  I think these same principles apply to golf.  It doesn't have to be newer and better it just has to fit to you.

Also from personal experience wood clubs (actually made of wood) go just as far as the driver I hit now (FTI).  My driver now just has a bigger sweet spot.

[rdwoody]

It could be the fact that you had some bad habits ingrained and the long break made you forget those and basically start all over. It has happened to me plenty of times. I no longer take a real "break" from golf in the winter, but I did when I was younger. It was too cold to play and I had better things to do (I was a big duck hunter) with my time. I always noticed that by the end of the golf season, my handicap was creeping upward. I didn't really know the cause at the time, but I now know I had some bad habits going on that were amplifying the more I played. Anyway, when the spring came along I'd get back out on the course and play way better despite not practicing at all for 3 months or more. I shot what stood as the best round of my life for quite a few years during my first round back on the course after the winter break.

[The Recreational Golfer]

I played classical guitar in my younger days. The moment I switched from playing a beginner's instrument to one of near-concert quality it got LOT easier to play. It didn't let me play better, but it made it easier for me to play as well as I was able to play.

Better tools always make a difference. mirv 's experience only points how good the Hogan blades are (but then I'm a Hogan snob).

[DaSportsGuy]

I think clubs make a little bit more of a difference than most people will admit. In my situation a buddy of mine was using an old boxed set of clubs(probably 5 years or so old). He recently bought a new driver and irons and his scores have improved from high 40's to low 40's, high 30's at times. I don't believe it's ALL the clubs, but I think it has definitely helped him. He keeps nagging me to get new irons and get rid of my boxed set that I'm still using now in my third year golfing and he's actually got me to order some here pretty soon. I've finally got the money and am gonna bite the bullet and fork out $250 for a new set of Nike Ignite 3's.