How much effect do clubs have on your game?

[Effington]

Hey guys,

Here are some notes about my golf experience:

• I picked up golf in July of this year and have been using my brother's old irons: Titleist DTR's from the 80's
• I've been very eager to learn and have put in 10+ hours per week of practice at the driving range consistently, along with an occasional lesson to make sure I'm on the right track
• As of now, I'm hitting the 6 iron in the 140's, with the other irons appropriate distances around that mark
• I've played about 6-7 rounds at a short par-3 course, where I averaged 36 and had a best of 33 (no mulligans or toe wedge)

• My swing speed with an 8 iron was clocked in the mid 80's and was carrying about 125 yards
• My teacher mentioned that I flip/cast the club, and said the result is a few mph lost from my swing translating into around 10-15 yards of distance lost
• He said my clubs were a bit too long for me, so the head does not sit on the ground, which can cause a hook, and that my swing path is forced to flattened
• He also mentioned that since my clubs are 20+ years old, a more modern club would have a bigger sweet spot and probably travel further.
• I'm 30 years old, 5 feet 115 lbs, but athletic and in good shape.  Yes, I'm abnormally short.  I don't anticipate ever being a "long hitter", but from what I've read here, if I can get my 6 iron to go in the 160's then I would be very average in distance.  Eventually when I get a driver, I hope to hit in the 230-250 range.  I have a brother who is a few inches taller than me and he can crush the ball around 270 and shoots in the low 80's.

I've tested out some demo clubs and I did get some additional distance, but they were even longer shafts and the grips were too thick, so the accuracy was not quite there.  So far I've liked the Taylormade Burners; I forget which model but I was told they were a couple years old.  Also, the R11's were nice.  I tried out some Calloways that I didn't like.  Someone suggested the Taylormade Burner Plus, saying they were the more forgiving for a high handicapper.

I anticipate that I'll have another year or so of free time for extensive practice, but after that I'll likely stagnate.  My goal is to be able to hit in the 80's but I would probably be happy with low 90's, as long as my shots look good when I play with my boss.

Anyway, this message has way too much information to ask the basic question: what kind of effect can I expect from a newer, better club?  I'm hoping for more consistency and 20 yards.

Cheers

[WUTiger]

You would definitely benefit from being fitted for clubs. The "average" set of irons is made for someone between 5-foot-9 and maybe 6-foot-2, and people taller or shorter likely will need something outside the "average" specs.

(NOTE: There's no industry average for specs - it varies from club model to model and company to company. For example, I need a slightly flat lie for Ping irons, but the standard lie is fine for me with Callaway and Nike).

You likely would benefit most from a basic static fitting. This ensures that:

• the clubs shafts are not too long or short for your height/arm length
• you have the right lie angle. If the clubs are too long and rock back on the heel, you have too upright a lie, which causes you to hook
• The grip thickness matches the size of your hands.

Also, by checking clubhead speed, the fitter can get some idea of what flex shaft you need. A good fitter can tweak all the above bullet items, or factory-order a set that fits you if needed..

Newer clubs have more efficient head design.

Note: Remember that the head is only half the club; a proper shaft (flex and length) is the other half.

[Willie Malay]

How much effect? Kinda hard to play with out them...

New clubs are longer(distance-wise) because they now call a 6 iron a 7 iron. The only true measure of club's worth is your score at the end of the day, not how far you hit them. The problem with "strong clubs", comes with your wedges. Your new PW is really a 9 iron, so now you need a gap wedge to make up the difference and that can lead to shorting yourself in the number of effective wedges you can carry. Don't get caught up in the "longer is better" hype.

I got new CG16s and they are made the same...6 iron labeled a 7. I got them because I HIT THEM WELL, not because I "hit them longer"! And yes it did cause a problem with sorting out my wedges.

[Bonesaw]

if you are spending that much time playing/practicing I don't see why you wouldn't get a good new/used set.  If you get fitted that is always good especially at your height.  Getting new clubs will give you confidence and also (should) remove all those thoughts in the back of your mind that it might be the clubs costing you some strokes/distance.

Like Willie Malay said you will probly see a distance increase because of stronger lofts.  If you can get on the path to releasing the club properly that will be the best way to improve both distance and consistency.

[Effington]

Thanks for the replies.

I did go in to get fitted for some irons and several people mentioned how much impact changing clubs will have since my current set is so old.  I think I am going to go with Taylormade Burner Plus.  When I was playing with them they were going about 20 yards further, and more consistent...which is what I was looking for.

[KrazyTrain18]

Clubs fitted for you will be a lot better than random combo irons.  Obviously new technology clubs will benefit your game more than older clubs, but in the end it all comes down to your swing.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by Willie Malay

How much effect? Kinda hard to play with out them...

LOL ... that was my first thought when I saw the title of the thread as well.

Originally Posted by Willie Malay

New clubs are longer(distance-wise) because they now call a 6 iron a 7 iron. The only true measure of club's worth is your score at the end of the day, not how far you hit them. The problem with "strong clubs", comes with your wedges. Your new PW is really a 9 iron, so now you need a gap wedge to make up the difference and that can lead to shorting yourself in the number of effective wedges you can carry. Don't get caught up in the "longer is better" hype.

I got new CG16s and they are made the same...6 iron labeled a 7. I got them because I HIT THEM WELL, not because I "hit them longer"! And yes it did cause a problem with sorting out my wedges.

Two thoughts here ...

1.  I don't think it's quite as simple as saying you're calling your old 6 iron a 7 iron now.  It's definitely true that the clubs all have stronger lofts but it's not totally the manufacturers playing marketing games.  More perimeter weight, and a lower CG, with traditional lofts, and then your ball is just going to be going straight up in the air.  I think that is why blades still have traditional lofts.

2.  In spite of what I just said, the bottom line, like you said, is that the stronger clubs cause the ball to go further.  Therefore the wedge problem you mentioned isn't really a big deal because even though you may have to add a gap at the bottom, you can take out the 3 iron because it's going as far as your hybrid or 5 wood.  That's what happened to me.  I upgraded from 3-PW (47*), 56*,60* to 4-PW (45.5), UW (50), SW (54.5), LW (59)  The 4 iron goes as far as the old 3 so there really wasn't a problem,

[tuffluck]

80mph 8 iron is pretty fast. That should be going about 165 at that speed if hit cleanly I think. So for that reason alone, you need new clubs. I just got new clubs for the first time. Distances and ball flight are similar to my old clubs. The only thing that really changed is that I seem to strike the ball much better and more consistently with the new clubs. That's it for me on the pros of getting new clubs, but confidence is 75% of the game, so I would say for me, it was worth it.