Will off-set clubs hurt me in the long run?

[Eleven13]

Hey everyone,

I've had a set of AdamsGolf Idea a7 clubs for about 4 years now. For 3.5 of them, my swing was absolutely atrocious and I'm just finally figuring it out and hitting the ball well with a much more "textbook" swing.

Since I had a plethora of other concerns with my mechanics before, I never really paid attention to my clubs (and I was sort of stupid in buying them, a salesman just suggested them to me and I bought them without much question). I just noticed today that they have a "progressive" off-set to them. I'm now nervous that playing with off-set clubs will mask any flaws in my swing and I won't be able to really improve long term.

I dislike masking problems with my play and I'd rather address the source of any errors than try some sort of tweak to get around the core problem. Do you guys feel that a progressive offset will end up hurting me in the long run in terms of getting me into more bad habits than good ones? Will I have a hard time transitioning into a set without off-set down the road? If the clubs may be detrimental to my play in the long term, I might look into selling them and getting a standard set in the near future.

Thanks for any advice!

[dkling8]

I wouldn't worry about it honestly. As far as the actual performance of your clubs goes, it most likely has little to no effect. I think offset is more about how your clubs look to your eye at address.

[inthecup]

I would not worry about that for a second.  You could play those clubs to a very low handicap as long as the shafts are right.

[WUTiger]

Originally Posted by inthecup

I would not worry about that for a second.  You could play those clubs to a very low handicap as long as the shafts are right.

As ITC says, make sure you have the right shafts.

Offset primarily helps with setup and hand position for the average golfer. It won't "hurt" your swing.

If you do go with GI irons, you'll find smaller heads (better from rough) and less offset. If you eventurally shift to clubs with less offset, you may need to retrain your eye at set-up.

When I went from SGI to GI irons, I found I was setting up a couple of degrees "closed" and missing shots to left. I checked out "true square" of my new clubheads on the square floor tiles in my kitchen, and adjusted my eye picture to get more square.

[Eleven13]

Thanks for the replies everybody, I feel better about the clubs now. However, how do I know I have the "right" shafts? I just bought the clubs as they were, never changed the shafts, so is that something that I should look into?

Also, I was unaware that there was both GI and SGI clubs, do you happen to know which kind my clubs would fall under? I would assume just standard GI since they are progressive offset, but I'm really not sure.

Thanks again!

[thanw]

If offset clubs suit your swing and game then by all means use them!

[Greg55]

Originally Posted by Eleven13

Thanks for the replies everybody, I feel better about the clubs now. However, how do I know I have the "right" shafts? I just bought the clubs as they were, never changed the shafts, so is that something that I should look into?

Also, I was unaware that there was both GI and SGI clubs, do you happen to know which kind my clubs would fall under? I would assume just standard GI since they are progressive offset, but I'm really not sure.

Thanks again!

As far as the right shafts go about the only way to tell is go to a fitter like a pro shop, one of two here will even let you bring your clubs and swing them on the track man and compare them to other clubs with a different shaft to see what suits you the most, good chance you may not even have to get something else. However be aware that a set of clubs that are fitted to your swing is not going to create a magic moment that everything gets so much better! That is a deception many have when they get a new set of club fitted for them, as said the swing is the most important part of the game, the indian not the arrow, not saying that a fitting doesn't benefit you as it will in the long run. Hope this makes sense, as far as your clubs goes I would say they are a SGI club which nothing is wrong with that as long as you are doing well with them. Just my 2 cents.