Range Practice Clubs?

[70sSanO]

About 6 months ago a got a new set of Callaway XR OS irons and then picked up some Cobra FLY-Z XL woods to round out the set.

Since my shoulder injury I have been reconstructing a swing with a limited backswing.  It has been somewhat all over the place, but it is coming together.

A few months ago the range/golf center where I hit balls offered a promotion for $30/month that give discounts of their par 3 course, chipping tubes, and 1 free large bucket each day.

After taking advantage of the offer, I thought about how many balls I would be hitting and about the wear I was putting on my new clubs and decided to pull of an set of irons I picked up almost 10 years ago.  Similar flex and lie, and a tad longer so I choke down on them.  I still take my current woods.  I am really working on different pieces of my swing and I don't really care about distance or specific ball flight, just developing a solid swing.

So, does anyone else take older clubs to the range when just working on aspects of his/her swing; not warming up prior to a round?

John

[Liko81]

I don't, and I don't think it would ever be a good idea for me. My swing is inconsistent enough without spending my range time hitting clubs with different head weights, swing weights and distances, then show up at dawn for tee time and have to readjust in about 15 minutes to my game sticks.

Besides, my current irons are G10s; cast, almost 10 years old and bought used, so there's not a lot of motivation for me to try to save them by hitting anything older or more beat up. And when I get new irons, I'm going to be looking for a set with a little less forgiveness (Ping i-series, Mizuno JPX Pro etc) to force myself to dial in my ball striking, so the newer set will actually be my range set until I feel good enough with them to game them.

[newtogolf]

22 minutes ago, 70sSanO said:

About 6 months ago a got a new set of Callaway XR OS irons and then picked up some Cobra FLY-Z XL woods to round out the set.

Since my shoulder injury I have been reconstructing a swing with a limited backswing.  It has been somewhat all over the place, but it is coming together.

A few months ago the range/golf center where I hit balls offered a promotion for $30/month that give discounts of their par 3 course, chipping tubes, and 1 free large bucket each day.

After taking advantage of the offer, I thought about how many balls I would be hitting and about the wear I was putting on my new clubs and decided to pull of an set of irons I picked up almost 10 years ago.  Similar flex and lie, and a tad longer so I choke down on them.  I still take my current woods.  I am really working on different pieces of my swing and I don't really care about distance or specific ball flight, just developing a solid swing.

So, does anyone else take older clubs to the range when just working on aspects of his/her swing; not warming up prior to a round?

John

Cast irons are pretty tough and it's unlikely the extra range time would do much damage to them compared to what happens to clubs on the course.  I would practice with the clubs you play with and now worry about the extra wear and tear.  

[Piz]

I have several sets of irons, some complete and some not, that I haul out to the range from time to time.  None of them are worth much; but they all appeal to me on some level.  One set belonged to my father.  Another is numbered 3-11.  I like to think they enjoy getting out and remember, right along with me, other times, people, and places, while we are hitting golf shots.  

[Patch]

I have 3 sets close by. Same reasoning. They all have an appeal to me in some way. Mostly memories. I drag them out every so often. Sometimes you just got go hit some balls, and my non gamers fit that bill nicely. 

 Once in while I will take a Hogan Apex blade, (5 or 6 iron) and  hit balls off a dry lake bed, while walking my dogs. 

[newtogolf]

I agree there's nothing wrong with using other clubs because they have meaning to you or just to switch things up.  I don't think you "need" to hit a different set of clubs during practice because you're afraid you're going to wear out your game set.  

[NJpatbee]

I have many old clubs in the basement but I prefer to work with my current set which includes 5 hybrids since those are the clubs I play with on the course.  I understand the fun in pulling out some old blades and seeing how you do, but since I practice only once/week I do not have much time to add that type of variety.