Spend money on clubs or lessons first?

[DirtCheap]

I'll cut to the chase.. Details to follow..

Do I buy a good set of clubs to take lessons on?
Or
Do I wait until I take lessons, then buy?


Here's the deal..

I bought my clubs from a pawn shop for $40 in 2001.
I rarely played until two summers ago when my father-in-law and I started playing regularly. I never took lessons, just hacked away until I could pretend to know what I was doing.

Now..
My family all pitched in this Christmas so I could buy a new set of clubs. I have picked out some that I like based on looks and brand name mostly. (Hey, at least I'm being honest with you.)

Some of my golf buddies have told me to spend my money on lessons first, then I can be better informed on what clubs to buy.

My thought was that I should buy the clubs I plan to keep and take lessons on a good quality set of sticks that will give me proper feedback and such.

What to do.?? What to do..??

[neudi]

I would say go to your local golf professional ( any course) and get fitted...he will suggest the best clubs for you, you don't have to follow wha the says but this is your best idea of what to buy as a golfer just getting onto the scene. Take all of your questions to the golf pro and he will know exactly what to do with you.

[sbgolfin_06]

your golf swing will change everyday as you progress. so if you get fitted now, your measurements will more than likely not be best suited for you in a few months. save the money that your family members gave to you and wait until you have a lesson or two with a PGA pro at you local course. if you're a consistent ball striker, then go ahead and get a new set. howevever, i think your $40 clubs will serve you well as you learn the basics. as you get better and start to see the limitations of these clubs, you'll know when its time to move on to some better sticks. i think you should hold off on buying for just a little longer, which will also give you time to decide on what you're looking for.

is golf a new hobby that you can see yourself doing more than once a week? or do you just want a set that are relatively easy to hit and that you can feel confident in playing once a month? or are you trying to get to a certain score/handicap? this will all play a role in what clubs would be best for you.

[TourSpoon]

My advice would be to buy the golf swing before you invest in clubs. BTW, what kind of clubs do you play with? A buddy of mine plays with clubs that you could probably find for $40 and plays to a 5 thereby proving that it is not the clubs, but the swing on the other end that really matters.

[DirtCheap]

I play a set called "Virage" they are made by knight.
Wal-Mart still sells knight, so I suspect that they are an old wally-world set.

I spoke to the guy at the golf shop and he said he could not/would not adjust them because they were cast and would probably break during the adjustment process.

My plan was to buy a set of Callaway X-16's and have them adjusted. Thats what started this whole mess!

The reviews on the X-16's were good and the average price lands right in my budget. (oh yea, and they're pretty blue!)

[DirtCheap]

is golf a new hobby that you can see yourself doing more than once a week? or do you just want a set that are relatively easy to hit and that you can feel confident in playing once a month? or are you trying to get to a certain score/handicap? this will all play a role in what clubs would be best for you.

In a nutshell, I just love to play. I am hooked on this game!

I bought my clubs in 2001, but I really started two years ago playing about once a month. Last summer I played at least three times a month, sometimes more. Like everyone else, I want to hit more greens and stop losing so many balls due to wild hits. But for me, there's a sub-plot... My father-in-law is a business owner and socialite in the little town he lives in. We play golf every single time I go there. He plays golf with some pretty big men in the area and he says he will take me with him to the club this next year. I really want to build my game to where I don't embarass him or myself. Plus I want my equipment to reflect that of at least a semi-serious golfer and not a $40 pawn shop hacker.

[srjorion]

I was in the same situation early last year. I would suggest getting some lessons because clubs fitted to your old swing might not be correct for your new one. This was definitely the case with me. When I started lessons, I was hitting the ball with the club more upright which would have required a different lie angle. After three lessons my lie angle was pretty much normal.

Also, when you go to get new clubs, don't be in too much of a hurry. I know you will be itching to get them, but let the pro tell you when it is time. And try out a lot of clubs so you can find the ones that really fit your swing. Don't be afraid to try ones you don't think you like.

And good luck!

[sriggins]

Get fitted for sure. I got fitted today (am I allowed to say where?) and it helped a ton. They even helped correct some aspects of my swing before trying out the clubs I was interested in.

[mwr]

I would save the money for now on the clubs and invest in lessons. With some lessons and practice your game will change. You may even talk to the pro giving you lesson and tell him you are looking for some clubs. They could let you demo some while taking lessons or know of some good used clubs to buy.

I just bought a new set of irons this fall and spent about 6 weeks figuring out which ones to buy. It was a fun six weeks figuring out which clubs to buy. Today's technology is a wonderful thing. Take your time in buying a set hopefully you will have them for a long time.

[Guest]

Go for the clubs. they will instill confidence and there pretty

come'on you know you want them........



p.s.: love the poo icon

[JonnyGolf]

Lessons are the much better investment. I wish I had spent more money on lessons.

[ks8829]

I would consider buying a used set of clubs and also take a few lessons, How much do you have to spend?

The clubs are about 10% of your game, so if you had the best clubs available for your game and did not have a golf swing you would play about the same your playing now, on the other hand if you are a low handicap golfer and had your set of clubs he would still play well enought to come close to his usual game maybe adding a few more strokes. The other options are below:

1) You could buy a used set of irons for about $250 and take a few lessons for $200+.

2) Put all your money and time into golf lessons and practice towards improving your golf swing.

3) Put all your money into new clubs and have your same golf swing

[sbgolfin_06]

hmm.. well from your response, it sounds like callaway is the right brand to be looking at, as they do make some great clubs that are easy to hit. it seems most of us that have posted are in agreement that the best route is to invest in lessons first. for example, i started out on a hand-me-down set of standard length, lie, loft callaway x-14s. i had to learn to choke down almost all the way on the grips to get the right lie angle, but they worked at the time. when i started playing more and hitting it more consistently, the oversized clubhead really started to bother me. it looked really bulky at address and i just stopped being comfortable with them. the large offset was also a pain after a while. point is, as you improve more, your tastes will change. there is always time to upgrade so dont feel rushed to do it right away.

also as suggested before, you can always do a fitting lesson. i did 2 before i settled on my cobras. my coach brought out the entire titleist and cobra line (all the irons, fairway woods and drivers) and we went through every set until i narrowed it down to a handful of favorites. they usually charge $50 for fittings, but since i was already paying for the lesson, it was free. so, make sure you try the clubs before you buy.

[andre112]

definitely lessons first. lesson helps the most especially when you are just starting.
when your swing is good, you can swing any clubs

i think if you buy a decent set but don't have the swing for it, that gives people an impression that you just want to buy your game. on the other hand, if you have good swing but have crappy clubs, people will be more impressed and think of you as a serious golfer who just don't have enough money. heck you might even get a decent used set from one of them.

i've worked so hard on my swing. my pro was really impressed. even though my private lesson is supposed to be 30 mins, he actually does 45 mins with me. sometimes when i just went to the range for practice, he came to check my swing.

so i think people are more willingly to help someone who's eager to work on their games than someone just wants to buy game.

[Bluenoser67]

Sorry Got to go with the lessons. Hope you get someone to give you an overall lesson of the game. Not just stand there and watch you hit a 7 iron for an hour. Look for someone to explain the game from tee to green, course management, how to hit high, low and move the ball left and right. Remember though that after every lesson you should spend 5 to 10 times working on the lesson before you go back.

By the way nothing wrong with the wally world stuff. I bought an Intech driver from wally world about 3 years ago and even though I get a new driver every year it always finds it way back in to my bag by the middle of the season.

Based on your handicap I wouldnt bother going out and buying a top end OEM set of clubs anyway unless you have the disposable income. They just wont make that much difference.

[DirtCheap]

Based on your handicap I wouldnt bother going out and buying a top end OEM set of clubs anyway unless you have the disposable income. They just wont make that much difference.

I'm not sure what my handicap is. 36 was the boards default for a new guy so I went with it.

I'll get that figured out this season.

[misterbrister]

Lessons first. Nothing worse than having nice, shiny clubs in your bag, while still hitting the ball out of bounds.

[kehanra99]

If you have to ask a question like this, it's lessons every time. You'll only miss a matter of yards, usually no more than 10 or so, with better clubs on the same swing and contact. However, lessons will more than make up for the foregiveness and consistancy that you get from better clubs due too better mechanics.