Jump to content
IGNORED

Can having the wrong clubs wreck your game?


Note: This thread is 2065 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Recommended Posts

25 minutes ago, tinker said:

If you swing a 7 iron in the high 90’s you need stiff shaft, end of discussion. If you don’t use woods at all sounds like you swing so hard your swing is out of control. I’m a senior golfer and I can swing a 7 iron in the 90’s, I just couldn’t hit the ball decent no matter how hard I tried. 

Yes could be out of control but it does not feel that way. Just feels like the natural tempo for me. I have had some lessons and nobody is telling me I need to slow down. And when I do try to slow down thats when I really start spraying it all over because my hands and body get all out of whack. I think I need correct fitting with my irons to make sure I have no doubts when I’m standing over my shots.

cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Let me say something I've said many times before. In my experience, I have observed many times that a "regular" flex in a heavy shaft can be much stiffer than a "stiff" flex in a light shaft. I've seen this in both graphite and steel shafts. For example,  Dynamic Gold R300 is much stiffer than XP95 S300.

When people tell me regular works better for them than stiff (or viceversa), I always ask "in what weight shaft???"

Hope this helps

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • 2 weeks later...

Having an issues this year: I was fitted for clubs 4 years ago (1” longer/2 degrees upright). I am 6’3. Last season, I worked to change my swing. I used to hit a weak cut. I now, RARELY hit a ball left to right unless I am really trying to. I’m a 10 HC at this point. I have been hitting my driver and wedges fine. (Ping G25, SM7 both standard off rack). I am struggling pretty bad with my irons. My miss has been a hook or duck hook. Do you feel getting my clubs bent back down can fix this? I know it’s probably part of the swing but it’s pretty frustrating. Any feedback would be appreciated..

Link to comment
Share on other sites


On 4/16/2018 at 8:36 PM, tinker said:

If you swing a 7 iron in the high 90’s you need stiff shaft, end of discussion.

If he has a 7i SS in the high 90's he should probably look to get on tour. I think they would average less than 90 MPH. 7i SS is probably 80% of driver SS. His driver SS might be over 120 MPH.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

On ‎4‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 8:36 PM, tinker said:

If you swing a 7 iron in the high 90’s you need stiff shaft, end of discussion. If you don’t use woods at all sounds like you swing so hard your swing is out of control. I’m a senior golfer and I can swing a 7 iron in the 90’s, I just couldn’t hit the ball decent no matter how hard I tried. 

What make and model? That matters a lot as well. Shaft flex is not a universal measurement. It's highly inconsistent between brands and even between models for the same brand.

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Moderator
3 hours ago, ii3e22 said:

Having an issues this year: I was fitted for clubs 4 years ago (1” longer/2 degrees upright). I am 6’3. Last season, I worked to change my swing. I used to hit a weak cut. I now, RARELY hit a ball left to right unless I am really trying to. I’m a 10 HC at this point. I have been hitting my driver and wedges fine. (Ping G25, SM7 both standard off rack). I am struggling pretty bad with my irons. My miss has been a hook or duck hook. Do you feel getting my clubs bent back down can fix this? I know it’s probably part of the swing but it’s pretty frustrating. Any feedback would be appreciated..

A flatter lie angle will generally cause you to start the ball more to the right (assuming you're a righty). It won't fix a hook but it might make it more playable.

You should do a lie test. Draw a line on a ball with a sharpie and line it up vertical, then hit it. If then line transferred to your face isn't vertical, you need your lie adjusted.

You might have taken your swing path too far the other way from fixing your cut. Been there myself.

Bill

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

My Swing Thread

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • 2 months later...

The thing is, IMO, you can't buy a golf swing. Most guys would be better off spending money on lessons from a good pro and developing a consistent swing that helps them make consistent solid contact with the ball, before getting into the weeds about shafts, and technical data.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


After a 20+ years layoff from golf I needed to re-examine my clubs which were in storage, 40 year old Wilson staff set, with persimmon woods, which I hit fairly consistently down to an 6 HC.  Not bad for a 3/month golfer.  Upon return I new it was time to upgrade.  To deal with all the changes in body and age, I went to a fitting, no brand or length or lie before hand.  I took a test with my 7i to get a base.  Let's start by saying it was not pretty as no serious muscle memory form was retained.  All of mu clubs had a very still True Temper.  My previous clubs were a bit long, especially the woods. Often week of restarting with my old clubs with mediocre results, I started rebuilding my set with 1" shorter shafts, senior flex, and a move to hybrids for my 2-5 old irons.  I felt as if a miracle occurred. In my case, as many years passed and I changed a lot, the equipment did a lot in making golf fun again, the fitting gave me a sense of what to look for as a base in rebuilding my current set of weapons.

To end this post let me say, while I now have a good set of clubs for me and my physical foibles, it has been instruction and a LOT of practice with those clubs that has allowed me to narrow the mis-hits, poor alignment, gripping the clubs, and line in hitting the ball.  The clubs have allowed me to eliminate them as a blame.  10+ strokes per round? Not ready to give the clubs that much credit; I am playing with more confidence and the clubs are a part of that.

Improving my. game is based on instruction and practice (with a good of clubs that work for me).

 

 

 

In My BELDIN Green Bay Packer 1999 SUPER BOWL CHAMPION bag :  :ping: G410 Plus Alta Red CB 55 sr,  GX-7  (acting as a 3 wood)  :ping: 4H, 5H. Sr Flex   :ping:  G400 6i Sr Flex, G-Max 7i. 9i Sr Flex , Glide 2.0  Wedges (50º, 56º, 60º)  :touredge:  Chipper  :ping: Putter: Cadence Mid-TR 350g:bridgestone:  e12 for the items I try to hit on purpose.  :footjoy: on my feet and hands, US Embassy-Singapore hat on my head (with PACKERS, Brewers or UW-Badgers hats as options).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Thanks for the responses 

I agree with nearly every comment to some degree. From what i read above it is about having confidence in your equipment. If that be an old set from the nineties or a brand new set of custom fit clubs from today. You simply can not expect good results if you don’t 100% trust what’s in your hands and for everybody that will require a different level of investment. I do get regular lesson and my swing in general is good but my coach has told me that until everything is where he wants it, he would not recommend spending a lot on new clubs because my game is still a work in progress and the clubs I require at the end of that journey will be different from what might be recommended at the start. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


It might seem pendantic, but the only issue I have with this thread is the word ‘wreck’ in the title. I would change it to ‘limit’, ‘restrict’, and/or ‘complicate’, to make it a more correct hypothesis. 

The swing obviously has to be there, but poorly fit or unforgiving clubs will keep you from reaching your max potential. By how much is a function of how poor or poorly fit the sticks are, I think. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

If your coach is fine with your irons, and you trust your coach, then just use them.  I really doubt he would want you to continue if the clubs were hurting your swing.

And since you are only talking irons, I'm not sure how bad the dispersion would be between regular and stiff (I realize R, S and XS are not consistent between mfgs) to be the cause of spraying the ball.

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I think so. Or it limits your progress.

Started with a Spalding graphite length +1 "set with a soft flex. Have had (private) lessons and the swing was correct (in the basics, on film: like path and turn etc.) Tried to learn to play with this set, because I convinced myself that you can learn to play with every set and once you play well and hit fairways it might be time to buy something new.

I have been playing poor for more than a year now and my pro said try something else, this isn't your setup. So I bought a second-hand TaylorMade RSi2 set with stiff flex last week and without changing my swing (and no lessons) played much much better last 3 rounds. Balls going straight and hit the fairway. Also a gain in length of about 50 yards with my i5.

Guess the old set was wrecking my game. 

Edited by Hamerhaai
Link to comment
Share on other sites


I remembered reading an in-depth Golf Digest interview with Payne Stewart in 1999.  This was shortly before he won his 2nd U.S. Open, and he was in the process of making a comeback after being in a slump for the previous few years.  They asked him about his equipment, and this is what he said"

G.D.  That long dry spell after the '91 Open wasn't so funny. What happened?

P.S.  The trouble started when I changed equipment companies back in 1992. I switched from playing a forged blade, which I had played my whole life, to an investment-cast club. At the same time, I switched from playing a wound ball to a solid ball. That was the big mistake, changing both clubs and ball at the same time. Neither one was right for me, but I didn't know that at the time. I thought maybe it was just the ball for a while, then thought it might just be the clubs. It messed me up good.

G.D.  Why change your equipment in the first place, at a time when you were one of the best players in the world?

P.S.  For one thing, when you're playing as well as I was at the time, you think you can play with anything. That isn't true, of course, but I didn't know it then. It also was a business decision. We were in the process of building a new home, and the contract was pretty lucrative. It gave me financial security, enough to be able to afford the house with no worries. But knowing what I know now, I would do it differently, because it cost me three years of my golf career. But there's still time. I'm 42 now, what I would consider prime time.

G.D.  What was wrong with the equipment?

P.S.  The two-piece ball I switched to spun too much. One shot would go the distance I thought it should, then the next one would fall short, and then the next one would go long. And they all felt the same when they came off the clubface. The ball just wasn't right for me.

The cast clubs were a big part of it, too. I found I wasn't getting that instant feedback I was used to with a forged blade. The sweet spot is a shade bigger, and when I didn't hit the ball dead center, I didn't know it, because it still felt great. So you start asking yourself, „What's wrong here? Is there too much offset? Is the sweet spot too big? Is it the ball? Is it my swing?'' It's enough to about drive you crazy.

For a while, I think in 1994, it got to where I didn't want to practice. I lost confidence and desire, because I didn't want to go out there and play poorly. I mean, at the time I would rather come here and sit on the lake than go practice and work on my golf game. Today I have a different philosophy.

Many of you may already know this, but in case you never heard the story, after his equipment contract expired at the end of '98, Payne actually did what most people do when they need new clubs...he drove to the local Edwin Watts store in Orlando and went shopping!  I'm not sure how many of the clubs that were in his bag were purchased there, but I know he bought a set of Mizuno irons, a bag and possibly a couple other clubs.  But I think this is an example of how having the wrong clubs (equipment) can wreck your game.

  • Like 2
  • Upvote 1

Bridgestone j40 445 w/ Graphite Design AD DJ-7
Callaway Steelhead Plus 3 wood w/ RCH Pro Series 3.2
Adams Idea Pro hybrids (3 & 4) w/ Aldila VS Proto 
Bridgestone j33 CB (5-PW) w/ original Rifle 5.5
Bridgestone West Coast 52*, j40 satin 56* & 60* w/ DG S-300
Odyssey White Hot XG #9
Bridgestone B330-RX

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

On 4/12/2018 at 8:25 PM, Mike74 said:

Ok I’m am convinced that getting fit for the correct clubs can help your game but until now I never considered the possibility that playing the wrong clubs can hinder your performance to a point where it really damages your whole game. I recently went and had a driver fitting. Before starting I was given a 7 iron to warm up with. After a dozen hits I had an average swing speed of 98mph with the 7 iron. Now 12 months ago when I got serious about golf I brought a secondhand set of cobra baffled irons with regular flex shafts. They are nice and easy to hit but as the year has gone on my consistency on the course had not improved and I am still only hitting about 30% fairways even though I only use irons. So I realise and have also been told by a couple of pros that these irons are not designed for me but for much lower swing speeds but not until the last week have a started to think that they may be the cause of my inconsistency. Has anybody else who had similar experience to me I would be great to hear from. I am really starting to loose confidence in my game.

Hey Mike,

I also agree with just about everything stated here. If you don't take the time to get the right club with the right length, weight and material, you are completely hosed. Additionally, the grip you have on the club can make a huge difference. The right grip can make the right club "perfect". To get the right club, you really need to see a professional in-person to figure it out. If you are looking for grips you can try https://www.golfpride.com/fit/ to see which of their grips might be best for your play style. Here is a video you can watch that might also give you some knowledge about different types of clubs. 

 

Edited by boatboy
Added video link
Link to comment
Share on other sites


Note: This thread is 2065 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Want to join this community?

    We'd love to have you!

    Sign Up
  • TST Partners

    TourStriker PlaneMate
    Golfer's Journal
    ShotScope
    The Stack System
    FlightScope Mevo
    Direct: Mevo, Mevo+, and Pro Package.

    Coupon Codes (save 10-15%): "IACAS" for Mevo/Stack, "IACASPLUS" for Mevo+/Pro Package, and "THESANDTRAP" for ShotScope.
  • Posts

    • I did read the fine print tonight. It said replace with “similar features & function”.  8 yeas ago my purchase had features that today are available on the lower end models and the current version of my model has more “bells & whistles” than what I got 8 years ago.  So I am thinking they honored the agreement and I can’t argue the offer. since getting a credit for the full purchase price all I am really out over the past 8 years was the cost of the extended warranty, which was less than a low end  treadmill would have cost me. now the question is which model to replace with.  I’ll stay with Nordic Track or I forfeit the $1,463 credit so I will get Nordic Track.  And they honored the warranty and were not hard to work with which is a plus.
    • Generally speaking, extended warranties are a terrible deal and should almost always be avoided. They are a huge profit center for the companies that offer them, which should tell you almost everything you need to know about how much value most consumers get when purchasing them.  This is correct, and the old adage applies - only buy insurance when you can't afford the loss. This usually doesn't apply to most consumer goods.  To your second question, no I don't believe the offer is fair. They are replacing it, but it is not being replaced at "no cost to you". Since the amount being disputed (over $500) is non-trivial, I would probably push the issue. Don't waste your time on the phone with a customer service agent or a supervisor. They have probably given you all they have the authority to do. Rather, I would look at the terms of your agreement and specifically legal disputes. The odds are you probably agreed to binding arbitration in the event of a dispute. The agreement will outline what steps need to be followed, but it will probably look something like this.  1. Mail the Nordic Track legal department outlining your dispute and indicate you are not satisfied with the resolution offered.  2. Open up a case with the AAA (American Arbitration Association), along with the required documentation. 3. Wait about 4-5 weeks for a case to be opened - at which point someone from Nordic Track's legal department will offer to give you the new model at no cost to you.  They certainly don't want to spend the time and energy to fight you over $500. 4. Enjoy your new Nordic Track at no cost to you. I recently entered binding arbitration against a fairly large and well known company that screwed me over and refused to make it right. In my demand letter, I made a pretty sizeable request that included compensation for my time and frustration. Once it hit their legal department, they cut me a check - no questions asked. It was far cheaper to settle with me than to send their legal team to defend them in the arbitration.
    • I never thought of looking at it on multiple purchases like you said.  Yes, the extended may help me on 1 or 2 items but not the other 5 or 6.
    • Day 84 - Forgot to post yesterday, but I did some more chipping/pitching.    Back/neck were feeling better today, so I did a much overdue Stack session. 
    • Wordle 1,013 4/6 ⬛⬛🟩🟨⬛ 🟩⬛🟩⬛🟨 🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to TST! Signing up is free, and you'll see fewer ads and can talk with fellow golf enthusiasts! By using TST, you agree to our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and our Guidelines.

The popup will be closed in 10 seconds...