henderson14

I never asked about distance, only accuracy. Anyways, most of your comments make sense. I do think that club brands are overrated though. The differences aren't as large as most people believe. Today I just used a new set of irons, and I did notice a difference. It did seem like I had less miss hits and they went further. But the biggest change I noticed was backspin on the green! I actually had a ball stop and move back a few inches from where the divot was with an 8 iron! I was pretty excited. Of course that was probably because the face of the club has newer/better groves and grip. I also got an approach wedge in my set, so that helped my short shots a lot.

OK. No one failed to explain why cheaper clubs can't move the weight around or make the same cavity that the expensive brands can.

Elaborate. It is still a flat surface. If it is not the center, it will still be hit at the same degree off center on all clubs. So lets say your club is tilted 10 degrees to the right when you strike the ball on a good and bad club. A good club is not going to correct for that 10 degrees, because that is impossible. The surface that hits the ball is still completely flat. A different weight or cavity is not going to curve the ball back straight.

I think most talk about certain brands of clubs being better than another is mostly marketing and ego boosting. I can see how certain drivers might drive the ball a little further than another brand. And possible how an expensive iron could hit a ball further. But how is it physically possible for a iron with the same flat surface to be more accurate? It is flat, and the ball bounces off straight. Just as how if you dropped a tennis ball on a flat surface, it is going to bounce straight the same way no matter what. Its physics. A flat surface is a flat surface.

I'm tall, and according to charts I should be using clubs about 1" longer than "standard." But I have been doing research and am wondering if it really matters. First I want to go over what "standard" actually is. Golf clubs have been increasing in length over the years because longer clubs give greater distance and sell better, but you also lose accuracy. Different clubs also have different "standard" lengths. For example, a lot of burner Irons are longer than what is typically standard. From what I can gather, the biggest risk with using clubs that aren't properly fitted is that the lie will be off. But I used my friends slightly shorter burner irons and the lie was fine. So now the only issue is that I will be standing slightly closer to the ball than with my fitted clubs. The difference is basically just like just using a PW instead of a 9 iron (minus the loft). But I don't really see this as an issue? It just means that I will probably have slightly less distance and slightly greater accuracy. Right? Anyone who was tall get custom fitted and notice a real difference? I would like to get fitted again, but I can't for the discounted older versions of name brand clubs.

I would never buy clubs off ebay or used online. Most things that are sold on ebay are stolen or counterfit. I got burned on a few clubs I ordered. If you do buy on online make sure it is directly from a golfer who bought them brand new and just wants new clubs.

I need longer clubs and I was comparing my friends Burner 2 Irons to my Irons that I was fitted for and that are longer than standard. Well side by side his are almost the same length, which they shouldnt be. So I go to sports authority website and it gives the length of the clubs. It gives the length of the PW as the standard 35.5". However, I measured the PW myself and it is 36.25" to the floor. So what gives here? I made sure I was measuring it correctly to the floor.

Well when I go out on courses I would say that about 1/3 are chasing balls in the trees and hitting long shots with their irons that just go about 50 yards or less or into the woods, when they wanted them to go straight and 150 yards. I would guess that 20% hit less than 100.

Very informative post. So now I'm wondering if it can be broken down in percentages between form, strength, types of muscle fibers, flexibility, coil/uncoil, etc.....I has to have been studied?

Independent of form, how much of swing speed is strength, and how much is other natural factors like types of muscle fibers etc. For example, in baseball strength has little to do with how fast you can throw a ball. A pitcher might not have much strength at all, but still throws fast. Does someone who can swing a bat fast or throw a ball fast have a faster golf swing, if they have the same form?

Well I naturally probably had to bend slightly more over but not enough to notice. Like when you grip an inch further down on a club you can usually still hit with your lye fine.

Here's my issue. I'm tall and have a previous set of clubs that I got fitted for (first set ever), and it's time for me to upgrade. According to the charts I need an extra 1" on my irons. My issue is the extra cost to get that extra inch. The fitting is free, but I am limited to current models of clubs which are more expensive, and I can't order online. Not ordering on online will cost me 10% in sales tax where I live and I can't use another 10% coupon code for online purchases. Last week I used my friends Burner 2.0 irons and I loved they way they feel. I currently have Nichalsons and they are OK. It looks like the burners are a little longer than standard clubs and there wasnt much of a noticable difference in length when compared to my clubs. So there might only be 1/2" difference between my current clubs. I used them and it didn't affect my stance much at all and the lye appeared OK. What do you guys think? Especially you taller golfers? I don't want to invest this money and have clubs for years that don't work correctly for me.

I was referring to the distance I got when the shaft was not broken, because you can't hit a ball with a broken shaft now can you? I had the broken shaft replaced for less than $20 and then tested it again. Have you ever done any comparisons? I doubt it. And once again, I was more questioning the name brand clubs than trying to glorify the counterfeits. This isn't a pro-counterfeit club post. This thread could just as well been cheap clubs vs expensive clubs. Your not getting the point of my thread. Everyone else that has replied has been helpful and gotten it except for you.

Let me educate you again. There is a significant black market on ebay for counterfrit and stolen items. As much as %25 of clubs sold on ebay are counterfeit and it can be next to impossible to tell the difference unless you have a trained eye. I found out because my shaft broke, and then I took it in to get repaired and they told me the serial number didn't match up. I wasn't necessarily supporting counterfeit clubs, rather I was questioning expensive brand name clubs. I was simply stating the reality of my experience. Plus if you had half a brain you could figure out that since I went out and bought the real club after I found out it was counterfeit, that I am clearly not supporting counterfeit clubs. I mean why would I knowingly buy a counterfit club and then buy the same real version? You care clearly one of those people that I described at the end of my first post. What else could I expect from a man with Cartmen as his icon. LOL

I wish you would take the time to read and comprehend my post before you ignorantly respond. I said that I unknowingly bought a counterfit. I was ripped off. I also stated that both real and counterfit clubs are made overseas. On another note, if clubs were made in America the labor costs would be so much higher that no one could afford the clubs, so minimal additional jobs manufacturing them would be made anyways.

I am under the impression that brand name clubs offer NO additional benefits compared with the lower level clubs. I unknowingly ordered a fake Taylormade Burner driver off the internet. I then got the real thing from the store expecting my drives to improve. We'll I didn't notice anything, so I took them to the driving range and compared them both directly. I honestly didn't notice any difference and if anything my counterfeit version was better. Remember that it was a counterfeit club, not even a cheaper brand name club. This tells me that all you are paying for is marketing and the name. People say that the more expensive clubs are made with better materials, but I am skeptical that this is true or that the materials make a difference. I have read articles that say that most clubs are made by the same people in the same factories with the same materials, so I'm assuming that my counterfeit club was made in the same or similar factory in China with the same materials. I mean if most of the cost of the club is just costs of marketing and branding, then the similar performance for the price would make sense. I mean that's the whole point of marketing isn't it? You don't get any added performance value when you pay for marketing. And I don't buy the nonsense that if I was a better player I would notice a difference. The higher level players simply have more consistency than most amateurs. For example, I can have an awesome drive one hit, but I choke on the fairway or green, or vice versa. So when I go to the driving range some of my hits will be perfect, right on the sweet spot and straight. Even those hits showed no difference. I also kid of feel that a lot of people get their egos tied up into how expensive their clubs are and are threatened if you challenge their "investment."