Your Golf Clubs—Forget
The Marketing, Use Your Head!
When you buy a new set of golf clubs, the brand really doesn't matter as long as they come from a quality manufacturer (for quality control—no knockoffs) and you like what you see and you like the way they feel when you hit them. If you don't want to pay high prices for a new set from a quality manufacturer, buy a used set rather than a knockoff or off brand set. Knockoffs may look like the original, but they will play differently, possibly by quite a bit due to weighting and composition differences!
Whether you are buying a new set or playing with an old set, what's most important is that your clubs fit your body and swing. As far as fitting goes, for irons lie angle and golf shaft characteristics are the most important aspects to consider. You should also have the lofts on all irons checked to see if they meet manufacturer specs, as they tend to be inconsistent. For metal woods, fitting is more detailed. The idea is to find the optimum combination of such factors as launch angle, spin rate, clubhead speed, ball speed, etc.
A lot of people in golf claim to be club fitters, but beware! A true Professional Club Fitter has years of training and experience, and is a real professional. Don't expect a Golf Professional or Teaching Professional, such as myself, to have such training! If you want the best, and are willing to pay for it, be sure to go to a true Club Fitting Professional who has extensively studied the art of club fitting if you want to be assured you're getting a job well done. However, most golfers don't need that exactness so something less may be adequate, but if you settle for less there is a risk of getting clubs that don't match your swing that well!
With a real club fitting you should hit each and every iron off of a lie board to determine correct lie angles and have your clubhead speed, and shaft load measured for proper shaft selection. The shaft is the most important part of your club fitting! There may be a number of other measurements a skilled fitter will take, but not being an expert in this field, I really don't know what they're doing these days.
As you can imagine, a thorough and precise club fitting will be somewhat expensive because it takes time, but it is money well spent if you're serious about your game, and you can afford it. I highly recommend that every golfer wanting the most from their clubs, whether buying a new set or used, or even if they are keeping their old set, have their clubs checked and adjusted to fit their swing. Don't let ill fitting clubs affect your score!
The Bottom Line
When it comes to equipment—a good player is going to be good no matter what equipment they use (as long as their clubs are fit properly), just as a bad player is going to be bad regardless of their equipment.
Golfers seem to be willing to spend a lot of money on new clubs in exchange for marginal, if any, improvement in score. Rather than spend a ton of money on new equipment, what would happen if they spent that money on developing a better golf swing?
I know why golfers would rather spend their money on equipment. It's easy, it's quick, it's relatively painless, and they get shiny new toys to play with. Let's face it, buying new golf clubs is exciting and we all like to do it.
On the other hand, when you learn the basics of sound fundamentals and try to apply them to your golf swing, it can be painful and frustrating, and you have to work at it. However, if you stick with it you'll develop a better swing, which will translate into better scores and, ultimately, more enjoyment.
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Casey Eberting Golf Instruction
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