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Technology for beginners?

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GarryC

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Hi All,

I'm new to the forum, and new to golf, so forgive me for a very naive question!

I just purchased a set of clubs, some wedges, some hybrids and a 3-wood. Based on conversations with a bunch of golfers, I decided to get a 3-wood to start off with and work my way up to a driver. Common consensus with my mates was that the driver was a hard club to hit, and I'd find a 3-wood easier.

So, I purchased the R11 3-wood with the thought that the versatility/adjustability of the club would make it easier for me to hit straight and possibly negate some errors in my swing.

I'm kind of having second thoughts now, thinking that this will handicap me in the long run by hiding a poor swing. For example, lets say I have a nice slice. I can adjust the loft and face angle to get rid of the slice. Now I'm happy. BUT, that doesn't change the fact that I have problems with my swing, which would return immediately should I get a different wood or driver that doesn't compensate for it.

So, should I forget all that and just be happy with letting the club fix my error and enjoy my golf, or should I keep the wood on all "neutral" settings (so it's not helping me) and learn to fix my swing first? Obviously this will take a lot longer time wise but would have greater benefits in the long run.

Naturally, I'd tell myself to learn it right at the beginning. But part of me says if the technology is there, use it.

What do you all think?
 
Personally I would have taken lessons and been fitted before spending any serious money on Golf Clubs
 
MikeF said:
Personally I would have taken lessons and been fitted before spending any serious money on Golf Clubs
Click to expand...
+1...absolutely
 
I say get a driver because everybody is different. When I first started playing, my driver was the most consistent club in the bag. The absolutely best thing you can do for yourself is get lessons and follow through on what your instructor tells you to do. You get out of golf what you put in practicing. Also, don't listen to what your friends say, but get advice from a pro.
 
:welcome:

I saw this asked to Hank Haney on twitter a few weeks back and he said to get an adjustable driver because you can learn with it and adjust it as you get better.
 
I'd get into a lesson program, group or package type thing. Fastest way to having fun on the course. Even the pros use a 3w as a backup so thats a wise choice.
 
MikeF said:
Personally I would have taken lessons and been fitted before spending any serious money on Golf Clubs
Click to expand...
Fair point. Everything bar the 3-wood was second hand and at a very reasonable price. Lessons are next in line, so I'm not skipping past that. I DID go to a professional in town about fitting, and he told me it would be a waste of my time to get fitted now since I do not have a consistent swing. He suggested I play for a few months (with lessons) first to try get a consistent swing, and then get fitted. He basically said if my swing is all over the show it would be near impossible to fit me, and in my naivete this sounded like a fair argument.

Nonetheless, things are as they are and undoubtedly I maybe should have done things better (20/20 hindsight), but I'd like to keep this thread on track and ask for any suggestions related to my question.

Thanks.
 
Everyone is different, but your plan seems fine to me as long as the lessons are on the immediate horizon. A good 3 wood is a formidable weapon, so it does not hurt to make friends with one soon on.
 
id also say to get lessons! but who am i when im still debating on getting my first one!
 
The adjustability is good. Maybe set it on neutral at first and after getting your swing grooved a little play with it's features. The adjustability isn't gonna stop you from slicing, hooking, topping or shanking though. So don't worry that the club is hiding flaws at this point.
 
to answer your question better, someone told me not to get a 60º wedge because I would not be able hit it. I said screw you and then I got one anyway and practiced a lot till I could use it. Nothing wrong with getting a club and practicing with it because you are going to use it eventually. I look at it this way, all golf clubs are hard to hit.
 
GarryC said:
Fair point. Everything bar the 3-wood was second hand and at a very reasonable price. Lessons are next in line, so I'm not skipping past that. I DID go to a professional in town about fitting, and he told me it would be a waste of my time to get fitted now since I do not have a consistent swing. He suggested I play for a few months (with lessons) first to try get a consistent swing, and then get fitted. He basically said if my swing is all over the show it would be near impossible to fit me, and in my naivete this sounded like a fair argument.

Nonetheless, things are as they are and undoubtedly I maybe should have done things better (20/20 hindsight), but I'd like to keep this thread on track and ask for any suggestions related to my question.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, to answer your question there is nothing wrong with setting the club face angle to combat a shot type. I do it with my driver to combat my slice and it works wonders for the most part.
 
MikeF said:
Personally I would have taken lessons and been fitted before spending any serious money on Golf Clubs
Click to expand...

I personally disagree with this. Unless someone is going to lend you some clubs, you will need to buy some for your lessons. I dont think that buying a set of cheap clubs, then getting better and then buying a new set of more expensive clubs is cost effective. I think he did the right thing with the adjustable woods and hopefully he got some SGI/GI irons to go with it. Just my opinion...
 
ripper said:
I personally disagree with this. Unless someone is going to lend you some clubs, you will need to buy some for your lessons. I dont think that buying a set of cheap clubs, then getting better and then buying a new set of more expensive clubs is cost effective. I think he did the right thing with the adjustable woods and hopefully he got some SGI/GI irons to go with it. Just my opinion...
Click to expand...

Quite a lot of the Pro's i know will be able to lend you clubs for your lessons. Just makes more sense to me to have lessons first.
 
MikeF said:
Quite a lot of the Pro's i know will be able to lend you clubs for your lessons. Just makes more sense to me to have lessons first.
Click to expand...

Without clubs, how would I practice after the lessons?
 
GarryC said:
Without clubs, how would I practice after the lessons?
Click to expand...

valid point, I will get my coat :D

Ranges do hire clubs too at least in the UK anyway.
 
I think adjustable clubs are great, as long as you are trying to fix what's wrong to get it set back to neutral. Definitely better than buying a draw bias club that you will have to replace when you are able to hit it straight.

Definitely take lessons.
 
My advice is to play with the clubs that are easiest to hit to give yourself the best chance to score but pick up a club that is more difficult to hit in order to spend a small part of your practice time with it and use it to expose any swing fault you have clearly so that you can work on that. Also once you are able to hit the more difficult club you will be able to hit almost anything. I have a 1 iron that I take to the range once in a while just to make sure I can still hit it reasonably well but I don't use it on the golf course I hit a 19 degree hybrid. If you pick up a single club like a blade style 7 iron or 6 iron, new or used doesn't matter, and just work on making perfect contact with it. It will help your game immensely. You can pick up a used single club from the bargain bin or even buy a new or used single iron from one of the big online golf shops.
 
ripper said:
I personally disagree with this. Unless someone is going to lend you some clubs, you will need to buy some for your lessons. I dont think that buying a set of cheap clubs, then getting better and then buying a new set of more expensive clubs is cost effective. I think he did the right thing with the adjustable woods and hopefully he got some SGI/GI irons to go with it. Just my opinion...
Click to expand...

And I personally disagree with this :act-up:

Get cheap clubs to play with and then when you are in a better place spend the money on nice clubs.
What happens if you do it the other way (expensive/nice stuff first) and then you find out it isnt the best for you. You are out $2000 bucks to replace all that equipment. If you are new to golf, how do you know what will fit you the best?

RE: Adjustability

I think that the adjustable clubs are a great thing for a beginner. Who cares if you are "masking" a problem so long as you are still working on fixing it.
Let's pretend you are hitting a slice and working on closing the clubface faster. If you close the driver so the ball goes straight then you will be a happier golfer. After working with your pro, maybe that straight ball becomes more of a draw and you can "open" up the club and get a straight flight again. Your swing is still improving and you are able to adapt throughout the learning process. That to me is a win-win situation
 
pjcedog said:
My advice is to play with the clubs that are easiest to hit to give yourself the best chance to score but pick up a club that is more difficult to hit in order to spend a small part of your practice time with it and use it to expose any swing fault you have clearly so that you can work on that. Also once you are able to hit the more difficult club you will be able to hit almost anything. I have a 1 iron that I take to the range once in a while just to make sure I can still hit it reasonably well but I don't use it on the golf course I hit a 19 degree hybrid. If you pick up a single club like a blade style 7 iron or 6 iron, new or used doesn't matter, and just work on making perfect contact with it. It will help your game immensely. You can pick up a used single club from the bargain bin or even buy a new or used single iron from one of the big online golf shops.
Click to expand...

I've got the Callaway Diablo Edges, which are supposed to be very user friendly game-improvement irons. Hits them high and straight. I got them for that very reason, to keep things as "easy" as possible to start with. The clubs are 5-PW. On top of that I have the TM hybrids and my 3-wood which just arrived today and not had time to hit the driving range with. I suspect these will be the hardest clubs for me to hit, although I had no trouble hitting them into the net at Academy Sports (of course, the net is not the course...but they did feel good both at address and during the swing).

RxGus said:
And I personally disagree with this :act-up:

Get cheap clubs to play with and then when you are in a better place spend the money on nice clubs.
What happens if you do it the other way (expensive/nice stuff first) and then you find out it isnt the best for you. You are out $2000 bucks to replace all that equipment. If you are new to golf, how do you know what will fit you the best?
Click to expand...

The clubs I got were cheap...with a 20% discount at Callaway Preowned, they were barely $200...so I don't feel it was too much of an outlay. If the clubs dont fit, I can trade them back into CP for close to what I bought them. Additionally, CP allows me to keep the clubs for 30 days during which I can return for a full refund. I fully plan on getting lessons and hitting the range during this 30-day period to see if they are a good fit or not.
 
GarryC said:
Fair point. Everything bar the 3-wood was second hand and at a very reasonable price. Lessons are next in line, so I'm not skipping past that. I DID go to a professional in town about fitting, and he told me it would be a waste of my time to get fitted now since I do not have a consistent swing. He suggested I play for a few months (with lessons) first to try get a consistent swing, and then get fitted. He basically said if my swing is all over the show it would be near impossible to fit me, and in my naivete this sounded like a fair argument.

Nonetheless, things are as they are and undoubtedly I maybe should have done things better (20/20 hindsight), but I'd like to keep this thread on track and ask for any suggestions related to my question.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I completely agree with the bolded.

As a new golfer, I received a TaylorMade Fitting at their facility in Carlsbad CA as a gift and took my new $100 clubs out there excited as heck about the experience.

The process involved being hooked up to all of their sensors and taking swings with a 6 Iron, Driver, Wedge and Putter for an hour and letting the computer / pro fit you. You then spend an hour out on the range trying out diferent combinations of customized equipment. After my first 3 swings with the 6 Iron, the pro says to me, "I'm sorry, but we aren't going to be able to properly fit you for anything today. Not only are your swings very inconsistent, but nothing you are doing resembles a golf swing". I kinda new this was coming, but didn't expect someone trying to sell me an entire set of custom gear to tell me it wasn't going to happen.

Anyways, he overlayed my 3D model over a Pro's model and showed me how I was standing too close to the ball, bending my knees too much, working my hands around the ball, shifting my weight the exact opposite of what I should and the inconsistent swing path. Had I purchased brand new clubs and been fitted for them my first time out, who knows what I would have gotten. He then proceeded to give me a 2 hour private lesson on setup, grip, posture, swing planes etc. That alone was worth more than the cost of the fitting that I didn't even get. Phenomenal experience!

While I agree being fit for your clubs is important, I think getting comfortable with a consistent golf swing first is even more important. If you are taller than average, have some height added. Anything else, and you will constantly need to change your lofts / lie / length for the next 6 -12 months as you progressively get better with lessons and practice. Your should be able to develop a decent swing pretty quick if you are just starting out, taking lessons, and PRACTICING (not golfing, but practicing).

As far as lessons go, I second the recommendation to take group lessons / clinics. Golf is very frustrating, especially for beginners, and the group environment helps keep the mood light and keeps you engaged.

Just my opinions.
 
GarryC said:
I've got the Callaway Diablo Edges, which are supposed to be very user friendly game-improvement irons. Hits them high and straight. I got them for that very reason, to keep things as "easy" as possible to start with. The clubs are 5-PW. On top of that I have the TM hybrids and my 3-wood which just arrived today and not had time to hit the driving range with. I suspect these will be the hardest clubs for me to hit, although I had no trouble hitting them into the net at Academy Sports (of course, the net is not the course...but they did feel good both at address and during the swing).



The clubs I got were cheap...with a 20% discount at Callaway Preowned, they were barely $200...so I don't feel it was too much of an outlay. If the clubs dont fit, I can trade them back into CP for close to what I bought them. Additionally, CP allows me to keep the clubs for 30 days during which I can return for a full refund. I fully plan on getting lessons and hitting the range during this 30-day period to see if they are a good fit or not.
Click to expand...

Good! That's a great way to do it. Some here sound like they would have you drop $900 on new x24s as a new player- which is what I disagree with.


I hate SethO's tapatalk signature...
 
GarryC said:
cut He suggested I play for a few months (with lessons) first to try get a consistent swing, and then get fitted. He basically said if my swing is all over the show it would be near impossible to fit me, and in my naivete this sounded like a fair argument.

cut
Click to expand...

Exactly right, if you have no basis to start from fitting is pointless and new clubs are a total waste of money. There is no way to fit you if you are not making reasonably consistent contact.
 
I'd be willing to bet 99% of us had a set of dedicated clubs we used from day one. Borrowed, bought or otherwise. Having the same set makes it much easier to work on what matters most, a repeatable full swing. He's got his starter set so it's time to golf.
 
tnc200 said:
I'd be willing to bet 99% of us had a set of dedicated clubs we used from day one. Borrowed, bought or otherwise. Having the same set makes it much easier to work on what matters most, a repeatable full swing. He's got his starter set so it's time to golf.
Click to expand...

I am a 1% - er then because I had to borrow or rent clubs for a long time because I just couldn't buy them when I was a kid.
 
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