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Hype or worth your money----the new clubs....

SuperStroke
mr240 said:
I was playing a Taylormade 580 driver for 10 yrs before I finally decided to try something new. Went with the RBZ. I am still wild off the tee. But when I hit one nice and solid. The RBZ is definitely longer than my old driver. So in my case, it was worth it. But we are talking about a 10 yrs difference in technology.
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This one is interesting. I thought the theory was that driver would get longer with age as the trampoline effect would be greater with an older club. I understand forgiveness being far greater with the newer club but is the distance from technological improvements or from shaft enhancements?
 
New equipment is generally hype, with some performance justifications mixed in. But if it feels good or gives you more confidence, it's worth it. As an example, I switched last year from a Nike SQ DYMO2 driver to an Adams Speedline Fast 12. The difference was huge for me. I was bombing the Adams well past my old Nike. One of the guys in my group bombs the Nike and can't hit the Adams.

Also, there were two key pieces of technology in the Fast 12, if you listened to Adams: 1 - The grooves on the crown of the club reduced drag and made the club faster. 2 - There was a rough surface on the shaft, which Adams referred to as their "speed coating". It supposedly made the club faster again. However, the LS version of the same club had a smooth Fubuki shaft. Anyway, in my brief observations, it looks like both of these key pieces of "technology" were abandoned by Adams in their new driver.

There are countless examples of this. You don't see Taylor Made making bubble shafts anymore. Ping is not making beryllium copper irons anymore (even though they charged a premium for that "superior technology".
 
Erky said:
You don't see Taylor Made making bubble shafts anymore.
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FWIW, I dont necessarily disagree with your assessment, however when it comes to the bubble shaft, the reason they were able to stop making it, is not because it was a failure, but rather the technology in shaft production grew and they could do the same thing that the bubble shaft did (in terms of manipulating ball flight) without the need for the bump in the shaft.
 
tequila4kapp said:
I would be inclined to say two year old clubs are not that much different at all. Get beyond a couple of years and you may see differences.
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I have to agree with this, I doubt there is a huge difference from year to year items but from 5 or 6 years ago against new stuff then I think there is a huge difference.
 
As has been said to death, maybe not year on year but over a period of time technology does make a big jump.
I would be intrigued though to be fit for clubs 10 years old versus modern to see how much difference that makes.
My old irons and woods were a good few years old, and since I purchased new last year I have seen noticable gains in length and accuracy. A lot is down to the clubs and a lot down to my confidence.
That said, up until it snapped not long ago, my "go to" club in my bag was an old Chi Chi Rodriguez Northwestern 4 wood, purchased in JC Penney's in Sarasota in 1981!
 
I think the hype is correct with most clubs. I've seen increased distance with the new crop of clubs in 2013. I think it has more to do with the player. Some won't see any improvement and others will. If no one saw increases then the hype falls short.

There are so many factors that go into what you saw. Pin pointing one thing isn't fair to the club. I mean the sun was problaby in your years and you just missed each of the 10 balls you hit...I kid of course. But I do buy into the hype, these guys got it right again this year.
 
In rare occasions, there are some standout products introduced each year. The OEM's are obligated to put something (make that ANYTHING) out thats new because their competitors will, and they have to remain competitive in the marketplace. There's something to be said for getting comfy with equipment and not changing it out for the sake of having something shiny in they bag. I'm more than happy with my 3 year old hybrids - it's taken a while to get really committed and gain confidence with them (I recently changed my irons for a valid reason ... graduated from SGI to GI class).
 
That's the one that kills me from year to year.....Nike VR Pro as an example....they sold the compression channel as being the next thing...you're going to get more distance off of shots from the bottom of the club now....but with the new version it's gone......LOL....if it was SO GREAT why is it gone????

Erky said:
New equipment is generally hype, with some performance justifications mixed in. But if it feels good or gives you more confidence, it's worth it. As an example, I switched last year from a Nike SQ DYMO2 driver to an Adams Speedline Fast 12. The difference was huge for me. I was bombing the Adams well past my old Nike. One of the guys in my group bombs the Nike and can't hit the Adams.

Also, there were two key pieces of technology in the Fast 12, if you listened to Adams: 1 - The grooves on the crown of the club reduced drag and made the club faster. 2 - There was a rough surface on the shaft, which Adams referred to as their "speed coating". It supposedly made the club faster again. However, the LS version of the same club had a smooth Fubuki shaft. Anyway, in my brief observations, it looks like both of these key pieces of "technology" were abandoned by Adams in their new driver.

There are countless examples of this. You don't see Taylor Made making bubble shafts anymore. Ping is not making beryllium copper irons anymore (even though they charged a premium for that "superior technology".
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I agree with Kobey. I've never been one to change clubs regularly, but having just got some custom-fitted Nike VR Pro Combos changing from some 20+ yr old off the shelf PowerBilt TPS irons I've used for 15 years, I couldn't be happier. I have way more control over the ball and am hitting them straighter and higher but I think this is more down to the custom fit (1/2 inch long, X100 shafts, 2 degrees upright, thicker grips) than the newer heads. I'd be very interested to see how my old heads would perform with the appropriate customisation.

I do tend to think the biggest advancements in golf are in the Drivers though.
 
Tigerfansince72 said:
That's the one that kills me from year to year.....Nike VR Pro as an example....they sold the compression channel as being the next thing...you're going to get more distance off of shots from the bottom of the club now....but with the new version it's gone......LOL....if it was SO GREAT why is it gone????
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Evolution of technology. Remember when 1080i HDTV was the best thing out there? Then there was 1080P. Does not mean that 1080i at the time was not incredible and a huge change over the previous option. How about DVD? Remember when DVD was simply amazing. Then came HD DVD & Blu-Ray. It does not mean that DVD was not a huge change over what was available previously.

Its the same with golf clubs. A company may find something that works incredibly well. Then through R&D either improve on that or find a technology that they believe advances it.
 
I would agree with you with your VR Pro's are more about the custom fit with some allowance for a much newer club.
 
Very fair comment and I agree with you it's just strange as a customer to see the "thing" that made this club so great just be gone. In the case of Nike I think they needed to go in another direction to pump up sales....ie......a red driver to stand out on tv. The VR wasn't different enough to get attn.

JB said:
Evolution of technology. Remember when 1080i HDTV was the best thing out there? Then there was 1080P. Does not mean that 1080i at the time was not incredible and a huge change over the previous option. How about DVD? Remember when DVD was simply amazing. Then came HD DVD & Blu-Ray. It does not mean that DVD was not a huge change over what was available previously.

Its the same with golf clubs. A company may find something that works incredibly well. Then through R&D either improve on that or find a technology that they believe advances it.
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I think year over year the advancements are small at best. Occasionally there's a jump from a true technology break through (Covert driver looks like it could be this way), but I think most improvements are small. I also think that sometimes things move backwards from one year to another. In an attempt to change something for change's sake, not all of the changes may actually be good. Sometimes there are things like the groove changes that negatively impact performance.

I think though if you jump every 8 to 10 years, the cumulative changes will be something that one can see. The biggest difference in my mind are the shafts. Graphite shafts have gotten so much better over the last 10 years.
 
I think the new stuff is worth the money if it works for you and you see progress. But obviously if it just is a buy the newest to have the newest then it isn't helping anyone!
 
It's all hype. Like when I hit my ft-iq aginst my friend's razr x black, it's only like a 5 yard difference.
 
Great post!
ryebread said:
I think year over year the advancements are small at best. Occasionally there's a jump from a true technology break through (Covert driver looks like it could be this way), but I think most improvements are small. I also think that sometimes things move backwards from one year to another. In an attempt to change something for change's sake, not all of the changes may actually be good. Sometimes there are things like the groove changes that negatively impact performance.

I think though if you jump every 8 to 10 years, the cumulative changes will be something that one can see. The biggest difference in my mind are the shafts. Graphite shafts have gotten so much better over the last 10 years.
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For the most part, Id say they arent worth the money. With new clubs, we are now to the point where new clubs are slight tweaks in terms of feel and looks with little real world gains.
The part that annoys me the most is irons. All these claims of improved irons, yet the gains are 99.999% from longer shafts and stronger lofts. Instead of buying new irons, why not just get the shafts lengthened and get them bent a couple degrees strong? Same thing.
 
Honest question, what do you guys expect to see from a new driver? I get that advertisements make everything sound incredible, but do you really expect that? Outside of differences in launch, spin, maybe dispersion a little, I don't ever see a lot difference between golf clubs. Those things I listed can change distance dramtically of course, but that's a fitting thing.

I think improvements to shafts, fitting, and off-center performance are very real, but I don't expect to grab a driver and magically gain 5-6 mph of ball speed out of nowhere.
 
Spiritomb said:
It's all hype. Like when I hit my ft-iq aginst my friend's razr x black, it's only like a 5 yard difference.
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Do you have a properly fit iMix shaft?

The FT drivers are some of the most solid ever. That doesn't surprise me one bit that its long for you.

Can't call it all hype if you haven't hit everything though.


THPing on Tapatalk
 
I would say that there will always be an element of hype, especially if companies can persuade people to buy the 'next big thing' every year, but I would also agree that there will be developments every once in a while as well that will be an advance

For me, I have an old set of Ping i3, that I bought secondhand and saw an improvement over the cheap 'starter' set clubs that I was using at the time despite not being fitted for them, although as it turns out they are actually quite a decent fit as they are. But I would guess that with a fitting, I could find something newer that would no doubt help my game again over the Ping - I guess it depends on how old the gear is that you currently use and how well you were fitted for them in the first place
 
Gaijin_Golfer said:
For the most part, Id say they arent worth the money. With new clubs, we are now to the point where new clubs are slight tweaks in terms of feel and looks with little real world gains.
The part that annoys me the most is irons. All these claims of improved irons, yet the gains are 99.999% from longer shafts and stronger lofts. Instead of buying new irons, why not just get the shafts lengthened and get them bent a couple degrees strong? Same thing.
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Not really correct about the irons. They are getting worlds more forgiving in these past few years. A byproduct of the forgiveness is a much higher launch. Need to strengthen the lofts to offset that high launch. While I do t really believe in the number on the bottom of the club, the masses do. Your average golfer wants his 7 iron to fly like a 7 iron, not a 9 iron, so they strengthen the lofts. Doing that to your 5 year old irons would only lower the flight a d make it less forgiving. At least that's how I understand things.


THPing on Tapatalk
 
JF16 said:
Do you have a properly fit iMix shaft?

The FT drivers are some of the most solid ever. That doesn't surprise me one bit that its long for you.

Can't call it all hype if you haven't hit everything though.


THPing on Tapatalk
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My ft-iq isn't imix, but when I got it. I didn't have to get it fitted, it works great for me.
 
Hawk said:
I think improvements to shafts, fitting, and off-center performance are very real, but I don't expect to grab a driver and magically gain 5-6 mph of ball speed out of nowhere.
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Me either. I think when comparing new graphite shafts with older shafts, the performance is a lot more consistent, which will impact dispersion. I think they've gotten lighter, stronger and more focused on controlling the spin. With a right fitting, one could eek out some more distance. I'm not sure there's a ton of difference on steel ones.

With the driver head, I'm only looking for additional forgiveness. That's why I think the Covert may be a real break through (ah la the cavity backed iron). I actually did think the square ones were a little more forgiving, but they were just too ugly (outside of the FT-IQ) to play long term.

As you hint at, I think people expect far too much from a driver. Physics are physics and there's no way my 90 MPH swing speed is ever going to carry like someone with a 120 mph one regardless of what club I'm playing.
 
Spiritomb said:
My ft-iq isn't imix, but when I got it. I didn't have to get it fitted, it works great for me.
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Fair enough, but if you at least tried a fitting you might be shocked at how it could help. Even an extra 5 yards and 2 less dispersion can come from a fitting and really help your drives.

I hit the stock RBZ shaft just fine like you but got for for the PX Tour Issue and the results are much better.


THPing on Tapatalk
 
ryebread said:
Me either. I think when comparing new graphite shafts with older shafts, the performance is a lot more consistent, which will impact dispersion. I think they've gotten lighter, stronger and more focused on controlling the spin. With a right fitting, one could eek out some more distance. I'm not sure there's a ton of difference on steel ones.

With the driver head, I'm only looking for additional forgiveness. That's why I think the Covert may be a real break through (ah la the cavity backed driver). I actually did think the square ones were a little more forgiving, but they were just too ugly (outside of the FT-IQ) to play long term.

As you hint at, I think people expect far too much from a driver. Physics are physics and there's no way my 90 MPH swing speed is ever going to carry like someone with a 120 mph one regardless of what club I'm playing.
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Especially with drivers, which are maxed out anyway.

I think people can gain plenty of yardage moving from a bad fit to a good fit. Maybe they'll pick up some ball speed that way (or moving to light weight), but just hitting an OTR club the same distance as your current club is a poor way to determine that technology hasn't advanced.
 
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