Vanity With Your Clubs?

Sometimes I wonder if "smaller" is a red herring.

A perfect illustration of this is if Smaller was all people wanted, every iron would be a darker finish, because it definitely shrinks the image to the eye.
 
Do you think we'll see more GI/SGI clubs that have shape of better players irons, but with an overall larger footprint? I feel like that's what Ping was attempting to do with the G500 and G700 hollow body irons.

Genuinely? Probably not much more than we have the last couple of years. Most golfers are not as attracted to smaller as the core golfers are, based on sales year over year.
 
To be fair, something looking good to the eye doesnt mean it will perform better on the course either right? :D


See, i understand your question, but i believe that is dependent on the user. Like @Jman, I do have a favorite or comfort zone in i like that thin top line and am more comfortable with Muscle backs or blades. I have tried to play with many different sets that felt good hitting a few balls one the range, only to gravitate back to my players clubs design.

When i read @Jman 's post and how he said it may feel good for a few strikes and/or testing, but that and playing all the time with it was two different things. I just keep gravitating back to the thin top line and what i feel i can work the ball both days ands reasonable straight when i want.
 
On a second note, one of those that i really want to try and possibly play is the Forged Tec
 
Genuinely? Probably not much more than we have the last couple of years. Most golfers are not as attracted to smaller as the core golfers are, based on sales year over year.
That makes sense. I'm sure sales don't exactly line up with the opinions and preferences of internet golfers.
 
Good question. I think we all have a "tipping point" when it comes to looks. The good thing is that there are so many good products out there that perform that it would be really difficult to HAVE to sacrifice on looks for performance. However, I'm on that line right now with some of the irons I'm gaming. I go bak and forth between Honma TR20V and Miura TC201. The Miura feel better by a tiny bit, but the Honma irons perform a little better for me. However, I prefer the look/feel of the Miura irons.
 
I have tried to play with many different sets that felt good hitting a few balls one the range, only to gravitate back to my players clubs design.

That goes back to what @mpeterson said previously about growing up. You spent decades playing smaller and then a range session with something larger to determine its not the right fit. So whether its beneficial or not to your game, the comfort says the decision is made, right?
 
I think looks & name recognition play a huge part in your head. I probably should be playing Ping irons (not the players style but GI) but every time I have looked at them the shape and design turn me off.

Mentally I believe (probably incorrectly) that a smaller, players looking club means I will concentrate more on a good swing and finding the middle.

Cobra Forged TEC are my first set that have a bigger profile especially when compared with my JPX 919 Tours.
 
I have played one of those XE1 wedges that has the huge sole for a long time....I just hit it great out of the sand....People look at it and go Bleh....I get results with it. It's ugly...I don't care.
 
What a fascinating question :)

Sometime back, when I first saw members talking about "the looks" of clubs I thought "That's ridiculous. It's performance that matters." But then I found myself gravitating toward clubs that looked good to my eye
lol.gif


E.g. (no names): I've perused two threads about relatively recently-introduced irons. One set was clearly designed with players like me in mind, the other only somewhat of a game improvement iron. The former was "Ok, doesn't call to me, but I'd play 'em for the game improvement." The latter was "Oh wow, do those look sweet!" So, if I was offered a set of each, I know which one I should probably choose, but I'm not certain I would.

This is complicated by the mental aspect of the game. How much would looking down at a club you find aesthetically displeasing adversely affect your game?
 
Do you test things outside of your comfort zone in appearance?
The simple answer here for me is no. Ill expand the appearance bandwidth a bit when testing. Sure. But if it doesnt fit my eye for whatever reason i will move right along pretty quickly.

Could you be losing out on performance?
Tough to answer. Maybe, maybe not. If i dont like the look of it, i wont have full confidence in its ability or my ability to hit the shot i want.

Why does smaller attract the core golfer more than technology forward?
Im not sure this is totally accurate. I think some golfers prefer thinner top lines, that doesnt always mean smaller overall packages. If the tech helped me specifically hit it straighter id take a hard look. If it gave up some distance to do so, i might be intrigued. But the curent trend is distance. I dont necessarily need more distance in my own game. I need workability and more precision. Give me that....WITH distance and my eyes open up pretty wide.
 
Mentally I believe (probably incorrectly) that a smaller, players looking club means I will concentrate more on a good swing and finding the middle.

This adds another layer then, right? Why would you choose to not play a smaller driver?
 
Do you test things outside of your comfort zone in appearance?
The simple answer here for me is no. Ill expand the appearance bandwidth a bit when testing. Sure. But if it doesnt fit my eye for whatever reason i will move right along pretty quickly.

Could you be losing out on performance?
Tough to answer. Maybe, maybe not. If i dont like the look of it, i wont have full confidence in its ability or my ability to hit the shot i want.

Why does smaller attract the core golfer more than technology forward?
Im not sure this is totally accurate. I think some golfers prefer thinner top lines, that doesnt always mean smaller overall packages. If the tech helped me specifically hit it straighter id take a hard look. If it gave up some distance to do so, i might be intrigued. But the curent trend is distance. I dont necessarily need more distance in my own game. I need workability and more precision. Give me that....WITH distance and my eyes open up pretty wide.

Im curious some examples here.
 
Perhaps. Enough to overcome? I'm not sure I would agree with that.
To use an example. Take a low spin driver head and a high spin driver head. One looks great and the other looks like a Nike Sumo. Having more confidence will not change the high or low spin dynamic of the club head. And yes, that is an extreme example, but one that I thought would illustrate my point.
I was thinking more along the lines of two clubs, one attractive to the player's eye and the other not, in something that was in line with what fits player's swing. Any extreme can make something seem untenable.
 
This adds another layer then, right? Why would you choose to not play a smaller driver?
By that reasoning yes, but I think the visual change in the woods is different to the irons. Do you feel like you have more of a chance finding the middle with a 460cc vs a smaller driver head?
 
I'm with @Jman on this one, short of going to a full on set of blades, you don't have to sacrifice performance for looks, or vice versa. The Club Champion Iron fitting I had earlier this year showed very clearly, for me at least, that there is little difference between "Players Distance" and "Game Improvement" irons. This might just be me though, because my miss is usually bad enough that it really doesn't matter what kind of club I'm hitting, and when I make good contact it's good enough to not matter too much either. I like to think that the improvements made in those "Players Distance" and "Players Cavity" irons has a lot to do with it though, as they have really blurred the lines between them and GI irons.
 
I’d hit a rock from the parking lot with a frozen damn worm if it helped.

I do not care.
 
Club vanity is not a part of me. My golf game is one of humility. I love it for what it is, not for how anyone may or may not perceive me. Heck, I'm now playing an armlock putter (and love it). OL is appealing. I would give it a try if I had a chance to demo and get meaningful fitting. I won't jump blind, which would be my only option right now. So, no go. I am also working very hard to be honest about what clubs work the best for me. If the answer was hybrid irons, I would happily play them.
 
I was thinking more along the lines of two clubs, one attractive to the player's eye and the other not, in something that was in line with what fits player's swing. Any extreme can make something seem untenable.

Maybe. Yet I would argue that sole size is one of the most under thought aspects of golf equipment.
 
I'm definitely guilty of this to a degree. Prime example, choosing the PTX Pro's over the Edge this year for the Hogan/Mamiya event. The fact that the PTX Pro's were available in black, combined with their overall stunning appearance, meant the Edge had a tall mountain to climb to beat them out. I tried to demo the Edge but they weren't available in time to test, but even so they would have had to have been soooo much better than the PTX Pro's for me to go with them.
 
Im curious some examples here.

Well for instance the difference between some micro cavity top lines vs some blades toplines. Ive seen some mc that appear to have thinner top lines than blades, even though the blade itself is obviously smaller. Give me a bit and ill go back through my analog brain to find exact examples. lol
 
Im guilty of being vain. I would have a hard time full time gaming a true SGI club. Small black player-ish irons do not necessarily scare me. Should they?....probably. But my vanity feeds my pig headedness.

In all seriousness I have a current thought on why stepping away from GI clubs at this stage in my golf development is a good thing. I want the feedback. Committing to the clubs I am playing is in part a commitment to getting better. They force me to swing smoothly. and actually can re-ground me if things go sideways in a round. Do I have the same distance control that I had with the previous GIs that i played.....jury is still out but initially the answer is no. because fat strikes are more severely punished. My enjoyment when playing these clubs is very high. I fully believe my scoring will start to align with that enjoyment soon.
 
There are so many options out there, if something doesn't fit my eye, there is likely something else that will without losing much, if anything.
 
Maybe. Yet I would argue that sole size is one of the most under thought aspects of golf equipment.
ironically, if the top is thinish.....i dont care how thick the sole is. lol. I know that helps in overall forgiveness. But if its too thick on top.....:oops:
 
As someone who is relatively new to golfing Internet forums and being in contact with so many golfing enthusiasts, I am genuinely surprised at how much importance guys place in the way their golf clubs look. I guess with so many choices available, you need a way to pick one over another.
 
Back
Top