club review redundancy ?

[Louis_Posture]

In recent years I find club reviews all cover the same information supplied by the OEM; such as weight positioning within the head, target player, spin producing characteristics etc...
I believe reviews could be more interesting and useful if the author made comparisons of the club to previous generations of the model and, or competing products from other companies.
Do you agree or disagree?

 

[Templet0n]

I am not sure that is the definition of redundancy..

 

[Jman]

The job isn’t to compare it to other clubs, it’s to educate about what the club intends to do, how it intends to do that design wise, and if it actually does that while also informing about sound, feel, etc.

That is so that the reader can be better educated and then go hit the club and see if it fits THEM.

 

[hadi05]

I am not sure that is the definition of redundancy..

The department of redundancy department….

 

[ddec]

My job is not to write a comparison review. It’s to tell you or anyone reading about that specific piece of equipment. What the tech is slated to do for the golfer and if it performs as intended.

Does some stuff sound repetitive? Sure it can, esp to the educated reader. But like DiMaggio once said, play hard because there might be a kid out there who hasn’t seen me play before. Same goes here…explain the tech, cg, moi, ball speed, weight savings…because there might be someone reading who doesn’t know about how these things effect the performance of a club.

 

[Louis_Posture]

I am not sure that is the definition of redundancy..

Maybe redundancy is not the best to word to describe it, but do you listen to or read club reviews that all provide the same information as provided by the manufacturer?

 

[Jman]

My job is not to write a comparison review. It’s to tell you or anyone reading about that specific piece of equipment. What the tech is slated to do for the golfer and if it performs as intended.

Does some stuff sound repetitive? Sure it can, esp to the educated reader. But like DiMaggio once said, play hard because there might be a kid out there who hasn’t seen me play before. Same goes here…explain the tech, cg, moi, ball speed, weight savings…because there might be someone reading who doesn’t know about how these things effect the performance of a club.

Bingo, education is always the goal. ALWAYS.

 

[Jman]

Maybe redundancy is not the best to word to describe it, but do you listen to or read club reviews that all provide the same information as provided by the manufacturer?

I also think you’re confusing release articles, from reviews.

 

[Templet0n]

Lots of comparison content out there if you want it. You don’t have to look very hard..

 

[leftybob]

It would be nice to see more head to head comparisons in golf club reviews.

 

[Templet0n]

Maybe redundancy is not the best to word to describe it, but do you listen to or read club reviews that all provide the same information as provided by the manufacturer?

Yeah.. I kinda do. lol. As I said. Tons and tons of “comparison “ content out there. You don’t have to look hard. You just have to look in the right place..

 

[ddec]

I also think you’re confusing release articles, from reviews.

Yes very different things. Some release articles we have gear in hand and others we don’t.

 

[Jman]

It would be nice to see more head to head comparisons in golf club reviews.

That isn’t a review, that’s a comparison based upon ONE persons swing. It doesn’t educate, and it doesn’t encourage people to go try it for themselves with a rock solid baseline of knowledge going in.

 

[Jman]

Yes very different things. Some release articles we have gear in hand and others we don’t.

Fact, the job of a release is LITERALLY to break down all the tech info in the release

 

[Louis_Posture]

The job isn’t to compare it to other clubs, it’s to educate about what the club intends to do, how it intends to do that design wise, and if it actually does that while also informing about sound, feel, etc.

You've defined the industry standard, which results in all "club reviews" imparting the same information.
I believe a reviewer could do better by including comparisons to previous generation models by the same OEM, referencing competing brands offering a similar product etc...

 

[DataDude]

I actually agree. The company marketing is not super helpful and it doesn’t anchor the product anywhere. Unless I see it compared to other things I really don’t know anything about it. Everything is relative and when I am supposed to spend the money we are supposed to spend these days I’m not going to take the company who made its word on performance. I need a show me.

 

[Jman]

You've defined the industry standard, which results in all "club reviews" imparting the same information.
I believe a reviewer could do better by including comparisons to previous generation models by the same OEM, referencing competing brands offering a similar product etc...

All I’ll say is I disagree, because I know where this is headed.

 

[ddec]

It would be nice to see more head to head comparisons in golf club reviews.

That’s still a little different. Case in point…c723 iron review I talked about the differences I saw with the c722 because I had them right here next to each other, so I could swing them on the same day, use the same ball and go from there. That’s definitely not always the case. Plus, just going one against the other doesn’t help tell the story of what is going on the in club, esp from release cycle to release cycle.

 

[Jman]

I actually agree. The company marketing is not super helpful and it doesn’t anchor the product anywhere. Unless I see it compared to other things I really don’t know anything about it. Everything is relative and when I am supposed to spend the money we are supposed to spend these days I’m not going to take the company who made its word on performance. I need a show me.

The purpose of a WELL done review is to educate, not tell what is best or better/worse than. Then, you take that knowledge and are able to make a better decision for YOU, or, go hit them and see just how it works for you.

 

[hadi05]

I do see what you’re saying @Louis_Posture. I saw a post on this on X (Twitter) earlier tonight. In many cases you can look at a reviews (let’s say outside of THP) from multiple sources and they all have very similar messaging. Some of that is driven by marketing from the OEMs what they want the reviewer to highlight about the product.

I think a good reviewer can take that information and put it in terms that a consumer can understand and see how that might benefit or not benefit their game.

Side by side comparisons can be nice, but also very subjective based on the reviewer when comparing OEM offerings. Year to year comparisons might get a little convoluted as well.

That’s what I like so much about THP. The reviews are great and well written. But it’s the hundreds and even thousands of posts later where people provide feedback on how that tech helped or hurt their game that resonates with me personally.

 

[Templet0n]

That isn’t a review, that’s a comparison based upon ONE persons swing. It doesn’t educate, and it doesn’t encourage people to go try it for themselves with a rock solid baseline of knowledge going in.

I like reviews and comparisons. Heck. TXG built their entire brand on doing comparisons. So comparisons are something people want.

They are fines you just have to be able to take the content for what it is as you said results based on one persons swing and know mileage may very.. doesn’t mean you will get the same results..

 

[Pops]

In recent years I find club reviews all cover the same information supplied by the OEM; such as weight positioning within the head, target player, spin producing characteristics etc...
I believe reviews could be more interesting and useful if the author made comparisons of the club to previous generations of the model and, or competing products from other companies.
Do you agree or disagree?

Are you talking about release articles or review articles.

 

[leftybob]

That isn’t a review, that’s a comparison based upon ONE persons swing. It doesn’t educate, and it doesn’t encourage people to go try it for themselves with a rock solid baseline of knowledge going in.

All reviews are ultimately based on the author’s swing and opinions. It would be nice to have more of the context that person is working from. Seeing head to head comparisons is one way to add that context.

One of the benefits of this place is you get those head to head comparison’s from the community. For stand alone golf review sites I think that context is missing.

 

[Jman]

All reviews are ultimately based on the author’s swing and opinions. It would be nice to have more of the context that person is working from. Seeing head to head comparisons is one way to add that context.

One of the benefits of this place is you get those head to head comparison’s from the community. For stand alone golf review sites I think that context is missing.

You know we have a homepage of stand alone reviews, yeah? I think sometimes here on the forum side that gets lost, would you agree @ddec ?

Also, we don’t base things on a good/bad or best/worst BECAUSE of the personal aspect. We break it all down, the tech and the performance, talk about the trends, and give the reader a better knowledge than they had coming in. I want to educate, not tell you what is best.

 

[hadi05]

The purpose of a WELL done review is to educate, not tell what is best or better/worse than. Then, you take that knowledge and are able to make a better decision for YOU, or, go hit them and see just how it works for you.

@Jman I agree with you. A review goes south quickly when we leave objectivity and head into subjectivity.

What works for you may not work for me or vice versa. What was better for you last year may not have worked well for me and this year is “light years ahead” because I get along with it better.

As a person who has authored papers in the past, it’s really very hard to review something and remove subjectivity. Facts are facts. Opinions are opinions. A great review shares facts and provides an easy way for the reader to consume the information and apply it to their own life. Opinions are fun reading, but they belong in magazines you can find at the check out lines talking about who’s dating who or has lost this much weight