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Choosing Clubs - Which Do You Prefer

SuperStroke
Choosing Clubs - Which Do You Prefer

rollin said:
another thing with the original question is that its one round. Weather talking one club or a set of clubs its not many swings at all you will be making during one round with any specific club by itself or even if part of a set. Perhaps you only used the driver 9 times, or only used a six iron twice, or got a ton of hits with the pw but only one with a 9iron.

If you lay out ten of the same numbered club in front of me and said you would either tell me a lot about each one and let me hit each one 7 times or tell me next to nothing but allowed me to hit them 28 times each, I'll take the 28 times experiment and see which one I'm liking the best from there.
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I like the way you put this. I think this simplifies the meaning of the OP very well. I'm definitely an A now. I could probably eliminate half of the 10 with education and choose with limited swings from those remaining.
 
Paladin said:
I think that a lot of the more skilled golfers here are able to play a lot more by feel because they're better players. For them, a few rounds is probably all they really need to determine if a club is for them. So I can totally understand them choosiing option B. With that in mind, most of them are better by virtue of having played for a long time and having a pretty innate understanding of what they're looking for in a golf club. So they're still educated, but a lot more with experience.

I'm not a very skilled golfer. If I went off of feel alone, I might end up making a lot of dumb decisions in terms of club purchases. I could, hypothetically, play a set of blades for a few rounds and like how good a pure shot feels and enjoy that sense of feedback and all the things that good players like about players irons and make a decision to buy them based on that, and it would be a giant mistake in the long term. So instead I look around and do some reading and find out why less skilled players benefit from wider soles and cavity backs etc.

So as I look at this past couple of pages, I can say that it makes perfect sense why a lot of people have chosen the positions they have.
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well said and agree with first paragraph. The second one, I understand your thoughts there but I'll disagree because if such clubs would be a mistake then they should be a mistake fairly quickly. They may not be a mistake in just one round or with just a few hits but if you were allowed to play them for 3 more rounds and have 4 times the amounts of hits you should certainly realize they are not for you in that time frame.
 
rollin said:
well said and agree with first paragraph. The second one, I understand your thoughts there but I'll disagree because if such clubs would be a mistake then they should be a mistake fairly quickly. They may not be a mistake in just one round or with just a few hits but if you were allowed to play them for 3 more rounds and have 4 times the amounts of hits you should certainly realize they are not for you in that time frame.
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I believe that is the disconnect here. You are viewing this as how to pick out clubs you like and fit your game. In the original post and in this scenario, club choice has been decided and you have already been fit for them.
 
JB said:
This is interesting. Goes back to some of it being thoroughly a mental thing, which we all know much of golf is for many people.
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Agree with this.

It is a much tougher decision if education actually means education by an expert, and not a sales pitch by some kid who wants his commission.

~Rock
 
JB said:
I believe that is the disconnect here. You are viewing this as how to pick out clubs you like and fit your game. In the original post and in this scenario, club choice has been decided and you have already been fit for them.
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Is your question then, assuming the club is picked out, fitted, and suitable for your game, which would be more...confidence-inspiring I think is the term? To hear about the tech behind the club and then play it? or to just play around with the club and get a good feel for it?

Because in that scenario I'd choose B. Technology is cool, but it's not going to do as much for me as just getting comfortable with the club. But assuming I've been fit for it, I already have swung it a bunch of times. So then by all means, talk tech to me and let me geek out about your latest marvels of engineering.
 
JB said:
I believe that is the disconnect here. You are viewing this as how to pick out clubs you like and fit your game. In the original post and in this scenario, club choice has been decided and you have already been fit for them.
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JB - another clarification question. Since we're assuming the club choice has been decided and that the player has been fit, are we assuming that this is sort of a hypothetical blind fitting since the fitting process usually involves a fair bit of education in and of itself? So basically, you've been fit for a set of clubs not knowing anything about them or what they are other than that you've been fit. And your choice is (A) get educated about the clubs, find out what they are, etc. and play 1 round with them, or (B) don't find out anything about them (continue playing them blind, if you will), but get several additional rounds?
 
Tadashi70 said:
How is the lack of information working for you. I see you constantly talk of how a driver or 3deep doesn't work for you.

And education would lead to a proper fitting. Buy off the rack and it doesn't work. You find out its tendency, maybe they can now fit you. People are assuming everyone gets fit. But the simple fact is that they don't and that is due to lack of eduction on two levels. Fittings and clubs.
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This was me prior to finding THP. I'm a little embarrassed to say, but I though fittings were for the people that were better players. Around the scratch level

Hawk said:
I think people adjust. We see it all the time, like ball position with the Mashie fwy's for example. I'm not consciously changing a swing with new items, but I do know that many of my first thoughts are very different than my final thoughts. Fit Extreme was a heel side miss machine for me the first two weeks. It was 1-1/2 inches longer than my current driver though. It definitely took me time to get used to it and I just plain had nothing good to say about it for a couple weeks.
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I'm in the process of getting my driver swing turned around. I honestly changed my swing to make a driver work. I could of changed shafts, but that to me is a totally different layer of ignorance that I'm not comfortable with going into quite yet.

but to the original question.... I'm not really sure where I sit. Squarely on the fence I guess
 
JB said:
I believe that is the disconnect here. You are viewing this as how to pick out clubs you like and fit your game. In the original post and in this scenario, club choice has been decided and you have already been fit for them.
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I was thinking a general fit and then see which club feels best. I now assume from what you say that one has been fit in this scenario for each of the different manufactured clubs. meaning the fit can be a tad different for each specific set? A much more club precise and specific fit?
 
I research them (normally from reviews on THP) then go to Golfsmith or PGA SS in Atlanta to test them. Purchased my irons and driver based on reviews here and my demoing the clubs. Also went through Mizuno's shaft optimizer to get a recommendation. After I do all of this, I look for a great deal on used clubs from what I have determined that I want in excellent condition to save some money!
 
Damaikis said:
Once again, in the OP it says the club is already fitted. So that's not a factor at all. If it's already fitted, how would mere information help me hit the club better? On the flip side, having more time to get used to the clubs can help. Ball position, tee height, and other things can be adjusted with more on-course time to help you get in your groove with a piece of equipment.
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Ok so your fit for the club and hit low and right. Do you think just working with different ball positions and tee height will make you hit it higher. What if you knew it was low spin prior and no matter what you did it stay low and right. Would you change your swing to hit that one club or get a club that actually wasn't a low spin and worked with your swing?
 
Tadashi70 said:
Ok so your fit for the club and hit low and right. Do you think just working with different ball positions and tee height will make you hit it higher. What if you knew it was low spin prior and no matter what you did it stay low and right. Would you change your swing to hit that one club or get a club that actually wasn't a low spin and worked with your swing?
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I would really hate to get fit for a club and then have it do nothing for me. I thought fittings were supposed to help? And how would education help me stop hitting it low and right? My knowledge wouldn't magically make me hit the club better. Given a few rounds, I could try tweaking some things and if that didn't work, I'd know the club wasn't for me. But I'm still not seeing how the education would make me hit it better.
 
Damaikis said:
I would really hate to get fit for a club and then have it do nothing for me. I thought fittings were supposed to help? And how would education help me stop hitting it low and right? My knowledge wouldn't magically make me hit the club better. Given a few rounds, I could try tweaking some things and if that didn't work, I'd know the club wasn't for me. But I'm still not seeing how the education would make me hit it better.
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Im curious if you have gone through a fitting in the past?
 
Tadashi70 said:
Ok so your fit for the club and hit low and right. Do you think just working with different ball positions and tee height will make you hit it higher. What if you knew it was low spin prior and no matter what you did it stay low and right. Would you change your swing to hit that one club or get a club that actually wasn't a low spin and worked with your swing?
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But if he has already been fit for the club, he shouldn't be hitting it low and right. If he was, that would be a bad fitting. Who would walk out with a fitted club knowing they couldn't hit it to their potential?

The extra time with the club just gives you time to figure out what you can and cannot do with it. Can I hit a high fade and what does it take to accomplish that. Being educated isn't going to figure that out for you.
 
StLCardsFan said:
But if he has already been fit for the club, he shouldn't be hitting it low and right. If he was, that would be a bad fitting. Who would walk out with a fitted club knowing they couldn't hit it to their potential?

The extra time with the club just gives you time to figure out what you can and cannot do with it. Can I hit a high fade and what does it take to accomplish that. Being educated isn't going to figure that out for you.
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I've seen people get fit in a simulator and take the club to the course and get completely different results.
I've also seen people fall in love with numbers on the sim and see something different outside.
But the simple fact of the matter in this case that a few seems to fight is that more info in life is better than none. Why would it hurt to know you have a high spin driver or a wedge that doesn't spin as much. More info and education is always better. It can explain a lot when things are going bad. Or maybe your game has improved and the true characteristics of club come out.
 
I prefer option A. I think knowing about the clubs before they are put into play can aid you in better adapting to the clubs. A club is nothing more than a piece of equipment that we use to play the game we love. So I think it is wise to know how best to use that equipment to its fullest before you even get out on the course. Who best to do that than the company that makes the clubs and to educate you on how best to use them based off of how they were designed.
 
Tadashi70 said:
I've seen people get fit in a simulator and take the club to the course and get completely different results.
I've also seen people fall in love with numbers on the sim and see something different outside.
But the simple fact of the matter in this case that a few seems to fight is that more info in life is better than none. Why would it hurt to know you have a high spin driver or a wedge that doesn't spin as much. More info and education is always better. It can explain a lot when things are going bad. Or maybe your game has improved and the true characteristics of club come out.
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That's exactly why I would never purchase a club based on an indoor simulator only. Numbers are great to have, but if the results don't echo them, it's not worth a purchase. You can tell me everything is great inside, but I want to see it for myself. You can give me an iron with the lowest launch shaft, and the lowest launch head and I guarantee you I will still hit it incredibly high.
 
I am normally a very "a" type personality. Love reviewing clubs and checking out the tech. I had a few $ burning a hole in my pocket and bought a set of mizuno MP53 with kbs tour shafts off Thp . After 3 rounds and 3 range sessions I'm completely hooked. I can't wait to hit them again. Must be the buttery feel that JB speaks of!!!!!! I figure I must have gotten lucky.

swing your swing
 
No education, more rounds. Easy choice for me. Extra rounds tell me the most.
 
jlukes said:
I don't have different swings, per se. However, I feel it takes some time to maximize the performance one can get out of a club. Every club head and shaft feels different.

I'd compare it to driving different sports cars. It would take a bit of time to get used to the different shift throws, clutch pedals, engine acceleration and cornering. Sure, you could be provided with all of the technical specs like torque, horsepower, and ride weight, but it would still take you some time in the driver seat to adapt to the car.
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A great analogy! I would pick "B". I need to feel comfortable with a club. And the only way for me to get comfortable is time. At the range, yes. But the best way is 'real' time out on the golf course. One round would not provide me with enough swings with the clubs. The only clubs that felt great from the first swing were my Ping Zings. I just loved them from the first swing on the range. All my other sets took time. I would suspect that my swing does change with more time with clubs, but not by much I don't think.
 
Tough choice... I'd say B though if I had to choose. I love reading up on reviews and learning all I can about what I purchase. But with the amount of money at stake I need to feel comfortable with my equipment. I don't feel that 1 round can give that. I've only purchased clubs from places with return/exchange policies that give ample time to test drive the clubs.


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B because one outing, or one fitting event can be impacted by the variabilities in my play. A few rounds would be more definitive.

Add to that for any company listening, that a manufacturer that had a loaner program for this purpose would get favor from me. :). Seriously though, any company that confident in their equipment and so dedicated to helping players make the right choice, would be my first choice every time.
 
JB said:
Do people (IE those here) think more time makes them play better with the clubs? Genuine question. Do people have different FW wood swings depending on the club given to them? Or different 7 iron swings? I guess I have not seen that part of it.

I understand gapping distances, but that normally does not take too long I dont believe. Im sure I am missing something, but I am genuinely curious. Having been to so many THP events and teed it up with so many golfers, I often wonder about this.

Lets say I give you a brand new FW wood and say you have to compete with it tomorrow. Sure you have time to have a round warmup and get some swings in which will help learning distances. But does getting to play it for a couple of weeks make the club perform differently? That goes back to changing your swing and I honestly have not heard that much, but again, definitely could be missing it.
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I do think that with any new club, it takes a bit of time to get used to it. I dont think that I have different swings depending upon which wood or 7-iron is in my hand though.
 
The more I read here, the more I would definitely go with B. I think more time with a club is more needed with mid to high handicappers than someone in the single digits. There is just a plain difference in ability to consistently strike the ball.

The second is if they were fitted, then one would think you would know which club you wanted to game based off the fitting. If the fitting produced similar performance and feel then B is a no brainer.
 
JB said:
Honest question here. Do you believe in fitting? That a club fitting you would offer better performance? If that is the case, and yet your swing is evolving as you play more with a club, wouldnt the fitting be obsolete?

100% and a proper fitting would definitely decrease the 'transition time' a huge amount.
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JB said:
Im curious if you have gone through a fitting in the past?
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Nope. Never have and (probably) never will.
 
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