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What did they do before fittings?

clg82

clg82

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Back before there was fittings, premium golf balls, and titanium drivers. What did they use to make their game better? A lot of practice practice practice or luck?
 
Practice, visiting professionals to assist with their swing, and a whole lot more lessons. Nothing has changed in that aspect. The only difference now is that fittings are available to the comon consumer and they can find their clubs to match their game. I think beginners in some aspects are afraid to get a lesson from an embarasment situation and if they get past that, it will benefit them more than anything else.

A fitting will not make a bad player a good player. What it will do however is make ball striking better across the board.
 
There was a time when a professional golfer found a club that might have been cast off by another player, that would fit his/her swing, they would not part with it. Sort of like "try this one I can't use it" "Yeah this club works fine thanks". Not much different than a trial and error scenario. Way back when before the 14 club rule, it was common for for a caddy (or golfer) to lug around a bag with 20 or more clubs in it, with very few matching each other. If you found a club that sent the ball a reasonable distance, and straight, it was a keeper. It's not much different today in some instances.
 
I don't really understand the question. Without practice and lessons, you're still not going to get better no matter what equipment you have. Today's clubs may be more forgiving, but that doesn't mean you'll get the ball into the hole in fewer strokes. Way too many people think the latest greatest is the key to their golfing success and it's not. There are no shortcuts in golf.
 
I remember reading a Sam Snead biography where he said he had a bag full of "mixed" clubs. When he found an iron he liked, he kept it, regardless of make/model.

Someone gave him a driver that felt "heavy, which he liked. He used that same driver for 20+ years (prior to that he used to tee off with a 3-wood - and still was LONG). The driver cracked on him from all the use, but he had it repaired, and kept using it.

At least that is what I remember from the book.
 
provisional said:
There was a time when a professional golfer found a club that might have been cast off by another player, that would fit his/her swing, they would not part with it. Sort of like "try this one I can't use it" "Yeah this club works fine thanks". Not much different than a trial and error scenario. Way back when before the 14 club rule, it was common for for a caddy (or golfer) to lug around a bag with 20 or more clubs in it, with very few matching each other. If you found a club that sent the ball a reasonable distance, and straight, it was a keeper. It's not much different today in some instances.
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Diane said:
I don't really understand the question. Without practice and lessons, you're still not going to get better no matter what equipment you have. Today's clubs may be more forgiving, but that doesn't mean you'll get the ball into the hole in fewer strokes. Way too many people think the latest greatest is the key to their golfing success and it's not. There are no shortcuts in golf.
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I'm sorry you didn't understand the question diane, i should have started it out by asking how do you park your car in the parking lot at the course.......all jokes aside i think provisional hit the nail on the head....so were pros the only ones that had access to getting fitted back in the old days, and now it is just more common for us newbies?:confused2:
 
GenErr said:
I remember reading a Sam Snead biography where he said he had a bag full of "mixed" clubs. When he found an iron he liked, he kept it, regardless of make/model.

Someone gave him a driver that felt "heavy, which he liked. He used that same driver for 20+ years (prior to that he used to tee off with a 3-wood - and still was LONG). The driver cracked on him from all the use, but he had it repaired, and kept using it.

At least that is what I remember from the book.
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LOL oh the olden days, if it's not broke don't fix it until it does break lol....just goes to show you they had it harder back then.....
 
clg82 said:
I'm sorry you didn't understand the question diane, i should have started it out by asking how do you park your car in the parking lot at the course.......all jokes aside i think provisional hit the nail on the head....so were pros the only ones that had access to getting fitted back in the old days, and now it is just more common for us newbies?:confused2:
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I understand from your posts that you're hoping to buy a "game" because you don't have one. I hope it works out for you.
 
Diane said:
I understand from your posts that you're hoping to buy a "game" because you don't have one. I hope it works out for you.
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Huh?:confused2:
 
Diane said:
I understand from your posts that you're hoping to buy a "game" because you don't have one. I hope it works out for you.
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THat was absolutely not necessary.
 
JB said:
THat was absolutely not necessary.
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No worries JB......I'm honestly just trying to find and learn about the best equipment out there to make my game better......and was just wondering how they did it before all of this amazin technology.
 
clg82 said:
No worries JB......I'm honestly just trying to find and learn about the best equipment out there to make my game better......and was just wondering how they did it before all of this amazin technology.
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Fittings for top tier players has been there for a long time. Not to the extent that they are now, but yes certain fitting adjustments were made. The head clubmaker for Macgregor had spoken for years about the adjustments he made for the pros going back decades ago.

No equipment will ever by a game however. It can help any golfer if they find the right equipment FOR THEM, but in the end, lessons will make anybody a better golfer.
 
JB said:
Fittings for top tier players has been there for a long time. Not to the extent that they are now, but yes certain fitting adjustments were made. The head clubmaker for Macgregor had spoken for years about the adjustments he made for the pros going back decades ago.

No equipment will ever by a game however. It can help any golfer if they find the right equipment FOR THEM, but in the end, lessons will make anybody a better golfer.
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thanks buddy...how were they able to adjust the wooden heads on the older clubs for the pros, if they were even able too?
 
I always got the feeling that the old-timers did a LOT of tinkering with their own equipment.
 
Harry Longshanks said:
I always got the feeling that the old-timers did a LOT of tinkering with their own equipment.
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Holy cow, i just looked at your signature and you won a bunch of stuff from THP.
 
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