Do different clubs make that much difference?

I am just about to buy new callway x-16s that have been personally fitted to me. Will these make much of a diffence to my golf i.e. yardage and accurancy, compared to the old Titliest DCI's i was using. Overall do more expensive clubs improve your golf and yardages, or is it the image that causes the higher price?

Also on a driver is there much difference in a swing result if you have a regular or stiff shaft, could a stiff shaft cause a fade?

Thanks Rich

Hi Rich,

Costom fit clubs will make a major difference in your golf game. Once you have worked with the clubs long enough that they are comfortable (set up feels natural) and you have learned the distances with each club, you will see the benefit of custom clubs. As for hitting the ball longer, this may or may not happen. Accuracy should be the biggest factor of the custom fit clubs.

It is definitely the name on the club that demands the high price. With the name you get the service and warranty. Also, if you decide to sell a few years down the road you will get decent return on your sale.

As for your question about drivers, if you tend to hit straight with a regular flex shaft, then yes - a stiff shaft will produce a fade/slice.

__________________
Gord

Quote of the month:
"It's easy to see golf not as a game at all but as some whey-faced, nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister's fever dream of exorcism achieved through ritual and self-mortification." ~Bruce McCall

Hi Richie,

Just a point on the X-16 Pro Series.

I had a set fitted for me at the begining of the season, although my previous clubs were fitted, the Callaways are truly a fantastic club.

I did a thread ages ago about them(find it through my profile it was called "Dump your Blades"), they are ugly and bulky compared to my old Taylormades but once you hit one you allways use Callaway irons.

Great reply Gord

Ian.

On the other hand. i had a set of Callaways for about 2 years and found that I was not able to shape the ball as much as what I used to, so I went back to a trusty set of mizuno blades. Ok not quite the same forgiveness, but for feel and shot shaping they are superb.

Callaway irons are very overrated, I'm trying to think of one player in the world top twenty that uses them with the exception of Mickey Three Chins and even then he has only been using the ERC Fusion driver, not the irons....

On the subject of club fitting, it's a huge plus, but I would say if you are going to go to the expense and effort to get a set of irons fitted for you, you are as well to try Titleist (690CB or MB and 704's) Taylor Made (RAC Combo's or even the RAC MB's) or Mizuno (MP30, 33, 37). If you are getting them fitted why not go for quality blades or cavity blades, I would say a set of new generation blades or cavity blades fitted to your swing will be better for your overall consistency than Callways which tend to concentrate on maximum distance (the Golfer's holy grail for some reason). As Tommy Horton once said, which would you prefer, hitting a 9 iron to 25 feet or a 7 iron to 10 feet. Lots of top golfers say that the most important aspect of the club is the shaft, get the right shaft and the clubs will work well for you.

The biggest thing to look out for is the shaft and the spine alignment. Ever have those one or 2 clubs you just don't hit as well as the others. Have your best hitting clubs shaft pulled and mark the head/shaft alignment. Then have it spine aligned. Do the same on the other clubs you feel are "off", I'll bet you will find the spines are in a different location. Have them reoriented and put back together, if the clubs are weighted properly, they will feel right. Many OEM companies don't do this. If you are getting a fitted set, and paying a lot of money insist on this. Tell them to spine align the set. If they don't know how, find another store. Be knowledgeable and you will find great set.

GolfBald

__________________
The guy in the white hat!

Richie,

Did you hit those clubs on a launch monitor, or are you taking a salesmans word that those clubs will work for you?

A better swing improves your golf, not clubs.

GB

Too right GolfBald! Ritchie, if you are paying good cash for the fitting make sure you get a good guy to do it and take as much time as you can getting it right. I did it with my MP33's and was amazed that a man of average height (5'10") needed 1/2" longer clubs that were 1° upright. The difference in my consistency of ball striking was impressive. It's good that so many retailers are offering fitting now especially for the Driver, I had my MP-001 fitted as well and was interested in the difference the various shafts made. Don't take clubs on faith anymore... there's lots of options out there now.

D.

Mizunoman,

I appreciate your opinion that some clubs don't suit everybody, I did not think Callaway would suit me until I tried one.

Your point about tour players using X16 Pro Series irons.

EUROPEAN TOUR

Alister Forsyth
Barry Lane
Bernard Gallager
Charl Swartzel
Eduarrdo Romero
Jamie Elson
Micheal Chambell
Nick Doughtery
Paul Lawie
Phillip Price
Pierre Faulke
Seve Ballesterous
Zane Scotland

PGA TOUR

Phil Mickelson
Andre Stolz
Boyd Summerhays
Brad Lardon
Brian Henninger
Carlos Franko
Charles Howell 111
Craig Perry
Dave Stockton
Dean Wilson
Dennis Paulson
Jim Carter
Marco Dawson
Mark Brookes
Mike Hienze
Niclas Fasth
Olin Browne
Per-Ulrik Johanson
Rich Beem
Rocco Mediate.

Lets not forget Anika Sorenstem and ME of course.

I can bend a ball in any direction as can all the above, its about moving your feet not the club you use!!!!

That said Mizuno are a very good club too its just a matter of opinion.


Thanks

Ian.

Ian,

I'm not trying to turn this into a 'my dad can beat up your dad thing' about clubs, you'll get no argument from me about the quality of Callaway's clubs. I had a set of Big Bertha's myself and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I switched because I found them a little hard to predict distance wise sometimes too far sometimes not far enough. My affinity for Mizuno's is simply a matter of personal preference. I like the way they look and I feel confident with them simple as that.

Couple of points, I didn't say pro's werent using them. I said I couldn't personally think of any player in the world top twenty that was using them. Of your list only Mickelson is top twenty and from what I saw on the Ryder Cup coverage he had a set of blades in the bag, I could be wrong of course. Unless he is playing those Bobby Jones blades Callaway made a few years back and I very much doubt that.

Can't argue with Sorenstam playing with them I suppose, except I would imagine she is using them more for the distance aspect since there is a bigger disparity of physical strength on the womens tour than on the mens and there are a few big hitting girls on the LPGA Tour these days that shift the ball further than some of the guys on the PGA tour. (That and perhaps the several millions of dollars Callaway give her?)

I play with a group of guys who are the nucleus of the League squads at my club, two or three of them scratch or plus handicap golfers and out of those fifteen or twenty guys I am the only one that plays with a pure blade club.

I'm not here on some quest to promote blades for everyone, I imagine I might be able to hit the ball further with a set of X16's for example or a set of Taylor Made RAC LT's perhaps. I just wanted to point out that blades are by no means dead an buried yet.

D.

I have to agree with Darryl regarding the consistency of distance. Callaways are nice irons and very easy to hit, but I found them to be very inconsistant. In my quest to find the ultimate set of clubs for myself, I had a friends set of X16s out for a few weeks. The only concern with them was that I could never figure out what my real distance was. The X16s did feel really nice, but compared to my 'quite a bit older' Titleists, they were not consistant in distance.

Guys,
I was simply making a point that there are loads of tour players from all over the world using X16s who can't struggle with distance, because it's their living, they cannot afford too.

Personally I think all club players struggle with distance me included, it's not the clubs, they are no different one day to the next, the difference is weather changes in Great Britain especially air pressure, one day I hit a 7 iron 160 next only 150 just because its cloudy or cold.

Thats not to say most of use have manual labouring jobs or like me an office bod, this can have a negitive affect on our athletic ability on a day to day basis. i.e if you have been swinging a pick-axe all week you may not play as well at the weekend.

As for Mickleson I was abit shocked too!!!! but that what it says on Callaway web site, perhaps he wears Callaway underpants.


Ian.

Ian,

No tour player struggles for distance these days, its all about sponsorship dollars. As Fred Couples said when he signed for Lynx - When you are hitting it well you can pretty much play with anything.

I'm pretty sure Dunlop weren't the best clubs on offer to John Daly, but I'm almost certain their check had the most zeroes on it (that said the new dunlop blades look pretty nice).

Phil Mickelson is using a new Prototype ERC Fusion with a 416cc head as far as I heard. I would imagine he is working alongside Roger Cleveland or somebody like him at Callaway to create a new set of Callaway Phil Mickelson Irons, probably gonna put his name to their wedges as well since he is a renowned wedge player and their wedges are the worst of the big name clubmakers at the moment.

What Gord and I were referring to was the fact that the Callaway irons tend to produce large fluctuations in distance, sometimes as much as 30 yards, more than changes in weather or form can account for. Whether or not in standard off the shelf spec they maybe don't suit high clubhead speed swings and need special fitting to suit the pro's or not I don't know.

D.

Exactly. I can pull my Titleist PW from 145 yrds and hit 20 balls within 8 feet of the pin but I couldn't get 20 balls (with any club) inside 15 yards hitting the X16s hitting a full shot from any distance. Not a knock against the clubs, just my personal experience. I'm sure someone has had the same experience with every brand. This is why there are so many manufaturers - not everone has the same taste and requirements. I LOVE my Callaway driver - wouldn't trade it for a gold brick - it's all in what you feel comforatable with and what you trust.

__________________
Gord

Quote of the month:
"It's easy to see golf not as a game at all but as some whey-faced, nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister's fever dream of exorcism achieved through ritual and self-mortification." ~Bruce McCall

Guy's,
I take on board your comments but if you have the same swing speed, fast or slow I cannot see that the same brand ball will travel such different distances, upto 30 yds as you say.

1) I think one of the golf mags would of covered this problem if so many golfers suffered such a void in distances with Callaway clubs.

2) I would assume Callaway test there equiptment before putting it on the market, probably with the swing speed robot and Pro V1s.

3) Sponsor ship is always down to money, but if the clubs were inconsistant you would be a poor player and a poor sponsor for Callaway.

4) I visited the British Masters at the Forest of Arden this year, I made a point in looking into the bags of players to check they are using the exact same X16 Pro Series Callaway clubs needless to say they were.

5) A year ago almost to the day I would have agreed that the club are bulky looking and not for me, believe me you get used to the look although the Pro Series are know where near as bulky as the Big Berthers or the Standard X16.

I have not suffered this diffence in distance you are talking about and I have never heard of this before, not with any clubs. I find it hard to believe that you can drop two balls on the fairway and hit them 30 yards different with the same swing and this is due to the clubs not yourself or the conditions.

"IT'S A BAD WORKMAN WHO BLAMES HIS TOOLS"

Ian.