Changing clubs

I hope people will not laugh at this because it is very basic. I'd like to know when, without any instructor telling you, you should change your clubs from what you are using now. That is how can you tell that your game will no longer improve using the present clubs and therefore it's time to trade them off for newer (?better) clubs. I've had my present set for just 3 years and am wondering if my game will improve faster with better clubs. I guess what I'm really after is a set of clubs that I cannot blame for being the cause of my problems but that the problem is ME!

You should change your clubs when you've lost confidence in yours. If you can't stand over the ball with confidence, it's time for new sticks. That, or when you hold a credit card vertically on the face (from top to bottom), if you see any gapping between the club and the card, it's time for new sticks. If the grooves are worn down, it's time for a re-grooving, or new sticks.

If you're bored and have some money, it's time for new sticks.

For the average player, you could theoretically only have to change clubs once or twice in a lifetime (with wedges being changed two or three times as much).

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True Length Technology Fitter - www.truelengthtechnology.com
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PCS Class 'A' Clubfitter

A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

Thank you LowPost 42 for your advice. I will try the credit card trick and also check out the grooves. I certainly agree with the wedges, not so much from much usage but for design and weight.

As much as poeople think there is a big difference in technology in clubs, that holds true mainly with the drivers and fairway only. My irons were manufacturered in the mid 80's and and they perform very well, equivilent to anything being produced today. The biggest performing component of golf clubs is the shaft. If the shafts are okay, then your clubs will be okay - unless like Ben had mentioned above that the face of your irons are worn out from so much use! You can always improve with your current set of clubs. Clubs do not limit your own personal skill level nor will they keep you from breaking 100, 90 or 80 (or what ever target you have set out for yourself). The best way to justify to yourself getting a new set of clubs would be to do it as a reward system. For example, when your handicap get's below a 10, you will treat yourself to a new set of irons. Rarely is there a need to replace your current set.

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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

I have used my same irons for ten years. It's not the clubs, its the swing. Think about it, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan all played with clubs that you wouldn't use for shed tools on courses that looked like billy goat tracks, with balls filled with rubber bands. All of these gentlemen were scratch because they all had swings.

There are some exceptions: as you grow older you lose strength, eyes go, normal stuff. It can be time to look at things like hybrid clubs and graphite shafts...technology that will make hitting the ball easier based on your physical situation.

Also, sometimes its just fun to get a new set of sticks. Makes you happy. Regenerates the blood and makes you feel like you are going to play better.
If you are comfortable with your current sticks, get new grips (they will feel like new clubs). If you feel its time for a change, go to the pro shop and have some fun.

Alot of clubs out today are easy to hit but really just mask your swing flaws. Find a PGA pro and take a lesson. While on the hitting range hand your club to the pro and watch him hit shot after shot. Then ask yourself if you really need new clubs or a new swing.

A lot of people chase a game through equipment. If you want to spend the money then do it, it is your choice, but, If you really want to improve, then spend the money on lessons. Ask your pro how much it would cost to have a programe made up for say, 10 months and both of you set goals to be reached. Take that cost and see what equipment it would buy. It may work out cheaper to have the lessons over a period of time.

Getting better technique will always outway $$ spent on equipment that may not help much, regardless of what the manufacturers say.

When you do improve and get to a certain level, you will recognise that different types of clubs can enhance your armoury.

in response to gord962 "The best way to justify to yourself getting a new set of clubs would be to do it as a reward system. For example, when your handicap get's below a 10, you will treat yourself to a new set of irons." i used that idea by telling myself no new clubs til i broke 85. but having done that and now getting down in the low 80's quite often i think "why give up sticks that got me to the low eighties?"

I am going to stick with my sticks for another year or so, just for the fact that i want to play with blades. personally, i like the weight and feel of them and hit them really well, particularly the S-59s.