What’s your handicap? Double digits? Then listen for a second. Every equipment company perpetually spends nauseating amounts of money to convince you that their brand is much better than the competition. Here’s the scoop: It’s not.
It’s all the same. Everyone is trying to do the same things with pretty much the same materials. Titleist, Taylor Made, Callaway, Cobra, Cleveland, Adams, Ping and even Nike. They make all the same stuff. Yes, there are differences in materials and club design, but these qualify as little more than glorified gimmicks, at best. The specific differences are generally moot to the average or less-than-average player.
Besides PGA Professionals and scratch or single-digit handicappers, no one should care where the weight chips are placed in the sole of the clubhead. No one should care what those weight chips are made of. No one should care what’s behind the club face or the composition of some new composite. It doesn’t matter. The bottom line is that every average player needs a playable club with a large sweet spot, a low center of gravity and – for drivers – a high COR. If you slice, as the majority of average players do, possibly a little offset or draw bias. That’s all you really need. Every equipment company will provide that in some way or another. And to you, it really doesn’t matter how, as long as they all work, which they generally do.
To the true hackers out there, to whom a draw means nothing more than what you do on your notepad when you’re bored at work, a word of advice: Just skip the pro-line section and pass right on into the crap. You can dribble the ball off the first tee box with a 2-by-4. You don’t need to spend $1500 to suck. You can do that for much cheaper.
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4 comments
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§ Darrell Klassen, Ph.D., PGA Member said on : 2004-11-08 @ 12:07
Thanks for telling the truth about the golf club industry. They are all the same. I've been saying it for twenty years. In my book, "Golf's An Easy Game", I also tell how rediculous it is to need an instructor. I have students travel from around the globe to have me teach them how to, very easily, teach themselves. They do it quite successfully, too.
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§ Julie Brown said on : 2004-11-08 @ 16:07
agree most manufacturers offer very forgiving clubheads. It is a matter of the looks you prefer cosmetically. The real focus for golfers should be on the SHAFT! This is the engine of the club, the most important component. If the shaft does not fit your personal swing you will compensate in the swing with wrong moves. When you try to adjust your swing to a shaft that does not fit your swing ball flight will be very INconsistent. We fine tune the shaft to fit your swing. Now you will have the ease of a swing and shot pattern that is consistent. A shaft that fits your swing creates results that give you optimum ball flight. Make the game more fun, lower your scores! Julie Brown LPGA & PGA Teaching Professional
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§ John Slater said on : 2004-11-09 @ 16:54
I know your colleague Tim will disagree, but there is a much more effective way to spend $1500: lessons. Heck, $200 on ebay and 6 lessons at $50 a pop will get you way farther than $1000 of "decent" clubs.
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§ Glenn Stewart said on : 2004-11-09 @ 17:56
There are only so many things that can be done with a clubhead, and most have already been done. Because of current limitations placed on the performance of the ball and driver faces by the USGA, style and panache will start to supercede function with high index golfers. Now if someone can just convince all of them to "miss it quick", the game will improve for everyone.
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