Okay, let's talk about the ways golf clubs can hurt
you. As you are well aware, I believe and am CORRECT in the belief that you MUST get your
equipment checked in order to fit you properly. That's simply something you HAVE to
do, like it, or not.
However, regardless of "fit," you have to choose brand and MODEL correctly as well.
Equally important. It's in this area that three things come heavily into play and all three are dangerous.
The three things are: The PGA Tour,
Golf club advertising and your EGO! The PGA Tour is for watching, the club advertising
is for ignoring and your ego is for SQUASHING!
I kind of hesitate to mention this because of the outright stupidity of it and also
it can come off as "bragging." It's definitely stupid and definitely NOTHING to
brag about.
I've owned just about EVERY driver and EVERY set of irons that's been on the market for the last 20 years!
You name it and I've likely owned it. TWICE!
The running joke at my Edwin
Watts is, "If they don't crank new clubs out fast enough, Kevin just starts over, buying clubs he's already owned."
The funny AND sad part of the "joke" is that it's true. But, it does make me a sort of "Club Expert."
It's also made me poor!
So, I'll save you the trouble AND the money by telling you, "Do
as I say...not as I do."
Here's the bottom line: There ARE differences in golf clubs. To think, or
say otherwise, would be foolish.
However, those differences are heavily weighed toward the NEGATIVE
rather than the POSITIVE aspects of those differences.
Most of the differences are subtle. The really "dangerous"
ones for you, can be disasterous!
Ignore the idea of a driver, ANY driver, adding 20, 30, or 50 yards to your drives.
It has NEVER happened and it NEVER WILL happen.
These
days, almost EVERYONE is making driver heads out of titanium. Where that particular "element" comes
from is of NO CONSEQUENCE! Titanium is titanium whether it comes from California, or Russia.
Any added yardage you're going to
"find" in your game will come from a better swing and possibly your shafts. All things being equal, the shaft
makes the difference, not the club head.
So, you already know this, but the chances of you ever making it to the PGA Tour
are very slim and the FACT is, those people on the PGA Tour didn't get there because of their clubs!
So, I would never say that professional golfers are "liars," but their HATS lie all the time! Not a SINGLE
PGA Tour player that plays Ping clubs, plays the G10 iron. NOT ONE! But, their hat
can lead you to believe they do. Same with all manufacturers actually. Lots of times, there's only one,
or two of the brand clubs they "advertise" in their bags.
So, let's say the PGA Tour player actually DOES have the brand and model of club
they "advertise" in their bag.
I ASSURE YOU, even if that's the case, THEIR clubs won't even
vaguely resemble the same brand and model club YOU can buy.
So, when it comes to the PGA Tour, don't use what
you see (or THINK you see) there, influence YOUR club choices.
One thing you CAN emulate
about Tour players is that will 100% certainty, THEIR clubs FIT THEM!
You can do that too and you MUST
if you want to have the chance to be a really good golfer. To put it bluntly, if you're not a professional
golfer, you have NO REASON to own "professional style" golf clubs.
So, do "game improvement" clubs help?
That depends.
No great golfer got to be that, by having great clubs, or balls. They got to that level by
having a great golf SWING!
You are ENTIRELY able to have a great golf swing, without
even OWNING golf clubs. Similarly, owning golf clubs and golf balls doesn't give you a golf swing.
You
are perfectly capable of owning golf clubs and golf balls and not knowing how to USE either! Lots of people have pianos
in their homes and can't play a LICK!
Don't fall into this trap. This damaging "cycle" of trying to "buy"
a golf game through the purchase of equipment.
I don't do it for that reason. I KNOW
better from experience! What I do, HURTS me! I know that. It's terribly
difficult to become a consistantly good golfer if you're changing your equipment all the time!
I "get
away" with this because I DO possess a good, solid, repeatable and correct golf swing, but I KNOW for a FACT
that changing equipment so often doesn't help matters.
Chances are, if you've EVER hit a good shot with
the clubs you currently own, there's nothing wrong with your clubs!
Am I saying that you shouldn't keep pace with technological
advances in equipment? No!
What I'm saying is, don't expect that to make a big, positive difference
in your golf game. Like Lee Trevino said, "It ain't the arrows...it's the Indian." Politically
correct? Hardly. Accurate? Absolutely.
Okay, so to that end, there is NO REASON for you
to own "forged" irons. There is no reason, even if you have the swing and talent to eventually make it to
the PGA Tour, for you to own forged irons.
Very few Tour Players on ANY Tour, play forged irons. Here's
one area that definitely WILL hurt you! What I enjoy is reading "reviews" of clubs.
Without fail,
what you "hear" from forged iron golfer reviews is: "Great feedback on mishits. I know when I miss it."
Really? I thought the goal of golf was to hit GOOD shots, not be hand-stingingly
aware of when you MISHIT your irons. That's RETARDED! Politically correct? Hardly. Accurate and
true? ABSOLUTELY!
Chances are, you don't practice enough to own forged irons. Chances are, you
will never FEEL a difference between forged and cast irons.
When and IF you do, it will likely be "painful."
What's the point? So that you can say, " I suck at golf...but I do it with forged irons?" That makes
NO SENSE!
Heck, Playtex apparently makes very high quality bras, but I have NO USE
FOR ONE!
What I find interesting is that hybrid clubs have been around for quite a while, but non-professional golfers didn't
start buying them until Tour players started using them!
There is NO REASON for YOU
to have a 3 and 4 iron in your bag!
There's no benefit to having them. They're difficult to
hit, hard to get in the air and don't go nearly as far as hybrid clubs with the same effort level. DUMP THEM!
They HURT YOU!
Another area where your ego may be holding you back is in the area of shaft flex.
The natural tendency is to
think that shaft flex is related to "strength." Well..."I'll never play a regular flex shaft because
I'M A MAN!" Know this: shaft flex is only about "strength" when it shows
up in the form of LESS distance.
In other words, when it HURTS you. The proper shaft flex for you is dependent
not on your physical strength, but is based on how YOU "load" a shaft during your swing.
You could weigh
100 pounds and load a shaft the same way someone who weighs 250 pounds does and MORE IMPORTANTLY,
vice-versa.
Shafts have the ability to HURT you as much as HELP you. Far more so than club "heads."
Okay,
so what I'm trying to convey to you is, as I have said and will CONTINUE to say, golf clubs have far more built
in "ability" to HURT your game than they do to HELP your game.
That said,
buy equipment based solely on what GOOD it can do for YOUR game and NEVER, EVER based on what
someone ELSE says, or plays.
I'm living proof that if you possess a really good golf SWING, you can play with ANYTHING, but
WHY WOULD YOU?
Take advantage of those things that can benefit you and avoid worrying about whether, or not, you're
missing out on some new, fantastic "breakthrough."
Notice that NO golf scorecard asks for anything OTHER than
a number! There are no spaces available for you to describe HOW you arrived at that
number, or what clubs got you to that number. Just a number thank you.
There is no other way to tell you the TRUTH!
It's your SWING that makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE! The most
clubs are going to do for you, is provide you with either a greater, or slighter margin for error. You may as well TAKE
help where it's being offered.
That's why I'm going to help you with your swing! Not so you can buy new clubs, but to
be sure that if you DO, you'll know how to USE THEM!
