When buying any piece of golf equipment today the choice on offer is almost over whelming. Items such as clothing, shoes and waterproofs follow fashion trends depending on your age and quite often physical shape. Golf has for so long been a sport dominated by the stuffy image of dowdy dressed old men. Many the time trousers held up by a piece of string and a sweater with holes in also used for gardening was the requisite golfing attire. But not anymore, times are changing. The younger golfer shows a preference for tight fitting, brightly coloured clothes, following the image set by their golfing hero’s, a good thing if it encourages any young person to take up the sport. The older player tends to use looser fitting garments with more subdued colours. Clothing manufacturers have done such a great job in developing a whole spectrum of fashion to help make the golfer of today look so smart and feel comfortable on the course.
If clothing sells the look, golf clubs and balls sell the dream. You cannot buy yourself a better game, simply by how much you spend on golf equipment, or by continually swapping or changing clubs based on the latest claims. But you can certainly remove equipment from the equation of “what is wrong with my game” by making sure that it suits you. For example, make sure the club heads sit correctly and that the shafts fitted apply to your swing speed and are the proper length for your height fitted with the correct thickness of grip. Do not buy a straight faced 45” Driver with a stiff shaft if you spray shots or tend to slice. Remember the poorer the golfer the more important loft becomes. The more loft on a club, the easier it is to miss hit better. A metal wood with 13° of loft or more is easier to hit properly from the tee than a driver, a 20° metal wood easier off the fairway, regardless of make. A 30° no 6 iron is easier to hit with than a 23° no 4 iron. The straighter the face loft the more chance of errant side spin caused by poor timing.
Finally do not buy a golf ball unless it suits your speed of swing. Slow swings should use a ball with a softer compression to gain length. Don’t buy a ball meant for hard hitting golfers of 90 mph plus, however expensive, you will not achieve any benefit and will probably loose length.
Remember to always ask professional advice. It is often better to modify your existing clubs for the better than to spend, spend, spend on new golf equipment in the quest for improvement.
