aliaba
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# Posted: 5 Mar 2010 18:31 | Edited by: aliaba
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How to Choose Your Weapons
How to Choose Your Weapons
Deciding on a set of clubs to use can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. You can go to any store that doesn't have a golf pro, pick a set of clubs off the shelf, and then take them to the tee. You can go to garage sales.
You can check with the pro at your local municipal course. Any or all of these methods can work. But your chances of choosing a set with the correct loft, lie, size of grip, and all the other stuff involved in club fitting are worse than my chances of winning on American Idol.
Having said that, I must add that it wasn't so long ago that unsophisticated was a fair description of every golf-club buyer. Yeah, the better player might waggle a new club a few times and "know" that it wasn't for him — hardly the most scientific approach! If you're just beginning to play golf, keep in mind that you may discover that this game is not for you. So you should start out with rental clubs at a driving range. Most driving ranges have rental clubs. Go out and hit balls with these clubs. If you still want to play golf after hitting a few balls, then buy your own clubs.
20 Part I: Getting Started: No, You Can't Hit the Ball Yet
Find an interim set of clubs
If you're just starting out (and you've played with rental clubs for a while), find cheap clubs to use as an interim set during your adjustment period. You're learning the game, so you don't want to make big decisions on what type of clubs to buy yet. If you keep your ears open around the golf course or driving range, you may hear of someone who has a set that he or she is willing to sell. You can also ask whether the person has any information on clubs that could be sold cheaply. Go take a look at garage sales that have golf clubs for sale, or try the classified ads of your weekend newspaper. And, of course, you can check the Internet — the fastest-growing marketplace in golf. (In Chapter 17, I describe some of my favorite Internet golf sites.) You can become your own private investigator and hunt down the best buy you can find. Buy cheap for now — you've got plenty of time for the big purchase. Try all sorts of clubs — ones with steel shafts, graphite shafts (which are lighter and, therefore, easier to swing), big-headed clubs, investment-cast clubs (made by pouring hot metal into a mold), forged clubs (made from a single piece of metal), cavity-backed clubs (ones that are hollowed out in the back of the iron). You have more choices than your neighborhood Baskin-Robbins. Remember: You're in your experimental stage. Don't be afraid to ask your friends if you can try their clubs on the range. I do this all the time on the tour when a new product comes out. Try out these clubs, and you can judge for yourself whether they feel good. But if you don't like the club that you just tried, don't tell the person who loaned it to you that the club stinks — that's not good golf etiquette. Simply hand the club back and say thanks.
Try this on for size
Today, club fitting is big business. Tour pros and average amateur golfers have access to the same club fitting technology and information. It's important for all golfers — male and female — to use the right equipment for their body types and physical conditions. For instance, many manufacturers of golf clubs specialize in creating clubs for women that have softer shafts, which are lighter and more flexible. Here are some factors every golfer should consider:
_ The grip: Determine how thick the grip on your clubs should be. Grips that are too thin encourage too much hand action in your swing; grips that are too thick restrict your hands too much. Generally, the propersized grip should allow the middle and ring fingers on your left hand to barely touch the pad of your thumb when you hold the club. If your fingers don't touch your thumb, the grip is too big; if your fingers dig into the pad, the grip is too thin.
Chapter 2: Gearing Up 21
Quick Link: Taylormade golf clubs Ping golf clubs Titleist golf clubs
_ The shaft: Consider your height, build, and strength when you choose a club. If you're really tall, you need longer (and probably stiffer) shafts. What does your swing sound like? If your swing makes a loud swish noise and the shaft is bending like a long cast from a fly-fishing rod at the top of your swing, you need a very strong shaft. If your swing makes no noise and you could hang laundry on your shaft at the top of your swing, you need a regular shaft. Anybody in between needs a mediumstiff to stiff shaft.
_ Loft: Then there's your typical ball flight. If you slice, for example, you can get clubs with less loft — or perhaps offset heads — to help alleviate that common problem. For more information about slicing, see Chapter 11.
_ The clubhead: Consider the size of the clubhead. Today, you can get standard, midsize, and oversize heads on your clubs. I recommend you use bigger clubheads for your early days of playing golf. Bigger clubheads are more forgiving and can help psychologically, too. With some of today's jumbo clubheads, your swing thought may well be, "With this thing, how could I miss?"
_ The iron: Advanced players choose irons that are perfectly suited to their swings. Forged, muscle-backed irons are for good players who hit the ball on the clubface precisely. Cavity-backed irons are for players who hit the ball all over the clubface. The bigger the clubface, the more room for error — hence the biggerheaded metal woods that are popular today for all you wild swingers out there. Because of all the technology that is available, purchasing golf clubs nowadays is like buying a computer: Whatever you buy may be outdated in six months. So be frugal and shop for your best buy. When you get a set that fits you and you're hitting the ball with consistency, stick with that set. Finding a whole set of clubs that matches the temperament of your golf swing is hard. Find the ones that have your fingerprints on them and stick with 'em.
22 Part I: Getting Started: No, You Can't Hit the Ball Yet
Ten questions to ask before you buy
_ Do you have a club fitting program? Check with your local PGA golf professional and see whether he has a club fitting program. If he doesn't, he'll be able to direct you to someone in the area who does. After you've started this game and found you like it enough to continue playing, choosing the right equipment is the biggest decision you'll have to make. So talk to a PGA golf professional.
_ What's the price of club fitting? Don't be too shy to ask this question. Club fitting can be
expensive. You should be the judge of how much you can afford.
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