A common myth is that the higher the price of a club, the better your game will be: "This club cost me $799.00, I must be playing great now!". Just think about it, are drivers really worth $600 to $1000 and iron sets $1500 to $3,000? The big manufacturers spend millions of $$ to promote their stuff and still make huge profits. Who you think pays for that? Paying high prices does not lower ones handicap, but a properly chosen club will, even a cheap one.
If you've ever wondered why those name brand golf clubs cost so much we recommend you visit 
Pinemeadow Golf, they have a great article on this topic (look for 'Clones vs. Brands' on the top menu bar).
Once you have achieved a decent level of play, you can consider custom clubs with proper fitting. And even then, go for value rather than show.
Some points you should consider before parting with your money:
1. The shaft is the axle of the club, the better the shaft, the better the club.
2. Shaft flex has a major effect on the feel of a golf club and a medium effect on distance, thus an important determination in choosing clubs. If you do not know your speed swing (km/h), some local golf shops can measure it for you. Otherwise the following chart may be helpful.
SWING SPEED CONVERSION CHART
| LADIES FLEX | Driver speed swing less than 100 km/h. Driver carry distance less than 180 yds. Club used from 150 yds. a 3 iron or wood. |
| SENIOR or A FLEX | Driver speed swing 100-120 km/h. Driver carry distance 180-210 yds. Club used from 150yds. a 4 iron. |
| REGULAR FLEX | Driver speed swing 120-135 km/h. Driver carry distance 210-240 yds. Club used from 150 yds. a 5 or 6 iron. |
| STIFF FLEX | Driver speed swing 130-150 km/h. Driver carry distance 240-260 yds. Club used from 150 yds. a 6 or 7 iron. |
| X-STIFF FLEX | Driver speed swing over 150 km/h. Driver carry distance 260+ yds. Club used from 150 yds. a 8 or 9 iron. |
3. Shallow face metalwoods (aka Orlimar & Adams Tight Lies) are the bigggest game improvement clubs on the market today. These clubs are easy to hit and extremely accurate due to their low center of gravity.
4. Beginners and novice players choosing a set make-up, should consider eliminating the 2 and 3 irons from their set, replacing those hard to hit irons with a 5,7 or 9 wood, preferably shallow face models.
5. All golfers should use standard length clubs unless he or she is short or tall. Standard length clubs allow players to hit the ball on center a higher percentage of the time, thus increasing distance and accuracy. In recent years, light weight Titanium driver heads and Ultralight graphite shafts have extended driver playing lengths from a standard 43-431/2" to 44-46". This is good news and bad news. The good news is, when you increase length, you will increase distance. The longer the club, the more club head speed generated , thus more distance. The bad news is, the longer the club the more difficult it is to control, thus less accuracy. To put this into perspective, the following information will be helpful. A driver hit on center at 43" = 250 yds. 43 1/2"= 262 yds. 44" = 270 yds. 44 1/2" = 275 yds. 45" = 275-280 yds. As you can see a significant increase in distance is achieved up to 44". After 44", distance increases only a minimal amount . CONCLUSION - It is not worth sacrificing accuracy for the minimal amount of distance gained past 44". Keep driver playing lengths to 44" or less.
| Men's Standard Shaft Lengths (deduct 1" for Women's Standard Shaft Length) | ||
| Club | Length with Steel Shafts | Length with Graphite Shafts |
| Driver | 43.5" | 44" |
| 3 wood | 42.5" | 43" |
| 5 wood | 41.5" | 42" |
| 7 wood | 40.5" | 41" |
| 9 wood | 40.5" | 41" |
| 1 iron | 39.5" | 40" |
| 2 iron | 39" | 39.5" |
| 3 iron | 38.5" | 39" |
| 4 iron | 38" | 38.5" |
| 5 iron | 37.5" | 38" |
| 6 iron | 37" | 37.5" |
| 7 iron | 36.5" | 37" |
| 8 iron | 36" | 36.5" |
| 9 iron | 35.5" | 36" |
| PW | 35.5" | 36" |
| GW | 35.25" | 35.75" |
| SW | 35.25" | 35.75" |
| LW | 35.25" | 35.75" |
Pinemeadow Golf
7. STEEL SHAFTS vs. GRAPHITE SHAFTS - These are general recommendations:
8. Loft angle has a major effect on distance off the tee, so its important to choose the correct loft for your driving club. The slower speed swingers (ladies, seniors and some regular flex players) need higher lofted driving clubs. Increased loft will allow a better launch angle, higher trajectory, greater carry, thus more distance! This may be a surprise to a lot of long time players who have always thought less loft, more distance. Case in point. Many regular and senior flex players have fallen prey to the ProLine model hype and purchased $300.00+ drivers at 10 or less degrees, only to find they were hard to get airborn and produced low line drives. Live and learn. Faster speed swingers do require less loft to obtain maximum distance. The following information should be helpful in choosing the correct loft for you driving club.
RECOMMENDED LOFTS FOR DRIVING CLUBS:
9. Slicing the ball off the tee may be the single most problem confronting golfers. The face angle of the club has a major effect on accuracy off the tee. Face angles of drivers are open, square or closed. Closed face drivers come 1-6 degrees closed. Slicers need closed face drivers for correction. Expect a 5-7 yard correction in slice for every degree the face is closed if your current driver has a square face angle. EXAMPLE: You aim for the middle of a 30 yard wide fairway using a square face driver, but your ball ends up 5 yards in the rough. Same shot, using a driver with a face angle 2 degrees closed, your slice would be corrected approximately 12 yards, which puts you 7 yards in the fairway!
10. DISTANCE - What makes a golf ball go far? There are 4 basic reasons to how far a player can hit a golf ball.
Views expressed here are personal and not endorsed by any company.
If you have a different opinion or still have money to give away, please
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