Have golf clubs improved in the last 10 years?
Discussion
And so the weather gets nicer and another season starts for us fair weather golfers. Rather than join a club, I've joined a society to get to play more courses.
To whet the appetite, I got a copy of Today's golfer and wondered if club technology has actually moved on since I last bought a set of clubs or is it all marketing nonsense.
I'm currently playing off 24 with Taylor Made putter, RAC OS irons, Rescue clubs plus an (apparently illegal) R580 driver which I've never quite managed to get consistent so leave it in the boot most of the time.
So, has technology moved on enough to warrant new clubs and is there any particular type (irons, rescue, driver) that has improved more?
To whet the appetite, I got a copy of Today's golfer and wondered if club technology has actually moved on since I last bought a set of clubs or is it all marketing nonsense.
I'm currently playing off 24 with Taylor Made putter, RAC OS irons, Rescue clubs plus an (apparently illegal) R580 driver which I've never quite managed to get consistent so leave it in the boot most of the time.
So, has technology moved on enough to warrant new clubs and is there any particular type (irons, rescue, driver) that has improved more?
DocJock said:
If your HC is 24, you'd get more benefit from spending the cash on lessons.
Agreed, I had some lessons last year and they certainly helped my short game. The main problem for me is finding the time to have them as most evenings are busy and I'd rather go for a round than have a lesson.I would say some have and some haven't. 
I play off 19 and have a mixture of old and new
For me, I use a set of Titleist DTR Irons which were new in the early nineties and new to me 10 years ago.
I regularly try different Irons at the local range and all are nice but I don't think any of them will change my game.
I would like a new set but can't bring myself to upgrade as the existing ones work fine most of the time and if anything is broken with them it is my swing and not the clubs. On a good day, I can hit them superbly well so they aint broke.
Some people argue that modern clubs are more forgiving and have a larger sweet spot. Trying them on the range, club for club, I can hit newer clubs the same as I can hit my existing ones.
However, other clubs do make a big difference.
For me, the hybrids as a replacement to the long irons are a revelation. I use a Mizuno 19 and 23 degree hybrid in place of my 5 Wood and 3 Iron and would never go back. The control of a hybrid off the tee or the fairway or the light rough is worlds apart from the long irons. The latest hybrids are better than the earlier ones.
When choosing the Mizzys, I tried several different types of hybrid and found massive differences to the way I hit them. I went with them purely because of the way they felt to me and not based on the magazines / range pro views etc. If my bag was stolen tomorrow, these would be replaced like for like immediately.
Drivers and putters. Again, Drivers have probably changed the most over the last 10 years. however, I don't think they change that much year to year for the average high handicapper. I bought myself a nice driver but I wouldn't say it saves me any shots per round compared to my old one. I just like it more because it is shiny and new. I don't like the idea of these adjustable ones - it seems to me like they must have run out of gimmicks.
Wedges, hardly changed at all. The groove rules affected them for the top end, but an old wedge (with clean grooves) is just as good as a new one. I use Vokeys and enjoy thinning them regularly
Putters - I don't think the technology has changed that much but the putter is the biggest mental bit of the game - If a newer one with grooves / inserts / bits of magic in it makes you more confident at putting then it is worth it.
In terms of money spent vs improvement. I agree with the others. In nearly all cases, the lessons are worth more than the clubs themselves.
I play off 19 and have a mixture of old and newFor me, I use a set of Titleist DTR Irons which were new in the early nineties and new to me 10 years ago.
I regularly try different Irons at the local range and all are nice but I don't think any of them will change my game.
I would like a new set but can't bring myself to upgrade as the existing ones work fine most of the time and if anything is broken with them it is my swing and not the clubs. On a good day, I can hit them superbly well so they aint broke.
Some people argue that modern clubs are more forgiving and have a larger sweet spot. Trying them on the range, club for club, I can hit newer clubs the same as I can hit my existing ones.
However, other clubs do make a big difference.
For me, the hybrids as a replacement to the long irons are a revelation. I use a Mizuno 19 and 23 degree hybrid in place of my 5 Wood and 3 Iron and would never go back. The control of a hybrid off the tee or the fairway or the light rough is worlds apart from the long irons. The latest hybrids are better than the earlier ones.
When choosing the Mizzys, I tried several different types of hybrid and found massive differences to the way I hit them. I went with them purely because of the way they felt to me and not based on the magazines / range pro views etc. If my bag was stolen tomorrow, these would be replaced like for like immediately.
Drivers and putters. Again, Drivers have probably changed the most over the last 10 years. however, I don't think they change that much year to year for the average high handicapper. I bought myself a nice driver but I wouldn't say it saves me any shots per round compared to my old one. I just like it more because it is shiny and new. I don't like the idea of these adjustable ones - it seems to me like they must have run out of gimmicks.
Wedges, hardly changed at all. The groove rules affected them for the top end, but an old wedge (with clean grooves) is just as good as a new one. I use Vokeys and enjoy thinning them regularly
Putters - I don't think the technology has changed that much but the putter is the biggest mental bit of the game - If a newer one with grooves / inserts / bits of magic in it makes you more confident at putting then it is worth it.
In terms of money spent vs improvement. I agree with the others. In nearly all cases, the lessons are worth more than the clubs themselves.
retrorider said:
Shafts are night and day to what they were a decade ago.It's also fair to say that 90% of golfers are using the wrong shafts.Club fitting is the way to go now.It always was, but the technology has now filtered down and is available to all...
This. I have played since I was 16, now 27 (well tomorrow I'm 27). For my 25th birthday I got a fitted set of clubs, and at my game has improved vastly.I don't play that much at the moment (two very young kids) but I think the whole gold club technology thing is a load of marketing s
te generally. As others have said lessons will improve most players more than clubs and once you are a better player then club fitting really kicks in. Hybrids are definitely a plus if you don't have the club head speed to hit long irons.
te generally. As others have said lessons will improve most players more than clubs and once you are a better player then club fitting really kicks in. Hybrids are definitely a plus if you don't have the club head speed to hit long irons. I would say wood have improved a lot over 10 years, though Drivers reached the COR limit about 5 years ago so not been much improvement on them since then. Fairway woods have improved a lot recently with a lot of manufacturers getting them to reach the COR limits
other than shafts i don't think irons have improved much over 10 years, especially for 'players irons' but for the game improver clubs they're now more forgiving and hit the ball further than ever before
you'll definitely get most benefit from lessons and getting clubs that are fitted correctly to yourself
other than shafts i don't think irons have improved much over 10 years, especially for 'players irons' but for the game improver clubs they're now more forgiving and hit the ball further than ever before
you'll definitely get most benefit from lessons and getting clubs that are fitted correctly to yourself
Thanks all for the comments.
A couple of local clubs have proper fitting centres so I'll have a look at them.
As my driver is no longer legal, I'll look at replacing this first, combined with a couple of lessons to get me hitting it with enough confidence to use it for the society days.
A couple of local clubs have proper fitting centres so I'll have a look at them.
As my driver is no longer legal, I'll look at replacing this first, combined with a couple of lessons to get me hitting it with enough confidence to use it for the society days.
For me, it depends what you call an improvement. I havent played for a long time due to a knee issue, but always had good distance and have used the same set of blades since the '90s. I used to be a constant equipment fiddler so was always trying new irons, putters, drivers (of which I bought many!!) and what not, but I've still not had a better feel from a club than my "ancient" TP18's and wouldn't want to swap them (except maybe shafts) for anything newer.
Skii said:
I've never really got used to the massive head drivers of today, I used to be able to drive the ball much more consistently with the smaller headed drivers of the 90's than todays balloons-on-sticks.
I sometimes take my old Joe Powell persimmon driver to the range for a knock to remember the good old days (early 90's).It gets far more attention than any new driver down there and not many can hit it very well either.The feel off the face is far better than any of the new drivers...BRMMA said:
other than shafts i don't think irons have improved much over 10 years, especially for 'players irons' but for the game improver clubs they're now more forgiving and hit the ball further than ever before
Which is mainly because manufacturers have de-lofted clubs so that you think you're hitting an 8 iron but in old money it's a 7 iron. I think Callaway were the first on that bandwagon.Kind of explains why people struggle with their long irons....
What would be really interesting to know is what the average handicap is at a golf club and how that has changed over the last 30 years. In theory it should have come down a lot with modern drivers in particular. I wonder if it has.
At the end of the day 50% of most people's shots is chipping and putting and tech is marginal in those areas.
Cheib, the average handicap hasn't changed in 25 years according to most surveys.
Distance is being improved by fitting of clubs. But it improves accuracy more.
Distance on off the shelf clubs is increasing because they are jacking the lofts and the length of the shafts. Taylormades latest irons the Rocketbladez were advertised being the longest we've made type slogan. So a pro who has a Youtube channel basically changed a Mizuno JPX850 pro iron to the same specs - loft and length of shaft as the same rocketbladez iron and it went 10 yards further than the Taylormade. It's just marketing bull.
Some 3 iron lofts these days aren't far off the old 1 irons!
Distance is being improved by fitting of clubs. But it improves accuracy more.
Distance on off the shelf clubs is increasing because they are jacking the lofts and the length of the shafts. Taylormades latest irons the Rocketbladez were advertised being the longest we've made type slogan. So a pro who has a Youtube channel basically changed a Mizuno JPX850 pro iron to the same specs - loft and length of shaft as the same rocketbladez iron and it went 10 yards further than the Taylormade. It's just marketing bull.
Some 3 iron lofts these days aren't far off the old 1 irons!
exocet ape said:
Cheib, the average handicap hasn't changed in 25 years according to most surveys.
Distance is being improved by fitting of clubs. But it improves accuracy more.
Distance on off the shelf clubs is increasing because they are jacking the lofts and the length of the shafts. Taylormades latest irons the Rocketbladez were advertised being the longest we've made type slogan. So a pro who has a Youtube channel basically changed a Mizuno JPX850 pro iron to the same specs - loft and length of shaft as the same rocketbladez iron and it went 10 yards further than the Taylormade. It's just marketing bull.
Some 3 iron lofts these days aren't far off the old 1 irons!
It's mad isn't it. I still use my old Titleist 983 from god knows how many years ago...I've tried a few more modern drivers when playing with people and just don't like the feel off the clubhead. When I do play now it's generally with a mate who is a total golf obsessive, has literally owned 15 drivers in the time I have had mine. I reckon he's maybe gained 10 yards but he's gone from an 18 to a 10 so that's better ball striking.Distance is being improved by fitting of clubs. But it improves accuracy more.
Distance on off the shelf clubs is increasing because they are jacking the lofts and the length of the shafts. Taylormades latest irons the Rocketbladez were advertised being the longest we've made type slogan. So a pro who has a Youtube channel basically changed a Mizuno JPX850 pro iron to the same specs - loft and length of shaft as the same rocketbladez iron and it went 10 yards further than the Taylormade. It's just marketing bull.
Some 3 iron lofts these days aren't far off the old 1 irons!
The obsession with Drivers is incredible yet how many times do they get used in a round 8 to 12 times if you're a short hitter.
Driving for show, putting for dough.
But yes I believe clubs have got better, and balls, such that even high ish handicappers should notice. The clever drivers now that can be adjusted such that even the most horrendously mis timed and over hit swing will go straight are in danger of making the game actually playable.
But yes I believe clubs have got better, and balls, such that even high ish handicappers should notice. The clever drivers now that can be adjusted such that even the most horrendously mis timed and over hit swing will go straight are in danger of making the game actually playable.
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