Aesthetics Vs Function

medwayjon

medwayjon

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www.snodhurstcarsales.co.uk
Just wondered how important to people the aesthetics of a club are when buying.

Reason I ask is that a guy at the range this morning I was chatting to was using cobra transitions and reckons he is the butt of everyones jokes whenever he plays. He said he couldnt give a damn how ugly they are, they work for him.

Personally I think that I fall into the trap of compromising function for shelf-appeal sometimes.

I think my question really is whether or not people would use something hideously ugly if it improved their game or would they rather take a slight downturn in performance for something that looks nice.
 
Funny you should bring this up.

I was having a chat with the assistant pro at the club yesterday about the new top end Mizuno clubs and how good they looked. I did happen to mention that the only person who cares what our clubs look like is us. No-one else does.

So it's our own vanity that we pander to, and I'm as guilty of it. Though I'd like to think that the current bats just happen to not be munters by default.
 
I think it comes down to confidence. If you don't like the look of the clubs you use then it doesn't give you the confidence to hit the ball well.
Same applies that if you like the look of your club as your pulling it out of the bag then it just gives you the confidence to hit the ball well.

I've not found any ugly clubs that I hit and they fly off the club face just yet.
 
I like simple aesthetics. Nothing too flashy (callaway) or uber-chav (TM).

I think its the reason I kept the G5 driver. I love the simplicity of it, there is no funny stuff.

With irons I crave shinyness and compact heads with clean lines.

Im definately one for vanity as a whole then, although I did once own a Rover 75 so Im not a lost cause!
 
It shouldn't make a difference but it does. We play a very mental game and it all goes to increase confidence if you actually like the club. It's not automatic though, I bought a new 5 wood couple of months ago, looked brilliant, felt nice, made the cardinal mistake of not trying before buying and can't hit it well at all.
 
Another one here for clean simple looks. It might be that technically or theoretically an uglier club will help me hit it better but as I would not feel good looking at it or swinging it I'd probably never find out as I'd never make a good swing.

As someone brought up from a kid in the 70s using bladed clubs (all there was apart from those new fangled Pings!) I actually feel more confident looking at a blade type head than a big lump of metal with big cavities and plastic in fills. Never understood the notion that a thick topline gives confidence at address.
 
You need a combination of both. Something that looks good to you but also doesn't make you hit it sideways.
A difficult thing to find.
I wouldn't use a club that looked wrong to me. Take the G15 hybrid. Excellent club but I'd look down on it and think " Man, that's pig-ugly" and probably hit a poor shot as a result. Similarly with a set of offset irons, I'd be thinking "don't go left" and of course they will.
 
I'll mirror exactly what Imurg has said. For me, I have to find that the club looks appealing to me but I won't stick with an attractive club if it's not working out for me.
 
I actually feel more confident looking at a blade type head than a big lump of metal with big cavities and plastic in fills. Never understood the notion that a thick topline gives confidence at address.
Click to expand...

I fall in this caragory too. I love the look of blades and feel more comfortable with them compared to hitting the ball with shovels. Just hate the look of massive clubs now, despite how forgiving they are. :o :D
 
I suppose the whole thing about how it feels to look at clubs is why I am going to change irons soon.

I had 775s and then changed to 695MB blades which were a step too far. Got 735CM's which were awesome, the best irons for me I reckon, but outed them when injured.

Now I am using the 775s again and as sure I am that they are a very good club, Im just not in love with them and find them a bit too lumpy for me.

Its either going to be another set of ex-demo 735s for me or depending on the flow of business in Nov/Dec, a new set of Titleists from Santa.
 
I had a set of the new wilson FG Tours....Really nice clubs but my rounds were up and down with them.....One day i was puring them the next i couldnt hit them for toffee......Now it was definately me and not the sticks but as the lads have said its a big confidence issue when you have to like what your playing......
I didnt feel intimidated by the top line or anything and they were plain enough compared to others......

On the recommendation of some of the forum members i changed about 4 months ago to Cobra S2's........The ones with the plasticy bits :(......
But even though there not over chunky like some of the waffle irons on the end of some shafts they do give me alot of confidence......I hardly notice that the top line is half plastic and ball striking is far more consistent.......

A confession though is that im maybe going to change for the S2 forged as they have none of the plastic bits and they have the same lofts and lies as what im using but look alot more reserved....Plus they are also aimed at my handicap.......Had these been in the shop when i bought what i hve i woul have picked them instead.
 
Aesthetics every time. I bought my irons on how well they looked but I wanted blades anyway (scratching an itch). As others have said I fell that looking down on the bladed clubs inspires me but if I look down on "GI" irons I really dont like them.
 
I'm another who has fallen into the vanity before performance trap way too many times. The R9's I had were a classic case in point. I had the chance to buy them before the official UK release and I did hit them well on the range but to be honest apart from a change from graphite to KBS steel there was no real difference between their performance and that of my Tour Burners.

Once I had them a few weeks, I was looking down at the thick topline and thinking "I don't like this" and I really couldn't get any sort of consistant performance with them. When I had an opportunity for some TP's at a real steal then it made perfect sense and I was able to offload the R9's at a reasonable price.

Someone asked me the other day why I try all the latest releases out. Apart from "because I can" I said it was to see if everything that glitters is gold (or silver in the case of an iron). A lot of the time I look at say the MP53/63 and think how beautiful it looks with its sleeker topline and forged head. Some I hit well and others like the S56 which I really, really wanted to be able to use, I don't.

It's also because I have a thing about certain makes (Titleist and Nike in particular) and always get put off before I've even tried them. No real reason why their models shouldn't appeal but they never had. However having tried a few (AP1/2 etc) my opinion is changing.

At the end of the day (it gets dark) it has to come down to functionality. I look at a lot of the clubs in the bags of our members. Today a 6 handicapper in my group was using a set of Mizzy T-Zoid (MP28's?) and he had 36 points with a blow out down the last. It's only because the manufacturers tap into our consciousness in the same way car manufacturers etc do and promise us better performance, style etc that we get seduced in the first place
 
Aesthetics breeds confidence - simple. I'm sure there are ugly clubs out there that would improve my game but if I don't like the look of them when I address the ball, I know I wouldn't play as well. Actually, I don't think it's that I'd need to like the look of them, I'd have to not notice them, all I want to see is the ball. If I have a club with a thick top line or a big cavity, it over powers the ball an my thought becomes more about the club.

I don't even know if that makes sense to anyone except me :D
 
At the end of the day (it gets dark) it has to come down to functionality. I look at a lot of the clubs in the bags of our members. Today a 6 handicapper in my group was using a set of Mizzy T-Zoid (MP28's?) and he had 36 points with a blow out down the last. It's only because the manufacturers tap into our consciousness in the same way car manufacturers etc do and promise us better performance, style etc that we get seduced in the first place
Click to expand...


Great conclusion Homer ;)
 
Gosh, a tough one. I would like to say that I would use whatever made me hit the ball best and when I buy clubs I go for whatever I hit the best, but that is picked out of clubs that I like the look of. I had the same thing with the G15 irons, I had read so many good things about them but when I hit them they were so ugly that I went right off them.

I long for blades as I hate the look of cavity clubs but thats not going to happen.

I am rambling but there is a point in there some where.
 
Some GI Irons now adays have a cavity as big as my batter blade at work, they look absolutely horrendous in my opinions.

For that reason blades all the way.

Andy
 
Its not how many, Its how!!

I play blades and would never ever consider anything else. I love looking at my sparkling irons.

I play MP68's which I brought last year when they first came out. I have always used Mizzy blades (TP3's, TP9's, MP 37's) and was going to change brands because Mizuno didn't (in my opinion) have proper blades out. Cut muscle?? that just said small cavity to me.

I sometimes think that I should look at a more forgiving club but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I have never looked at a hybird and don't think I ever will do and still think having a 1 or 2 iron is a must at times.

Aesthetics for me. I like things that shine.
 
I think my question really is whether or not people would use something hideously ugly if it improved their game
Click to expand...

Let me see.....when I go and play on Wednesday and Thursday this week, will I take my Mizunos or Callaway X-18s? :o

Even my putter is UGLY, not to mention Mr. Wilson Spine. :eek:
 
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