Are the new generation of golfers being conned?

[haplesshacker]

Snap.

Again.

 

[Split_Fairway]

i would say that the vast majority of what they say is a big con in order to rake in the money. having said that i believe that the only clubs that needs changing more than once a year are your wedges. from 80 yards and in these are the clubs that are going to make or break your score and having worn-out grooves that produce a variety of different performing shots will only make things harder. having wedges with relatively fresh grooves would help your consistency as you know how each shot is going to perform and react with the green

 

[Fore]

The new TM driver, it's newer than the one you have so why not buy it!

Genius!


Great strap line.

Trouble is that mentality could well work on my partner in relation to say a new handbag etc.

 

[USER1999]

I find worn wedges far more predictable than new ones.

 

[bobmac]

I have heard golfers at my club say the following...
I find my 10.5 driver is too low so I'll buy a 12 deg instead.
Or they cant hit a wedge 90 yards so buy a gap wedge
or they cant chip ove a greenside bunker so they'll buy a new wedge with a different bounce
and best of all,
"I'm getting a new set of irons as these shafts are getting tired"

There's no point in worrying if you need a 10 deg bounce or 8 deg if you can't chip

As far as the club pros are concerned, the tiny margins they make on a set of irons can be doubled in no time if the members forgot the rubbish spouted by the manufacturers and had lessons on how to play golf instead.
There's no point in worrying whether you have pured shafts, 1 degree strong GI heads with a soft tip and an 85g shaft fitted if you have a rubbish swing that is different every day.
Let's get back and learn the skill in playing golf and forget the minutia that means hardly a jot to your game.

Next...

Lorry drivers...

 

[bigslice]

If I wasn't a good cook, why would a new set of pans help?
If my driving was bad should I buy a new car?
If my golf swing is bad will a new set of clubs help?

I would think that most of us on the forum know that clubs come in all shapes and sizes. From cavity back to blades, from A shaft to x-stiff, steel, graphite, custom fit and so on.
If todays golfer had less choice, would he just buy a set and learn to use them by practicing?

I sometimes think there are some golfers out there who feel that one day they will find a set that suits their swing therefor they wont have to practice. Just use my own rubbish swing and these miracle clubs are going to change my swing into a thing of beauty.

I hope most people on here will appreciate getting the shaft to suit your natural swing speed and the club's lie sorted is a great start, but how much difference does the rest really make.
High and low kick points, pured shafts, upright, flat, strong, weak, steel graphite, light, heavy and so it goes on.
You only have to look through a catalogue to see the huge choice in shafts there ae alone

Now I'm not aginst custom fitting, far from it, but does it really make that much difference to the average golfer whose swing is different from day to day?

Or are the manufacturers getting too good at their job.

I have read here on a regular basis that "this club is totally wrong for me" You mean it's left handed?

A club may not be perfect for your ideal swing (if you know what that is) but it's unlikely to be competely wrong for you.(Unless you buy from Argos)

I think the golfer who thinks they can get better without practicing, has been led up the garden path by the manufacturers.
I would say dont just buy new clubs, learn how to hit what you've got and practice.
Good luck

As for me, I'm of to AG to look at the new black nickel MP 68s

bob before i comment are you not a pro?

 

[Robobum]

I have heard golfers at my club say the following...
I find my 10.5 driver is too low so I'll buy a 12 deg instead.
Or they cant hit a wedge 90 yards so buy a gap wedge
or they cant chip ove a greenside bunker so they'll buy a new wedge with a different bounce
and best of all,
"I'm getting a new set of irons as these shafts are getting tired"

There's no point in worrying if you need a 10 deg bounce or 8 deg if you can't chip

As far as the club pros are concerned, the tiny margins they make on a set of irons can be doubled in no time if the members forgot the rubbish spouted by the manufacturers and had lessons on how to play golf instead.
There's no point in worrying whether you have pured shafts, 1 degree strong GI heads with a soft tip and an 85g shaft fitted if you have a rubbish swing that is different every day.
Let's get back and learn the skill in playing golf and forget the minutia that means hardly a jot to your game.

Next...

Lorry drivers...

Good post Bob.

 

[bobmac]

bob before i comment are you not a pro?

Yes I am but I would be happier if a member came to me asking for a chipping lesson rather than asking for a new wedge that he still wont be abke to chip with.
When he's had his chipping lesson and perfected his technique, THEN I sell him a new Vokey

 

[percy_layer]

bob before i comment are you not a pro?

Yes I am but I would be happier if a member came to me asking for a chipping lesson rather than asking for a new wedge that he still wont be abke to chip with.
When he's had his chipping lesson and perfected his technique, THEN I sell him a new Vokey

 

[JustOne]

There's no point in worrying whether you have pured shafts, 1 degree strong GI heads with a soft tip and an 85g shaft fitted if you have a rubbish swing that is different every day.

Doesn't that practically alienate 99.99% of all golfers?

..and you're suggesting that custom fitting is really only for CAT1 players?


...Name?

 

[richart]

I assume it takes years of experience as a teaching Pro, to be able to to diagnose someones swing as 'rubbish'.

You are in a bad mood today Bob. Jan hidden your pills ?

 

[bigslice]

bob before i comment are you not a pro?

Yes I am but I would be happier if a member came to me asking for a chipping lesson rather than asking for a new wedge that he still wont be abke to chip with.
When he's had his chipping lesson and perfected his technique, THEN I sell him a new Vokey

ok, i agree with your post. but if a CUSTOMER wants a new set of clubs there is no changing their mind. ive had my mizzys since october 2008. i clean them after every round and dont expect to change them for YEARS. we dont have a pro or shop, but if i wanted to change them i will.
im glad that if i came into your shop i would receive excellent advice and knowledge.

 

[Toby_LeRhone]

bob before i comment are you not a pro?

Yes I am but I would be happier if a member came to me asking for a chipping lesson rather than asking for a new wedge that he still wont be abke to chip with.
When he's had his chipping lesson and perfected his technique, THEN I sell him a new Vokey

ok, i agree with your post. but if a CUSTOMER wants a new set of clubs there is no changing their mind. ive had my mizzys since october 2008. i clean them after every round and dont expect to change them for YEARS. we dont have a pro or shop, but if i wanted to change them i will.
im glad that if i came into your shop i would receive excellent advice and knowledge.

To be fair Bob did say 'I would be happier if...'. I'm pretty sure if you asked nicely he'd take your money with as much enthusiasm as any other pro I know.

 

[bobmac]

I don't remember saying that 99.99% of all golfers have rubbish swings. Neither did I say custom fitting was only for cat 1 players
What I am saying is golfers should worry more about improving their swings rather than relying on technology, to improve their game.
Have lessons, learn a repeatable swing then get fitted if you want to.

 

[USER1999]

I have a repeatable swing, it's just not a very good one. Since I'm not going to hit 1000,000 balls trying to bed in a change which when crunch time comes I won't trust, I might as well optimise what I have with a c/f session.

The interesting bit is, once every thing is c/f'ed for me, why do I still want new stuff?

Because it's shiney, and shiney stuff is good. It won't improve my golf (nothing will), but it makes me happy, and that's what counts.

Golfers fall into two camps, those that have lessons, and those that don't. I don't. It's way too late to change anything now.

 

[JustOne]

I don't remember saying that 99.99% of all golfers have rubbish swings. Neither did I say custom fitting was only for cat 1 players
What I am saying is golfers should worry more about improving their swings rather than relying on technology, to improve their game.
Have lessons, learn a repeatable swing then get fitted if you want to.

My mistake, I thought you said "if you have a rubbish swing that is different every day" and seeing as I don't know anyone who has a swing that is repeatable every day (even Tiger f*cks up) then I could only assume you were referring to the better end of the golfing spectrum. Now I haven't a clue who you are referring to when you say "repeatable every day"

 

[bobmac]

I don't remember saying that 99.99% of all golfers have rubbish swings. Neither did I say custom fitting was only for cat 1 players
What I am saying is golfers should worry more about improving their swings rather than relying on technology, to improve their game.
Have lessons, learn a repeatable swing then get fitted if you want to.

My mistake, I thought you said "if you have a rubbish swing that is different every day" and seeing as I don't know anyone who has a swing that is repeatable every day (even Tiger f*cks up) then I could only assume you were referring to the better end of the golfing spectrum. Now I haven't a clue who you are referring to when you say "repeatable every day"

I was talking about how some people worry too much about the little things in their game (bounce, puring shafts etc) when their basic fundamentals are wrong.
Improve your skill first, then when your swing is similar each day (better?) then if you want to upgrade then fine.

 

[JohnW]

I don't remember saying that 99.99% of all golfers have rubbish swings. Neither did I say custom fitting was only for cat 1 players
What I am saying is golfers should worry more about improving their swings rather than relying on technology, to improve their game.
Have lessons, learn a repeatable swing then get fitted if you want to.

Totally agree. I have had ten lessons since May 2010 and only once I felt my swing had some repeatability did I look to change my 8 year old Ping i3's. I had a custom fit on the launch monitor and tried a number of clubs - Ping G15, Mizuno JPX800, TM 2.0, Callaway Diablo, Cobra S2. Once we narrowed the choice down to the Pings and the Mizzy's I booked a lesson with the pro and he watched me hit balls with both clubs so that we could discuss the ball flight, length and dispersion based on me swinging with some degree of consistency i.e. on some of the poorer shots he would put it down to a bad swing and not the club.

Eventually we decided on the Ping's, so there goes any credibility for this story on here..........

 

[JustOne]

I was talking about how some people worry too much about the little things in their game (bounce, puring shafts etc) when their basic fundamentals are wrong.
Improve your skill first, then when your swing is similar each day (better?) then if you want to upgrade then fine.

I'm jus' pulling your chain Bob, the forum would be such a boring place if everyone agreed (try starting a thread on stack and Tilt!!). I know what you're getting at and (as I said) my clubs are shite but until I know my swing and I'm happy with it, there's no point changing.

It's definitely one of your better (perhaps contoversial?) posts... found the pills yet?

 

[Smiffy]

When I was riding bikes, a mate of mine bought a Hyabusa. This was (then) the most powerful road bike you could buy. He rode it like a tosser but it didn't stop him buying the new improved version that had a few more bhp when it came out 3 or 4 years later.
He needed a couple of extra bhp like I need a hole in the head