Are we in danger......

[Neddy]

I have 2 hybrids, 4 wedges, cavity backed irons and a 460cc driver.

And Golf is hard.....the only people who make it look easy are professionals.

 

[kid2]

Well going by my round Sunday....I couldnt make the game any bloody harder...
Every thing i did turned out wrong......Even if there was a club to make it easier i would have found a way to make it hard to swing

 

[matriga]

That will never happen:
In order to hit the ball straight, you still have to swing well
It will never be the club itself doing all the job, you still have to make a swing
Golf is mostly controlled in our head/our mentality, the clubs and balls won't replace that part of our game.

 

[Mark_G]

If it was any more difficult we would all be dressed in leather with handcuffs on. If it was easier, then it wouldnt be such a rush when it goes right.

 

[ScienceBoy]

but it's still the person who holds the rubber bit that makes it all work.

Pfft... knew I had been going wrong somewhere

 

[User 105]

I'm honestly not sure if new equipment makes the game easier or not.

Half of me thinks it must because we hit the ball further and newer clubs are more forgiving for your average amateur golfer.

But then the average handicap hasn't changed hardly.

So that is telling me that clubs have minimal impact on your average score. Otherwise you'd expect the average handicap to be down at least a couple of shots, wouldn't you ?

 

[FairwayDodger]

But then the average handicap hasn't changed hardly.

So that is telling me that clubs have minimal impact on your average score. Otherwise you'd expect the average handicap to be down at least a couple of shots, wouldn't you ?

I don't think that necessarily follows.

Imagine someone who took up golf in the seventies but couldn't get to a competent level so quit. Maybe the equivalent of that person is playing now with modern equipment, off 26, raising the average handicap.

 

[chris661]

I don't think that necessarily follows.

Imagine someone who took up golf in the seventies but couldn't get to a competent level so quit. Maybe the equivalent of that person is playing now with modern equipment, off 26, raising the average handicap.

But the marketing would have you believe that new clubs will make you hit it further and straighter so it must be the clubs when it goes wrong surely?

 

[FairwayDodger]

But the marketing would have you believe that new clubs will make you hit it further and straighter so it must be the clubs when it goes wrong surely?

I guess technological advances help players but probably on a bell curve. i.e. very bad players / very good players derive less benefit than those in between.

Was just saying it's dangerous to look at one statistic in isolation and draw conclusions from it.

 

[chris661]

I guess technological advances help players but probably on a bell curve. i.e. very bad players / very good players derive less benefit than those in between.

Was just saying it's dangerous to look at one statistic in isolation and draw conclusions from it.

There is no tongue in cheek smilie

 

[FairwayDodger]

There is no tongue in cheek smilie

I knew you were joking but thought I'd bash on with the theme!

 

[MashieNiblick]

I'm shooting the same sort of scores now with modern gear as I was 25 years ago with a laminated wooden driver and bladed irons with v grooves.

My new gear is miles better but I'm 25 years older. Who's to say my younger self would or wouldn't have played better then with the gear I have now? Or that I'd still be shooting these scores with that gear?

I know that my driver gives me more distance and more consistency, that my hybrid/long irons fly straighter and higher, my wedges give me more spin and my putter is more forgiving. It just doesn't seem to add up to a lower score.

I really like the idea of an article with some club golfers using gear from different eras and suggested it myself a while back. I think it would be hard to find the balls though. The original ones would have deteriorated and don't know if new versions could be made.

 

[Snelly]

No the game is not any easier.

The golf manufacturers are simply taking more money off more people who swallow the marketing message that new clubs are a panacea to any golfing problem.

20 years ago, I was a much better golfer than I am now and my best scores were with a set of Titleist Tour Model forged irons with heads as big as sixpences and shafts that were not pured, frequency matched, rifled or anything else.

The clubs did not hit the good shots - I did. Same today and it will always be the case for everyone who plays the game.

If you think that a new club (unless it is a putter that starts to work much better) will affect your handicap in a meaningful way then you are as delusional and gullible as a person who thinks a magnet or a hologram on the wrist makes them feel better.

 

[pendodave]

This discussion heads down the same cul-de-sac as the 'custom fit' debates imho.

There is so much more to putting together a score than a few percentage differences in ball strike on wood/full iron shots.

For a start, a lot of poor shots with these clubs are so poor that nothing on god's earth will improve them (I punt around in low to mid 80s, and most of my score wrecking shots are in this category).

Secondly, almost all the things that determine your score are other factors : course management, club selection, pitching, chipping, bunker play, putting, mental strength etc etc

I'm sure that equipment changes have made some difference in a particular area of ball flight, but as a component of 'scoring' it won't amount to that much.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

I have played for 55 years and there is no doubt that the skill factor was much higher 50 years ago
Courses have become longer and tougher so the game/scoring has balanced out somewhat.

 

[bluetoon]

I'm in the yes camp, the game has got easier, absolutely.

If we were to take a modern pro at the peak of his game today and transport him back 40years to play in a tour event, i am fairly certain he would win comfortably as the course will be shorter, his equipment better and he will be in better shape.

So for those reasons - its a YES The modern equipment does make it easier.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I don't think the game is any easier than it was 20 years ago but it is certainly more enjoyable. No-one likes to be trying to hit old fashioned blades or woods when they aren't swinging well. At least the bigger heads give you a degree more margin for ever.

 

[6inchcup]

I don't think the game is any easier than it was 20 years ago but it is certainly more enjoyable. No-one likes to be trying to hit old fashioned blades or woods when they aren't swinging well. At least the bigger heads give you a degree more margin for ever.

so having newer bigger headed clubs makes the game easier as you don't have to hit the sweet spot everytime!

 

[HawkeyeMS]

The average h'cap has changed in 30 years.

I think there's a lot spoken about how easy the modern equipment makes the game yet over 90% of golfers wil never break 80.

Regardless of equipment golf will never be easy.