At what point are you willing to upgrade your equipment?

[Burnsey]

The golden rule is that new equipment will never improve your game.
Buy when you like the idea of a something new and shiny in your bag. See it as like buying a new jumper, so whatever triggers you to do that, apply the same to golf gear.

Where is this golden rule reference?

 

[Voyager EMH]

Where is this golden rule reference?

It is in the golden rule book.
It has a gold cover and the leaves are edged with gold.
I have one.
I do not share the wisdom within very often. It is too easily wasted on the ignorant gainsayers.
But for those who know and believe - its secrets are immeasurably beneficial.

 

[Burnsey]

It is in the golden rule book.
It has a gold cover and the leaves are edged with gold.
I have one.
I do not share the wisdom within very often. It is too easily wasted on the ignorant gainsayers.
But for those who know and believe - its secrets are immeasurably beneficial.

I have sent Amazon a request to stock it.

 

[jamielaing]

On my way later to collect new irons. 6 years since the last set which for me is unheard of. Always had a 3 year rotation before. I think though it is important to have a clear idea in your head of what you are looking to improve. For me it was gapping at the long irons.

Toying with a new driver. Thinking is that if I get a bit more consistency off the tee and not be so wayward there are 3/4 holes that I would score better on. Thing is since making this decision my driver has behaved impeccably!

To answer the question, if I had a club put in my hand and guaranteed to drop a shot a round, damn right I'd buy it.

 

[howbow88]

This is a really interesting question.

I am so happy with my current set of clubs, that I don't think I want to make any changes to them until they fall apart. My clubs are mostly about 4ish years old - Ping G425 driver and 3W, an old Titleist hybrid, Taylormade p770 irons, some older Vokey wedges, and a Taylormade Spider putter.

I would possibly look at new wedges except that they are so stupidly expensive. And what would I get out of new wedges? More spin? Why would more spin actually be beneficial to my game?

The cost of new clubs now have become prohibitively expensive, for me at least.

 

[VVega]

The RIGHT equipment can certainly improve your game.

Indeed, it can … or might not. The opposite is probably more true, ill fitting equipment will make it more difficult to improve.

 

[hambugerpete]

Indeed, it can … or might not. The opposite is probably more true, ill fitting will make it more difficult to improve.

Very Marginal gains at best , certainly no way to buy a game.
Id have bought it ages ago otherwise

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Very Marginal gains at best , certainly no way to buy a game.
Id have bought it ages ago otherwise

That said - though money can't buy you love - you know that in some circles it seems to buy something masquerading as it. And so...I am certain that my new club could well buy me as shot or two off my handicap - and I will come to truly love it. Time will tell.

 

[hambugerpete]

That said - though money can't buy you love - you know that in some circles it seems to buy something masquerading as it. And so...I am certain that my new club could well buy me as shot or two on my handicap - and I will come to truly love it. Time will tell.

 

[Voyager EMH]

If I were to replace my 17 year old irons and 20 year old woods with brand new stuff, I would surely have to hand in 20 general play cards before entering competitions.
Otherwise I would be a cheating bandit who had deliberately been playing with old spanners to keep his handicap up, before getting new stuff and winning pots as a bandit.
It is not an such an easy decision to make as it may seem, this purchasing-brand-new-clubs scenario.

 

[Klimski]

I believe equipment gets better only every 10-15 years. With 'better', I mean that a newer generation of clubs will offer: more forgiveness, ease of use, adjustability. How good it works for you is highly personal. For example I play with a (lengthened) Cleveland C wedge (chipper) - that didn't exist 15 years ago. So, I would upgrade when a generation of clubs comes around that offers you individually better performance. As others have said, there is no guarantee that new clubs will boost your performance. And.. every 3 years is probably way too often for most players (that said, some tour pro's change wedges every 12 weeks..!). That said, there are moments when there is a true revolution: persimmon drivers to oversized titanium. Non adjustable drivers to fully adjustable drivers. Long irons to hybrids to high lofted fairway woods. And currently the no torque putters.

 

[SteveJay]

I think I am now as close to having a set I am happy with as I have ever been. I have been a tinkerer in the past!

Just swapped wedges to some with a more forgiving bounce and changed from 56/60 to 54/58. Wedges have been a weak part of the game lately and think this was largely mental/confidence, which made me hit my gap wedge more than the other wedges, even when it wasn't really the right choice.

I changed driver at the start of the year and am really happy with the Ping G440. Can't see any other changes for the foreseeable future.

I know that i can be reasonably consistent with all my clubs now, so if any start to misbehave i know its me not them

 

[Voyager EMH]

Having thought about this through the day, I've decided to stick with what I've got.

If I make an improvement to my HI this year, then I will know that is my improvement, not merely bought an improvement without my mind and body making any improvement at all.

 

[Threeputtprince]

Sometimes I’ll have clubs in mind like new wedges and if I have any luck with cash e.g. a bonus, bet I will buy them

 

[kp17]

Does anyone have a LAB putter?

 

[need_my_wedge]

When the urge manages to overcome my sensibility.

This, which happens to be right now. I’ve had my eye on the Mizuno Pro 245’s for some time, finally had a fitting this morning, just waiting on price and negotiation, but will be ordering to replace my JPX hot metal purchased 6 year back. The new ones don’t offer me anything more other than sexy looks, but the amount I play, those looks won’t be wasted.

 

[Chip&Run]

Anytime i enter a pro shop

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Anytime i enter a pro shop

This. Really don't need another putter but have seen a TM Spider in the shop and every time I am in there now I get it off the shelf and give it a waggle. Only a matter of time now

 

[Orikoru]

This is a really interesting question.

I am so happy with my current set of clubs, that I don't think I want to make any changes to them until they fall apart. My clubs are mostly about 4ish years old - Ping G425 driver and 3W, an old Titleist hybrid, Taylormade p770 irons, some older Vokey wedges, and a Taylormade Spider putter.

I would possibly look at new wedges except that they are so stupidly expensive. And what would I get out of new wedges? More spin? Why would more spin actually be beneficial to my game?

The cost of new clubs now have become prohibitively expensive, for me at least.

There are certain clubs where I 'believe' in the tech and others where I think it's less important. So I do fittings for driver and irons, and buy new off the back of those fittings - but will only do this every 5 or 6 years due to cost. And because I think the tech benefits are clear over that sort of timescale. But with woods, wedges and putter I'll just buy whatever because I think they are more kind of trial-and-error things and if you find ones that works, it will always work and be harder to beat in a direct comparison. I might be wrong but those are my perceptions of those clubs for whatever reason.

 

[simsini]

I 'upgrade' my clothes a lot more often than my equipment. I'm in deep trouble now, as our pro has started stocking Puma gear.