Too dependant on a certain club?

[ademac]

So the last few weeks have seen me not playing anywhere near my best golf.
My mid/long iron play has been pretty poor, its normally a strength for me, so I have been using my hybrid for a lot of shots, 170-200 yds in, by shortening grip, ball position etc.but now I have become too reliant on the hybrid and almost ignore my mid/long irons which really isnt helping my game.
I had a shocker yesterday and couldnt even hit the hybrid so I felt a bit stranded and the confidence left me.
I will go out next week and play with just my irons to try and fall back in love with them.

Do any of you guys feel you are too reliant on a certain club/s and its becoming detrimental to your game?
How do you go about shifting back to the "undesirable" clubs?
Or am I just overthinking this?

 

[Lord Tyrion]

If you have a specific club that works extra well for you then look after it, take care of it, love it. The best golfers may have 14 clubs they feel like this with but for the rest of us it will be a handful. Me, 23° hybrid, PW and 52° wedge are my favourites. I try to improve my play with the rest but those 3 are the ones I feel most confident with and repeatedly hit the best. Embrace your good clubs.

Yes, you are overthinking this, or am I under thinking it?

 

[Capella]

I am very dependend on my hybrid that same way. It is my go to club whenever I have to cover distance with my second or on par 5s even third shot. I usually don't reach greens in reg, so my default way of playing a par 4 is: driver off the tee, then a hybrid as close to the green as I can get and then a controlled pitch or chip (or even still full short iron on some of the longer holes) onto the green.

I know I can just as well divide the distance into two short to mid-ironshots. That is the fallback I use when the hybrid fails me. But at the moment I struggle with getting the full shots into the greens to stop, so the hybrid plus shortgame shot seems the safer option somehow.

The other weakness is that I really hate to hit anything other than driver off the tee, even though we have a few holes where 3-wood, hybrid or even an iron would for sure be the safer option. But whenever I hit another club "for safety", I slice it into the trees or just top it off the tee.

 

[Orikoru]

Just buy more hybrids if they're better for you? Then at least you won't be using the same one all the time. You could get yourself a 4H and a 5H to replace those irons, then it would take away that feeling of using the same hybrid for everything and having to grip down or whatever. Plenty of people just have irons from 6 down now. Probably a better idea than trying to force yourself to have confidence in your irons, when the confidence in using hybrid(s) is already there.

 

[ademac]

Just buy more hybrids if they're better for you? Then at least you won't be using the same one all the time. You could get yourself a 4H and a 5H to replace those irons, then it would take away that feeling of using the same hybrid for everything and having to grip down or whatever. Plenty of people just have irons from 6 down now. Probably a better idea than trying to force yourself to have confidence in your irons, when the confidence in using hybrid(s) is already there.

My 4 iron was always one of my most confident clubs to be honest and I find irons much more versatile than hybrids in the main.
I have just become too reliant onbthe hybrid without really realising it.
Plus I dont really just want to buy more gear or where will it ever end?!

 

[Orikoru]

My 4 iron was always one of my most confident clubs to be honest and I find irons much more versatile than hybrids in the main.
I have just become too reliant onbthe hybrid without really realising it.
Plus I dont really just want to buy more gear or where will it ever end?!

Well I don't think it's a huge problem really. Why not use the club that you have confidence in on the day? I can't hit a hybrid to save my life, I tried to force it for ages, hitting tops, slices whatever with it, eventually I've just given up and got a 3 iron instead. Don't hit it well every time but at least the bad shot is a thin that still goes 150-odd which is far more acceptable. Point being, I kept using the club I wasn't confident with because I thought I should do, I would have been better off just hitting something more reliable.

 

[ademac]

Well I don't think it's a huge problem really. Why not use the club that you have confidence in on the day? I can't hit a hybrid to save my life, I tried to force it for ages, hitting tops, slices whatever with it, eventually I've just given up and got a 3 iron instead. Don't hit it well every time but at least the bad shot is a thin that still goes 150-odd which is far more acceptable. Point being, I kept using the club I wasn't confident with because I thought I should do, I would have been better off just hitting something more reliable.

I see what you are saying but for me I always played my best golf when I was hitting good mid/long irons.
I think for me to get to the next level I need to be able to be confident with them again and its not good for my game to become too dependant on one club/type of club.

 

[Orikoru]

I see what you are saying but for me I always played my best golf when I was hitting good mid/long irons.
I think for me to get to the next level I need to be able to be confident with them again and its not good for my game to become too dependant on one club/type of club.

Fair play, maybe a few rounds with the hybrid taken out the bag would help you then. I've done similar before, when I wanted to work on my 5 wood off the tee, I left the driver at home. Better to take it out the bag altogether so you're not tempted to fall back on it, then you get a whole round of working on what you want to.

 

[ademac]

Yeah I think I will do that next week. 👍

 

[NorwichBanana]

If I struggle with a club, I change my bag around so I have to use it.
Recently I've struggled with my 4 wood. To a point where I never used it for 3 or 4 rounds.
Over the past couple of weeks, when I play after work, I only take 7 clubs with me, and leave my Driver and 3 Iron out. Leaving my 4 wood as the only club I can use on some holes. Because of this I've had to use it, and hey presto its going well again !

I wouldn't say I'm ever too dependant on any club. I wouldn't want to be. But Mr 50, is my favourite club from 100 down to 40 yards in...recently had a round of 8 up and downs (6 with the 50, and another round I had 10 up and downs, 8 with the 50!)

 

[ademac]

If I struggle with a club, I change my bag around so I have to use it.
Recently I've struggled with my 4 wood. To a point where I never used it for 3 or 4 rounds.
Over the past couple of weeks, when I play after work, I only take 7 clubs with me, and leave my Driver and 3 Iron out. Leaving my 4 wood as the only club I can use on some holes. Because of this I've had to use it, and hey presto its going well again !

I wouldn't say I'm ever too dependant on any club. I wouldn't want to be. But Mr 50, is my favourite club from 100 down to 40 yards in...recently had a round of 8 up and downs (6 with the 50, and another round I had 10 up and downs, 8 with the 50!)

Its definitely good to have a club/s that you love I think but not good to be too dependant on any, its a fine line.
Good idea with the bag re-shuffle. I shall do the same next week.

 

[bobmac]

I'm afraid to say it's not down to the clubs.
If there's an issue with your technique, it doesn't matter what clubs you have.

If you keep burning the sausages, don't buy a new frying pan, learn how to cook.

 

[Capella]

I'm afraid to say it's not down to the clubs.
If there's an issue with your technique, it doesn't matter what clubs you have.

If you keep burning the sausages, don't buy a new frying pan, learn how to cook.

I don't think is not about buying new clubs or even about general swing faults. It is about what clubs work on a certain day or during a certain phase. I have days where my irons work great, but I can't get the hybrid and the 3 wood in the air and other days where it is the other way round. Maybe sometimes I'm a bit tired and therefore don't turn that well, or it is course conditions coming into it. Of course the best option would be to practice until all clubs always work equally well, but I must admit that I have neither the time nor the patience for that (and I even doubt that that can be achieved, because even the tour pros seem to have days where a certain club is just 'off').

 

[Orikoru]

I'm afraid to say it's not down to the clubs.
If there's an issue with your technique, it doesn't matter what clubs you have.

If you keep burning the sausages, don't buy a new frying pan, learn how to cook.

God, you don't have to be so blunt all the time. It seems like you comment something like this every time someone is pondering their clubs. Some of us don't have time or inclination to practise 8 days a week, we just want to use what works. We know it's the Indian not the arrow, but sometimes picking the right bow helps as well. :lol:

 

[ademac]

I'm afraid to say it's not down to the clubs.
If there's an issue with your technique, it doesn't matter what clubs you have.

If you keep burning the sausages, don't buy a new frying pan, learn how to cook.

Whilst I respect what you are saying and agree in part, I used to (a month ago) have good technique and was confident hitting the long irons.
I have just become a bit too dependant on using a hybrid and I think it has shot my confidence with the longer clubs.
I'm not certain I could have lost all my technique?
Far more likely to lose confidence?

 

[ademac]

To add.
It seems as tho you would say take a lesson everytime somebody has a bit of a crisis of confidence and isnt playing well or questions their clubs etc.
I get that you are a golf coach and that is how you make your money but golf isnt a "one size fits all" type of game surely?

 

[bobmac]

You did say that your long irons were normally a strength for you so I'd say your clubs do suit you.
If you now have no confidence in them, something in your technique must have changed. Wouldn't it make sense to fix the problem? It's often someting small that a pro would spot easily and wouldn't require 8 days a week practce to fix.

When I work with someone I teach self analysis which helps people fix themselves. That way they don't have to pay out for loads of lessons.

 

[ademac]

You did say that your long irons were normally a strength for you so I'd say your clubs do suit you.
If you now have no confidence in them, something in your technique must have changed. Wouldn't it make sense to fix the problem? It's often someting small that a pro would spot easily and wouldn't require 8 days a week practce to fix.

When I work with someone I teach self analysis which helps people fix themselves. That way they don't have to pay out for loads of lessons.

That makes some sense to be fair. I also do think that over use of the hybrid has almost made me lazy with the longer irons and therefore hitting them poorly. I will try a round or two with just irons in the bag to try and get a bit of confidence back.

 

[Paperboy]

I'm dependant on any club that doesn't have a hosel

 

[Griffsters]

Threads like this demonstrate how big the mental side of golf is. We associate good (and bad!) golf shots with a particular club when really it just happens to be that club in our hands when a good swing comes along.

Its comforting to revisit those memories of great shots with a particular club and its probably in some way self fulfilling as the next time you hold that club the mental image is of a great shot... so we swing with confidence and commitment.

Sure we all know that when it goes tits up its the swing at fault so IMHO if things get more ragged than normal revisit the basics, grip, stance, balance staying connected etc and keep picking the right club for the desired outcome.