We don't really believe the hype, do we?..............

[Birchy]

Theres some guys at my club that have clubs that are older than anything theyve ever had on the antiques roadshow. Theres some younger lads at my course that have gear that costs as much as my car. I will let you work out who has the lower handicap

 

[kid2]

Bob would you say that there is a link between very good players and oldish kit...
I think that there maybe..... The 2 lowest lads at our club off 0.9 and 1.2 are both using gear thats at least 6 or 7 years old.....
The lad off 0.9 uses Wilsonstaff Pi5's and my own buddy uses mizuno MP32's.....
His woods are Titleist 905 series.....

My own mate has hit my wilsons against his mizzy's like for like as the shafts are the same and there is no distance gain....

 

[sev112]

The standard line about averahe handicap never reducing is misleading

Every year a number of new players come into the game and start off with a handicap of 28 (or higher in Europe/US?) and yet if for every one of those newbies, an existing player reduces their handicap by 1 shot. Then all teh players from last year are better (possibly because of new products) yet the average handicap is skewed by the new players at a much higher handicap (minus 1 versus +28) .

It's obviously not as simple as that but that is indicative of why one shoudlnt believe generic statements like that one.

i bet if you took teh same group of players over a long period you would find that they do get better on average

 

[Foxholer]

Long post warning

That's pretty much what happens in golf too!

Quantum leaps - such as cavity back irons, metal woods, big forgiving heads (TM didn't think the 360 would sell very well!) come along occasionally but most change is iterative and cosmetic.

Golf is probably the most (over-)hyped sport - mainly because of the purchasing demographic!

 

[Tiger]

If I was Cat 1 standard golfer I would be far less likely to change my equipment though. Once you are that good it would have to offer substantial improvements to switch you out from the clubs currently in your bag. Those players probably went through a phase of trialling different things till they plumbed for things they really loved.

That said there will always be people like rickg who have aspirations to have enought kit to play a different set of clubs, in different attire wearing different shoes every week of the year

 

[Dave B]

I recently bought a new putter the Odyssey No 7 as used by Luke Donald.

My puttting has now improved to the extent where I no longer need my belly putter, (sold on ebay for a small profit), and I don't have to worry if they are banned or not.

In addition it has helped to take quite a few shots off my round so it's a win win situation.

On the other side my new Callaway Razr Fit Driver which I was fitted for launches the ball too high. Part of this is probably due to the fact that when I got fitted for it I had limited shoulder movement however a cortisone injection has worked wonders so the Callway may be replaced by a new Nike VR Pro which online Golf have on special at £139.99 which is less than half price.

I have used the old red Nike VR and to be honest wish I'd never gone for a fitting as I spent money on a driver that did very little to improve my game. A better investment would have been lessons however we all do it once.

I forgot to add, I hit my old spare Macgreggor Steel shafted steel heads almost as well as my R11 and MD fairways. The newer clubs may be slightly longer and possibly more forgiving but not as much as the manufacturers would have us believe.

 

[GasMan]

I have a bet with my mate that whatever he spends on equipment January - December this year I am allowed to spend on lessons. Anything I spend on anything other than consumables (balls, gloves, etc) is subtracted from the total. At January 1st we were both off 10 and he has NEVER had a lesson and never will but is a complete new equipment junkie. There is a fair wager on who sees the most improvement. It's quite scary that I've still got £742 of lessons in the pot to try and use before the deadline and I'm 1.6 ahead of him at the moment!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I've been more than culpable in buying new gear (R11's) etc and coveting things like the RBZ's and their promise of extra mileage. I've just got a new putter and having sold the R11's I'm pretty set on my bag.

But, and its a big(ish) one I love trying out new kit when it comes out. Not always to purchase but to see for myself if product A is better than product B and to just see if any of the hype applies to a mediocre player like me. In the majority it doesn't. I've not hit the RBZ's in anger yet so that is one myth still waiting to be dispelled