Question on when to get clubs?

[Stanters]

With determining the length of shaft that you require it's more a question of your wrist to floor measuremet than your height. Just because you are tall doesn't necessarily mean you will want longer shafts but it is likely.

The MacGregor 565s are nice and good for beginners - I'd go for steel shafts and not graphite though and I'd be amazed if you wanted anything other than regular shafts at the moment. My friend who must be 6ft 3in uses them and I hit his 5 iron the other week and felt really good. They have good things going for them generally, they are well made, forged, come with very good shafts as standard and aren't very expensive. Ticks all the boxes basically.

Do you have a putter yet? If not just try out as many as you can, decide if you prefer mallets or blade style by trial and error and then try some more. Then try a bit more, then a few more and then a try some you haven't tried yet. Then try another one.... It's the only way to get yourself one that feels right for you and if costs $2 or $200 it makes no odds as long as you are comfortable with it.

 

[Andy299]

I recommend:

1)Good quality second hand clubs.

2)A putter that makes you feel comfortable over the ball. (someone already advised: try one, try another, then another, then another and still try some more - 100% agreed)

3) Do not spend money on a driver, buy a 3 or 4 wood. (I think this too was already advised by someone )

4)Lessons and practice. (again, someone already advised that - 100% agreed)

5) what I have not seen anyone advising as yet:

I do not know if anyone will agree with me on this, but I believe that early on the less clubs one plays with the easier it is to develop tempo and groove a good, sound swing.

Hence my recommendation that from the set you buy (if you bought a full set of irons) only use the 5, 7, 9, PW and SW. I guarantee that your scores will be helped by this rather than hurt. Initially it is hard to know which club is the right one from a given distance. Playing with only every second club in the bag makes the choice easier and will let you commit to your shot much easier as well, which is very important in this game.

Good luck with whatever you decide to buy and welcome to the forum.

 

[Eracer]

Yeah, blisters on the right hand are from holding too hard. But let the instructor take care of it. You don't want us giving you conflicting advice. There are a few different effective ways to grip, etc. Let the hands-on guy handle that.

As for slicing, that's caused by an out-to-in swing. Visualize yourself standing over the ball at address. When you come down through, you're coming in from above the target line, and swinging through below it, instead of coming in straight along the target line. This is what spins the ball sideways and gives it the big curve. Swinging in-to-out spins it the other way, and causes hooks. You can at some point learn to control these and hit controlled draws and fades, but for not, just try to hit it straight.

I'm gonna recommend the MacGregor V-Foil M565 for you. I got the 3-PW off of ebay NEW for 250$. I really like them a lot, and I believe they're built an inch longer than standard normally, so they'll suit your height even better.

Here's a set that is still REALLY cheap. They're gorgeous irons IMO, and they haven't let me down yet.

NEW MACGREGOR GOLF V-FOIL M565 IRON SET 3-PW GRAPHITE S - (item 250146950485 end time Jul-27-07 18:44:36 PDT)

Wow! 13 hours to go, and still only $50 for the set. I noticed they were stiff shafts. Has your instructor mentioned what flex he thinks is appropriate for you? If he thinks you can play stiffs, then I would JUMP on this deal. I would put a max bid of $110 in right now, and flush out the max bids of the five people bidding on them now.

Even if you have to re-shaft them, that's a smokin' deal on some nice irons.

 

[RickinMA]

I second the recommendation for the macgregor m565's - they're good quality clubs and won't be impossible to hit for someone new to the game

I have a half set of m565's (3,4,5,6) - really easy to hit straight and feel great (the rest of my irons are Wishon 560mc which I prefer the look of, but aren't as forgiving as the m565's)

 

[Eracer]

I do not know if anyone will agree with me on this, but I believe that early on the less clubs one plays with the easier it is to develop tempo and groove a good, sound swing.

Hence my recommendation that from the set you buy (if you bought a full set of irons) only use the 5, 7, 9, PW and SW. I guarantee that your scores will be helped by this rather than hurt. Initially it is hard to know which club is the right one from a given distance. Playing with only every second club in the bag makes the choice easier and will let you commit to your shot much easier as well, which is very important in this game.

Good luck with whatever you decide to buy and welcome to the forum.

I believe that playing with fewer clubs is something every golfer can benefit from. Not sure I would recommend it to the raw beginner though, simply because they are probably a long way from being able to control distance - to hit 1/2 and 3/4 shots - which is necessary with a half set.

Better I think to gain confidence in one's swing; to be able to groove a swing that will hit the target with the right club. Then as one plays, one can learn the knockdown, the punch, etc. that are required when one doesn't have all the yardages covered by the clubs one carries.

Great idea, but more of a "next level" tool.

 

[Andy299]

I believe that playing with fewer clubs is something every golfer can benefit from. Not sure I would recommend it to the raw beginner though, simply because they are probably a long way from being able to control distance - to hit 1/2 and 3/4 shots - which is necessary with a half set.

Better I think to gain confidence in one's swing; to be able to groove a swing that will hit the target with the right club. Then as one plays, one can learn the knockdown, the punch, etc. that are required when one doesn't have all the yardages covered by the clubs one carries.

Great idea, but more of a "next level" tool.

True Eracer to an extent. That is I was not thinking of trying to hit half shots, punch shots, etc. early on. You are right it will be a problem due to lack of consistency and skills to execute them right.

I was saying it because of the lack of consistency there will be a large variance between the shortest and longest distances hit with each club. Even with a club missing in the sequence there would probably be overlaps in the distances achieved. It will be easier to decide what to hit from 150 yards, 130 yard or 110 yards, et. Hence the thought of taking every second club out at the early stages and putting them back when the yardages with each club starts to be consistent.

 

[BrockGolf]

Awesome advice. I'm leary to buy anything until I ask my instructor and unfortunately I won't see him again till next Thursday. Four 1hr lessons for four thursdays in a row.

So basically when looking at used clubs I should take length, flex, and "how good for beginners" into account? How can I tell if a set is a good learning set?

I measured the other night (was looking at a PineMeadows set on their website and they recommend measuring) and if I recall correctly I'm 36.5" from floor to wrist with arms hanging.

As of now I have no clubs at all. I'm the type that will research stuff to death before I buy it to ensure that I'm buying what I will want for the long run, even if it costs more.

Why no driver? The driver was by far the club I was hitting the longest and straightest with last night after the lesson. I'm aware it's more of a swept back swing than an iron...is that why? Groove my iron swing first?

 

[RickinMA]

Brock,
the driver is the longest club in the bag with the least amount of loft (ignoring the putter)
it is easier to control shorter clubs and it is easier to control clubs with higher loft - drivers have both of those facts working against them

most golf lessons are done with a mid iron (7-iron) and I think there's probably a good reason for that - once you can hit that, it's not too hard to carry good habits over to the other clubs

since the driver is difficult to hit straight (thanks to being the longest and having the lowest loft) many people continue to slice their tee shots into the trees instead of swallowing their pride and leaving the driver in the bag. many of the guys that are slicing driver into the woods 200yrds out and 20 yards into the woods can hit their 3 wood straight 220 into the fairway and have a chance at scoring better (3 woods are shorter and have more loft)

 

[BrockGolf]

Gotchya. The driver was feeling really really good for me last night. But for most of the lesson I was on a 6 iron. I'll try out some woods tonight. The 36 holes I've played in my life I didn't have a driver, only a 3 wood and I used that to tee off. It was my go to club So what you say makes sense from a personal historical aspect as well.

Cheers

 

[FKA19]

get a solid driver from a few years ago.... taylormade r580xd comes to mind. if you're comfortable with your current 3wood , then keep with that for now. get a forgiving iron set. maybe with a few hybrids... adams comes to mind. then a decent sandwedge for the sand, and chipping etc... and then the putter... get a putter your comfortable with that suits your eye. putter doesnt have to expensive at all, its just whatever works for you.
im betting you could put this together for under 500 bucks easily.

 

[SilverUberXeno]

Cleveland Launcher 460 Ti models are really nice (I got one this year for less than 150$), and they come with a higher-end shaft, in a lot of cases. Even the COMP model (which launchers a little higher than the regular Ti) can be purchased with an Aldila NV in it. Check out Dick's Sporting Goods if you can, and ask to hit them, if they're available.

Most of the DSG stores have a launch monitor setup now, so they SHOULD be able to tell you, roughly, what your swing speed is, and give you some advice on what shaft you're looking to get. As long as you're making clean contact, the ball speed and launch angle (both of which they acquire via computer) are great indicators.

 

[BrockGolf]

Wow! 13 hours to go, and still only $50 for the set. I noticed they were stiff shafts. Has your instructor mentioned what flex he thinks is appropriate for you? If he thinks you can play stiffs, then I would JUMP on this deal. I would put a max bid of $110 in right now, and flush out the max bids of the five people bidding on them now.

Even if you have to re-shaft them, that's a smokin' deal on some nice irons.

So they eventually went for $202. Seems he has them up all the time...oops seems I can't post URLs till I make more posts here. <meant to paste URL here>

I'll talk to my instructor and see whether he thinks I need longer shafts or not. They are nice looking clubs to my completely uneducated eye I guess outside of these I'd need a driver, some woods, a putter, and a sand wedge? Is that correct?