How long do you give a new club...?

[Golferguy209]

I’ve been going through this over the past year while upgrading my bag. New iron set was P7MC, gave them about 8 rounds plus practice before going to get another fitting.
 

Driver thought I was getting too much spin and started experimenting with different driver shafts. Finally got out to the range to test 3 different ones up against each other and settled on the diamana black.

 

Putter - had a blade, bought a mallet, put a super stroke on the mallet and putts seem to be starting on line.

 

All in all, gotta put in the practice work to get better.

[Aviador Naval]

7 hours ago, Collegefbfan said:

Wow, stay out of those two forums until October.  Is that a way of saying that I post too much trying to learn about the sport?

First, it was meant to be a bit lighthearted and not a stern warning/rebuke.

 

Second, @golfgirlrobin has it exactly right in her earlier reply to you.  If you spend too much time in here it becomes WAY to easy to start to believe your equipment is holding you back or you’re giving up some advantage by not having the latest pico-advance in technology.  I’ve followed your posts loosely.  You have done a great job of assembling a fantastic beginner bag.  Play it without hesitation.

 

Regarding, the Instruction forum.  It’s even more hazardous than this one if you don’t proceed with caution. There are lots of well meaning, and in some cases highly qualified, folks over there prescribing medicine for various ailments.  The issue is, you can only guess whether the medicine is relevant to you and you run the risk of drinking Ex-Lax when you needed Kaopectate. 

 

Some areas of the Instruction forum are good for anybody.  Look for threads about course management, the mental game, fitness, and practice routines.  Stay away from those that start, “I was a freshman in a small Midwestern university and you’ll never believe what happened to me one night while I was on the range working on super-charging my accumulators at P4 to produce mega-lag for my Hoganesque single plane rotary swing...

Edited May 18, 2021 by Aviador Naval

[chavycha]

It's not your equipment. 😁

[Hoff_19]

I feel the pain. Had set of tour preferred mc (2011) and felt like I wanted something a bit more forgiving. Picked up some jpx 919 forged last September, still not happy with them... 

 

The brand new (and more expensive) clubs are really hard to kick to the curb. The internal struggle in my head is brutal.

[Collegefbfan]

10 hours ago, Aviador Naval said:

First, it was meant to be a bit lighthearted and not a stern warning/rebuke.

 

Second, @golfgirlrobin has it exactly right in her earlier reply to you.  If you spend too much time in here it becomes WAY to easy to start to believe your equipment is holding you back or you’re giving up some advantage by not having the latest pico-advance in technology.  I’ve followed your posts loosely.  You have done a great job of assembling a fantastic beginner bag.  Play it without hesitation.

 

Regarding, the Instruction forum.  It’s even more hazardous than this one if you don’t proceed with caution. There are lots of well meaning, and in some cases highly qualified, folks over there prescribing medicine for various ailments.  The issue is, you can only guess whether the medicine is relevant to you and you run the risk of drinking Ex-Lax when you needed Kaopectate. 

 

Some areas of the Instruction forum are good for anybody.  Look for threads about course management, the mental game, fitness, and practice routines.  Stay away from those that start, “I was a freshman in a small Midwestern university and you’ll never believe what happened to me one night while I was on the range working on super-charging my accumulators at P4 to produce mega-lag for my Hoganesque single plane rotary swing...

I seriously get what you all are saying.  For me, this sport has really interested me for a decade.  I wish I would have taken lessons then.  No idea where I would be now.  Surely better.  As far as the forums go, I am a message board guy.  Tons of useful information out there.  And some not so useful.  In relation to purchasing more expensive/better equipment and trying to follow instruction of people that have been playing 10-20 years, I know my role and my place.  Honestly, I want to hit the ball straight consistently (notice I didn't say 280 yards), make sure that I am hitting my 7 iron longer than my 9 iron, you know stuff like that.  I don't have the money to go out and purchase the next set of irons for $985-$1200, and I know my game won't improve just because I have the hottest equipment.  I really would like to shoot between 100-120 over the next year or so.  Then break 90 over the next couple of years after that.  I would be satisfied.  I know it is about the person swinging the clubs, not the clubs the person is swinging.     

Edited May 18, 2021 by Collegefbfan

[mxskier]

FWIW, to close this out, I had my old driver and new driver SW measured. Old D5. New D2. And there it is..

 

I really like heavier feeling clubs so I don't cast my hands and search for the head. 

[Drawman]

On 5/17/2021 at 3:01 PM, Texas Golfer said:

Beware the 3 round rule.  Wait at least 5 rounds before getting rid of the old club.  Any new club might have only 3 good rounds in it.  I’ve had drivers and putters that worked miraculously for the first 3 times playing them.  Then its mojo suddenly runs dry and it becomes worse than the old club.  I’ve confirmed this phenomenon with golfers older and more wise than me.

The safest bet is to decide on a club after you pay off the credit card charge. That's when the warranty expires and all goes to hell.

[TyNiles]

Last summer I was fit for a Mavrik when I stereotypically never sat well behind Callaway drivers. However, the numbers were far better than anything else I hit that day. 
 

Took it home, went to the course for a quick 9, sold it at the club after the round. When you know, you know.

[North Butte]

10 hours ago, mxskier said:

FWIW, to close this out, I had my old driver and new driver SW measured. Old D5. New D2. And there it is..

 

I really like heavier feeling clubs so I don't cast my hands and search for the head. 

What was the actual weight of the two clubs? 

 

For my part, the total weight of the club is something I'm much more sensitive to than swingweight. Give me a 340g driver at D3 swingweight and a 310g driver at D3 swingweight and I'll hit the lighter one better every single time. In fact, as long as the total weight is in the 310g, 315g, 320g type range it almost doesn't matter what the swingweight is (within reason). 

 

Of course that's just me. 

[FootWedge16]

I once ditched a new set of ‘16 Apex irons after one round.

 

Usually 2 to 3 rounds max. I’m not a patient person.

[North Butte]

34 minutes ago, FootWedge16 said:

I once ditched a new set of ‘16 Apex irons after one round.

 

Usually 2 to 3 rounds max. I’m not a patient person.

I tried a set of X20 (or maybe X18?) with graphite shafts. My one and only graphite shafted iron experiment. I made it through one round, thought maybe it was just an adjustment period needed. Made it through about 6-7 holes the next day and literally walked in because  I was hitting them even worse than the first day.

 

Lesson learned. Not cheap. 

[north_east_pro]

I usually give a club 10 to 15 rounds in different weather conditions to really make a full judgement whether it was a good purchase of not and thankfully I've not made too many mistakes over the years.

[Valtiel]

On 5/17/2021 at 9:53 AM, mxskier said:

How long do you give a new club before going back to what it replaced? I bought a SIM2 with my shaft a few weeks ago and had it delivered and have played about 4-5 rounds with it, and just have not struck it nearly as well as the Ping G400LST that it was replacing. I was hitting my driver as well as I have ever hit it, a few days hitting multiple 340-350 yard drives and getting like 70-80% FIR, which is unheard of for me. Since trying the new driver, I'm just not hitting anything on the course nearly as well. It may be a swing weight thing or a look at address or confidence thing, but how many rounds do you give a new club before ditching it?

 

22 hours ago, North Butte said:

What was the actual weight of the two clubs? 

 

For my part, the total weight of the club is something I'm much more sensitive to than swingweight. Give me a 340g driver at D3 swingweight and a 310g driver at D3 swingweight and I'll hit the lighter one better every single time. In fact, as long as the total weight is in the 310g, 315g, 320g type range it almost doesn't matter what the swingweight is (within reason). 

 

Of course that's just me. 

This is what I was going to ask as well. Taylormade and PING tend to be on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to raw head weight. PINGs can be a full 10-12g heavier stock sometimes, and usually 7-10g. A longer, lighter Taylormade just may not suit you, so I definitely recommend checking both swingweight and total weight. I can almost guarantee the PING is noticeably heavier. 

As for the question, if I am even hitting the club then that means it has been tweaked/setup the way I like and is within normal parameters, plus it has passed the visual test. At that point it is basically the club's game to lose because all the most important criteria have been met. For any hollow clubs, they have to sound/feel acceptable with hotmelt always being an option. For any solid head clubs, they just have to feel acceptable and get through the turf well. I don't tend to worry about launch/trajectory as those can be manipulated. That means i'll know in a few balls if it has a chance at being on the course, and after the front 9 if it has a chance of staying.  

[jgpl]

Often only one round. I usually know after a few shots if its going to work out for me or not and I can only think of one occasion when I stuck with something and really adjusted (a set of SC/MB MP-18's) 

 

How much have I spent on clubs over the past 15 years.....don't ask, but A LOT..the life of a dedicated club ho

[mxskier]

For everyone who asked about weights, the Ping head alone is 3g heavier (200g vs 197, exclusive of adapter), but its the same shaft and length.

 

The Ping is 318-319g and the TM is 314-315 - I don't know what this means really..

 

For comparison my 3W is like 342, 5W. is 352, and 4H is 377.

 

Hmm interesting...

Edited May 20, 2021 by mxskier

[Bensdad]

Several years ago I read an article by Barney Adams (Adams Golf fame) about testing a new driver.  He stated that after three swings you start altering your swing to fit the new driver (or whatever club).  If it doesn't fly like you think it should in the first three swings it may not be the right fit for you. 

 

I did a Mizuno Optimizer test a couple of years ago and the fitter kept changing shafts after 3 or at most 4 swings.  Found that confusing at first them remembered what Mr. Adams said about equipment changes.  We found 3 shafts that worked pretty well and one stood out from the rest.  It worked pretty well until I got the bug to try something else.

 

Having said all of that I have had clubs that lasted less than one round and others I gave several months before giving them the boot.  A lot always depended on how well I liked looking at the head at address.  I am a golfer and I am fickle.

[chal0072]

One range session with my coach. If he sees I swing correctly and still can’t get the results or the feels that we are looking for, it’s gone. 

[texcrom]

I don’t take new clubs to the range before the first round. I don’t like it scratch the faces as a courtesy to the shop I frequent and their golfer friendly return policy.

I know by the turn of the first round whether they are keepers, and have been known the change at the turn (if the previous set is in my possession and in my truck).

[rp4golf]

On 5/17/2021 at 10:53 AM, mxskier said:

I was hitting my driver as well as I have ever hit it, a few days hitting multiple 340-350 yard drives and getting like 70-80% FIR, which is unheard of for me.

I've never understood those that change out clubs, "just cuz", especially one so reliable. 🤔