Is it really possible to make golf clubs any better than they are right now?

[jjfcpa]

I guess I'm becoming a skeptic.  I've seen too many reviews of new clubs that are sometimes not even better than the prior version.  It seems like manufactures think of new terms to assign to technology that is being recycled as new but is really just the same as before but with a catchy new name.  

 

And many golfers will replace their equipment with the latest and greatest only to find that what they were using is just as good as the new stuff... except for the new name and renamed technology.

 

Most of us would probably be shocked to find they most big OEM's already have 2 or 3 iterations already planned for the future.  And I bet they spend more time thinking of branding (names) for the "new technology" than they do actually changing the clubs.  

 

Sorry, I had to get that off my chest.  Just ordered some new stuff today that I'm sure will do nothing to lower my score.

 

[PEI_Golfer]

I'm still waiting for my MB's to be milled up from the Vibranium blocks I snuck out of Wakanda a few years back to be made up, then I think that will be the best clubs ever.  Will go crazy with the Adamantium cored balls I have coming from Ali Express.

Edited January 27, 2022 by PEI_Golfer

[2bGood]

Is it really possible to make golf clubs any better than they are right now?

 

Yes

 

End Thread/

[morgan1819]

6 minutes ago, PEI_Golfer said:

I'm still waiting for my MB's to be milled up from the Vibranium blocks I snuck out of Wakanda a few years back to be made up, then I think that will be the best clubs ever.  Will go crazy with the Adamantium cored balls I have coming from Ali Express.

 

I've got 3-pw Beskar shafts coming in from Discount Dave's.  

[PEI_Golfer]

Just now, morgan1819 said:

 

I've got 3-pw Beskar shafts coming in from Discount Dave's.  

Yeah, I passed on those, not man enough anymore, so went with pedestrian graphene for a little extra kick and stability.

[PEI_Golfer]

10 minutes ago, 2bGood said:

Is it really possible to make golf clubs any better than they are right now?

 

Yes

 

End Thread/

Waaaaaahhhh, I didn't get a bowl of soup with my hat...

[getitdaily]

28 minutes ago, jjfcpa said:

I guess I'm becoming a skeptic.  I've seen too many reviews of new clubs that are sometimes not even better than the prior version.  It seems like manufactures think of new terms to assign to technology that is being recycled as new but is really just the same as before but with a catchy new name.  

 

And many golfers will replace their equipment with the latest and greatest only to find that what they were using is just as good as the new stuff... except for the new name and renamed technology.

 

Most of us would probably be shocked to find they most big OEM's already have 2 or 3 iterations already planned for the future.  And I bet they spend more time thinking of branding (names) for the "new technology" than they do actually changing the clubs.  

 

Sorry, I had to get that off my chest.  Just ordered some new stuff today that I'm sure will do nothing to lower my score.

 

I personally think drivers are nearly maxed out. The big thing this year seems to be ballspeed and spin consistency across the face. It seems all the new releases have made big improvements there. 

 

But outside of new materials that allow some new weight distribution, I dont see a lot more coming. 

[Hickory4ever]

Can new clubs be better, it is possible. Will any improvements make you a better golfer, probably not.

 

Golf is a game of skill, improving your skills and course management will make you a better golfer and vastly improve your scores. That being said, the vast majority of golfers are not necessarily playing the best performing clubs for them.

 

That being said, new toys are fun. Are they an improvement, well that is another question. I have well fitted equipment, the skills are up to me.

 

[2bGood]

1 hour ago, getitdaily said:

I personally think drivers are nearly maxed out. The big thing this year seems to be ballspeed and spin consistency across the face. It seems all the new releases have made big improvements there. 

 

But outside of new materials that allow some new weight distribution, I dont see a lot more coming. 

Lots of room to improve. We just started down the road of customisation and adjustability. Drivers will keep getting better over-all, but the big gains will be them getting better specifically for the person using them. 

[Gooby]

Nope, technological advancement reached it’s pinnacle with the Hammer X according to a trusted source. 

[HarborMike]

Better in what regards? For the most part, yes they can. In terms of the popular subject matter areas in performance, distance, ballspeed, forgiveness, etc. you’ll likely see marginal differences if any across the board in a vacuum, but there could be big differences from person to person.

[Stinger83]

Yea simplify them. Some of these drivers look like Marvel movie posters 

[NoFancyUsername.]

No. Unless the R&A change the rules of conformance.

[DeCuchi]

I believe they can be better, but the problem is can they be better at an acceptable cost. There could be customized faces, COG’s, weighting, etc, but you can’t sell that to the masses and make enough money. The time and cost to build one off’s is prohibitive to success in our microwave society. Everything has to be generalized to fit the most people possible and be readily available.

[DArnie]

 

 

 

 

We've come along ways in 45+ years. 😮 Woods ,balls, shafts, agronomy yes improved substantially. Irons yes but not as much as the others.

Further improvements? Probably, but not much, as they are now limited. 

 

Wilson Reflex

[Notashank]

Did Jack play good with old equipment, yes. Would he be that much better with today’s equipment, no. It will get better for the hacker golfer but the pros are good with old and new. 

[bombs]

Yes it is. 

 

End of thread.

[kiwihacker]

1 hour ago, bombs said:

Yes it is. 

 

End of thread.

I remember reading a golf thread like this about 15 years ago and somebody commented something along the lines of "I thought technology had maxed out playing my 1990 Nintendo Game Boy" 

[JamesWA]

Ricks Shiels said when reviewing the Cobra Limited driver that it reminded him of the F9. The Taylormade Stealth driver is a re- interpretaion of the old carbon driver.

So I would say yes.

If your swing is a horror show or your feet are pointing staight towards the trees nothing will save you. 

I'd love some new clubs though ! 

[amace04]

Define "better"

 

Can a driver, when squared up and hit off the centre with perfect launch conditions and the same swing speed go any faster?  No.  Regulations limit how hot a driver face can be.

 

However, Even this year the faces are much more forgiving across the face.  Watching YouTube pros like Rick Sheils aren't going to really show you much.  They all have a pretty good swing and find the centre often.  The early amateur reviews of the Stealth vs SIM 2 are suggesting the stealth is much better across the entire face than SIM 2.   That's what each manufacturer is striving for.

Same with Cobra.  LTDx is in the bag of both Bryson and Kyle, meanwhile Bryson wouldn't touch Rad or Speedzone.  Safe to say, the LTDx is "better" than the previous iterations for them.

 

Same thing with non-bladed irons. Loads of tech in there to make even a players cavity back iron perform much better, much more consistently.

[getitdaily]

7 hours ago, 2bGood said:

Lots of room to improve. We just started down the road of customisation and adjustability. Drivers will keep getting better over-all, but the big gains will be them getting better specifically for the person using them. 

Maybe. Here's the deal tho...we've already seen a driver reach really close to max moi. We've seen a couple drivers reach neutral.axis CoG. Supposedly combining those would be innovative. But what will that mean from a performance standpoint? Not a lot of people know. Everything published is theoretical. On the cover you'd get ping 4xx max straight flight with callaway, cobra, TM speed across the face. 

 

But to get there means material and construction innovation. Probably talking carbon infused with steel or titanium or something else. A construction strong enough to withstand the force of impact but also shaped where 75% of the weight is low and back.

[PowderedToastMan]

I’d way rather play with my current clubs than the ones I used 10-15 years ago. They look, feel and sound better. Performance improvement is marginal but it’s there, especially in the driver. 

[bluedot]

The clubs themselves?  It will be less about "improvement" and more about options.  The variety of types of irons is completely different than it was just a few years ago.  It isn't so much that the irons are "better", but rather that there are just flat out more choices available, including mixed sets.

 

The real "improvement" will be exactly what it's been for the last decade or so, which is the ability to get a particular player fitted to what is best for him.  That so many players choose to look at the opportunity to take advantage of that as not worth their time or money is one of the enduring mysteries of golf, at least to me.

Edited January 27, 2022 by bluedot

[me05501]

Having entered the era of computer-designed gear, future changes will likely be much more subtle. Assuming the programming is good, a computer is going to go straight to the most efficient design. The only thing holding it back would be the human considerations like aesthetics. 

[Hateto3Putt]

"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

 

Charles H. Duell 1899, Commissioner of US patent office.

[Abh159]

People said the same thing 10 years ago, and the same thing 10 years before that, and the same thing.... 

 

See where I'm going here? 

[cgasucks]

The OEMs can easily make clubs better than they are right now, but the USGA and R&A won't let them.

[NoTalentLefty]

When you can hit a shot off the toe and it carries as far as a center hit, then you reached club nirvana…..

[lefthack]

Callaway and now a few others are using AI and machine learning to develop clubs, so my guess is computers will figure out something that has been right in front of us the whole time.

 

Then the PGA will outlaw it 

[forrester_fire]

I guess it depends on your definition of "better".  Can they make drivers longer on perfectly struck shots?  Probably not.  Can they make drivers better on less-than-perfect swings?  Of course.