In this video Neil Tappin and Joel Tadman offer some pointers about your equipment choices. Many golfers have ideas about what might be best for them but sometimes these can be based on pre-conceptions that are wrong. Of course, this can lead to you spending money on golf gear that isn't quite right for you. In this video they look at what the 10 biggest golf gear myths are.
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00:00Hello everyone, Neil Tafford and Joel Tudman here from Golf Monthly and welcome along to
00:08West Hill where we're going to be talking you through the 10 golf gear myths that can
00:12have a really negative impact on your game.
00:15Yeah, I think these are all theories that people have about why certain equipment might
00:19be right for them, but actually those theories are based on misconceptions that sometimes
00:23are wrong and they can sometimes lead to you buying things that aren't quite right for
00:27you.
00:28So if you're new to the Golf Monthly channel, please do hit the subscribe button to make
00:30sure that you don't miss any of our videos, but let's take a look now at the 10 biggest
00:34golf gear myths.
00:38Okay, so the first myth we are going to look at is that higher handicappers should always
00:44go for more forgiving golf clubs.
00:47Now there are lots of different reasons why you might play off the handicap you play off.
00:50It might be that you're a higher handicapper, not because your ball striking isn't consistent,
00:54but actually because your short game is letting you down.
00:57It might well be that you're a higher handicapper looking for a new set of irons.
01:00If you automatically go for irons that are aimed at higher handicappers, those irons
01:04might well have offset built into them.
01:06But if your consistent miss is left, that actually, that offset isn't going to do you
01:10any favours.
01:11So it's just about nuance, there's a bit more to it than just thinking that just because
01:14you're a higher handicapper, you should go for a certain set of golf clubs.
01:17Think about your own game, think about where you're throwing away shots.
01:20That's more helpful than just thinking I play off a certain handicap, therefore I should
01:23go for a certain set of golf clubs.
01:30Now the second golf gear myth is that everyone needs a lower spinning driver and while some
01:35golfers out there will definitely benefit from lowering their spin to maximise carry
01:39distance, actually it's more about optimising the spin that you generate and how you combine
01:43that with the launch angle and the ball speed that you bring to the table.
01:46It's all about bringing those factors together to maximise carry distance.
01:52So if you are quite a high launching player, then yes, potentially knocking some spin off
01:56could maximise distance, but there will be situations where taking spin off your drives
02:01actually will be a detrimental effect to the distance and the performance of your drive.
02:05So it's just something to bear in mind, be careful, knocking spin off doesn't always
02:09lead to more distance.
02:16The next myth is, and it's something that we get a lot of comments about on our videos,
02:19is that the shaft is the most important part of the club.
02:22Now of course it really is very important, but it's just one piece of the jigsaw.
02:26So take a driver fitting for example, the fitter will have a whole host of different
02:30options available to them, so different shafts of course, but then you've got lie angles,
02:35you've got lofts, you've got different weight settings in the head and they all make a difference
02:39to the performance of the driver.
02:40So just laying it all on the door of the shaft and saying it's really important to get the
02:44right shaft for you, yes it is, but you also need to get all the factors right in the heads
02:48to make sure that you walk away with the clubs that are right for you.
02:56The next golf gear myth is that some golfers think they're not good enough to generate
03:00spin around the greens and as a result they choose a golf ball that's orientated more
03:04towards distance because that's where they feel like there are more bigger, more significant
03:09performance gains to be had.
03:10But actually, if you're hitting chip shots around the greens, as long as the lie is clean
03:14and you're striking the ball relatively well, you've got fresh grooves, you've got clean
03:18club faces, you will be generating a decent amount of backspin and actually, if you switch
03:22into a premium urethane covered ball, you will see the amount of control that you generate
03:27increase.
03:28And that gives you more options around the greens, it should help you get up and down
03:32more often.
03:33So just because maybe your short game is a weakness, you're a bad chipper, or maybe you're
03:37a high handicapper, it doesn't mean that you can't benefit from the performance and the
03:42field benefits that a premium golf ball offers.
03:50The next one on our list is that draw bias drivers are for higher handicappers.
03:54Now that's not the case.
03:55Instead, draw bias drivers are for those players that tend to hit a consistent fade and want
04:00a little bit more distance, want a slightly straighter ball flight, or for those players
04:03that hit quite a big slice and are looking for something that's going to guard against
04:07their bad shot.
04:08Draw bias drivers can be used by players of all handicap abilities.
04:12So just because you're a higher handicapper, don't automatically assume that a draw bias
04:17driver is right for you.
04:18It's based less on your handicap ability and much more on your ball flight.
04:27So the next golf gear myth on our list is that every golfer needs a gap wedge.
04:31And actually, in truth, every golfer needs even loft gaps between each of their wedges.
04:37And a lot of it comes down to what loft your pitching wedge is.
04:40You can find it out online.
04:41If your pitching wedge is quite strong in loft, the chances are you probably will need
04:44a gap wedge to plug that gap in between your pitching wedge and your sand wedge.
04:49And it also comes down to how many wedges you want to carry.
04:52And that will depend, in turn, on what clubs feature in the top end of your bag.
04:57So if you have quite a lot of clubs in the top end of your bag, maybe you've got an extra
05:00hybrid in there or a utility iron, you'll have to make sacrifices elsewhere in your
05:04bag to hit that 14 club limit.
05:06And therefore, you might need to opt for a three wedge make-up rather than a four wedge
05:11make-up.
05:12I use four wedges.
05:13I prefer the options around the greens.
05:16And also, I play quite a short golf course, so I have quite a lot of wedge shots into
05:20greens.
05:21So I want to have more loft gaps covered off, more distances covered off with those different
05:25wedges.
05:26But if that's something that's not applicable to your course, if you feel like you get more
05:29performance benefits from having more clubs in the top end of your bag, then maybe you
05:33won't need a gap wedge.
05:34You can go from a pitching wedge to a sand wedge and then a lob wedge.
05:37As long as the loft gaps are relatively even, then it should be quite easy to control the
05:41distances on those shorter shots.
05:44The next myth is that some golfers think they're not good enough to get custom fitted.
05:52And there's a couple of elements to this.
05:54The first is that any fitting involves a series of static measurements.
05:58So those things that are going to enable you to find the right shaft lengths, the right
06:02lie angles for your game, and the right thickness of grips.
06:05They will all make a difference, and they will help you find the middle of the club
06:07face that little bit more often.
06:10And then on top of that, a key part of any fitting is to help a player guard against
06:14their bad shot.
06:15So it might well be that your bad shot tends to leak out to the right, or that you tend
06:19to hit it low and left sometimes, and that's your bad shot.
06:22The fitters can do things when they're setting the golf clubs up for you that will help guard
06:26against those shots that are really costing you out on the golf course.
06:35The next golf gear myth on our list is that graphite shafted irons are only for slower
06:39swingers.
06:40And I would 100% argue that case, because I've done some testing here at Westhill with
06:44Yonex testing their new irons with graphite shaft, and I was actually blown away by the
06:48performance that was on offer.
06:50Yes, it does feel a bit lighter, and it takes some getting used to, and yes, they do launch
06:53the ball a little bit higher than steel, but the dispersion was really tight, it didn't
06:58feel whippy at all.
06:59And if you get the right spec for you, in terms of that flex profile, I think you'd
07:03actually really benefit from, or really enjoy the feel, the performance on offer.
07:07And the fact that they are a lot lighter means less effort is required, they feel a lot smoother,
07:12and you might even be able to practice for a little bit more.
07:14So if you're a bit of a range rat, you like to hit a lot of balls, potentially graphite
07:18shafts could unlock a little bit of extra time for you to do that.
07:21And from what I've seen, there really isn't a sacrifice in performance if you go for a
07:25custom fitting.
07:26So definitely don't discount graphite if you're looking to upgrade your irons.
07:34Finding the right putter is all about feel.
07:37Now there's actually a lot more to it than that.
07:38The first thing I'll say is that when it comes to the mainstream manufacturers, all of their
07:42putter ranges offer a really good feel.
07:44There are some slight differences, but they all offer a good feel.
07:46So actually, finding the right putter is more about finding something that's the right length,
07:50for you so that you can stand more consistently and in a better way over the ball, so that
07:54your eyes are in the right position over the ball, and also so that you can find a putter
07:58that complements your stroke.
07:59Some players will have more of a straight back and through stroke, some players will
08:02have a stronger arc.
08:04Whatever it is, you need to try and marry up the putter with your stroke.
08:07If you can do that, then you should find a putter that's right for you.
08:16So the final golf gear myth is that tour pros are using completely different equipment to
08:20what us amateurs are using, and actually, in reality, the equipment that both of us
08:25are using is very similar.
08:27Of course, tour pros have access to the tour trucks with some specialist technicians that
08:30are able to make some very specific changes to the heads, whether it's hot melting in
08:35drivers to position exactly where they want it, or special grinds for different course
08:39conditions on their wedges, which allows the wedge to interact with the ground in a slightly
08:43different way depending on the grass they're playing in, things like that.
08:47Generally speaking, the heads that you can buy are the same as what the tour pros are
08:50using, so don't go thinking that they're playing a completely different game to us.
08:54It's very similar equipment.
08:56Unfortunately, they're just using it a lot better than us.
08:58So there you have it.
09:00That's our list of 10 golf gear myths.
09:02Guys, before you go, please do hit the pause button and let us know if you think we've
09:05missed anything.
09:06There's quite a lot of misconceptions that people have about golf equipment and finding
09:09the right equipment for them.
09:10If you think we've missed anything, let us know.
09:13Yeah, and thanks for watching.
09:14If you like what you're watching, make sure you click the like button and do subscribe
09:17to the Golf Monthly YouTube channel if you haven't already, so make sure you don't miss
09:20any of our equipment videos.
09:21But that's all from us from West Hill Golf Club, it's goodbye.