In this video, Golf Monthly's Neil Tappin runs through 5 gear checks every golfer needs to make. These range from checking your yardages to making sure your grips are in a good state ready for a powerful, athletic golf swing. If you are looking to play better golf, then keeping an eye on your gear is a must - here's how to do it!
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00:00Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Monthly and welcome to the London Club and this video on the five
00:05golf gear checks that every golfer needs to make. Now obviously you've got 14 clubs that you can carry with you plus a whole host of
00:12different
00:13accessories and golf balls as well.
00:14So it pays to make sure that what you're carrying with you is set up exactly right for you so that there aren't any
00:19silly mistakes that could end up costing you shots. And now if you're new to the Golf Monthly channel
00:24please do hit the subscribe button to make sure you don't miss any of our videos.
00:27But let's get started looking at the first on our list of five golf gear checks.
00:31Now the first check to make is to ensure that each of the clubs in your bag goes the distance that you think it goes.
00:38And this is something worth doing maybe once or twice during a season.
00:42I would pick a driving range with good quality golf balls,
00:45well-defined targets and if possible ball tracking technology that will give you an idea
00:50about how far each of the clubs in your bag
00:53carries. Now it's the carry distance that you're after, not the total distance. The total distance will depend on ground conditions.
00:59The carry distance will give you an idea when you're out on the golf course what hazards you can fly over,
01:05where you need to pitch the ball in order to get the ball close to the flag.
01:09So it's carry distances that you're after. Now ideally you will be able to get those
01:13reliable carry distances that we're talking about for every club in your bag.
01:16But I appreciate this may or may not be possible
01:19depending on the access you have to things like good quality golf balls at the driving range and the technology to track the shots. If
01:26you're struggling on that front, one thing you can still do is you can still check
01:30to see that the gaps between your clubs are even. This can be really helpful.
01:34Now it might well be that over the course of the season,
01:37the loft of one of your irons has changed a little bit and actually has made it a little bit stronger or a little bit
01:41weaker. If you go through this process, you might well be able to identify anything that really stands out in
01:47the data as being wrong. And likewise, it could be that either you're
01:52getting a little bit older or maybe not swinging the club as fast as you used to and perhaps your five iron
01:57doesn't go as far or is going the same distance as your six iron, in which case you're carrying a club that you don't need
02:03to carry and there will be an equipment solution out there for you.
02:06This is just good housekeeping, good to make sure that each of the clubs that you're carrying is
02:11going as far as you think it will, so that when you get to the course
02:14you've got confidence in the numbers that you're able to carry the ball,
02:17but also that you're not carrying anything that isn't doing exactly what you want it to.
02:21Now the next check to make is your grips on your clubs. Now your grips are your only point of contact with the golf club,
02:27so making sure they offer plenty of traction
02:30for as much control as possible while you're making a full and athletic swing is absolutely essential.
02:35And here I've got an older golf club with an old grip on it and this is what you're looking out for.
02:40So this grip has a bit of a, I'd say a bit of a sheen to it.
02:43Which you can tell isn't offering as much grip as you'd want it to.
02:47Now if this was in my bag, which it isn't, but if this was in my bag, I'd give this a good clean.
02:52I'd give it a scrub with some hot soapy water to see if I was able to
02:56resurrect this grip, because I think over time grips get dirty.
03:00If you've been out on the course on a really sunny day where you've had sun cream in your hands,
03:04they can get that that sort of grease sort of baked into them slightly
03:08that causes you to have less traction than you would hope.
03:11So I would give that a clean and see if I was able to
03:13recover it. If not, then obviously I think I'd probably look to invest in a new grip for this golf club.
03:19Now in my hands here,
03:21I've got two clubs that I am currently carrying in my bag and this shows you why you need to make a
03:25check about your grips. Because in my right hand here is my 50 degree wedge.
03:29This grip is in a great state. You can see it's really clean, offering plenty of traction. That's fine.
03:34No need to clean, no need to replace. But in my left hand here, I've got my
03:39three wood. And obviously when you make a swing with a three wood,
03:42you want to be as athletic and powerful as possible and you want as much grip as possible.
03:45But as you can see, especially when you compare the two,
03:49this grip is in need of a bit of care and attention. Again,
03:52I'd give this a clean and if it still wasn't offering as much traction as I want, then I would replace it.
03:57And these are the sorts of checks that are worth making. Probably with your grips, again,
04:02maybe once, maybe twice a year. Make sure they're in as good a state as possible because, as I said,
04:06if you're looking to make full athletic, powerful swings,
04:09you want as good a control of the club as you can possibly get.
04:12Okay, so the next one on my list is about golf balls.
04:15And actually this is less about the state of the golf balls that you carry because, I don't know about you,
04:21but I tend to lose balls before I retire them.
04:24It's actually more about the sheer number of makes and models of golf balls that you're carrying around the course with you.
04:29So during the course of a normal season,
04:32you'll probably spend enough time searching for golf balls,
04:35whether it's your own or your playing partner's, that you will pick up quite a few different makes and models.
04:39So if I were you, I'd go and have a look at your golf bag and have a look at the sheer number of different makes and
04:43models. Take out anything that you can't imagine yourself actually playing with because otherwise,
04:48you're just adding weight to your golf bag for no reason. Once you've done that,
04:52then maybe identify the one make and model that you really like. The one that offers you
04:58what you feel like is the best performance. And then maybe invest in a few more of those golf balls so that you have one
05:03ball in your bag that is your kind of favoured option.
05:08Because if over time you get used to the way in which that golf ball performs,
05:11particularly in the short game,
05:13then understanding exactly what to expect could make a big difference. Okay.
05:18So the next one on my list relates to wedges and in particular,
05:21the state of the face of your wedges.
05:23Now it's a natural thing about golf that over the course of a period of time,
05:27you will not get as much spin with your wedges as you did when they were brand new.
05:31Of course you won't. Most golfers know that.
05:33But there's an important distinction to make here between the wedges that you carry.
05:37In particular,
05:38if you're somebody that uses the same wedge for all of your short game shots and you practice with it a lot,
05:43and in particular, you hit a lot of bunker shots with it,
05:46that wedge will probably need to be upgraded on a slightly more regular basis than the other wedges in your bag.
05:52If you think about a bunker shot, it's a bit like sandblasting the face of your wedge.
05:56It's going to really dampen down those grooves and it's not going to just affect the amount of spin you're able to generate,
06:01but it will also change the ball flight that you create with your short game.
06:04So it's something to think about. This wedge that I'm carrying here, this is an old favorite.
06:09I absolutely love this wedge, but there's no two ways about it.
06:11It's coming towards the end of its lifespan.
06:13I'm not able to generate anywhere near as much spin with this wedge as I was when I first got it.
06:17And if I compare it to a newer wedge, the face of which I can actually see the difference in the grooves.
06:23So I think that's a kind of a warning sign that you might think to yourself,
06:26actually, a new wedge, fresh grooves might allow me to be a little bit more aggressive with my short game shots,
06:33which could actually really help.
06:35Okay, so the next check to make is about your golf gloves.
06:38And if you're anything like me, you'll have quite a few different golf gloves in your bag.
06:41And it's worth taking a look at them all to figure out which stage of their lifespan they're at.
06:46Now, there might well be a few in your bag that have got wet and then dried and as a result become quite hard,
06:51and are maybe cracking.
06:53Or alternatively, they've got really significant wear marks on them, in which case I would just get rid of those golf gloves.
06:58Now, you're also likely to have a few gloves like I've got in my hand here.
07:02This glove is pretty old, as you can see, it's pretty dirty and there are some wear marks on the thumb.
07:07But when I put it on, it still feels really good. It's still nice and soft.
07:10Now, I would continue to carry this glove, but I probably only use it to practice with.
07:15And by doing that, I know that I'm extending the lifespan of the good gloves that I have in my bag.
07:20And another tip that will help you do that is to carry some wet weather gloves.
07:24So, wet weather gloves come in a pair and they're really good when the weather's bad, they'll offer you excellent traction.
07:30But crucially, by carrying some wet weather gloves in your bag, you know that you'll be able to extend the lifespan of your good gloves.
07:37Again, so that you're not wearing them in really bad weather conditions, which can accelerate the degradation of those gloves.
07:42So, by just doing those couple of simple things, I think you'll find that you'll have a better quality of golf glove in your bag waiting to be used in competition play.
07:50Okay, so that's my list of five golf gear checks that every golfer should make.
07:55Please do leave some comments below. Is there anything that you think I've missed?
07:58It's always worth sharing ideas around.
08:00There might be some other people there that can really benefit from any ideas that you have about how to keep your clubs in as good a condition as possible.
08:08Because I think by doing these checks and doing them on a fairly regular basis,
08:11you'll be ensuring that you're not making any of those silly mistakes that we can all make from time to time.
08:15And ensuring that the clubs that you carry are really doing the business for you out on the golf course.
08:19Thanks for watching. That's all for now from the London Club. We'll see you next time.