confused.com

Panrich

I am getting to a point where I want to take up golf for a bit of exercise. As Bob Hope once said, I have a great short game but unfortunately its off the tee. I can hit a hybrid quite well but my irons all tend to go about 120 yards whether I use a 5 or a pitching wedge.
I was looking to get a set of clubs like the Wilson deep red that seem to be what I need but the guy in McGuirks wanted me to go for a Callaway diablo edge set instead. I understand that these may be better clubs but there are no hybrids in this set and I don't want to spend €600 and still be not in a position to get started.

Is the guy right and should I spend the extra on the Callaway set and are the Wilson a waste of money?

Almaviva

The last thing you do buying clubs is listen to a sales guy, a professional, or a club fitter. They are just trying to extract the maximum profit from you that they can.

Deep Reds would be fine - but - it depends what you are playing now. Unless they are 40 or more year old blades, then new irons are not going to solve the problem that you dont have enough club head speed to achieve greater distance gaps as you go down the irons. What have you ?

And absolutely do play hybrids. Certainly a 3 replacement, almost certainly a 4 replacement, probably a 5 replacement, and from what you say about distance, maybe even a 6.

Panrich

Thank you. I have an old geriatric Slazenger 'Seve 276' set that I bought from a work colleague 15 years ago. I have never really grown to like them and in truth they put me off for a long time because I never played well with them.

BigGrayKettle

Panrich wrote: »

hit a hybrid quite well but my irons all tend to go about 120 yards whether I use a 5 or a pitching wedge.

Just an observation I have made from golfers who have mentioned this to me. Having a very severe angle of attack in your swing, ie hitting down hugely on the ball, has a tendency to make most of your irons play similar distances. There are other things which can contribute also, such as ball position, but this is something to keep in mind. In terms of fitting, shaft flex and length would have an impact on iron distance rationalisation.

GreeBo

lesson?

uberwolf

GreeBo wrote: »

lesson?

with a good chance of a reverse pivot being diagnosed.

stockdam

Your clubs are old blades and they are not helping you. I'm not sure how old they are but the design is probably over 20 years old. They will probably be a bit shorter in shaft length and weaker in loft,

However you need to get a lesson to show you what you are doing wrong. There's no point buying a new set until you can hit the ball a decent distance.

See if you can pick up a more modern cavity backed 7 and maybe 5 iron and use those to practice. You'll find them easier to hit and they will be closer to the clubs that you will eventually buy.

For now forget about drivers, fairway woods or hybrids. Get your 7 iron working first and then move on from there.

Panrich

Thank you all. I will take on board all your advice. Ironically, I went for lessons about 10 years ago and that was the worst thing I did at that time. I went from a middling swing to a stilted abomination with all the parts working against each other and I am stuck there since. The only thing that encourages me is that I am very comfortable once I get within 50 yards of the green, and that would be harder to cure in my view

Daithio12

Panrich wrote: »

Thank you all. I will take on board all your advice. Ironically, I went for lessons about 10 years ago and that was the worst thing I did at that time. I went from a middling swing to a stilted abomination with all the parts working against each other and I am stuck there since. The only thing that encourages me is that I am very comfortable once I get within 50 yards of the green, and that would be harder to cure in my view

Oh yea lessons will do that to you alright, buying new clubs is infinitely better, well at least until the feel good factor wears off and you find yourself back at square one, but then you can just buy new clubs and rinse and repeat.

stockdam

Panrich wrote: »

Thank you all. I will take on board all your advice. Ironically, I went for lessons about 10 years ago and that was the worst thing I did at that time. I went from a middling swing to a stilted abomination with all the parts working against each other and I am stuck there since. The only thing that encourages me is that I am very comfortable once I get within 50 yards of the green, and that would be harder to cure in my view

If you are comfortable from 50 yards in then you are halfway there already.

Lessons can be either so complicated that you cannot repeat what you have been told or else so simple that you wonder what you have paid for. I prefer the simple approach that slowly guides you towards the end rather than tries to force your body to do things that your head doesn't understand.

One of the most valuable parts of a lesson to me is watching the instructor hit shots. Notice their posture, the speed of their swing and the simplicity. They don't try to muscle the ball but they let their technique do the work for them.

Don't be discouraged that you don't see immediate success as the aim should be to slowly get your swing working and there are no quick fixes.

searay

Panrich wrote: »

Thank you. I have an old geriatric Slazenger 'Seve 276' set that I bought from a work colleague 15 years ago. I have never really grown to like them and in truth they put me off for a long time because I never played well with them.

Would you consider second hand again? Good sets of barely used beginners clubs often appear on donedeal or adverts. For example, There's a set of wilsons on adverts including bag for €160 at the moment. (Not mine!)

You'd get most of your money back if you get back into it and upgrade in a year or two. I'd put more importance on finding a good pro and getting a few lessons.

scubapro

In fairness Diablo edge are super game improvement irons for high handicappers and as such should be a decent set for a beginner, plenty of reviews on the net imho. just checked direct golf and they can be had for 200 sterling for 5 to pw. Gives you room to add in a couple of hybrids. They do Diablo edge hybrids as well, a mate of mine has one and they are very easy to hit, very forgiving. A no brainer tbh, new clubs for that money.

neckedit

Almaviva wrote: »

The last thing you do buying clubs is listen to a sales guy, a professional, or a club fitter. They are just trying to extract the maximum profit from you that they can.

Deep Reds would be fine - but - it depends what you are playing now. Unless they are 40 or more year old blades, then new irons are not going to solve the problem that you dont have enough club head speed to achieve greater distance gaps as you go down the irons. What have you ?

And absolutely do play hybrids. Certainly a 3 replacement, almost certainly a 4 replacement, probably a 5 replacement, and from what you say about distance, maybe even a 6.

From all the people who work in the Golf Retail Sector..............We thank you!! Brilliant!

searay

Panrich wrote: »

Thank you. I have an old geriatric Slazenger 'Seve 276' set that I bought from a work colleague 15 years ago. I have never really grown to like them and in truth they put me off for a long time because I never played well with them.

The Slazenger 276s were released to celebrate Sevie's winning score of 276 in the 1984 British Open, which makes your clubs's design almost 29 years old. As designers claim to have improved club distance by 10 yards every year since, if you buy a new set you'll be able to hit all your irons 410 yards (120 plus 29 X 10).:D

Then all you'll need is a few lessons.

Almaviva

Almaviva wrote: »

The last thing you do buying clubs is listen to a sales guy, a professional, or a club fitter. They are just trying to extract the maximum profit from you that they can.

neckedit wrote: »

From all the people who work in the Golf Retail Sector..............We thank you!! Brilliant!

For pointing out the bluff of snake oil merchants ? Doubt I was letting the cat out of the bag to too many people!

John Divney

I'd have a look at a cheap set of older Mizuno MX range, good GI's without being oversize monstrosities.

I'd Spend the money on a high speed camera, then working drills around the problem areas, really helped me when i came back to the game, swing was naturally ok but needed a lot of work to improve.

I don't really like lessons because I believe what I believe in swing theory ( not spinning hips for power, using hand speed over shoulder rotation, and believe the release point should be the same for every club and stance too.

neckedit

Almaviva wrote: »

For pointing out the bluff of snake oil merchants ? Doubt I was letting the cat out of the bag to too many people!

Alot of us in the game are genuinely interested in getting the right gear in the right peoples hands at a price that suits them. We dont make a fortune doing this, but I, for one, enjoy what I do.
OP maybe Im wrong........Better off taking advice of random people on a forum.
If you want good solid advice on any purchase PM me and I will do my very best to help you out.

Regards
Neck

stockdam

Almaviva wrote: »

For pointing out the bluff of snake oil merchants ? Doubt I was letting the cat out of the bag to too many people!

I think this statement is bang out of order. Many people I know in the business try to give their best opinion and don't try to push clubs onto people just for the sake of it. I'm sure not all are like this but your statement is a bit silly and dramatic.

GreeBo

let's try to get back on topic lads, by all means start a new thread if you want to continue discussing the merits of sales people, but none of this is helping the OP.

Boskowski

Let's stay off topic for one more minute...:D

I know he's only got 48 posts, but I would have thought such a thread title leads to an auto perma ban.

Seriously? confused.com?

Panrich

Thank you all for your help. I do need to get a few lessons and I also have found a guy called Mark Crossfield online that seems to offer some basic drills and advice for the simple minded like myself. Hopefully I can report back at the end of summer with positive experiences all round. Thanks again for all the good advice.

uptheroyals

BigGrayKettle wrote: »

Just an observation I have made from golfers who have mentioned this to me. Having a very severe angle of attack in your swing, ie hitting down hugely on the ball, has a tendency to make most of your irons play similar distances.

never heard something so false in my entire life?? tendancy if anything is for golfers to be too shallow, adding loft with lower irons and not being able to produce a decent strike with longer!! With driver hitting down will cause problems because there will be no loft on the driver and hitting up produces maximum distance!

get a lesson and a decent second hand set for a hundred quid