Any body ever have a dramatic improvement because of new equipment

LarMan

Hi

I have a new Ping G30 driver on order and am hoping that it will give me extra distance and give me a consistent shot shape. At the moment I feel I am short off the tee and can have my shots go straight half the time and the other half can go equally left or right. The new club is a low spin model to counter the high spin I impart on the ball and hopefully increase the distance it goes rather than just fall out of the sky with no run as it does at the moment.

I had the driver fitted by PING and it is the first time that I have had a driver fitted. Now while I hope that I will see immediate results on the course I am not so naive to think that it will solve all my driving problems.

That said I was wondering if anyone ever bought a piece of equipment that dramatically improved their golf score.

Dublin Spur

yep

back in 2008 I switched from Taylormade RAC TP irons to Ping G10's

The game just became so much easier and my confidence grew

Handicap dropped from 12 to 6 in less than a year

Eventually upgraded them for i25s in Jan this year

alxmorgan

LarMan wrote: »

Hi

I have a new Ping G30 driver on order and am hoping that it will give me extra distance and give me a consistent shot shape. At the moment I feel I am short off the tee and can have my shots go straight half the time and the other half can go equally left or right. The new club is a low spin model to counter the high spin I impart on the ball and hopefully increase the distance it goes rather than just fall out of the sky with no run as it does at the moment.

I had the driver fitted by PING and it is the first time that I have had a driver fitted. Now while I hope that I will see immediate results on the course I am not so naive to think that it will solve all my driving problems.

That said I was wondering if anyone ever bought a piece of equipment that dramatically improved their golf score.

That driver has me interested as someone who also suffers from high spin. Out of interest what were your before and after numbers ?
Stock shaft ?

charlieIRL

I've noticed a huge improvement in my ball striking since i got fitted for my irons.

LarMan

I'd be lying if I said I knew exactly but the spin with the Ping was certainly less. (enough to make a big difference I'll find out this weekend). The shaft is a tour regular and glub head is the G30 LS Tec. Sorry I can't be more accurate but I can't recall the exact numbers he recorded.

Mantis Toboggan

My gps device has had a bigger effect on performance than any clubs I've bought.

FixdePitchmark

My handicap fell by 2 shots straight after I changed clubs from GI irons to muscleback.

I also went from Regular to Stiff on shafts at same time.

All my distance were in a tighter range and hit way more greens.

Johnny_Fontane

interesting thread.....going to be in Naples, Florida at the end of the month, might be the right spot to finally get fitted.

Does anyone know how long it would take to get clubs back after fitting?

kieran.

charlieIRL wrote: »

I've noticed a huge improvement in my ball striking since i got fitted for my irons.

but has it "dramatically improved your golf scores"

Ollieboy

2 items...

Golfbuddy help me with distances and improving my short iron distance control into the greens, my h/cap improved by 5 shots in the first season after buying it.

Ping G30 Driver, I've dropped 2 shots this summer since getting it and have much more confidence when driving and shaping drives. It's much easier to used then my old driver. I also got extra distance with it.

I also got an extra 10 meters out of my irons when I changed a few years ago.

dan_ep82

Twice for me but I don't think it had anything to do with how good the equipment was.

Changed my R11's for a set of AP2's. I couldn't hit the r11's out of my way and it was destroying every round. Went to Celbridge driving range and just grabbed a handful of 7i irons including my own. Felt much more confident over the ball with them and I ended up playing really well with them. Changed to 710 CB's because I got offered them for 100 and had 44pts (off 21) in ardee at the beginning of the year with 2 scratches. Considering going back to AP2's, not getting out nearly as often and strike is suffering.

Changed from 913 d2 with a heavy stiff shaft to an X2hot with regular. Pulled 8/10 shots for most games, stuck with it to see if regular would suit me after getting used to it. Changed eventually to the stiff shaft and much better, much more confident in the swing. All feel for me though, just felt I could swing it better.

themink

Introduction of a gap wedge to my bag made a big difference. I had been finding myself hitting a lot of 70-100 yard shots and had a PW and 52 + 56 blade style wedges in my bag. I wasnt comfortable hitting full shots with the wedges and was finding it hard to judge 3/4 or 2/3 type shots with my PW. Getting a gap wedge (50 degree) in the same style as my other irons (AP2) helped get a lot more accurate from that distance. I like to hit the same type of shot with the same type of club as often as I can. So i have no hybrids, no fairway woods and only use my 56 degree wedge when absolutely necessary.

Boskowski

The GPS watch was big. I'm finding myself pin high on back pins since I got that and only real bad hits are actually short of the green.
Thinking back what I was doing before that was ridiculous. "Ah ye here's the 150 marker, I'm a bit off that to the left, pin is wherever, ok 6 iron." Or such nonsense.

New irons feel promising but too new still to say anything. But they want to go straight. I put that down to the shaft fitting.

charlieIRL

kieran. wrote: »

but has it "dramatically improved your golf scores"

Definitely. 3 birdies in Fota prooved that, am having a few each round now and never had many before. Am way more consistent with them. Looking to tidy up my driving now for a full on assault on next year.

Senna

I don't think any one club helped me in a dramatic way, but the advant of hybrids did probably cut a few shots.
For a short hitter, hybrids meant consistently reaching greens from 180-200 yards was no longer a dream.

FixdePitchmark

The one issue with even my own one was.

You are rarely making changes in golf in isolation.

There is also the placebo effect with some new equipment. Your confidence can also change.

Another problem is when you get new equipment - it tends to be at an upper trend in your game , as you are investing in your game. Most sensible people only invest when they are increasing their golf and use.

So very difficult to make any real claim.

LarMan

So I got the Ping G30 and went out for a few holes, have to say it did not make a dramatic effect, but then I think it was more down to the swing then the driver. On on e hole I did hit two balls onto the fairway and distance was not too bad.

I did however adjust my wrist hinge as I feel that at impact I have an Open club face on all my shots. Last hole of the day was a par 3 and I hit two six irons on to the green so again I don't know if that is the solution to my problems but it gives me something to look forward to for the weekend.

Russman

LarMan wrote: »

So I got the Ping G30 and went out for a few holes, have to say it did not make a dramatic effect, but then I think it was more down to the swing then the driver. On on e hole I did hit two balls onto the fairway and distance was not too bad.

I did however adjust my wrist hinge as I feel that at impact I have an Open club face on all my shots. Last hole of the day was a par 3 and I hit two six irons on to the green so again I don't know if that is the solution to my problems but it gives me something to look forward to for the weekend.

I think there's always a big placebo effect with new equipment (or almost always !). Still, if it gives the confidence to make a slightly better move through the ball, that's all that matters, until it wears away !
I suspect that unless original equipment was completely and totally ill-fitting, we'd never see a massive improvement overnight. More likely over the course of a season we might notice we're hitting 2 greens more than usual or averaging a couple of fairways extra hit, something like that.

Hoof Hearted2

LarMan wrote: »

Hi

I have a new Ping G30 driver on order and am hoping that it will give me extra distance and give me a consistent shot shape. At the moment I feel I am short off the tee and can have my shots go straight half the time and the other half can go equally left or right. The new club is a low spin model to counter the high spin I impart on the ball and hopefully increase the distance it goes rather than just fall out of the sky with no run as it does at the moment.

I had the driver fitted by PING and it is the first time that I have had a driver fitted. Now while I hope that I will see immediate results on the course I am not so naive to think that it will solve all my driving problems.

That said I was wondering if anyone ever bought a piece of equipment that dramatically improved their golf score.

Define dramatic.

Domo1982

Interesting question for sure....

Due to the really good weather in Summer 2014 I splashed out on a nice pair of Oakley sunglasses. Almost immediately the difference in my game was amazing while wearing them and my confidence levels went through the roof.

During that summer I won 11 open singles, a volvo golf digest event and both majors at my club. My handicap went from 20.9 to 6.6 in just under 3 months and I genuinely attribute all that to buying a pair of specialist sunglasses.

Unfortunately the summer of 2015 has been a bit of a washout with little in the way of sunshine and lots in the way of .1's.:)
The low point came in this years presidents prize where I foolishly insisted on wearing my 'lucky' sunglasses during a particularly wet day and it really affected my vision.

Unable to see properly, I ploughed my golf cart into the lady captain and her friend who were out marshalling on the 6th hole causing serious leg injuries.Fortunately for me I managed to compose myself and finished the round well after all this(Buffer zone).

I hope that Summer 2016 will bring a return of the hot weather and my hot winning streak:)

Domo

PS - Get well soon lady captain

Paulzx

Domo1982 wrote: »

Interesting question for sure....

Due to the really good weather in Summer 2014 I splashed out on a nice pair of Oakley sunglasses. Almost immediately the difference in my game was amazing while wearing them and my confidence levels went through the roof.

During that summer I won 11 open singles, a volvo golf digest event and both majors at my club. My handicap went from 20.9 to 6.6 in just under 3 months and I genuinely attribute all that to buying a pair of specialist sunglasses.

Unfortunately the summer of 2015 has been a bit of a washout with little in the way of sunshine and lots in the way of .1's.:)
The low point came in this years presidents prize where I foolishly insisted on wearing my 'lucky' sunglasses during a particularly wet day and it really affected my vision.

Unable to see properly, I ploughed my golf cart into the lady captain and her friend who were out marshalling on the 6th hole causing serious leg injuries.Fortunately for me I managed to compose myself and finished the round well after all this(Buffer zone).

I hope that Summer 2016 will bring a return of the hot weather and my hot winning streak:)

Domo

PS - Get well soon lady captain

Move to Portugal. You'll be on the pro tour in no time:)

Jawgap

Yep.

In the club I was previously in we had a young assistant pro start and he was both enthusiastic and a red hot coach.

Over the course of a summer of fairly intense coaching and practicing I knocked 8 shots off (22 to 14) and sustained it until I went into 'retirement.'

EDIT: Just saw the caveat about 'new equipment' - so please disregard the above anecdote. As others have said, the GPS has probably given me the biggest boost recently by stopping me going for low % shots.

valoren

Domo1982 wrote: »

Interesting question for sure....

Due to the really good weather in Summer 2014 I splashed out on a nice pair of Oakley sunglasses. Almost immediately the difference in my game was amazing while wearing them and my confidence levels went through the roof.

During that summer I won 11 open singles, a volvo golf digest event and both majors at my club. My handicap went from 20.9 to 6.6 in just under 3 months and I genuinely attribute all that to buying a pair of specialist sunglasses.

Unfortunately the summer of 2015 has been a bit of a washout with little in the way of sunshine and lots in the way of .1's.:)
The low point came in this years presidents prize where I foolishly insisted on wearing my 'lucky' sunglasses during a particularly wet day and it really affected my vision.

Unable to see properly, I ploughed my golf cart into the lady captain and her friend who were out marshalling on the 6th hole causing serious leg injuries.Fortunately for me I managed to compose myself and finished the round well after all this(Buffer zone).

I hope that Summer 2016 will bring a return of the hot weather and my hot winning streak:)

Domo

PS - Get well soon lady captain

Now that's drama! :pac:

For me I would subscribe to the placebo effect.
A friend was upgrading his putter, a scotty cameron mallet type, to a newer model. I bought it off him as I liked the feel and weight of it.

I feel like my putting is a lot better since getting it, it may be a case of "You have a 'nice' putter now, so you better use it 'properly'", thus having the mental effect of me being a better putter. I don't keep stats so this is purely anecdotal.

delboykelly

April 2014 was off 17
Sept 2015 i'm off 8

In April 2014 I got fitted at ForeGolf. Changed the shafts in my iron and woods. Made a huge difference off the tee. I started to get more consistent off the tee resulting in less lost balls and scratched holes. Obviously I worked hard at my game too but the clubs helped so much. The confidence I have in my three wood and hybrid is savage. I improved my iron play also and hit more greens. Anyway I def think the improvement in fitted shafts helped get my hcp down. I've just got fitted again this week and have new irons and woods on order to improve my game further. (Gone for a more players iron and a better driver and some new wedges) I'll let you know in a year's time if the new irons were a good purchase.