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 Tappan and Joel Turnman here from Golf Monthly and welcome along to
00:08West Hill where we'll be talking you through the 10 Golf Gear myths that can have a really
00:13negative impact on your game. Yeah, I think these are all theories that people have about
00:17why certain equipment might be right for them but actually those theories are based on misconceptions
00:22that sometimes are wrong and they can sometimes lead to you buying things that aren't quite right
00:26for you. Guys, if you're new to the Golf Monthly channel, please do hit the subscribe button
00:30to make sure that you don't miss any of our videos. But let's take a look now at the 10
00:34biggest golf gear myths.
00:36OK, so the first myth we are going to look at is that higher handicappers should always
00:44go for more forgiving golf clubs. Now, there are lots of different reasons why you might
00:49play off the handicap you play off. It might be that you're a higher handicapper not because
00:52your ball striking isn't consistent but actually because your short game is letting you down.
00:56It might well be that you're a higher handicapper looking for a new set of irons. If you automatically
01:01go for irons that are aimed at higher handicappers, those irons might well have offset built into
01:06them. But if your consistent miss is left, that actually, that offset isn't going to
01:10do you any favours. So it's just about nuance. There's a bit more to it than just thinking
01:14that just because you'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. That's more helpful
01:21than just thinking, I pay off a certain handicap, therefore I should go 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 golfers
01:35out there will definitely benefit from lowering their spin to maximise carry distance, actually,
01:40it's more about optimising the spin that you generate and how you combine that with the launch
01:44angle and the ball speed that you bring to the table. It's all about bringing those factors
01:48together to maximise carry distance. So if you are a high launching player, then yes, potentially
01:54knocking some spin off could maximise distance. But there will be situations where taking spin
02:00off your drives actually will be a detrimental effect to the distance and the performance of
02:05your drive. So it's just something to bear in mind. Be careful. Knocking spin off doesn't
02:08always lead to more distance.
02:15The 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. Now, of course, it really is very
02:23important, but it's just one piece of the jigsaw. So take a driver fitting, for example.
02:28The fitter will have a whole host of different options available to them so that different shafts,
02:33of course, but then you've got lie angles, you've got lofts, you've got different weight
02:36settings in the head, and they all make a difference to the performance of the driver. So just laying
02:41it all on the door of the shaft and saying that it's really important to get the right
02:45shaft for you. Yes, it is, but you also need to get all the factors right in the heads to
02:49make sure that you walk away with the clubs that are right for you.
02:52Now, the 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 towards
03:05distance because that's where they feel like there are more bigger, more significant performance
03:09gains to be had. But actually, if you're hitting chip shots around the greens, as long as the
03:13lie is clean and you're striking the ball relatively well, you've got fresh grooves, you've got
03:18clean club 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. And that gives you more options around the greens. It should help you get up and down
03:32more often. So just because maybe your short game is a weakness, you're a bad chipper, or maybe
03:37you're a high handicapper, it doesn't mean that you can't benefit from the performance and the field
03:42benefits that a premium golf ball offers.
03:50The next one on our list is that draw bias drivers are for higher handicappers. Now, that's not the case.
03:55Instead, draw bias drivers are for those players that tend to hit a consistent fade and want a little bit more
04:00short distance, want a slightly straighter ball flight, or for those players that hit quite a big slice
04:04and are looking for something that's going to guard against their bad shot. Now, draw bias drivers can be
04:10used by players of all handicap abilities. So just because you're a higher handicapper, don't automatically
04:15assume that a draw bias driver is right for you. It's based less on your handicap ability and much more
04:20on your ball flight.
04:27So the next golf gear myth on our list is that every golfer needs a gap wedge. And actually, in truth,
04:32every golfer needs even loft gaps between each of their wedges. And a lot of it comes down to what loft
04:39your pitching wedge is. You can find it out online. If your pitching wedge is quite strong in loft, the chances
04:43are you probably will need a gap wedge to plug that gap in between your pitching wedge and your sand wedge.
04:48And it also comes down to how many wedges you want to carry. And that will depend in turn on what clubs
04:55feature in the top end of your bag. So if you have quite a lot of clubs in the top end of your bag,
05:00maybe you've got an extra hybrid in there or a utility iron, you'll have to make sacrifices elsewhere
05:04in your bag to hit that 14 club limit. And therefore, you might need to opt for a three wedge
05:10makeup rather than a four wedge makeup. I use four wedges. I prefer the options around the greens and also
05:16I play quite a short golf course, so I have quite a lot of wedge shots into greens. So I want to have
05:21more loft gaps covered off, more distances covered off with those different wedges. But if that's
05:26something that's not applicable to your course, if you feel like you get more performance benefits from
05:30having more clubs in the top end of your bag, then maybe you won't need a gap wedge. You can go from a
05:34pitching wedge to a sand wedge and then a lob wedge. As long as the loft gaps are relatively even,
05:40then it should be quite easy to control the distances on those shorter shots.
05:48The next myth is that some golfers think they're not good enough to get custom fitted. And there's
05:53a couple of elements to this. The 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 lie angles
06:02for your game and the right thickness of grips, they will all make a difference and they will help you
06:06find the middle of the club face that little bit more often. And then on top of that, a key part
06:11of any fitting is to help a player guard against their bad shot. So it might well be that your bad
06:17shot tends to leak out to the right or that you tend to hit it low and left sometimes and that's
06:22your bad shot. The fitters can do things when they're setting the golf clubs up for you that will
06:26help guard against those shots that are really costing you out on the golf course.
06:29The next golf gear myth on our list is that graphite shafted irons are only for slower
06:39swingers and I would 100% argue that case because I've done some testing here at West Hill with
06:44Yonex testing their new irons with graphite shafts and I was actually blown away by the performance
06:49that was on offer. Yes, it does feel a bit lighter and it takes some getting used to and yes, they do
06:53launch the ball a little bit higher than steel but the dispersion was really tight. It didn't feel
06:58whippy at all. If you get the right spec for you in terms of that flex profile, I think you'd actually
07:03really benefit from or really enjoy the feel of performance on offer. And the fact that they are
07:07a lot lighter means less effort is required, they feel a lot smoother and you might even be able to
07:12practice for a little bit more. So if you're a bit of a range rat, you like to hit a lot of balls,
07:16potentially graphite shafts could unlock a little bit of extra time for you to do that. And from what
07:22I've seen, there really isn't a sacrifice in performance if you go for a custom fitting. So
07:26definitely don't discount graphite if you're looking to upgrade your irons.
07:34Finding the right putter is all about feel. Now there's actually a lot more to it than that. The
07:38first thing I'll say is that when it comes to the mainstream manufacturers, all of their putter
07:42ranges offer a really good feel. There 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 for
07:50you so that you can stand more consistently and in a better way over the ball so that your eyes are in
07:54the right position over the ball. And also so that you can find a putter that complements your stroke.
07:59Some players will have more of a straight back and through stroke. Some players will have a stronger
08:03arc. Whatever it is, you need to try and marry up the putter with your stroke. If you can do that,
08:08then 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 what us
08:21amateurs are using. And actually, in reality, the equipment that both of us are using is very
08:26similar. Of 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 drivers to
08:35position weight exactly where they want it, or special grinds for different course conditions on
08:40their wedges, which allows the wedge to interact with the ground in a slightly different way, depending
08:44on the grass they're playing and things like that. But generally speaking, the heads that you can buy are the same as what the tour pros are
08:49using. So don't go thinking that they're playing a completely different game to us.
08:54It's very similar equipment. Unfortunately, they're just using it a lot better than us.
08:59So there you have it. That's our list of 10 golf gear myths. Guys, before you go, please do hit the
09:03pause button and let us know if you think we've missed anything. There's quite a lot of
09:07misconceptions that people have about golf equipment and finding the right equipment for them.
09:11If you think we've missed anything, let us know.
09:12Yeah, and thanks for watching. If you like what you're watching, make sure you click the like button and do
09:16subscribe to the Golf Month YouTube channel, if you haven't already, so make sure you don't miss
09:20any of our equipment videos. But that's all from us from West Hill Golf Club. It's goodbye.