- 9 minutes ago
If you feel like your golf game has stalled, it might be time to look inside your bag. Join us as we reveal five significant gear changes that can help you stop the decline and start improving again. From your driver to your grips, these simple tweaks could transform your scoring.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00I am a three handicap golfer and it feels like I've been a three handicap golfer for as long as
00:04I
00:04remember and I'm fed up of playing average golf and not getting any better so I have made some
00:09significant gear changes to my bag to help me arrest that decline in my progress and shoot
00:16some of the lowest scores I've ever had in 2026 and I've done it through making five key equipment
00:21changes which I'm going to talk you through in this video. You might learn something and hopefully
00:25it might inspire you to make a few gear changes of your own and turn your scoring around this year.
00:30So without further ado let's dive into those five equipment changes I've made already in 2026.
00:49Right now the first thing I've added to my golf bag in 2026 is a higher lofted driver. Now I
00:55was lucky enough to go to TaylorMade HQ in Carlsbad the kingdom and get fitted for the new
01:01Qi4D driver. What became apparent during that fitting was clearly I'm not able to move the driver as
01:07quickly as I used to do. Now this is no slight on TaylorMade's aerodynamic claims this is more
01:13my body telling me it's entering its 40th year and those days of swinging it at 110 miles an hour
01:19are long gone. So while I used to play a nine and a half degree driver sometimes 10 degree driver
01:24I got fitted into the core model Qi4D and in a 10.5 degree lofted head set on the standard.
01:32So clearly I'm getting more loft than I was accustomed to and as Duane my fitter reminded
01:35me during the fitting loft is your friend. I think more golfers than you think might benefit
01:39from playing a little bit more loft especially when you consider the core heads these days
01:44in a lot of different brands not just TaylorMade do tend to offer a little bit lower spin than
01:48they used to. So you can afford to play a little bit more loft to get that optimum ball flight
01:52of high
01:52launch low spin and more distance. What I noticed with my 10.5 degree head versus my nine and a
01:57half
01:57degree head that I had before was that the ball flight wasn't actually that much higher it was
02:02very playable it was sort of the windows I was hoping to see my drives going and I'm going to
02:08demonstrate that for you now hopefully. Obviously shaft plays a part with your flight windows as well
02:13but let's see if I can hit a good one here for you. Nice. Well it's pretty much straight down
02:22the
02:22middle not much deviation there I'm really happy with that one so hopefully you saw that on the
02:25flight there wasn't too high wasn't too low it was that perfect sort of flight window for a driver
02:30so while I haven't actually gained that much distance switching into this new driver I've
02:34definitely noticed an increase in my accuracy on finding a few more fairways I've been playing a lot
02:38over the winter and those sorts of shots sort of down the middle of the fairway have become thankfully
02:42a little bit more frequent which I'm really happy with so first change high lofted driver definitely
02:47something more golfers should consider gives you a little bit more control over where the ball's going
02:52and with that lowest spin profiles or a lot of these heads these days might just unlock a little
02:57bit more distance as well. Now the second change I've made to my equipment this year already is
03:01using ribbed grips as you can see here now a ribbed grip for those who are not familiar is a
03:07grip that has
03:08a ridge or a spine running along the back of it and the idea with a ribbed grip is it
03:12just gives you a
03:13sense of where your fingers are positioned on the grip and it allows you to do that on a more
03:19consistent basis so you're feeling it in the same part of your fingers every time. Now me specifically
03:24I've gone for the Golf Pride Align grips here in the MCC Plus 4 and I have to say I
03:29was a skeptic when
03:31it came to ribbed grips I've never really liked the feeling of something sticking into my fingers when
03:35I'm holding the club but decided to give the Align grips a try when it came to sort of trying
03:40to
03:40arrest the decline in my iron play and while it felt a little bit uncomfortable at first over time
03:46that I did seem to get used to that feeling and I definitely noticed an improvement in obviously
03:51positioning my hands in a more consistent place and that feeling of confidence you get over the ball
03:56when you know that you're holding the club in the same way every time is actually sort of quite
04:01invaluable you look at people like Scotty Scheffler who is very meticulous about how he holds the
04:06club and he has that special training grip to make sure that he holds the club in exactly the same
04:11place every time that's one of the secrets behind his consistency especially when it comes to his
04:16irons and his wedge play his make sure he's holding the club in exactly the same way at exactly the
04:20same
04:20place every time and I think an Align grip is a really good place to start with that you know
04:25if
04:26you haven't played Align grips or rib grips in the past having something like this which is quite a subtle
04:31ridge it's a good entry point into this sort of design obviously Golf Pride has recently launched
04:37the Align Max which has a more pronounced ridge on it and I did try that and that felt like
04:41a bit too
04:42much of a step change for me from going from no rib to quite a pronounced so this is a
04:46sort of a nice
04:47middle ground because that sort of subtle ridge and in the ends of your fingers or the sort of the
04:51middle of
04:51your fingers and just gives you that reminder of where you need to be feeling it in your fingers
04:55every time and that for me out on the golf course has led to I would say a couple of
04:59things the first
05:00being slightly more better ball striking and also slightly more consistent start lines especially
05:06with my irons I was really struggling with my irons and sort of the direction they were going in
05:10but I'd say my dispersion has tightened up a little bit with my irons and I tend to be striking
05:15the
05:15ball a little bit better as well so definitely something to try if you struggle with your grip we know
05:20how important the fundamentals are whether it's your grip your stance your posture alignment all
05:24those things are pros value that incredibly highly and an aligned grip is a really good place to start
05:30get your hands on the consistent place on the club every time and you should start to see your shots
05:35improve right the third change I've made to my golf bag this year it's a big one I've jumped on
05:41the
05:41bandwagon of high lofted fairy woods and I've added a seven wood to my bag the hybrid is out and
05:46the
05:46seven wood is in and I have to say I've been really positively surprised about the impact it's had on
05:52my game and hitting shots from a variety of different places around the golf course and
05:56it's a change I wish I'd done sooner frankly so this seven wood I've got here is the TaylorMode QI
06:014D
06:02it's 21 degrees aloft in the standard setting and there's a few reasons why I really love the
06:08seven wood the first thing was I was worried about hitting shots with it how I'd sort of nearly hit
06:13myself in the left nostril with how high it would go it would go too spinny too high and it
06:17just
06:17wouldn't give me the optimum ball flight and carry distance I was looking for but oh how wrong I was
06:22if you when I was hitting shots with it off the deck the actual flight window was only a tiny
06:28bit higher
06:28than where I'm used to seeing my three would go so I think that's a sort of misconception that people
06:32have about seven woods gonna go too high too spinny not gonna be practical but actually it was
06:37definitely not as high as I was expecting it to be and you can still knock it down
06:42in the wind if you want to so that's the sort of option you've got with seven woods but what
06:46where
06:47it's really helped me in this particular situation so where the lie is not terrible but it's not great
06:53I'm in the rough it's winter it's wet obviously it's not ideal but the ball is just sitting down
06:57a little bit and I would really struggle with hybrids to get clean contact on shots like this but with
07:03the seven wood it just feels like it pops the ball out a lot more easily hopefully I'll demonstrate one
07:07for you now so as I said not sitting the the best but this seven wood up till now anyway
07:14there's been
07:14a very good extracting balls from this sort of situation so hopefully I can demonstrate for you
07:19now pushed it a little bit very clean contact I have to say actually distance wise it's pretty
07:30comparable with where my hybrid is so my hybrid was getting about 216 carry on average in the golf
07:35one of the performance lab and the seven wood when I tested it it's going around 220 so a little
07:39bit
07:39more distance but not too much but with the seven wood you're also getting a lot more stability and
07:45forgiveness so a little bit more help on those off centre hits so those distances are a bit longer
07:49and they're a little bit more consistent but then also crucially you can use it off the tee as well
07:54so
07:55if the hole is a little bit tight and you want something that's a bit of a fairway finder the
07:58seven wood is
07:59going to give you that option if you need it and the other thing I really like about the seven
08:02wood versus
08:03my hybrid is it has a little bit more right bias to it in terms of shot shape so my
08:07hybrid would
08:08tend to miss left a little bit whereas with the seven wood they've made a little bit flatter
08:12inside the the weighting of the head actually promotes a little bit more of a straighter ball
08:16flight rather than a left flight so that shot in there is a classic example it's just missed target
08:21on the right hand side which I'm okay with I'm happy sort of I'd rather it's sort of missing right
08:25than pulling or or hooking to the left because that's when you can get into some serious trouble so
08:29uh well I'll just get the mud off this club face and just say to you the seven wood it's
08:33been a
08:34revelation in my bag I'm really excited to see what it can do for me in 2026 and if you've
08:38not tried
08:39one I really would recommend at least trying one versus your hybrid that's in your bag at the moment
08:43or a long iron give it a try look at the numbers and then take it on the course and
08:47see how it can
08:48perform those different situations because it could be as it has done for me a really versatile edition
08:57now just a reminder if you are enjoying this video do click the like button and do subscribe
09:01to the golf monthly youtube channel while you're there if you haven't already so don't miss any of
09:05our videos and I'll put some handy links in the description below if you like any of the products
09:09featured in this video so you get your hands on those for the best price in your area right that's
09:14enough of that let's get on with the video now the fourth change I've made to my golf bag in
09:192026 is
09:20a set of fresh wedges now I've been pretty skeptical about how often golfers actually need to change
09:25their wedges over time especially in the winter you sort of get a full sense of security of actually
09:30balls are stopping quite quickly because it's soft so you maybe think that you don't need wedges but
09:35they all will become apparent I'm sure to you in the the spring and the summer months when chips
09:39start running away from you and you persisted with those old wedges and it's going to start costing
09:43you shots around the green so I've gone for some new wedges I've got the new Titleist Vokey SM11s
09:48because they look absolutely fantastic what I like about what Vokey have done here is they've not
09:52changed too much in terms of the design and the profile of them it's a it's a like for like
09:56swap
09:57for me from my SM10 straight into my SM11s because actually when you sort of inspect your wedges or
10:03your current wedges like I have here there's definitely these aren't actually that old I had
10:07them in the bag since March 2024 but you know that's nearly two years and they're definitely showing
10:13starting to show signs of wear and tear which is something you need to be cautious of when it comes
10:18to your
10:18equipment and especially if you play a lot of wedge shots into and around the greens that you're
10:22scoring clubs you know I've started to see some of the grooves are deteriorating a little bit and
10:26I've got some scratches and scuffs on the sole of my wedge there's a couple of places where the chrome
10:31finishing has actually come off the wedge I remember I hit a shot out of the rocks once a few
10:36months ago
10:36that's caused some significant damage which is probably not going to help over time so look out for
10:41those signs of wear and tear Titleist say you should look to replace your wedges around about every 75 rounds
10:47so I've played about 50 rounds with these but I've practiced quite a lot with my wedges so if you're
10:51someone who is a serial practicer with your wedges you might find that your grooves are deteriorating
10:56a little bit quicker than maybe other golfers out there and that's why you should consider
10:59more of a faster switch into some new wedges I've got a pretty straightforward shot here
11:05which hopefully my new wedge I'm about to demonstrate just before this golfer arrives on the green
11:09hopefully going to chip on nice and close
11:15you might notice a little bit extra bite it's got nice and pin high with a fresh set of wedges
11:21more spin around the greens especially when the ball's sitting down you can be a little bit more
11:25aggressive with your landing spots and hopefully get up and down a few more times when you're really
11:29short-sided and you've not got a lot of green to work with right and the fifth and final equipment
11:33change
11:34I've made in 2026 is the biggest one it's the one that's had the most positive impact on my game
11:40on
11:40my scoring and that is switching to a golf ball with a stripe design on it and you might see
11:46in the
11:46video I did a few months ago testing no line versus a line versus a stripe and while the line
11:51came out on
11:52top I had definitely had the most amount of confidence with using the old tailor-made tp5x stripe
11:58in that particular example and I've persisted with this since the start of the calendar year and it's
12:03had a massive impact on my putting I feel so much more confident over those it's both sort of short
12:08putts from four to eight feet where I've seen it have the most impact and especially putts that are
12:13quite straight where you start over the ball second guessing yourself about the read having something
12:20like a stripe this is going to give you that confidence that you know on this particular
12:24length of putt you're not really worrying about the pace that's going to happen naturally you're
12:27just trying to start the ball on the line that you've chosen if you read it correctly
12:31more than not it should go in and for me it has been going in the last few months it's
12:35been a
12:35revelation that I can't see myself ever switching back to a golf ball without a stripe I'm not
12:40particularly fussy on brand I've got the brand new tailor-made tp5x stripe here which has a slightly
12:46narrower visually less distracting design it's a bit cleaner a bit more subtle but just as effective
12:52I've also been using this Callaway chrome soft x stripe with the colors on it again visually similar in
12:58concept just as effective but I've got this one lined up here on this particular part which I think
13:04is sort of a right half part what I like about the tailor-made version here it's got this little
13:08dot
13:08on it which I think just gives you the extra point of concentration maybe and sort of over the
13:13ball thinking a last minute reminder about something that you're focusing on whether it's
13:17your grip or your hand position or your alignment whatever it might be but what you've got to do is
13:20sort of what I like about the stripe design in particular is that you know this is lined up to
13:24where you want to be so you just arrange yourself appropriately based on where that line is pointing
13:29so make sure your stance is correct get that sight line all lined up with where the line of the
13:35ball is pointing and as I said don't worry about the pace just focus on returning that putter face back
13:39to
13:40square just like that and then it goes just about on that left edge so yeah big revelation for me
13:48and if you haven't tried a golf ball with a stripe design maybe you're struggling to hold those
13:52makeable putts from between four and eight foot I would definitely recommend trying a stripe design
13:57and failing that a line on the golf ball I was surprised at how impactful it was on my putting
14:02and I'm really confident it's going to help me learn my handicap in 2026.
14:08So there you have it I hope you enjoyed that look at the five things I've added to my golf
14:11bag in 2026
14:12but I really want to hear from you what changes are you going to make to your bag or have
14:16you
14:16already made to your golf bag in 2026 that you hoped are going to turn your scoring around I'd love
14:21to
14:22hear from you get in those comments down below but that's it from me here at Burley Park Golf Club
14:26I'll see you next time
Comments