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Starting golf can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to buying your first set of clubs. Golf Monthly's Joel Tadman and Sam De'Ath break down the most common equipment mistakes beginner golfers make, from choosing clubs based on looks to the debate on custom fitting. Learn what to prioritize to find clubs that will actually help your game.
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00:00If you're a beginner golfer, it can be difficult to know which direction you need to go to when
00:04it comes to choosing your first set of clubs. So in this video, myself and Sam Diath on the
00:09Golf Monthly Equipment Team, we're going to talk through some of the equipment decisions that
00:13beginner golfers often get wrong. So if you're a beginner golfer, you don't make the same mistakes.
00:18Let's get into the video. Right, so Sam, we're going to throw to you first, what is the number
00:22one biggest equipment decision that beginner golfers get wrong? I would say that beginner
00:27golfers typically make the wrong choices when it comes to choosing their golf clubs. There are
00:33three things that I think are notable, and that would be choosing clubs based on their looks,
00:38essentially based on their feel as well to an extent, but also what their favourite players
00:42are using. I feel like that last one there is pretty key. Choosing clubs that your favourite
00:47tour player plays. While you may like the idea of that brand and that specific range from that
00:54brand, but those exact clubs, they're probably not going to be good for you as a beginner golfer.
00:59Most tour pros are using, whether that be bladed irons or low launch, low spinning drivers, which
01:03just isn't going to give you the performance you need as a beginner golfer. And then when it comes
01:07to looks, obviously you want to like the look of the club to some extent, but choosing it based on
01:13the graphics or the colour on the club, that's really not going to do you any favours.
01:16Okay, so what are the things that golfers should be prioritising when it comes to
01:21their equipment? What are the performance characteristics that are really going to help
01:24them out initially?
01:25So there are a few things to look for. I think as a beginner golfer, you're going to want something
01:28especially that is more forgiving, probably the more forgiving model in the range if you're going
01:32to go premium. You know, the likelihood of you hitting the ball consistently out the middle of
01:37the face as a beginner golfer is pretty slim. So you're going to want something with a lot of
01:40forgiveness when you're hitting those heel and toe strikes, still going to give you the carry
01:44distances that you look for. You're going to want something that's probably a bit lighter and launches a bit
01:48higher, give you a bit more carry and a bit more speed, and also something with a bit more spin.
01:53Going back to carry again, I feel most beginner golfers don't quite get the carry that they'd
01:57even look for or want out of their clubs. So a bit more spin, keep the ball in the air
02:01a bit longer,
02:02and therefore you're going to get a bit more distance out of those clubs as well.
02:04Yeah, so there you have it. I think with beginner golfers, it's important to choose clubs that are
02:08function over form. So obviously it helps if you like the look of them, but choosing a set of clubs
02:13that's
02:13going to really work for your game initially can hopefully help you get around the course a little bit easier,
02:17and then you can get into your game, find your swing and maybe upgrade down the line.
02:22Okay, so Joel, there has been conversation about how almost every golfer should go and get custom fit
02:27golf clubs, but is that the case for beginner golfers?
02:31Yeah, I mean generally speaking, I'm an advocate of custom fitting, but I think beginner golfers,
02:37if you're just starting, you haven't yet found your swing. So there's a good chance that,
02:42you know, as you start to play more rounds, your swing will change over time. If you're having lessons,
02:46maybe you're copying someone that you're watching on telly, your swing will change. And therefore,
02:51if you've been through a custom fitting, after a few weeks, months, few rounds, those clubs will
02:57therefore no longer be suited to your swing. So as you're starting out and just trying to find your
03:02groove in terms of your swing, how it looks, the shape of the swing, how you attack the ball,
03:05it's probably worth just getting a basic set of clubs that isn't custom fit. And then once you've found
03:11your swing, you know your tendencies, you can then go to a PJ Pro and they can look at your
03:16swing and
03:16you've got a bit more of a pattern that they can work with and therefore tailor those clubs to suit
03:21your swing, which is hopefully a little bit more consistent than it was at the start.
03:25The other consideration is the fact that premium custom fit clubs are a lot more expensive. So
03:30it's a bigger financial outlay at the start in a game that you might not like playing after a few
03:36months. You might think it's too hard, you haven't got the time or the patience to play golf.
03:39So having an expensive premium set of custom fit clubs is going to cost you a bit more money and
03:46it might not work out for you financially like it would have done if you had a low cost investment
03:50at the start and then you can upgrade once you've really found your swing.
03:53Yeah, so that was some really good advice there, Joel. I think, you know, it's important to remember
03:57that if you have been given some hand-me-down clubs or you've bought some second-hand clubs,
04:00whether that be from a friend or a family member, that you can also go and get the Lofton Lies
04:04checked,
04:04maybe with your PGA professional and they should be able to give you some solid advice on whether you need
04:09those altering, maybe some more upright or flatter lie angles depending on your height
04:12and your golf swing. So yeah, some really good advice there.
04:16Right, so some good advice so far. If you have enjoyed the advice that you've listened to in
04:20this video, make sure you click the like button and subscribe to the channel. We're here at the
04:24beautiful Caversham Golf Club in just outside Reading where, Sam, you're going to talk us through
04:28another equipment decision that beginner golfers often get wrong. What is it, please?
04:33For me, I think one of the big things that I see beginner golfers, you know, they make this
04:39bad decision all the time and that is becoming overly loyal to a certain brand. Whether you've
04:44got the driver from a certain brand that you've been given or whether you've been fitted into that,
04:48for example, it doesn't necessarily mean that the rest of the metal wood range even is going to suit
04:52you. So, like I've got here the QI35 tailor-made driver, it doesn't necessarily mean that the
04:58QI35 fairway wood, the three wood or five wood is going to be best for me. So, getting out there,
05:03trying different brands, different ranges within those brands as well is going to open your eyes
05:08and provide you with the best opportunity to build your bag that's going to suit your needs.
05:14Yeah, and there are some examples of where you can choose specific type of clubs in certain areas
05:19of the bags that I think beginner golfers will really benefit from. What are some of those?
05:23Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we've seen it this year with the Ping Bunker. So,
05:27beginner golfers, you know, it's a stereotype, but a lot of beginner golfers do struggle out the
05:31sand. You know, you're learning the game and you're taught to hit the ball first before
05:36turf interaction with every other club in your bag. As soon as you get in a bunker,
05:39you're told to hit the ground before the ball and it doesn't really make sense and a lot of people
05:43struggle with that. So, having a really wide lofted wedge in your bag to help you get out of bunkers,
05:49you know, it's just another example of specific clubs in specific areas of the bag. But, you know,
05:54as you get, you know, more progressive within your game and you get better at the game, you're going
05:59to want different clubs for different areas of the bag in general. So, most people will fill their
06:03bag with a maximum 14 clubs, but you don't necessarily always need 14 clubs in your bag,
06:07do you, Joel? No, and I would actually say as a beginner golfer, you're probably better off not
06:12filling that full quota of 14 clubs. We know 14 is the maximum number of clubs in your bag you
06:17can have,
06:17but it's not a target. If you look at most package sets out there which are designed for beginners
06:22who are just starting the game, they normally have between 9, 10, 11 clubs in there. So,
06:29the fact is that with 14 clubs, obviously, for highly skilled golfers, they all do a specific job,
06:35but for beginner golfers, inconsistent strikers of the ball, you probably only need eight or nine clubs to
06:41get your golf ball around the course. So, obviously, you're going to need a high lofted driver, you're going to
06:46need a putter, you're going to need some irons. Obviously, we see a lot of half sets out there,
06:50which is good, where you're sort of missing an iron in the set, so it could go five, seven, nine,
06:55and then a couple of wedges. That's perfectly enough clubs to get around most golf courses,
06:59and if you throw a hybrid in there, you've got more than enough. So, don't feel obliged to ram your
07:05golf bag full of all 14 clubs. Start with a half set, see how you get on, and then you
07:09can see which
07:10gaps you want to fill first, depending on where you're struggling with or the course that you're playing.
07:15There might be certain holes where you need a four iron or a six iron that's really going to help
07:19you out and give you that yardage that you need on a particular hole. So, that's definitely somewhere
07:23to start. Now, just to expand on Sam's point, there are a lot of sort of unconventional clubs that are
07:29out there that would really serve beginner golfers as well. So, it could be some really high lofted
07:33fairwoods, it could be some zero torque putters, arm lock putters, broom handle putters. There's all sorts of
07:39different types of clubs that are really designed to help beginner golfers, high handicappers, get
07:44around the course in the few shots as possible. Just definitely experiment as much as you can,
07:49and that should definitely help you out if you're a beginner golfer. Right, so Sam, we've moved on to
07:53equipment beginner golfer mistake number five. What is it please? So, for me, mistake number five would
08:00have to be beginner golfers using lake balls or recycled balls. There's a reason these companies spend
08:06millions and millions every year in research to create golf balls and come up with new ways of
08:12designing new golf balls. So, finding one that's been in the bottom of a lake for god knows how long
08:17and then taking it out on the course, it's just not going to have the same performance. The cores on
08:21these balls are designed and balanced in a certain way. They're designed for that reason, to keep the
08:25ball flying straight. You'll often find that cores deteriorate or that even the casing deteriorates once
08:31they've been in lakes. So, no matter how much they're polished up, they're just not going to perform the same.
08:35Yeah. You know, there's so much, you can get advice from your PGA Pro, often on the back of the
08:40boxes,
08:40it even tells you all the specs for what golf ball, what they're designed to do, whether it's
08:43a softer or a firmer feeling ball, whether it's a spinny or non-spinning ball. And as a beginner
08:48golfer, consistency is key in golf, no matter what level you play at. But especially as a beginner
08:54golfer, you want to get used to how a ball flies off the face, whether you're trying to carry it
08:59over
08:59a bunker or how it reacts when you're chipping and putting, coming off the face. That's how you're going to
09:03get
09:03more consistent results throughout the bag. So yeah, my advice would be to stay well away from
09:10secondhand golf balls, as it were. But that's not necessarily the case with golf clubs, is it, Joel?
09:15No, I think actually the secondhand golf club market is a bit of a treasure trove when it comes to
09:21clubs. Obviously, the main thing it allows you to do is invest in premium brands without the premium
09:27prices. So, you know, your tailor-made, your tight lists, your callaways, you can get some
09:32clubs from those brands at a much more affordable price that's comparable with
09:36new clubs in package sets or new clubs from lesser-known brands. And the other thing about
09:41the secondhand market is it allows you to experiment a bit more. So often with secondhand
09:46websites or retailers like Golf Clubs for Cash, for example, you get a 30-day trial period. So you can
09:52try a club. If it's not working for you, you can trade it back in and try something else. So
09:56that freedom to experiment, if you're a beginner golfer, is particularly valuable because,
10:01as I said before, you're still working out your game, you're still working out what's
10:04right for you. And so the ability to try clubs quickly with no obligation to invest
10:09large amounts of money in them is an absolute godsend. So definitely,
10:14the secondhand market is good. There are obviously some drawbacks to it. The clubs are not going to be
10:18custom fit for you in any way, but obviously you can, if you know roughly what your spec is,
10:23you can sort of match it up using the filters on websites like Golf Clubs for Cash to get something
10:28that's vaguely similar for you. Obviously, they're secondhand, so they're not going to be
10:31in the best condition, but you sort of get what you pay for in that regard. And
10:36Golf Clubs for Cash can make adjustments if you need to. I don't want this to turn into an advert
10:40for Golf Clubs for Cash, but clearly there is some value in the secondhand market, especially if
10:45you're a beginner golfer. So that's some really good advice there, Joel. Just throwing it back to
10:49golf balls to end here. I think consulting with your PGA professional, once they've seen you hit
10:54a few shots, they'll be able to give you a really clear understanding as to what ball may suit your
10:58game the best, whether you need something that launches a bit higher or even a bit lower.
11:02I think there's a few balls on the market in particular that we really enjoyed and we tested
11:07this year. So you've got the Titleist Truffill, you've got the Wilson Duosoft, and you've got the
11:11Strixon AD333, which I think is a brilliant ball for beginners in particular, because it offers you
11:15really good performance. But even at an intermediate level, you see a lot of guys kind of start with
11:19that ball and then actually continue their golfing career with that ball. And they all come in at a
11:23very low price point. A lot of them are the lowest price point balls in that select range. So, you
11:29know,
11:29beginner golfers are losing a lot of balls. So getting balls that are brand new, but at the cheaper
11:34price point is really important. So there you have it. I hope you found this compilation of equipment
11:39mistakes that beginners golfers often get wrong useful. If we've missed anything, do let us know in the
11:45comments below if you are a beginner golfer and there's other mistakes that you've made that you
11:49think other golfers would really benefit from knowing about. Again, put that down in the comments.
11:53We'd love to hear from you. Do hit that like button if you like it and subscribe to the channel
11:58if you
11:58haven't already. But that's all from me and Sam here at the Cavisham Golf Club. We'll see you next time.