It pains me to say this but . . . summer is over. Kids are heading back to school, the pleasant weather in the north is heading south and fall golf is now upon us (don’t get me wrong, fall golf is amazing). We’re also inching toward that time of year when you’ll start hearing about new gear. Drivers, putters, balls, irons, all of it. By the first week in January, that trickle of new-release intel will become an onslaught (covered at a Jedi level by my squad) that can lead to confusion and potential FOMO.
Here’s the deal, though: All that new tech can be fun and, yes, actually serve an important role in helping you improve. Here’s what you need to know.
The Truth
WE ALL WANT TO PLAY GOOD GOLF.
I’ve never met a golfer who thrives on playing bad golf. (If that person exists, I imagine his or her IG account is building steam.) One of the keys to playing good golf is being honest about the parts of your bag that just don’t work. That could mean a club you can’t hit solidly (ever), a club you’re forcing yourself to “make work” or a club that serves no gapping purpose, etc.
Trying to solve these issues by blindly buying the latest and greatest gear is not the right path. I know, I’m that guy. You can, however, start to attack areas in your game that are holding you back. Addressing swing and technique flaws can, of course, help a ton on this front, but being smart about your equipment also is essential.
What to ask yourself
Throughout the fall I’ll be chiming in with a bunch of tips I’ve learned on Tour about how to prepare for the coming season. This might seem a bit intense to non-golf lunatics, but if you read “The Truth” above then you’ll understand why this matters to all golfers. Here are 5 questions to ask yourself:
- What kind of season did you have? If you are on the GHIN app, you’ll find a breakdown of all your rounds and scores. You also can track any notable memories or shots, and if a part of your game was trending at that time, hopefully you also made note of that.
- What are you doing well? By which we mean which parts of your game have been consistently solid, not the unicorn days or moments? What part of your game stood out this season and why?
- What are you doing poorly? This is HUGE. If you suck, say it out loud! Golf is elusive enough to not add delusion to the mix. If you know your weaknesses, expose them so you can solve for them.
- What are your goals? Write down your goals. I always looked at improvement as a contract — once I’ve signed it, I don’t want to break a deal with myself (I stole this from Kobe Bryant). Your goals for next year should be specific. I want to win my club championship, I want to compete again, I want to get into single digits, etc.
- What do you want to test? If you’re like me and look wide-eyed at every new piece of gear, start to put a list of things you want to “test” with a fitter. Not buy. We aren’t there yet.
Should I feel good about my game before investing in new clubs?
Different schools of thought here but I’ll say yes and no. Yes, it helps if you’re hitting the ball solidly and your game is in a good spot. But you also can argue that you should build a bag or a club around your worst form. Take the TPI and Callaway fitting videos I recently shot: I was hitting it as badly as I have in years but the testing/fitting was beneficial because I knew the clubs worked great when I was not only struggling technique-wise but also hurt (shoulder injury).
Still, I was able to build a bag that I know will work on the happy days and the dark ones.
So, how do I know when I need new sticks?
We will get into that in greater depth in the next installment of this series but, for starters, it’s important to look at your bag in terms of non-negotiables. Every club in your bag has to show up and do its job whether you feel like Sam Snead or road kill. If you start to look at your game through that lens, this will be a fun exercise.
But first things first: decide on where you are today and where you want to be a year from now.
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