Red vs. Blue, Forever
The internet is a great place if you hate nuance. It seems that no matter the topic, when we’re hiding behind our computer screen, all we want to do is join a team and tell anyone who might disagree with us that they’re wrong.
We see this in golf in dozens of different ways – from fanboys of different OEMs to LIV vs. the PGA Tour – but nowhere is it as infuriating as in the equipment vs. golf swing “debate.”
In this lesson, I hope to show you that there’s a middle ground, that two things can be true, that we don’t need to run to the comment section with quite so much anger.
This Article Is For You If:
You’re chasing improvement only through better equipment
You haven’t been fit because your swing “isn’t ready”
You’ve ever blamed your clubs for a bad shot or round
You’ve ever chided someone (yourself included) for wanting better gear
Truth #1 – Good Golf Equipment Helps
Club fitting can help you play better golf.
Every fitter has stories of helping a player gain 15 or more yards off the tee, dramatically shrinking their iron dispersion, or putting the feel back into someone’s putting. The same is true on the other side: I can easily put together a club that you’ll hit substantially worse than what you’re gaming now.
If these endless stories don’t move you, look to the professional ranks. Do any of the best players in the world play stock clubs? Absolutely not. They tailor every club to fit their body and their swing. And many of them are ceaselessly testing the latest gear in an effort to find even better performance.
There are almost limitless analogies that elucidate the importance of club fitting. I like comparing it to a tailored suit. No matter how good or bad you look, you’ll look better in perfectly fit clothes. Athletic shoes serve as an equally good comparison: Usain Bolt would run circles around me in penny loafers, but he’s faster in spikes.
Truth #2 – You’re Responsible for Your Game
Regardless of your clubs, you are responsible for the shots that you hit.
The importance of accepting this was driven home to me recently by talking to Andy Hayes about his experience playing hickory clubs [read more about that HERE]. He told me that part of the appeal of hickories is feeling more responsible for each shot rather than trying to rely on the clubs. His best shots were of his own creation. The mishits were on him, too.
For all their virtues, modern clubs can separate us from the reality of our game. Forgiving clubs don’t sting your hands on a thin strike the way an old blade would. More importantly, they produce beautiful shots – long, high, and straight – on strikes that are less than excellent. We no longer receive the loud and clear signal that most of our swings are not A+.
I think that this lack of feedback, awareness, and responsibility strips away some of the beauty and enjoyment from golf. Do you enjoy a great result as much if you know it wasn’t of your own creation?
And on the other hand, a lack of accountability can leave us pointing the finger instead of the thumb when things go poorly. When our club forgives two misses but fails to compensate for the third, we slam it into the ground rather than recognizing that we haven’t practiced in a month.
The Takeaway
I did not write this to convince you to play blades or hickory clubs. I didn’t write this to convince you to get fit into the latest and greatest.
If there was a purpose in writing this, it would be to get you to slow down. Don’t be so fast to leave a negative comment.* Take a beat before criticizing someone for choosing a path that’s different from the one you’re on. In golf – and in most of life – two things can be true.
*You should still leave a comment, though. It helps the site.
Editor In Chief at Plugged In Golf
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.