golfrewind.com

Hi,

I've only been golfing a few times before, but I loved it and am planning on doing it all this summer and into next year. My question is, which golf clubs would be the best for me? I am a 16 year old girl. About 5 foot 3. I'm not looking to buy expensive clubs yet, but want something that will be easy to learn with.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

andrea,

I would suggest a nice used set. You can try to go to some local stores and see if they have a used set (something like a 2005 or 2006 model), or you can shop around on the Internet. I like to recommend globalgolf as a site with a lot of good used sets for a very good price.

If you find a set or three that you are considering, post a link or description (i.e. manufacturer and model name and price) of it up here, and the members can help you determine if you getting you money's worth or not.

Thanks for the site name. I actually have an offer from someone who has slightly used left-handed clubs (I'm left-handed). The owner is about the same size as me, but is a male. Would this make any difference as far as the golf clubs go? I still have to find out how much he is selling them for and which clubs he has. Would a hybrid be a good choice for a beginner?

The major difference, in terms of golf, between male and female would be the swing speed and the shaft that is appropriate for the swing speed. A typical men's set would probably have R flex shafts, whereas a typical woman's set would have L or maybe A flex shafts. The shafts, from loosest to stiffest go: LL, L, A, R, S, X, XX, XXX etc.

The real question here would be -- and you have to be completely honest with yourself -- do you think you are going to stick with it for a while? That is, is this just a summer infatuation or something you think you are going to play for a long time to come? Or, are you just not sure?

If this is something that you want to tinker with, want to play once in a (maybe great) while, then any set appropriate for your height will be fine. Your swing mechanics and methods won't refined enough to take benefit of the variations in the equipment out there.

But, if it is something you think you might want to stick with for a while, I think you probably want to get equipment more tailored to you and your swing. That means probably getting a set with the correct shaft for your swing speed. Which in all likelihood is L flex. You will make this game harder on yourself by playing a set of shafts that are way too stiff for you. In a perfect world, you'd go to a good clubfitter and find out your swing speed to find the correct shaft, but L flex is probably a good starting point.

Hybrids are very good clubs for most everyone, not just beginners. As you play more, you'll figure out what clubs work best for you. There really aren't any hard rules -- these things tend to be very personal -- what works for one person may be completely wrong for anything -- so each of use has to figure out what works best for each of us.

Unfortunately, being left handed and female, there isn't nearly the selection of good used set like a right handed male would have. It will be harder to fit good deals, but if you are patient you can find them.

You are right, being a left handed female narrows down the choices a bit. I am planing on sticking with it but for now I think I will just stick to a set tailored for my height and learn the basics. Then when I know more about it and the clubs I would like to use, I can go from there.

Thank you for all your help !

All the better golf shops have a section featuring clubs and gear just for women. I would go to one and seek out a pro there, hopefully a woman, and let that person advise you.

Sure, sure. But, that salesperson is probably working on some sort of commission and will be doing the hard sell. The salesperson would like to see you walk out of there $1000 lighter... I'm trying to say that unless you are full blow addicted and know that you are going to stick with it for a long haul, it is silly to spend that large amount of money. Now, as I said above, it harder to find good deal for left handed women's equipment -- there just isn't quite as much of it out there -- but not impossible.

One person it may be good to talk to is Christian at Solid Rock Golf (his user name on this forum is Solid Rock Golf). Solid Rock is a sponsor of this forum, and they sell primary component clubs. Andrea, component clubs are clubs made at the same foundries as the big companies, but the components don't spend gobs of money on advertising. Many of the component companies offer just as good of a product as the better-known companies, just at a cheaper price. The component companies also tend to be better at offering a wider variety of clubs -- that is, a lot of big companies only offer driver lofts of 8, 9, and 10 degrees. Component clubs usually offer driver lofts between 6 and 16 degrees, with sometimes even a wider range of lofts available.

Christian may have some good ideas on how to get you a good set to start with for not a lot of money. One thing that a component clubmaker can do is mkae you a great half-set. That is, since you are a beginner, there probably isn't a whole lot of consistency yet. That's, ok, we've all been there. But, the point is that you probably don't need a 5 iron, a 6 iron, a 7 iron, an 8 iron, a 9 iron, AND a PW. You probably hit the ball so inconsistently that on average, there isn't much difference between any two consecutive clubs. Well, then, why pay for the consecutive clubs? Why not just buy a PW, 8 iron, and 6 iron? To start with, this is more than fine. When you start getting better, then you can come back and order the odd-numbered clubs.

In my mind, here's probably a good starter set for you:

1) a high lofted driver. You want a driver with a hit head for the forgiveness, but you want a high loft, too since your swingspeed probably isn't very high. I'm thinking somewhere in the 14 degree range. Maybe even 16.

2) a 5 wood
3) a hybrid somewhere around 26 degrees -- a hybrid equivalent to a 4 iron
4) now, this is where s choice has to be made -- do you want a 6 iron or a 6 hybrid club? I'd talk with Christian to discuss your options.
5) an 8 iron
6) a PW
7) a sand wedge
8) a putter

Already, half the cost is gone because you won't pay for a bunch of clubs that you won't be able to get the full use of anyway. Again, once you get better, you just call up Christian and order the clubs in between the gaps in that set above. Once you get good enough to notice the gaps, that's when you are ready for the gap-fillers.

And, I should say, that Solid Rock Golf isn't your only choice here -- I'm sure you can find a clubfitter in your area and there are other ones on the Internet as well -- but I like to help bring attention to the forum sponsors, and I and my friends have ordered from Solid Rock several times and have been very pleased, so I have no qualms recommending them because Christian delivers quality product and service.

So, like I said, it's probably worth at least talking to him. Send him a Pm on this forum, or you can find his website by Googling "Solid Rock Golf".

After you decide on your clubs, there are two fine books that I can recommend to help your game development. Both are by Tommy Armour, Sr. (that's his grandson on the PGA Tour). They are "How To Break 100 in 90 Days," and "How To Play Your Best Golf All the Time." You'll probably have to order them through your local book store. I read these when I took up the game almost 60 years ago and still review the second one from time to time. I didn't break 100 in 90 days, though. It took 8 months, but I was 9 years old then. Good luck with your golf. It's absolutely the best sport I've ever played.

Thank you for everybody's help. I will contact Christian and see I can get some clubs from him. I will look into those books too, billyg.

Thanks again! I really learned a lot.

I bought this set of cheap golf clubs a year ago (AFFINITY). With the set came
10.5 degree driver
3 and 5 woods
3 and 4 iron hybrids
5 to 9 irons
pitching wedge
putter

the only addition I bougt is a used nike 60 degree wedge. I'm a self taught player and right now I'm scoring at high 80's and low 90's which is pretty good for a self taught player and only been doing this for a year(two summers). I'm actually thinking of upgrading clubs maybe sometime this summer. Its just hard to look for a good set of used irons here in Japan. Good luck to you.