Understanding The Basics Of Your Golf Clubs

Friday, April 6th, 2018
play better golf by understanding your first set of golf clubs

Golf clubs help to maximize the physics of a golfer’s swing, while allowing some range for swinging error. Golfers at any experience level hope their clubs provide more accuracy with each shot taken. All standard sets of golf clubs include at least three woods, seven irons, and a putter that can be used for a full round’s play. If you are a beginner, the following can help you understand your set of golf clubs.

Woods

Most golfers will carry a set of woods containing 1, 3, and 5 clubs inside their bag each time they are out on the course. The 1-wood, or driver, is used to hit the opening shot from the tee box of each hole. This club can assist with gaining the farthest distance from the tees than any other in your golf bag. Usually, a 3-wood is used on shots taken on the fairway, and a 5-wood is ideal for chip shots that are closer to the green. It’s important for all golfers to have a better understanding of the shot distance limit each club offers to their game. This is especially true in regards to how a ball will travel off a wood club head.

Irons

Irons make up the majority of the clubs inside a player’s golf bag. The club heads are smaller and they range from a 2-iron to a 9-iron. You can add a pitching and sand wedge for shots near the green and inside a sand bunker. The higher the number on the iron, the more loft or angle of the club face, which provides less distance on each shot attempted. A 2-iron has 20 degrees of loft, while a sand wedge has 56 degrees of loft. 2, 3, and 4-irons are considered ideal long distance clubs, while 5, 6, and 7-irons are perfect for mid-range shot attempts. The 9-iron and other wedges allow you to successfully complete a short distance shot.

Putters

Most golfers refer to their putter as “the flat stick” because it offers zero loft capability off the club face. A putter is usually the shortest club inside a golf bag due to its usage near the cup. Often, experienced golfers will advise beginners to master their putting, because it is the key to success out on the course.

The evolution of golf clubs

Like other technical advances that have taken place with equipment in sports, golf clubs have also gone through several changes of their own throughout the years. The most notable change in the sport has been the development of the hybrid club, which is a cross between a wood and an iron. Most golfers are replacing their 2, 3, and 4-iron clubs with hybrid clubs because they can get better accuracy on the fairway. The better the swing, the less forgiving a club needs to be for each shot taken to make par.

What is included in a full set of golf clubs?

A full set of golf clubs is made up of 14 clubs. This number is standard for those playing in professional golf tours. Some amateur players will carry as many as 18 to 20 golf clubs, depending on the amount of hybrid clubs used during a typical round. Most golfers will add at least one hybrid club and a speciality wedge to the mix, with their choices relying heavily on the course’s terrain.

Want to improve your golf game?

The more tools and knowledge you have available to properly use, the better chance you have at playing a successful round of golf. To learn more about improving your golf skills, contact the experts at The Academy of Golf Dynamics today. You can call us at 1(800) 879-2008 or Contact Us by email to learn more about our schools, Instructors and Facilities. We are located at 45 Club Estate Parkway in Austin, Texas.