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Equipment Mistakes Even Experienced Golfers Make
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Apr 1, 2025
Even good golfers sometimes fall foul of mistakes when it comes to their equipment, which can have a big impact on the outcome of their shots and the resulting scores. In this video, Joel Tadman runs through the eight most common gear mistakes even experienced golfers make, ranging from not checking your lofts and lies to choosing an iron model that doesn't reflect your true ability.
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It's amazing, no matter how long people have played the game of golf, they still fall foul
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of some pretty basic mistakes with their equipment that can have a real impact on performance and the
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ability to shoot a good score. Now, even as a low handicap golfer and myself, in researching for
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this video, I discovered that I'm guilty of quite a few of these mistakes. So I think it's worth
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sharing the biggest gear howlers that even experienced golfers make to ensure that the
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same thing doesn't happen to you. Now mistake number one is not getting your lofts and your
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lies checked regularly. This applies to pretty much every club through the bag but especially
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with your irons and your wedges. You think about the fact that with an iron and a wedge you're
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hitting the ground a lot and that force generates a lot of repercussions into the head in terms of
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the shaft and over time especially if the ground is hard you take big divots you've got quite fast
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swing speed that could well alter kind of the lie angle of the head and also the loft of the club
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with this, especially if your club is forged, that material is a bit softer
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Over time, shot after shot could cause the club to kind of be pushed out of line
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So it's very important that you get your lofts and your lies checked. In terms of the loft, if your loft is out
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if it's too strong or weak or it's creeping one way or the other over time
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will lead to kind of bad distance gapping. So it might go longer or shorter than it's supposed to go
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And in terms of the lie angle, if the lie angle is off, you could get the toe or the heel entering the turf too much
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which can cause the face to open or close, it can cause bad turf interaction
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and it'll widen the dispersion of your shot. So it's really important to see your local pro
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get your lofts and lies measured on a machine, get them calibrated so the distance gaps are nice and even
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the turf interaction is spot on, the line goes perfect, and that should lead to better gapping
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and more consistent shots. Mistake number two is picking a club based on out and out distance potential
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versus the control that it offers. I think we're all guilty in clubs through the bag
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but especially with driver to pick the maker model that goes the furthest when we hit it out in the middle
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without considering how playable it is in a golf course environment. I think that's one of the main problems
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with custom fittings. You get in a groove with your swing and over time you'll learn to exactly strike the club
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out of the middle of the club face and therefore the results can provide almost an alternative reality
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of what the performances of this club is like versus what it's like on the golf course
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I think you really need to consider how playable certain drivers are. We know low spin drivers like for like out the middle are
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going to go further than kind of more forgiving higher spinning drivers but think about how much
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control you really have over that low spin option when you take it on to the golf course and more
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often than not something that provides a little bit more spin but is a little bit more forgiving
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will give you a nice balance of distance and playability so don't get kind of bogged down
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into what your performance is like in a fitting. It's a different environment
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You getting in the zone Think about the golf course think about what going to be playable for you over a longer spectrum of shots and that should give you better performance in the long run Mistake number three is not getting your grips
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changed regularly enough. The amount of good golfers I see using worn-out grips
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whether that's kind of you can see the metal underneath or there's a complete shine to the grip
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they're very smooth, they've lost that tackiness. You know, as good players, we feel like
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oh, it doesn't really matter, we can still swing the club the way we used to. But actually, a new grip can completely reinvigorate
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the feel and control you get over a golf club. And if they're starting to show signs of wear
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signs that the grip is clearly beyond its best, it's well worth making that investment
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in a new set of grips to reinvigorate that feel, give you that control that you had when you first got them
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Also making sure you have the same type of grip through the different clubs in your bag
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Generally speaking, that is a rule that you should probably be following, apart from your putter, of course
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But getting new grips on your club is really important. I think it's going to give you that extra level of control
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that maybe you didn't think you needed, but when you get it, I think you'll really appreciate it
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Now, mistake number four relates to fairway woods and specifically a reluctance to upgrade this area of the bag versus others
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We know keen golfers, avid golfers, very good golfers are very happy to invest in a new driver, a new set of irons
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But when it comes to the fairway wood, there's often some old favourites that stay in there for longer than they probably should do
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And yes, that familiarity breeds a bit of confidence. What you are losing out on is modern technology
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and that is going to deliver an awful lot of speed and performance. In our testing that we've done, you can see some big gains in new fairy woods
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versus models from one or two generations previously. So if you've got an old favourite in there that's maybe five or even more years old
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I think you should definitely think about upgrading to the latest model. It's going to give you a much more forgiveness
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a much more user-friendly package versus those from yesteryear. It's going to help make those
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shots a little bit easier, going to give you more playability from different lies. And there's
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definitely a few more options out there versus what we've seen previously in terms of different
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spin profiles, different sizes that's going to suit your eye, different alignment needs as well
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So you're definitely worth investing in a new fairwood if that's an area that needs some
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attention for you. Now the next mistake relates to irons and in particular choosing an iron
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that's perhaps too good for you. What I mean by that is when you get fitted for irons
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as I mentioned before in fittings, you kind of get into a bit of a groove, you start hitting the middle more often than not, and you start to maybe get a full sense
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of confidence about the type of iron that you could play. Maybe you opt for something that's
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a little bit more feel-orientated and more compact versus one that's a bit larger
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a bit more forgiving. And you've got to think about the performance you're going to experience on the golf course. Obviously, on the golf course, you get different lyes, different slopes
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different conditions. It's not going to be as easy to strike your irons out of the middle consistently
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versus when you on the range you got a nice clean mat and a perfectly flat lie It a different ball game altogether So really think about the type of model that you pick when it comes to playability on the golf course I was a classic example of falling foul of this
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You know, went for a fitting for the i-59s from Ping. Really liked the feel out of the middle
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I felt like I was getting some consistent results. When I got them out on the course, I wasn't able to translate that ball striking experience
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with that onto the course. As a result, my dispersion was a bit all over the place
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and I've since opted for a slightly larger model in the i230
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So really think about what's going to work for you. Yes, you might hit the one in the fitting
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but think about your ability, how consistent your ball striking is. And I will definitely always air towards the club
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that's going to give you a little bit more forgiveness because I think you'll really appreciate that consistency out on the golf course
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And the next mistake I see golfers make is not teeing the ball at the correct height
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Yes, there's some kind of wiggle room in terms of what is optimum for you
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depending on your attack angle and the way you deliver the driver but I'd say generally speaking
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I see a lot of golfers teeing the ball too low they feel like that gives them the best chance to
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hit the ball out the centre of the face but actually when you're striking the ball low it's going to launch low with a little bit too much spin. I also tend to find you tend to hit more
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of a cut with that shape which I think obviously is more important if you're looking for control
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but generally speaking you want to be striking the ball slightly higher up in the face and
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when you're teeing the ball up I would always recommend having about around about half the
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ball above the kind of crown of the driver. That's going to give you that optimum combination of
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high launch, low spin from this top part of the face, while also preserving the integrity of the
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front part of the crown. Because obviously the other mistake is people that go too high
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trying to get that high launch, low spin, kind of booming ball flight. It's going to give them
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maximum distance. They often overdo it and you get to see those sky marks on the front of the
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driver, which is not something that you want, especially if you've just spent five or six 100 pounds on a completely new model. So try and get that ball around about halfway above the top
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of the driver. That should give you the optimum launch and spin and also help you with your
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direction as well. Now the next mistake experienced golfers make is buying a new club based solely on
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how it looks. Now I'm not saying that isn't important and if there's a toss-up between two
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clubs that perform very similarly, yes you should absolutely choose the one that you prefer the look
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of. That's going to give you the most confidence. But that said, if there's a particular driver for
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example, maybe you like the look of a compact head. In drivers, we see that compact heads are also
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the least forgiving and also probably the lowest spinning. So just because you like the look of a
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compact head doesn't necessarily mean it's going to give you the best performance versus
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other drivers in the range that might have a slightly larger profile or a bigger footprint
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that's actually going to give you a bit more playability and consistency on the golf course
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So yes, it applies to drivers. I would definitely say it applies to irons as well
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Certainly when it comes to things like sole width and turf interaction you might not prefer the look of a wide sole
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But it's probably going to give you a better playability and a bit more margin for error on your strike three shots
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Especially if the conditions are slightly damp So looks play a part but I don think they need to be the overriding factor when it comes to choosing your golf clubs It really needs to be about performance and playability
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And then when it comes to a toss-up between clubs that perform similarly, that's when you decide based on looks
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This is a three iron, and for the majority of golfers, it needs to be nowhere near your golf bag
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There's a lot of experienced golfers that persist with these long irons. Yes, you might prefer the look of an iron versus a hybrid
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but over a longer period of shots, I think you're going to experience an awful lot more consistency in terms of front-to-back dispersion
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and also stopping power as well from a hybrid-like club. It might take you a bit of time to get used to the look of it
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but the playability that it delivers both off the tee, off the deck, in the long run
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is going to hit you much better shots over that longer time span
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So really consider switching your long irons, especially in the three iron or maybe even a two iron
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if you're struggling with that one. Consider switching into a hybrid or two
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it's going to give you much more user-friendly performance in the long run
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Now the last mistake golfers make is choosing a shaft, the flex that's too stiff for them
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I think it's a bit of an ego thing. We don't want to be transitioning down in flex
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We always want to feel like we're playing a stiffer shaft as humanly possible for whatever reason
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It's a bit ridiculous, but I think it's the way a lot of golfers think, especially good players maybe who probably could be transitioning from an X into a stiff
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They want to carry on playing the X because it's something they've always played. And that's something you really think about
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just because you play an extra stiff shaft five years ago doesn't mean necessarily that you've got
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the power in the locker to use one and benefit from one now you know if you are playing a shaft
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that's too stiffy especially in the driver you're going to see a shot pattern that's probably going
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to move to the right you're going to struggle to square the face it's probably going to not
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flight the ball as high as you want to which means you might not be carrying those hazards that you've
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been accustomed to carrying down the years so just because you want to play extra stiff shaft or a
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stiff if you're between stiff and regular doesn't mean that you should be when it comes to getting
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fitted, put your ego to one side, pick the flex of shaft that gives you the best performance
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So that concludes our look at the biggest equipment mistakes even experienced golfers
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make. I hope you found it useful and not too patronising. I think we could all take a look at
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the equipment we're using and maybe improve certain areas. And even myself in researching
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for this video, there was a couple that really stood out to me that rang alarm bells, for example
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checking my lofts and lies. I haven't done that as much as I should do. I'm definitely going to get
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that done. And also some of the grips, especially on my wedges, they're looking a bit shiny and
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and they're not giving me the grip that I probably should be getting on those kind of finesse shots around the green
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So that's going to give me better feel. I think I'm going to upgrade my grips when I get back to the golf course next week
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So it's been useful for me. I hope it's been useful for you. Do let me know in the comments down below
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I'd love to hear from you. And if we missed any, do let us know in the comments as well. I'd love to know what you're seeing
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in other golf bags around your course that we maybe haven't mentioned in this video
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But that's all for me from Peterborough Milton Golf Club. I'll see you next time
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