- 23/06/2025
In this video Neil Tappin and Joel Tadman offer some pointers about your equipment choices. Many golfers have ideas about what might be best for them but sometimes these can be based on pre-conceptions that are wrong. Of course, this can lead to you spending money on golf gear that isn't quite right for you. In this video they look at what the 10 biggest golf gear myths are.
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00:00Hello everyone, Neil Tappan and Joel Turnman here from Golf Monthly and welcome along to
00:08West Hill where we'll be talking you through the 10 Golf Gear myths that can have a really
00:13negative impact on your game. Yeah, I think these are all theories that people have about
00:17why certain equipment might be right for them but actually those theories are based on misconceptions
00:22that sometimes are wrong and they can sometimes lead to you buying things that aren't quite right
00:26for you. Guys, if you're new to the Golf Monthly channel, please do hit the subscribe button
00:30to make sure that you don't miss any of our videos. But let's take a look now at the 10
00:34biggest golf gear myths.
00:36OK, so the first myth we are going to look at is that higher handicappers should always
00:44go for more forgiving golf clubs. Now, there are lots of different reasons why you might
00:49play off the handicap you play off. It might be that you're a higher handicapper not because
00:52your ball striking isn't consistent but actually because your short game is letting you down.
00:56It might well be that you're a higher handicapper looking for a new set of irons. If you automatically
01:01go for irons that are aimed at higher handicappers, those irons might well have offset built into
01:06them. But if your consistent miss is left, that actually, that offset isn't going to
01:10do you any favours. So it's just about nuance. There's a bit more to it than just thinking
01:14that just because you're a higher handicapper you should go for a certain set of golf clubs.
01:17Think about your own game. Think about where you're throwing away shots. That's more helpful
01:21than just thinking, I pay off a certain handicap, therefore I should go for a certain set of golf clubs.
01:30Now, the second Golf Gear myth is that everyone needs a lower spinning driver. And while some golfers
01:35out there will definitely benefit from lowering their spin to maximise carry distance, actually,
01:40it's more about optimising the spin that you generate and how you combine that with the launch
01:44angle and the ball speed that you bring to the table. It's all about bringing those factors
01:48together to maximise carry distance. So if you are quite a high launching player, then yes,
01:54potentially knocking some spin off could maximise distance. But there will be situations where
01:59taking spin off your drives actually will be a detrimental effect to the distance and the
02:04performance of your drive. So it's just something to bear in mind. Be careful.
02:07Knocking spin off doesn't always lead to more distance.
02:15The next myth is, and it's something that we get a lot of comments about on our videos,
02:19is that the shaft is the most important part of the club. Now, of course, it really is very important,
02:24but it's just one piece of the jigsaw. So take a driver fitting, for example. The fitter will have a
02:29whole host of different options available to them so that different shafts, of course, but then you've got
02:34lie angles, you've got lofts, you've got different weight settings in the head, and they all make a
02:39difference to the performance of the driver. So just laying it all on the door of the shaft and
02:43saying that it's really important to get the right shaft for you. Yes, it is, but you also need to get
02:47all the factors right in the heads to make sure that you walk away with the clubs that are right for you.
02:56Now, the next golf gear myth is that some golfers think they're not good enough to generate spin around
03:01the greens. And as a result, they choose a golf ball that's orientated more towards distance,
03:05because that's where they feel like there are more kind of bigger, more significant performance
03:09gains to be had. But actually, if you're hitting chip shots around the greens, as long as the lie
03:14is clean and you're striking the ball relatively well, you've got fresh grooves, you've got clean
03:18club faces, you will be generating a decent amount of backspin. And actually, if you switch into a premium
03:23urethane-covered ball, you will see the amount of control that you generate increase. And that gives you more
03:29options around the greens. It should help you get up and down more often. So just because maybe
03:33your short game is a weakness, you're a bad chipper, or maybe you're a high handicapper,
03:38it doesn't mean that you can't benefit from the performance and the field benefits that a premium
03:43golf ball offers. The next one on our list is that draw bias drivers are for higher handicappers. Now,
03:54that's not the case. Instead, draw bias drivers are for those players that tend to hit a consistent
03:59fade and want a little bit more distance, want a slightly straighter ball flight, or for those
04:03players that hit quite a big slice and are looking for something that's going to guard against their
04:07bad shot. Now, draw bias drivers can be used by players of all handicap abilities. So just because
04:13you're a higher handicapper, don't automatically assume that a draw bias driver is right for you.
04:17It's based less on your handicap ability and much more on your ball flight.
04:27So the next golf gear myth on our list is that every golfer needs a gap wedge. And actually,
04:32in truth, every golfer needs even loft gaps between each of their wedges. And a lot of it comes down
04:38to what loft your pitching wedge is. You can find it out online. If your pitching wedge is quite strong
04:43in loft, the chances are you probably will need a gap wedge to plug that gap in between your pitching
04:47wedge and your sand wedge. And it also comes down to how many wedges you want to carry. And that will
04:53depend, in turn, on what clubs feature in the top end of your bag. So if you have quite a lot of clubs
04:58in the top end of your bag, maybe you've got an extra hybrid in there or a utility iron, you'll have
05:03to make sacrifices elsewhere in your bag to hit that 14 club limit. And therefore, you might need to
05:08opt for a three wedge makeup rather than a four wedge makeup. I use four wedges. I prefer the options
05:15around the greens. And also, I play quite a short golf course, so I have quite a lot of wedge shots
05:19into greens. So I want to have more loft gaps covered off, more distances covered off with
05:24those different wedges. But if that's something that's not applicable to your course, if you feel
05:28like you get more performance benefits from having more clubs in the top end of your bag, then maybe
05:33you won't need a gap wedge. You can go from a pitching wedge to a sand wedge and then a lob wedge.
05:37As long as the loft gaps are relatively even, then it should be quite easy to control the distances on
05:42those shorter shots.
05:48The next myth is that some golfers think they're not good enough to get custom fitted. And there's
05:53a couple of elements to this. The first is that any fitting involves a series of static measurements.
05:58So those things that are going to enable you to find the right shaft lengths, the right lie angles
06:02for your game and the right thickness of grips, they will all make a difference and they will help
06:06you find the middle of the club face that little bit more often. And then on top of that,
06:10a key part of any fitting is to help a player guard against their bad shot. So it might well be that
06:16your bad shot tends to leak out to the right or that you tend to hit it low and left sometimes and
06:21that's your bad shot. The fitters can do things when they're setting the golf clubs up for you
06:25that will help guard against those shots that are really costing you out on the golf course.
06:29The next golf gear myth on our list is that graphite shafted irons are only for slower swingers and I
06:40would 100% argue that case because I've done some testing here at West Hill with Yonex testing their
06:45new irons with graphite shaft and I was actually blown away by the performance was on offer. Yes,
06:50it does feel a bit lighter and it takes some getting used to and yes, they do launch the ball a little bit
06:54higher than steel but the dispersion was really tight. It didn't feel whippy at all. If you get
06:59the right spec for you in terms of that flex profile, I think you'd actually really benefit from
07:05or really enjoy the feel of performance on offer. And the fact that they are a lot lighter means
07:09less effort is required, they feel a lot smoother and you might even be able to practice for a little
07:13bit more. So if you're a bit of a range rat, you like to hit a lot of balls, potentially graphite shafts
07:18could unlock a little bit of extra time for you to do that. And from what I've seen,
07:22there really isn't a sacrifice in performance if you go for a custom fitting. So definitely
07:26don't discount graphite if you're looking to upgrade your irons.
07:34Finding the right putter is all about feel. Now there's actually a lot more to it than that.
07:38The first thing I'll say is that when it comes to the mainstream manufacturers,
07:41all of their putter ranges offer a really good feel. There are some slight differences,
07:45but they all offer a good feel. So actually, finding the right putter is more about finding something
07:49that's the right length for you so that you can stand more consistently and in a better way over
07:53the ball so that your eyes are in the right position over the ball. And also so that you can find a
07:58putter that complements your stroke. Some players will have more of a straight back and through
08:01stroke. Some players will have a stronger arc. Whatever it is, you need to try and marry up the
08:06putter with your stroke. If you can do that, then you should find a putter that's right for you.
08:10So the final Golf Gear myth is that Tour Pros are using completely different equipment to what us
08:21amateurs are using. And actually, in reality, the equipment that both of us are using is very similar.
08:26Of course, Tour Pros have access to the Tour Trucks with some specialist technicians that are able
08:31to make some very specific changes to the head, whether it's hot melting in drivers to position
08:36weight exactly where they want it, or special grinds for different course conditions on their wedges,
08:41which allows the wedge to interact with the ground in a slightly different way depending on the grass
08:45they're playing and things like that. But generally speaking, the heads that you can buy are the same
08:49as what the Tour Pros are using. So don't go thinking that they're playing a completely different
08:53game to us. It's very similar equipment. Unfortunately, they're just using it a lot better than us.
08:59So there you have it. That's our list of 10 Golf Gear myths. Guys, before you go, please do hit the
09:03pause button and let us know if you think we've missed anything. There's quite a lot of
09:07misconceptions that people have about golf equipment and finding the right equipment for them.
09:11If you think we've missed anything, let us know. Yeah, and thanks for watching. If you like what
09:14you're watching, make sure you click the like button and do subscribe to the Golf Month YouTube channel
09:18if you haven't already, so make sure you don't miss any of our equipment videos. But that's all from us
09:22from West Hill Golf Club. Just goodbye.
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