by Andre Sanchez

So you have decided to take up the great game, and need some beginner’s tips for buying golf clubs. The first tip for you, especially if money is no object, is that buying Tiger Woods’ spare set from him will not make you a good golf player. Nor might it help you, since the top pros have their clubs set for them, and you will be unlikely to play with the low flexibility of shafts that they use.

If you are a real beginner, and have no clubs at all, your best bet initially is to buy a second hand set. Golf clubs can be pretty expensive, and you don’t even know if you will continue with the game once you start to suffer. All golfers suffer, even the top players, but it takes a special type of person to continue with it and eventually turn it around so the fun happens a lot more than the suffering.

The problem with golf club prices is that you can buy a set from under $100 to $thousands, and if you don’t know what you need, why not spend your money the best way, and get a half decent set of second hand clubs for the same cash as you would spend on a poor set of new clubs.  In fact, if you are completely new then a half set would be better for you since it will take a while before you are good enough to need full sets of irons and woods.

If you belong to a golf club, which you should if you are serious enough to buy a full set of clubs, fist ask the golf pro for advice. The flex of the shaft might confuse you, and the pro will be able to advise you on what the various grades mean. The flex of the shaft is its flexibility.  When you drive your clubhead will lag behind the grip by an amount that depends on the flexibility of the shaft. If you are used to driving with one flex, and change to a higher, or less flexible club, then you will find yourself striking the ball too early, and slicing it. That is because, since the shaft flexibility is lower, the club face will come to the ball sooner than normal, and will not have had time to close properly, or square up to the ball.

New amateurs are sometimes best to start with a senior or ladies flex, but although that would generally be the best for you to start with, you don’t want to spend your life savings on a set that you will be changing in a year or so. The standard flex is Regular, and you might decide to start with that.

If you are building up your set club by club as many do, then start off with four irons.  The 3, 5, 7 and 9, are good to start with.  The odd irons make up a good starting set, with a 2 or 3 wood.  Not the driver, since that takes a bit of experience to be able to use properly. You then need a sand wedge, which as a beginner you might need a lot, and of course a putter. You could just go for the full set, but as I said earlier, not until you are sure that this game is for you.  These are good clubs to start with, and if you buy well you can add to them as needed.

The golf clubs that you choose can make a big difference to your game and how quickly you learn. However, a five thousand dollar set of clubs will make you play no better than a $50 half set if you don’t know how to use them.

The length should be standard.  If you are exceptionally tall (over six feet something) or short (under five feet five something) then you can play with longer or shorter shafts, but otherwise go for the standard ones. That’s another reason for not paying too much for your first set – if the shafts are too long you can’t cut them down, and if too short, you can’t lengthen them.

The best approach is to buy what you can comfortable afford, and aim for the selection recommended above. Once you have learned how to play the game, and have decided that you want to play it more regularly and more seriously, then you can consider purchasing a proper set based upon your club pro’s recommendations for you and what you feel comfortable with. If you are playing well with your existing set, then build on it until you have all the clubs you need.

Very few amateur players, other than at the very highest levels, need the full set of fourteen clubs allowed in their bag during competition. You will know which you need to have from your experience on the course, and if you occasionally find yourself lacking that iron that would make the difference between a 150 yard pitch to the green and the 140 or 170 that you can manage, then you can purchase it. Better that way than having clubs in your bag that do nothing but provide you with extra weight training!

There are many beginners’ tips for buying club online, but most will say basically the same things.  Buy what you need until you know you need more, but only pay top price when you know you are staying in the game.  Then you can enjoy your game without it bankrupting you!

Beginners Tips for Buying Clubs was originally published at http://www.golfplayernow.com