Should you consider buying new golf clubs in 2022?

As sports equipment goes, golf clubs are fairly hard-wearing. They could feasibly stay in your bag for ten years without ever breaking down. But since golf is an extremely competitive sport whose elite participants have very deep pockets, there’s also a great deal of progress being made.

Every year, manufacturers come out with new clubs which are marginally better than the old ones. After a few years of these cycles of improvement, the gains begin to look that little bit less marginal. So, when exactly should we attribute poor performance to substandard equipment, and when should we look to trade our old clubs in for improved, newer ones?

Let’s take a look at some of the problems in your game that might be corrected by investing in new clubs.

The club is worn

Over time, there’s no getting away from the fact that a club you use often is going to begin to disintegrate. Handles are usually the first point of failure; while these can be restored fairly easily, wear-and-tear in the long term tends to be a sign that you’ve taken a club as far as it can realistically go.

Not enough height

If you’re golfing on a windy day, then driving the ball low can be helpful. It’ll prevent you from losing accuracy. But this will come at the expense of overall distance – generally speaking, the higher your ball goes, the farther it’ll travel. Modern drivers are designed to scoop the ball up, just subtly, lending that little bit of verticality to your drive.

Too much spin

If the ball is spinning too much, then you’ll have difficulty controlling the direction when it’s high in the air. Consequently, newer clubs are designed to correct for this, generating height without relying on backspin. You can usually tell if your ball is spinning too much – it’ll come to a halt just after landing on a dry fairway.

Bigger Divots

The pattern of your divots is worth paying attention to. When your club isn’t a good match for your swing, you’ll scoop out sizeable clods of earth every time you strike the ball. Nowadays, golfers have plenty of options when it comes to tailoring the club to their individual swing – so research what’s available and see if you can correct for the club that’s currently getting used more like a shovel.

Your partners are leaving you behind

If you haven’t invested in new clubs in awhile, but everyone else you play with has, then you might begin to notice that you aren’t as competitive. Of course, it’s difficult to disentangle the consequences of good play from those of quality clubs – so why not ask your partners if you can borrow their equipment?