When do I change clubs?

Changing the neighborhood

I had just shot an 87. I was miserable. My buddy Brad had just beat me senseless, which is the case most times, but this one was different. Usually I can hang with him and this time it was over before it began.

The next day I went out by myself and ripped off an 85. Now I knew something was horribly wrong. 3 days later an 84. Over the weekend, 2 more scores over 85. It reached catastrophic levels now. I called for help.

I called Brad and relayed the story. Brad is always helpful even though we compete against each other from time to time. Brad asked a bunch of questions about my weight shift, my spine angle, my wrist at the top of my swing, all the stuff a “swing doctor” is supposed to ask. Then it hit me…my confidence was shot.

I suddenly realized that every time I set the club down, I felt a sense of impending doom. I had no idea where the ball was going when I put a tee in the ground. I was scared I would hit my long irons fat. I was certain that a shank was right around the corner with my wedges. Every 20-foot putt felt like it was across state borders. My swing was not perfect, trust me, but that was not the culprit this time. This time it was the head. I decided something rash. I would buy new clubs!

Now I am not a guy that tries every new thing out there when I miss a green. I am a realist. I know that my ability will dictate my score more than anything else will. But this time I tried to inject some “quick confidence” into my game. I remembered the last time I got a new putter…I was lights out. I made everything in sight for about a month. Then I settled into a groove. While I didn’t make everything anymore, I putted well. I still have that putter to this day.

That was when it hit me. I was changing clubs for no reason before. This time there was a reason. I wanted to change to get rid of the bad feelings in my head. I couldn’t look at those clubs anymore and remember the good shots. I just remembered the bad ones that got me to this lowly spot in my golf life.

I started with new wedges. I bought wedges that looked completely different than what I had been playing before. I had been playing a Cleveland 588 TSC gap wedge at 53* and a Ping Tour Black Nickel wedge at 56* with a T grind in the sole (trailing edge was ground as well as the heel so that I can open it up easier). I kept the wedges for the future when the new ones would leave me. They are currently on "exile" to my closet where I am hoping some time alone, in the dark, will scare them straight ha ha.

I went with the Callaway X-tour wedges in the satin finish in a 52* and a 56*. I held off on new irons and new woods to see what happened. I liked my gear before. Why didn’t? I like it now? More importantly, would the change in wedges help me fall in love all over with my gear again?

Truth is, I fired an 82 the day I got the new wedges and then back to being Tom Flynn the next day. I had 73 with a double and I felt more in control of my golf game again. Steadily, it all came back. I was back to reality again and it seemed that a change in equipment did it. I called it "changing the neighborhood." I was looking at a new place every time I put the new clubs down and that shot of confidence fed through my entire game.

Try this, next time you think it is time to change clubs. Is it that your clubs are outdated? Is it that your ability has new demands that your clubs can not deliver? Or is it that you just need a shot of confidence? Maybe it is time to change the neighborhood in your own game.