What Type of Golf clubs are good for beginner golfers?

What Type of Golf clubs are good for beginner golfers?

One of the biggest decisions a beginner golfer will make is choosing their first set of clubs.  There are mixed reviews as to which clubs are best for beginners.  To keep the discussion open I will provide some useful links to a couple of articles that will help you all decide what is best for you.

When I started playing golf, which was late 80s and early 90s, I played with traditional blade clubs.  Most people are not a fan of blade clubs and would prefer to have clubs with cavities.  Keep us all on the same page I will define the difference between blades and cavities golf clubs.  Blades are thin golf club heads.  They are harder to hit, but they will give you the most feedback from your swing and how you make contact with the ball.  Cavity back golf clubs moves the weight of the club head to the base or edges of the head.

The club design you choose is up to you.  If you want a club that is easier to hit and more forgiving then you would want a cavity back club.  If you want to gain more feedback from your club and have more control, then you would prefer a blade club.  As previously stated, my first set of clubs were blades.  If I hit a bad shot I felt it.  If you do hit the perfectly with blades you will feel it from the club, in your grip and wrists!  When you hit the ball perfectly with blades you will feel it also!  A perfectly hit ball with blades will feel smooth, good and most importantly right! Blades will give you a response each shot.  We as humans can learn through muscle memory.  For me, I was able to distinguish that bad shots with blades did not feel good in my wrists and hands, but good shots felt effortless and smooth.  I wanted to feel latter more.

If you decide to choose cavity back clubs as your first set, there is nothing wrong with you or your decision.  Cavity back clubs are a lot easier to hit! They do not require perfect contact with the golf ball to make a decent shot.  With the shift of the weight distribution of the club head in cavity back clubs, bad shots did not suffer as much with alignment nor distance.  It also makes it easier for the golfer to get the ball off of the ground.  With all of these advantages you are probably wondering why not buy cavity back clubs.  In my era of beginning golf and even now, blades were known as the player’s club and cavity back clubs were known as game improvement clubs.  If you want to play golf for competition then I would say go with blades, but if you want to play for pure recreation then cavity backs would be a good choice.

The fast forward from the late 1980s to 2018.  There is no longer a huge distinction between blade clubs and cavity back clubs.  According to the article “Blades vs Cavity Back Irons” by Mike Southern; ‘Forged blades are now made with shallow cavities to improve accuracy, and cavity backs are being made that provide increased feel and maneuverability.’  Club manufacturers are now merging the two types to develop new easier to hit irons.

Remember that whatever decision you make is up to you.  Always remember to enjoy the game while you learn!

Reference:

http://golftips.golfweek.com/blades-vs-cavity-back-irons-2404.html