Professional Vs Game Improvement Clubs

Which style suits you?

This article has been written to give an outline of the difference between the two main types of clubs enabling you to be better prepared when considering buying new clubs.

Some of the terms used to describe clubs are: 'blade irons', 'forgiving irons', or 'corrective irons'. Blade irons are a term used with clubs that have no cavity on the back of the head and are mainly used by low handicap players (single digit) and professionals. The cavity backed Ping G2 is shown here.

Professionals use a different style of club to amateurs because they are able to consistently hit the ball straight (thanks to many hours of practice and coaching). They are not interested in having the club adjust a shot for them, as their focus is on hitting the ball a great distance and having the ability to shape a shot (as they desire).

Game improvement clubs have been in the game since the 1980's when, due to advances in technology, clubs were designed to have a large sweet spot (giving a larger margin of error to where you can strike the ball), perimeter weighting (as opposed to centre weighting designed for big hitting good strikers of the ball - this feature creating the larger sweet spot), also a low centre of gravity (weight at the bottom of the club making it easier for the club to lift the ball into the air).

Apart from all the fancy terms that the manufacurers use to woo potential buyers, one stands out that may put you off game improvement clubs, 'closed clubface'. This means that when you address the ball the leading edge of the face will be naturally closed (a feature for amateurs that helps avoid slicing), the downside is that as your swing progresses this type of clubface promotes hook shots!

In my experience, golf clubs are very much a personal preference, so if you are thinking of buying new clubs try to get the best fit for your height, hand-size and playing style.

With practice, game improvement clubs may be able to lift your shots soaring into the air and help correct ugly hooks and slices! On the flipside, you may be promoting bad swing habits that will hard to remove if you advance to blades.