Golf Equipment

Golf is probably like no other game when it comes to the type of golf equipment one must posses in order to maximize or otherwise improve one’s game.

But, before you begin investing your hard earned money in all of the latest golf technology that is somehow going to compensate for a lack of a properly executed golf swing,

Let’s have a quick reminder or a bit of a golf equipment review. The best piece of golf equipment that you can invest in is your golf swing. Get to know what your golf swing is and what you need to do to improve it!

Let’s start our discussion with the golf beginner. So many times I see parents running off to buy the young golfer the complete set of clubs before the youngster has even begun to take any whacks at the golf ball. Although the intentions are good, the money well spent really isn’t.

Kids can have fun and play the game of golf with just about any type of golf equipment. And is it really a good idea to get a young person thinking about how their clubs fit them and what is the stiffness of the club shaft, the proper swing weight of the club… and on and on? They’ll be a mental case before their first round of play.

Even for those of us who have played for awhile, I muse at how any one person thinks a high dollar set of golf clubs is somehow going to improve an otherwise horrible golf swing.

Yet we see it all the time.

Mid handicap golfers are always fussing over things like what type of ball should they play. I generally suggest that they try to find a round one. I mean really folks. You’re basically a bogey golfer (which is great… the majority aren’t that good) that hits a good many decent shots during a round of golf. But by no means is the cover and materials of the golf ball going to take strokes off your game. Of course you shouldn’t go out and play with stolen range balls but a nice round inexpensive golf ball will do you right.

The point I am trying to make here is save your golf equipment review for another time and spend more time investing in your swing. Let more of the natural progression of your golf swing mechanics, and eventually your more consistent striking of any golf ball; begin to dictate what type of mental state you put yourself in over the golf clubs and golf equipment you do use.

If your golf swing is sound and you trust it, you’ll be able to hit any ol’ golf ball off of a pop bottle with a lost and found driver and sweep the $5 nassau from your buddies who, by the way, are probably still waiting on the miracles of golf technology to save them from their own cobbled together un-practiced golf swings.

Womens Hybrid Golf Clubs

Hybrid golf clubs seem to be all the rage of late… but like my dad says, if you can back up your bragging with proof, then it really isn’t bragging after all!

Both my dad and my husband are huge fans of the hybrid golf club but for me, who is still in the infancy stage of learning the game, I just couldn’t think that far ahead.

If you are one of my regular visitors you know by now that I am new to the game of ladies golf. As a beginning golfer, I have struggled to learn the game of golf and find myself learning more and more every time I am on the golf course.

When I first took up the game, my husband had an old set of his golf clubs cut down for me to use. But honestly that really didn’t work too well.

Then for my birthday he surprised me with my very own set of ladies golf clubs. What a difference I noticed right away! I definitely noticed that my swing was smoother and I was much less fatigued when I finished a round. Maybe it was just my imagination, but it seemed that with my new set of ladies golf clubs that the fairways were shorter and the greens seemed friendlier. The ladies golf clubs just seemed to fit me so much better than his old cut down set.

So I was happy for several weeks with my new golf clubs and I methodically began learning to use each of the clubs that came in my set. Continuing to be a student of the game, I find myself reading about golf, watching golf and talking about golf.

After a recent round of golf I was in the locker room and talking with several of the girls. One of them began to rave about the new hybrid golf club that she had purchased. We talked for several minutes about this wonderful club and I knew before I left that I would do some more reading and research to see if adding a hybrid golf club to my bag would be in my future.

A cross between an iron and a fairway wood, the hybrid golf club generally replaces one or more of the irons in your bag. I typically walk the golf course and being able to lighten my load by replacing a club or two, well, that sounds interesting to me.

Hybrid golf clubs are designed to perform well in various conditions. Hybrid golf clubs work well in the rough, where unfortunately I still find myself more often than I would like, they also work well off the tee and hybrids also work well when you are just off the fairway in the short grass, another pesky little place on the course when I can land a bit too often.

Hybrid golf clubs are designed for players of all levels. After a bit more research I found that there are hybrids designed to perform like a wood and feel like an iron.

Hybrid golf clubs like The Ping G51 Series for Women features a hybrid club with a shorter shaft and a strong steel face. I also appreciate the fact that this club is “designed expressly for the active, recreational golfer”. That’s me! How cool to have a club specifically designed for the recreational golfer. Let’s face it I am never going to make the LPGA Tour but I would like to be the best recreational golfer I can.

These hybrid clubs also promise to reduce pushed and sliced shots. Sounds good to me!

TaylorMade Womens r7 Draw Rescue Hybrid brags that their hybrid golf clubs act like hybrids, but with more forgiveness. Tour Edge also says their hybrid golf clubs actually look like a traditional club.

I can’t wait to try out each of these three options for hybrid golf clubs.

So since there are lots of opportunities throughout the year, anniversary, Christmas, “just because I love you” …well you get the picture, there are lots of opportunities for another golf gift from my wonderful husband.

Maybe this time, he will decide that a hybrid golf club is just the perfect gift for his loving beginning golfer!

Womens Golf: Putting

Improving your putting skills… of course it sounds easy enough to do every time my husband, who is my current instructor, says it to me, but it is one of the things that is completely driving me nuts!!

Being new to the game of golf, I decided early on that the quickest way for me to make a difference in my game and to lower my score was to improve my short game, specifically to learn to putt.

Being successful at women’s golf is a constant challenge, but I am convinced if I can only learn to putt then I can have the biggest and quickest impact on my game.

I realize that it will take me years to become really comfortable with golf, and so my initial goal is to do one thing and to do that really well while I continue to learn the game. So for me improving my putting skills is the answer.

As a student of the game of golf, I found a fair amount of resources available to help me learn to putt. One of my favorite putting tips and the one that keeps me on the practice green is the fact that putting makes up almost 40% of the strokes in every round…so it only makes sense to incorporate putting practice into every outing to the golf course.

My husband taught me to work on the tempo of my swing when I was first learning to putt. He would say over and over, tick-tock, tick-tock… swing the putter like the pendulum on the clock. The more I repeated this mantra in my head, the smoother my golf swing became. So I would take my putter to the green and for hours I would work on my putting. At first I didn’t even concentrate on “reading the green” I just concentrated on the mechanics of the swing.

When putting between 8 and 10 feet, I stand with my feet about shoulder length apart. Then I start my tick-tock routine, keeping my hands quiet and moving my putter, hands, elbows and shoulders in one movement… moving them all together.

I swing my putter as far back as my back foot and as far forward as my front foot always being certain to follow through. For me, the key is to keep my club moving in the same smooth fashion with the same back speed as forward speed.

I can definitely tend to rush my forward putting swing and we all know how ugly that can be. When I am working on those longer putts, I simply widen my stance and keep up the same routine. For me being consistent with every putting setup and follow through has been a challenge. I am still a bit nervous on the golf course and can get in a hurry and rush my putts.

Women’s golf is fascinating and all the golf instruction books make it seem so simple. If you have a short little putt, then use a short little swing. A little bit longer putt, then use a little bit longer swing. Seems so simple doesn’t it! But it’s when you have to put the speed of the swing, the length of the back swing and forward swing, the tempo of the swing… and of course don’t forget to read the green and keep your head down…oh how I love this game!

Improving your putting is critical to your success in the game of golf. So remember, if almost 40% of your game is going to be spent taking shots on the putting green, then make sure you pay your dues and spend practice time on the green. You’ll be glad you did!

Womens Golf: Your Short Game

Improving your short game… it was the mantra I heard over and over from my golfer husband. It was the one thing he really tried to get me to focus on as I searched for opportunities to lower my scores.

Since I am a beginning golfer, I found that I couldn’t concentrate on improving every thing at once, so I decided to focus on the basics, more specifically, the basics of my short game.

Putting is the first area I decided to focus on.

I was confident that if I could improve my putting, I would improve my short game and if I improved my short game my scorecard would show the results. I was committed to practicing my putting and reaping the benefits on the greens.

Being a beginning golfer, I take all the help I can get to improve my golf game. My husband, an avid golfer, and my teaching professional shared some excellent putting tips with me.

The first golf drill I learned was to lay two clubs on the ground parallel to each other, keeping the width a little more that the head of the putter. My goal was to practice putting my shot through the clubs and into the hole. This golf drill really helped me to see the line to the hole and to understand more of the relationship between my stroke and the end result.

The second golf drill I learned that helped me with my putting was a distance drill. My instructor laid a club about three feet behind the hole on the practice green. Then on the opposite side of the hole, we marked off 3 feet, 6 feet and 9 feet.

My goal was to make three putts from each of the designated distances. If I made all three putts, I would move on to the next farthest distance. If I didn’t make all three putts, I would start over and keep going until I made three putts in a row. The club behind the hole was my visual clue.

Even if I missed the putt, my second goal was to make sure the putt stopped before it got to the club. I never wanted to just keep hitting the putt from one side of the hole to the other. Because of my commitment to the game of golf, I repeated this drill for at least half of my practice time.

It wasn’t long before I began to develop better control of my putter and as a result I began to see a difference in my golf scores. Improving your short game takes practice, yes, but it is definitely worth it.

Womens Golf: Setting Up The Swing

Setting up the golf swing… correctly… is the name of the newest golf lesson I recently took from my husband and my most recent plan for improving my golf game.

My thoughts were that if only I could pick up one tip on the basics of golf the perhaps I could shave a few strokes off my total.

As you know by now my husband is my golf teacher. I have to wonder if he is getting just a bit tired of my struggles with learning to golf… not really… he loves to teach.

Besides, we have such a blast on the golf course that it makes me want to keep on trying to improve my game.

So off to the golf course I go and there I met up with my husband where along with several other women we began the class on correctly setting up the golf swing.

Of course, there were lots of laughs but then we finally got down to the business of learning to golf all with the hope of improving on the greens.

I learned very early that I will never be able to hit the ball as far as my husband. His golf swing is so much more powerful than mine.

However, I learned in golf school that there are some small things that I could do to develop a more powerful golf swing and that would definitely improve my game.

Jeff is diligent about teaching us to develop the correct golf setup.

I learned quickly that my power improved significantly when I set up my golf swing correctly.

I learned that my arms, my hands and the shaft of the golf club should form the letter “y”.

When I can manage to keep my left arm in a straight line and when the club becomes an extension of that straight arm, then I definitely have more power at impact. This was quite an impressive thing for me to see!

I had learned at a previous golf lesson that my grip should be relaxed and I should not try to grip it so firmly.

That is easier said than done…for me. Jeff used the analogy that I should grip my club like I was holding a baby bird… firm enough that the baby bird can’t fly away… yet so tight as to injure the bird.

Ok, I think I can picture that, but again executing that maneuver is easier said than done.

Womens Golf: The Bionic Glove

The Bionic Golf Glove is my newest golf accessory and one that I can’t quit talking about. Sorry, I’ve gotten ahead of myself… let me start at the beginning.

I am a beginning golfer and have found out that, well there’s just nothing like the game of golf in my mind. Because of my husband.

And in my quest to become a decent golfer, I have found that I really love golf accessories!

I love to check out the next latest and greatest thing on the market as well as the tried and true accessories. Most golf accessories are well designed and definitely add to the golf game.

As a Christmas gift last year, my family gave me a subscription to Golf for Women. I read it cover to cover and then I save each edition and find myself referring back to them re-reading articles, or checking out the pictures of the pros and the analysis of their shots.

Since I am always on the lookout for anything that could help to improve my game, I found myself taking a second look at an advertisement in Golf for Women for the Bionic Golf Glove. It didn’t take long to convince me after reading the advertisement that I knew that I needed to try to this golf. So, I jumped online and found the glove at Austad’s Golf store and bought a Bionic Golf Glove for myself and found myself eagerly planning my next round of golf.

With this luxurious golf glove tucked into my golf bag, I headed off to the club for a round of golf with my friend.

It only took that initial round of golf before I was totally hooked on this glove.

Funny how quickly it happened but that golf glove jumped up to the top of the list of “must-haves” in my golf bag. When I was done with the round of 18 holes, it was incredible because my hand hardly felt like I had even played a round of golf. My hand which previously was always so tired after every round of golf now felt ready to go another 18!

The Bionic Golf Glove was designed by a nationally recognized orthopedic hand surgeon to mimic the movements of the hand itself. This golf glove moves so easily with you and replicates the hand’s natural movements so precisely that you hardly realize that you even have the glove on your hand.

The best part of the design of this fabulous golf glove is the relief pad. In the advertisement I read in Golf for Women it talked about the relief pad which “evens out the surface of the hand…causing you to instinctively adopt a lighter grip”. This was one thing that I was sure hoping I would find to be true when I purchased the glove and guess what…I wasn’t disappointed!

I think it may have something to do with the fact that I am a beginning golfer and still a bit nervous on the golf course, but I have a real tendency to tightly grip the club with each swing. Of course this not only causes fatigue, but it also causes me to have poorer swing control. Both of these issues cause a challenge on the golf course and like I’ve said before I need all the help I can get on the golf course!

Because of the anatomically correct design of the glove, it moves so easily with each movement you make. Seriously, it seems like a custom-fitted golf glove. Part of the design was even created to allow your hand to close naturally not stiffly like so many of the golf gloves I’ve tried.

My new golf glove was dirty and a pretty sweaty after several rounds of golf …so I tossed in the washer on the delicate cycle, laid it out to dry on my kitchen counter and a couple of days later off I was back on the driving range for some more practice.

I told you I was a beginner and I try to get in at least a couple of hours of practice on the range each week. After I washed my newest golf accessories and let it dry, I found the glove to be incredibly soft and supple… something that I really didn’t expect. If I haven’t told you recently… I love this golf glove!

Womens Golf Clubs

Women’s Golf Clubs… My very own set of women’s golf clubs! What a wonderful gift from my loving husband who is also my golf instructor!

How was I to know that this golf gift would simply continue to feed into my new hunger for all things golf?

I love golf.

I devour the Golf for Women magazine trying to absorb all the tips, I watch the Travel channel extol the virtues of certain courses, and on Sunday afternoon you will find me on the couch watching the pros on television… certain that some of their expertise will somehow transfer to my game.

I am a beginning golfer and I am proud of that fact. Ok, I took up the age-old game for a totally selfish reason; to spend more time with my husband.

But a funny thing happened; I fell in love with the game. Something I certainly didn’t expect.

There were seemingly so many clubs in my new set of ladies golf clubs. Some of which I had never used before …like a driver! Of course, initially I was simply terrified of the driver. It is too big, it is too long, and it looks like a torture device.

How will I ever learn to use this thing?

It took the patience of my husband and a few lessons, but I am finally learning to conquer my fear and to use the drive… not well mind you, but at least I can make contact with the golf ball. With their patient explanations, I finally understood that just like my putter, the driver had a specific place in my golf bag.

Since I am a beginning golfer, the current technology of larger heads on the drivers, works well for me. It is very forgiving and while I am so early in the learning phase I am very grateful for this technology. To learn more, I decided to do a little research on some of the various types of golf drivers out there. I figure the more I learn the better off I am.

I learned that the NIKE Women’s Sasquatch is designed with a generous sweet spot and the PING G-5 has the largest head allowed. Others are designed to draw or fade the golf shot. It all depends on your needs.

The choices in women’s golf clubs are vast and it is important when searching for a driver that you research the options and most importantly you get fitted for the correct club.

While my driver is simply the one that came with my set, I can see that there are so many options out there for this specialty club. For right now I am going to just concentrate on learning to use the driver that came with my set of ladies golf clubs.

When I make solid contact with my driver, my golf shot goes higher and longer and just for that moment in time I can close my eyes and imagine that I can hear the crowds on the LPGA tour and they are cheering just for me. It never hurts a girl to dream, does it?

Women's Golf: The Basics

Conquering the basics for women’s golf has become a dream of mine and I find myself chasing that dream more every day.

I am Tammy O’Brien and I am (strange as it may seem) a beginning golfer.

Just over a year ago I made a life changing decision. I decided that I would no longer accept being a golf widow.

My husband, who loves me dearly, also adores the game of golf… and found every excuse under the sun to play a round of golf…. leaving me at home in the process.

At first I didn’t mind… but then I began to wonder what made this game of golf so addictive.

So I decided that not another day would pass that I would be home alone while he enjoyed a round of golf. After a bit of convincing, my husband agreed to teach me how to play golf. It has been and will continue to be a wonderful partnership.

So, I have been happily toiling away on the practice range and on the golf course all in an effort to spend more time with my husband. But the funny thing is that I have found myself a new hobby, a new sport that I really enjoy… never thought that would happen but it did and I couldn’t be happier!

Now it’s me bugging my husband to head to the course. So I started with trying to really understand basics for women’s golf. I figure if I can really tackle the basics of women’s golf then I will be able to really enjoy a round.

So I decided to create this space on Jeff’s website to have a place to chronicle my journeys into learning the game of women’s golf and to find some new friends who, like me, truly love the game of golf.

I am hoping that we can all learn from each other. I am confident that I will continue to grow and learn the game and most importantly be able to take what I have learned and translate that into a lower score on the golf course.

After all, we were all beginners at one time or another! If you have ideas for articles, discussions, questions and answers, etc, just drop me an email… I’d love to hear from you!

Jeff, my husband, is an accomplished golfer and has played the game for many years. Of course I have always found this to be quite intimidating. Thus the reason I have never ventured out onto the golf course… until recently when I decided that I didn’t want to be left home alone anymore! So I swallowed my pride and asked my husband to teach me how to play golf.

Jeff has taught so many people how to play golf. He’s an instructor and works with both youth and beginners, but I was convinced he could never teach me to play golf.

But guess what! I was wrong!

After a few lessons with my loving and most patient husband, well sometimes patient (just kidding honey), I started to at least consistently make contact with that little white, dimpled nemesis.

I started my journey as a beginning golfer with an old set of golf clubs that belonged to my husband.

That sounded like a good plan but there’s one important piece of information to remember. Jeff is 6’2″ and I am only 5’6″. So Jeff cut the clubs down for me so I could get started and see if I really enjoyed learning to play.

I was so happy that I cleaned and polished those golf clubs until I thought I was going to rub a hole through the shaft.

Then my husband scored major points when he bought me my very own set of women’s golf clubs for my birthday. That’s all it took… if I wasn’t hooked on the game of golf before, well now I was totally hooked and in love with the game.

My new ladies golf clubs fit me so much better! I was immediately convinced that they were going to be the reason that my game suddenly turned around. But I had to remember that nothing was going to replace practice… so it was off to the course with my new clubs and a renewed commitment to learning all the basics for women’s golf.

So, welcome to my journey! Won’t you join me?

I hope you come along with me as I continue to learn the basics for women’s golf.

Women's Golf: Getting Started

Welcome to My 1st Tee!

I am so happy you stopped by.

My name is Tammy O’Brien and I am a beginning golfer.

After watching and living and dying from the gallery for way too long, I have taken the plunge… and dare I say have gotten hooked on ladies golf.

You see, my husband Jeff (golf-ology.com) is an avid golfer and teacher and so – for many years – I have found other things to do while he was out enjoying a round, working on his golf game or off to a tournament.

I’ve watched over the years as he bought a set of golf clubs every few years, followed by new golf putters, hybrid drivers, golf irons, and way too many golf gloves and golf shoes to count!

Don’t get me wrong, I never minded the money he spent on golf equipment but I did come to mind all the time he spent on the golf course and away from me!!!

So in an attempt spice up my love life, I took up the game of golf… in a twisted way of spending more time with my husband.

My part of this website is dedicated to you… beginning golfers… women golfers… who like me are looking to learn a little more about the game of ladies golf and looking to have a good time while learning.

In my section of golf-ology.com, I plan to share my golf equipment store and my personal journey into the wonderful world of ladies golf with you and hopefully you will learn a bit from my experiences, find some golf equipment that you too fall in love with and who knows…

So, don’t be shy… sign up for Jeff’s newsletter (just to the right). I’ve watched him meticulously write it and he puts a lot of effort into improving your game… and it’s absolutely free!

Maybe someday we all find that one piece of the game that is eluding us and in that one magical round, everything will click and we all will have the round of our lives.

So I hope you enjoy the journey with me… get those clubs out and head to the course… ladies golf… it’s where my new dreams lie…

Buying Used Golf Clubs

Buying used golf clubs can certainly have a great advantage over buying new clubs off the shelf.

First and foremost is the cost savings you’ll realize.

Particularly if you are a beginner, or just a weekend golfer that enjoys getting out with some regular friends on an occasional basis.

I will assure you that unless you play on a regular basis or more competitively, equipping yourself for less money with a good set of used golf clubs will not affect your game in a negative manner.

And while we’re on the subject let’s not forget the big advantage dollar wise to buying used golf balls as well.

By putting your ego aside, if you are a mid to higher handicapper, your game is not going to notice the difference with used golf clubs or used golf balls but your wallet will.

Buying used golf clubs on the internet:

Callaway Golf  Preowned is a super website for getting a good set of reconditioned used golf clubs at a good price. They offer different levels of buying conditions and have an excellent selection of used golf equipment for you to choose from. They drivers, fairway woods, complete golf iron sets, individual irons, wedges, putters, even starter sets, and golf clubs for juniors.

Needless to say the internet is chalk full of places to buy used golf clubs. As I mentioned the Callaway Golf  Preowned is a great site to work with and you get the Callaway name and backing on their golf equipment. You can literally get a great set of clubs delivered right to your door at a fraction of the price.

For custom made golf clubs, clones and knock-off gosf clubs, another good store that I have used via the internet is Pinemeadow Golf. Pinemeadow custom makes drivers, woods, irons, wedges, and putters. I would strongly encourage you to visit the Pinemeadow Golf  site.

With the competition in the market place for your business, you are only a few mouse clicks away from saving some good money on your golf equipment. And with the two sites mentioned here you can get some great clubs at a discount prices.

Don’t get hung up on the idea of getting used golf clubs. Be realistic about the requirements of your game and taking a load off your wallet.

Next Page »