Golf clubs
What types of golf clubs are there? Which golf clubs should you buy?
Driver
The driver is the longest club in your golf bag. Due to the long lever and the large head volume, you will hit the farthest with this club. Therefore, it is mostly used for teeing off on par-4 or par-5 courses.
For hitting with the driver, you need long tees so that the ball can be hit in the center of the clubface.
As a rule, driver faces have a loft of 9 to 13.5 degrees.
As a driver for beginners, drivers with a very light shaft and a clubface inclination of at least 11 degrees or more are particularly suitable, so that a lot of speed and a high, long ball flight are guaranteed.
Fairway woods
Fairway woods are clubs that are designed to cover as much distance as possible, similar to the driver. Therefore, they are often used for the "transport shot" on a par-5 or a long par-4.
Unlike the driver, however, they have a smaller club head so that, in addition to using them from a tee, they can be hit directly from the fairway and still hit the ball directly in the center of the clubface.
There are fairway woods with different loft numbers. They are also numbered differently. The most common variations are wood 3 with 15° loft, wood 5 with 19° loft and wood 7 with 21° loft.
Most golfers have one or two woods in their golf bag.
Fairway woods for beginners have in the best case a larger club head and a higher slope of the club face. A wood 5, for example, with a larger head is easier to play and will launch the ball higher.
Hybrids
Hybrids are a combination of woods and irons. They are used to close the distance gap between the shortest wood and the longest. Their iron-like length makes them as easy to play as an irons, but their wood-like head shape means they almost reach the stroke lengths of fairway woods.
Hybrids, like fairway woods, come in a wide variety of numberings. The most common are hybrids 3, 4, 5 and 6.
They should be selected so that one or two hybrids bridge the loft gap between fairway woods and irons exactly evenly.
For someone starting out in golf, hybrids with a larger hitting area are recommended. This makes them safer to hit. Hybrids numbered 4, 5 and 6 also play well out of the rough.
Irons
Irons are the type of club most commonly used to play shots into the green. Irons produce more backspin in the ball's flight and a steeper landing angle of the ball, allowing it to come to rest more quickly after impact than a shot with a fairway wood, for example.
Irons are used to hit much shorter shots than woods and hybrids. Therefore, they are often used for mid-length shots. Because of their shorter shaft length, they are also easier to play.
A standard set of irons consists of irons 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 and covers distances from 100 to 175m on average.
A standard set of irons usually includes irons 5 to 9. Irons with low numbers hit the ball further. In addition to irons, there are also wedges.
Irons for beginners are characterized by a larger hitting area, a wider sole and lightweight graphite shafts. They simplify hitting, glide over the ground more easily and are easy to swing without much effort.
Wedges
Wedges are a subcategory of irons and are particularly well suited for all types of approach shots around the green due to their high loft numbers. Chips and pitches can be played with a high trajectory and thus little roll and placed precisely at the flag.
Wedges, which are not part of an iron set and are purchased separately, have a special shape that does not have a hollow cavity at the back of the club head (cavity back) typical of irons. They are therefore more versatile in all kinds of situations with a wide variety of ground conditions. In addition, the clubface is much easier to open for bunker shots, for example.
Typical wedges are the pitching wedge (48°), the gap wedge (52°), the sand wedge (56°) and the lob wedge (60°). However, many other loft variations are also possible. Ideally, you should choose wedges with evenly spaced lofts.
Wedges ideally complement your existing club sets. You should have at least one pitching wedge and one sand wedge to be able to play the most important shots.
Putter
The putter is probably the club that is used most often on the round. It's "only" there to putt the ball on the green - but in order to minimize the number of putts you need to make, it's extremely important to find the right putter for you!
Putters come in all sorts of varieties; different head shapes and weights, different lengths and grip options.
Putters for beginners should have the heaviest putter head possible and a face-balanced weighting. The mass and weighting will calm the putting motion and result in straighter putts every time.
What should the golf club set be able to do and have?
Your golf clubs should have very good forgiveness and playability. Golf clubs with a wide sole that have a low center of gravity far back in the back of the club (cavity back) and have a high moment of inertia (MOI) for forgiveness and accuracy will have this. The cavity back and wide sole of the club allow you to get under the ball better when hitting the ball, giving you an optimal launch.
You can get these features in a package set or a single racket set even at reasonable prices. A good package set for beginners is available from €299.95.
A package set often consists of extremely easy to play irons that have a deep cavity with a high moment of inertia. Comfort woods and / or hybrids for long, straight shots off the tee and onto the fairway, with which you can achieve respectable distances even if the ball is not hit exactly. Often a forgiving mallet putter and golf bag is also included. The mallet putter has a larger and also heavier club head to help you align and aim. The weight of a mallet putter is usually evenly distributed. This helps to reduce misses.