The Ultimate Guide To Golf Clubs
Golf
clubs are specially designed to hit a ball various different distances, and they come with an assortment of different lofts to ensure the ball gets into the air. A typical golf club set is comprised of a combination of the different types of clubs, in order to give players a club for any shot they might face.
Here's a
quick guide:
Woods are a type of golf club specially designed to propel the ball as far as possible (200 to 350 yards, if used properly). There was a time when the head of the golf club was indeed made of wood (usually persimmon or hickory), hence the name. Modern woods are made of metal but still retain the name. Titanium, steel, and other alloys are common. The head on a wood is rounded and large and has a flat bottom that allows it to easily glide across the ground as you take your shot. The face of the club is big, and a typical wood features a degree of loft which is against the ground at a right angle. This is lower than the other clubs.
A 1-wood, or driver, is the club with the least loft, and it is used to hit a ball the furthest distance. Woods that have higher numbers are usually called fairway woods. They are more lofted, as suggested by the name, and are only designed to hit your ball when it's in a good lie: on the fairway, or as it rests on a tee.
Irons feature metal club heads and are the club golfers generally use if their ball is less than 200 yards away from the green. Irons are numbered from one to nine and possess a greater degree of loft compared to woods. The 9-iron possesses the most loft, while 1, 2, and 3-irons have the least loft. These are long irons and are capable of sending your golf ball the furthest. The 4, 5, and 6-irons, known as middle irons, generally get used if the ball lies between 150 and 170 yards away from the hole. Finally there are short irons, which are the 7, 8, and 9-irons, used to get your ball in the air very quickly, as they have the greatest loft. The 1 and 2-irons are the hardest to master and as such a typical golf set will only contain 3 to 9-irons.
Hybrid clubs combine features from both fairway woods and irons. The face of a hybrid is quite similar to that of an iron, however it is rounded, in the manner of a wood. Hybrids are constructed so that their center of gravity is further back, as well as lower than that of an iron. This makes them more ‘forgiving’ compared to both a wood and an iron. Generally considered the most versatile of clubs, hybrids can be used by any golfer and usually come in lofts of between 16 and 26 degrees. Lower number hybrids should ideally provide you with a distance of between 10 and 15 yards shorter, compared to even the highest number fairway wood, meaning there isn't a gap in distance coverage.
Wedges are designed to enable you to strike the ball, making it fly high in the air, prior to landing safely on putting surfaces. Wedges have greater lofts than others. A pitching wedge, for example, has a loft of between 46 and 51 degrees, while a lob wedge can have a loft as great as 64 degrees. Golfers generally select pitching wedges if they are facing a shot that is up to 130 yards away from the green, while sand wedges are used to escape very tall grass and bunkers. A gap wedge, on the other hand, enables golfers to take full swings and a ball around 110 yards. The lob wedge, meanwhile, is selected when a ball needs to quickly rise in order to clear hazards, yet don't need to carry great distances. A golf set usually includes a pitching wedge, with other wedges needing to be purchased separately.
The club that is used most is the putter. It's used to roll a ball across the green to the hole. Putters are available in different sizes, although a standard putter is around 33 to 35 inches high. The broomstick putter and belly putter are far taller clubs, used to provide golfers with a superior putting stroke if they have problems with a standard putter. Putters heads come in flat blade forms, or mallets bearing a flat surface.
