It’s an amazing and very true fact that once you declare you are going to learn to play golf, everyone who has used clubs in their cellar, those rejects from golf seasons long past, will suddenly offer those old clubs to you. I know I’ve done it. I have at least two sets of clubs I’ve collected over the years and an odd club or two that I bought, used and then decided not to include in my bag. I’ve tried to give them to beginning golfers, but more often than not they are too short, or too long, or the grips aren’t the right size for the new golfer’s hands.

All of these variations in a golf club help you determine which clubs are right for you. If you do accept used clubs from a friend, do it conditionally. At first you may think you are saving a bundle by not having to buy your own equipment. But trust me, if the clubs don’t fit you, give them back.

Take the offered clubs to the driving range and test them out with a bucket of balls. Have your friend come with you and watch how you hold the club, how you stand and how you swing. Here is a video that shows the proper posture you should take when addressing the ball. If you have clubs that fit you, getting into the right setup should be easy.

When you address the ball your back should be leaning forward at about a 45 degree angle, not stretching forward or curved awkwardly, and you should be able to hold the club comfortably in your hands by simply dropping your arms to your side and moving them in towards the middle of your stance. If you have to bend too much – the shaft of the club is too short. If, on the other hand you are standing too vertically, the shaft is probably too long. When trying out clubs, you should feel very comfortable with length and your posture. You may be offered a beautiful club to use by a friend, but if you can’t assume the correct posture, the club should stay out of your bag or better yet, returned from whence it came.

FYI: In a previous post I indicated that the length of the club shaft is shortest in the short irons (the wedges, 9 and 8 irons) and longest in the Driver which is a 1 wood and your fairway woods. The clubs in between, 5 – 7, are mid irons and are of a “middle” length, which is all relative to the other club shafts. There are exceptions. I have a 7 wood that was given to me by one of my early teachers, LPGA Tour Pro, Sandra Palmer. It’s a Big Bertha and most of the time I can hit it fairly well but it’s shaft is almost as long as the one on my driver.

Another consideration when deciding which clubs to add to your bag and which to reject is how the club looks. I know you may think I’m crazy, but if you think a club is actually badly shaped, badly designed, looks just plain ugly, it’s unlikely you will want to use it often, and when you do, most likely you will not use it successfully. A few years ago I decided I wanted to try out a new 4 Hybrid – a cross between a wood and an iron. I went to the golf shop. I asked to check out some of their hybrid clubs and the shop pro led me to a rack with a wide variety of clubs from which to choose. I was new to the game and should have asked a lot of questions I did not know enough to ask. What I did do was take four or five clubs into the middle of the shop, tried swinging each to get a feel for the weight, the balance, how the grip felt in my hands, and how the club looked when it was resting on the fake grass.

I told the pro, “I like these two, the Callaway and the Cleveland, but I think the  Cleveland is better looking. I like the color. The Callaway is kind of ugly.” The pro did not laugh. In fact he assured me that liking the look of the club was a good part of a golfer choosing the “right club.” “You have to like the club in order to use it well. Believe it or not, color and shape have a lot to do with it.” So I chose the Cleveland. Over the next two years I tried my best to use it but couldn’t hit a thing. It wasn’t that it was ugly. I think it was just the wrong club for me. Two years later, I tossed it from my bag and sold it for next to nothing on eBay. Looks aren’t everything.

Bottom Line: If you are just beginning to build your set of clubs whether purchased or from friends, test each one out. Take your time evaluating whether the club works for you or not. Choose clubs you like, for color, design, balance, shaft length, etc. There are dozens of variables. Once you gain experience you will probably want to go to a pro and get properly fitted for your own clubs. It can be an expensive proposition, and there is no rush. You can carry as many as 14 clubs in your bag and most of the time you won’t need all of them. Get a great mid-iron, fairway woods. a wedge and a putter and that’s a good beginning.