Should Golfers Play The Clubs They Like Or The Clubs That Perform The Best?

You probably already know the answer to this question. Don’t worry, you’re not the only one who will be playing with a driver or set or irons that aren’t suited to your game. We get it. Your playing partner has just purchased a shiny new set of irons - we’re talking the best golf blade irons 2025 - and you want some. It’s easy to get swayed by the aesthetics.

The problem is, you’re playing off 22 and your buddy is playing off plus 2. His set of Mizuno Pro 241 irons are not suitable for you. What you’d be better off playing with… the clubs that would perform the best for you (at least until you get your handicap down), is a set of the best golf clubs for high handicappers.

Unfortunately, lots of us fall into this trap. It’s not our fault, though - it’s the manufacturers. What are we expected to do when a new line of the best blade putters arrive in the pro shop - a Scotty Cameron Super Select Newport 2.5 Plus putter, for example? So what if a mallet model would actually suit our stroke, or we’d perform better with a different, more forgiving model?

It is important, however, to play with clubs that you like the look of. Whether it’s a sleeker topline or a visual alignment on that club that suits your eye, the importance of looks shouldn’t be underestimated. If you don’t like the look of a club as you set-up over the ball, you might not feel as confident of making a good swing and executing a solid strike.

Perhaps the answer to the above question should be that golfers should play the clubs that they like and the ones that perform the best. The only way of knowing which golf clubs are right for your game, and to find a set you like, is to have a custom fitting, which is one of the fastest ways to get better at golf.

The benefits of getting custom fitted are well documented. When a trained expert matches you and your unique golf swing to the ideal set of clubs, you’d be a fool not to take their advice. Come the end of the session, you’d normally have a choice of what club/clubs you’d perform best with. And just because the Mizuno blades aren’t on the list, it doesn’t mean you won’t have much of a choice, or your shortlist doesn’t contain a single model that you like.

Every standard of golfer is well catered for in today’s market. Modern manufacturing methods and new materials have also helped manufacturers improve aesthetics across the board, so even game improvement irons, for example - which used to be seen as clunky and lacking in shelf appeal - look a great deal better in the bag.

The point is, there are no excuses for just sticking to clubs that you like the look of, or that you think perform well for you. Nor should you let your ego get in the way. If a more forgiving head is going to help your mis-hits go further, why give that up in favor of a club or clubs that you are struggling to hit well on a consistent basis?

If it helps, plenty of Tour players have swapped bladed models for cavity-back irons in recent years, for the simple reason that the number one priority is performance. In other words, whatever equipment helps you to get the ball in the hole in as few a shots as possible, that’s what you should be playing.