How to know if a golf club is working (or you’re making it work)

Patrick Reed is one of golf’s great gear heads.

From his days learning from the legendary Mike Taylor while the two were at Nike, to his unique sets of Grindworks irons, the 2018 Masters champion takes his gear seriously.

That’s why when he tests a new club, he’s keen on making sure he’s swinging the same way he would for any other club — and not trying to make the club work for him.

Reed sat down with GOLF’s Fully Equipped co-host Johnny Wunder at LIV Golf Chicago to discuss his testing process and more.

“So say my 7-iron is my best club in my bag right now,” Reed said. “So if I’m testing something, I’ll hit three or four balls with that club. And then I’ll grab my 7-iron and I’ll hit three balls right after that with the 7-iron. And I’ll always focus on that first ball.

”If that first ball doesn’t go exactly where I’m wanting to, and it goes say dead left, and then I’ll hit the next two, and then I’ll hit that new club again. Then I’ll hit 7-iron again and focus on that first ball again. And if both of them don’t react directly, I’m manipulating my swing to make the new club work.”

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By:

Johnny Wunder

What Reed is describing is him making the club work as opposed the club working for him.

If the club was working for him, his first shot with his 7-iron, his favorite club, would go exactly where he expects it to, because his swing wouldn’t have been in a different groove from using the other club.

Because something is slightly different about a new club, Reed knows he had to change his swing to get the ball to do what he wants it to.

While that may not seem that bad, rarely do golfers ever hit the same club two swings in a row on the course, so you want them to inspire the same swing.

”When you’re on the golf course, you get one driver off the first, then you get one iron shot,” Reed said. “And next hole, you get one 3-wood and then one iron shot. Well, you have to have that transition back and forth.

“You can’t manipulate this swing and then grab the next club. And because if you make the same swing, it could do something different.”

For more from Reed and Wunder, listen to the full episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped here, or watch it below.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2025? Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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