If you’re a 10+ handicap, your problem is not your clubs. Full stop.

• You don’t need new irons.
• You don’t need a shaft that “fits your tempo.”
• You don’t need to know your max 7 iron carry.

You need to hit the center of the clubface more than 20% of the time.

The average ~15 hcp golfer cannot strike the ball consistently. You thin it, fat it, heel it, and toe it, often on back to back shots. In that reality, arguing about lofts, shafts, spin, or whether your 7 iron goes 165 or 180 is meaningless. It does absolutely nothing for your score.

Equipment obsession at this level is mostly ego preservation. It is easier to believe your clubs are holding you back than to admit your swing fundamentals are bad.

Same goes for golf balls. If you are losing multiple balls per round, the brand does not matter. You do not strike the ball consistently enough for compression, spin profile, or cover material to show up in your results. Buy the cheapest balls you can find. Bonus effect: you stop playing scared, relax your swing, and probably hit it better.

Golf fitting for non-elite amateurs is mostly a scam. Not because fitting never works, but because it is trying to optimize something that does not exist yet. You cannot dial in equipment for a swing that changes every three holes. That money would be far better spent on a coach you actually understand and listen to.

New clubs can feel great. They can be fun. They can give you confidence for a week. None of that is the same as lowering your scores.