The easiest clubs to hit in golf are generally the ones which feature the most loft, meaning the clubs which hit the ball highest.

This is because the high lofted clubs create a greater amount of back spin and therefore a greater amount of control for the player. If we were to follow this logic, the wedges and short irons would be the easiest clubs to hit followed by the mid irons, long irons, hybrids then woods. However, in golf things are seldom that simple.

First of all, there are many differences in club design. Better players tend to favor forged clubs with small profiles, also known as bladed clubs. Bladed irons give great feedback and feel fantastic when struck correctly but are very unforgiving on poor strikes. Most players tend to prefer a cavity back iron which give more forgiveness on off center strikes.

The high lofted clubs such as the wedges and short irons (9, 8, 7 Irons) are the clubs golfers tend to have the most confidence with. With the mid irons, long irons, hybrids and woods, the lines can become slightly more blurred. This is because of a combination of factors in club design.

Some golfers, especially senior or lady golfers, struggle to generate enough swing speed to impart enough back spin to mid and long iron shots, causing the ball to fall from the sky prematurely in flight. Also, because of mid and long iron club design, off center hits can also be unforgiving. This is why hybrid and high lofted fairway woods can be easier to hit than mid to long irons. A hybrid club (a cross between an iron and fairway wood) has a larger profile with more forgiveness on off center hits. Hybrids also have a large smooth sole and rounded leading edge; this allows golfers to lift the ball into the air more easily. High lofted fairway woods are also popular because of the larger club head. A large club head design allows more weight to be pushed to the perimeter of the club head and the center of gravity to be moved lower and deeper to encourage more lift on the ball and forgiveness on poor strikes.

>Fairway woods, especially when teed up, are generally easier to hit than a driver which has the lowest amount of loft of any club. But driver design has moved on a great deal during the last ten years and many players now have a driver they are comfortable with using.

Drivers themselves, apart from featuring different lofts, also come in a wide range of different designs. Drivers which are 460cc and feature a shallow profile are normally the easiest clubs to hit because of the perimeter weighting and deep, low center of gravity. Drivers which are less than 460cc and of a deeper profile tend to be favored by better players because of the increased workability. Another important factor in determining ease of use of all clubs is shaft selection. For players with slower swing speeds, soft steel and graphite shafts can add extra speed and forgiveness on shots.

There are many different factors which contribute to making clubs easy to use, the key is to find the correct combination throughout the bag.

What Golf Clubs Are Easiest to Hit? Golf Tip for Irons, Hybrids, and Woods

Golf is a hard game – but you already knew that. Anyone who has plenty even one round of golf can attest to the incredible difficulty of this wonderful game. It is the challenge that keeps people coming back round after round, year after year. If the game was easy, golfers would likely get bored and move on to something else. Of course, it is anything but easy, and most players will go their entire golfing lives without ever breaking 80, let along shooting a round under par.

With that in mind, any steps you can take to make the game just a little bit easier should be pursued. Even something as simple as picking out the right equipment can help you shave a few strokes off of your score at the end of the day. The best way to improve at golf is not to try to do everything at once, but rather to look for small improvements all along the way. As time goes by, your scores should gradually come down to the point where you are a dramatically better player than you were just a few short years ago. Progress doesn't tend to come quickly in golf, but it is extremely satisfying when it does arrive.

It is important to recognize that not all golf clubs are created equal. Some clubs are easier to hit than others, for a variety of reasons. If you can fill your bag with clubs that are relatively easy to hit, you will give yourself a better chance at seeing success on the course. Obviously your equipment can't do all of the work for you, and you will still need to make good swings and good decisions, but the right clubs can help you along the way. Simply picking clubs for your bag based on what your favorite Tour player is using is a bad idea – find gear that suits your swing mechanics and ability level instead. Golf is hard enough as it is, you don't need to make it even harder by using equipment that is ill-suited to your abilities.

You don't need to worry much about finding a putter that is easy to hit, mostly because they are all very similar. When picking out a putter, trust your instincts and pick one that looks good to your eye and feels good in your hands. However, when selecting irons, hybrids, and woods, you need to be a little bit more thorough in your selection. By learning some of the important elements in each of these types of clubs, you can make smart buying decisions that will benefit your game both in the short and long-term.

All of the instruction below is based on a right handed golfer. If you play left handed, please reverse the directions as necessary.

Finding the Perfect Set of Irons

Your set of irons will make up the majority of the clubs in your bag. Most people use an eight-club set (3 iron through pitching wedge), meaning that eight of their 14 clubs come from this one set. With that in mind, it is important that you pick out a set of irons which is easy to hit, nice to look at, and instills the confidence you need to hit great shots. Also, since sets of irons can run up to $1,000 or more, you will want to shop around to make sure you are getting a fair deal.

When it comes to finding irons that are easy to hit, there are a few specific characteristics that you should be trying to find. Those features are as follows –

• Cavity back design. There are two general categories of irons that you will find in your local golf store – blades, and cavity backs. Blades have an extremely simple design, with no cut out from the back of the club head. These are often beautiful clubs to look at, but they can be very difficult to hit properly. Many professional golfers use blades because of the control that they offer, however you will need to be a highly skilled player in order to take advantage of that control. On the other hand, cavity back irons are the best choice for amateur golfers because they provide more forgiveness. The cavity back design creates what is known as 'perimeter weighting', meaning the mass of the club head is distributed around the edges. That design makes the club easier to hit because the club head will resist twisting at impact, and there will be plenty of mass near the bottom of the club to help get the ball up into the air. Unless you regularly shoot scores in the 70's or better, you should be limiting your iron search to cavity back models.
• Graphite shafts. While almost all golfers use a graphite shaft in their driver, the shaft of choice in a set of irons is mixed between graphite and steel. If you are mostly concerned with creating a set of clubs that will be easy to hit, graphite is the way to go. There is more forgiveness to be found when swinging a graphite shaft as off-center hits aren't as 'harsh' as they are when swinging a steel shaft. Also, you should be able to get a set of graphite shafts with soft tips, meaning the ball will get up into the air easier. There is a misconception that you can only hit your irons long distances when you use steel shafts – this simply isn't true. If you have a fast swing speed and don't want to lose distance by switching to graphite, make sure you find shafts that are an appropriate weight and flex for your needs.
• Large overall club head size. Some sets of irons feature larger club heads than others, and you certainly want to find a set with plenty of space for you to miss the sweet spot and still hit a reasonably good shot. You don't necessarily have to buy the largest club heads on the irons market, but don't look for a tiny set of blades, either. Before buying any set of clubs, you should be sure to try them out at your local golf store or golf course to make sure they perform as expected. Even if a set of irons gets great reviews all over the web, it is still important for you to try them out for yourself. Your swing is unique to your game, so the results you get when playing a specific set of irons may or may not match the experience of others.

When you visit a golf shop to look for irons, use the three points above to narrow down your search. Even after eliminating all of the clubs that don't fit these criteria, you should still have several sets of irons left to choose from. In fact, nearly every manufacturer in the golf business will have at least one or two 'game improvement' iron sets that are easy to hit. If you aren't sure where to look in your local pro shop to find these irons, simply ask the salesperson and they should be able to point you in the right direction.

Are All Hybrids the Same?

The category of 'hybrid' golf clubs is still somewhat new, yet most golfers have at least one of these versatile clubs in their bag. A hybrid is useful off the tee, from the fairway, from the round, and even out of a fairway bunker. If you don't yet have a hybrid or two in your bag, now is the time to look into purchasing one for yourself.

However, not all hybrids are created equal, so you need to know exactly what you are looking for in order to wind up with a club that will help you shoot lower scores. Just like with iron sets, some hybrids are easier to hit than others. There aren't as many variations of hybrids are there are iron sets, yet doing a little bit of homework is still a good idea before you head to the store.

The first element you want to consider when looking for a hybrid club is the size of the club head itself. Much like when you are picking out a set of irons, the size of the club head has a lot to do with how easy or difficult the club will be to hit. Small club heads are harder to hit than larger ones, so pick a hybrid with plenty of volume that will help your bad swings lead to decent results. You good swings are going to hit good shots with almost any club, so it is really about finding clubs that are able to produce reasonable results even after poor contact.

Another piece of the puzzle is the offset that is used in the design of the hybrid clubs you are considering. 'Offset' refers to the distance that the club face is set back from the shaft of the club. Hybrids that are designed for professionals or accomplished amateurs will have almost no offset, while those meant for beginners will have a significant offset built into the design. The purpose of offset is simple – to help you get the club face square at impact. If you are a player who struggles with a slice, an offset club can go a long way toward improving your ball flight. While it can't completely fix your swing, you should expect to get better results simply by adding offset clubs to your bag – including a hybrid. However, if you fight a hook, an offset club design is not a good idea as it will only serve to make your problem worse.

When it comes to shaft selection, you should think the same why that you did when picking a set of irons – graphite is the best bet. Locate a shaft that offers you a good ball flight and plenty of forgiveness through the hitting area. Just like when picking your irons, you will need test out any hybrid club before you purchase it to ensure the shaft performance is just right.

Most likely, the hybrid clubs that are used by the players on the PGA Tour are not going to be a good fit for your game. Those models are designed to perform great when struck perfectly, but they don't offer the forgiveness that you are after. Instead, try picking from some of the models that are marketed more directly to amateur players. There are very few equipment moves you can make that will be as helpful as picking up some easy to hit hybrids. You might be surprised at how many times during a round you have a need to swing your hybrid clubs, as they can come in handy on par fours, par fives, and even long par threes.

Everybody Loves the Driver

When you think about shopping for some new golf clubs, it is the driver that will likely have you the most excited. After all, the driver is the one that has the potential to launch the ball hundreds of yards down the fairway. Even if you aren't a great golfer, there is a certain thrill that comes from hitting a long drive which rolls out just beyond everyone else in your group. A new driver isn't going to hit those great shots for you, but it can help you squeeze a few more yards out of the shots you are already hitting.

So how do you go about finding a driver that will be easy to hit? Do you look for the same elements that you look for in hybrids or a set of irons? Well, yes and no. Some of the 'rules' are the same, while others are a little bit different. Following are a few quick points that should help you locate an easy to hit driver to add to your bag.

• Sizes are usually the same. The majority of drivers that hit the market today have a 460cc head, as that is the maximum size allowed under the rules of golf. Therefore, you can't really use the theory of 'bigger is better' when it comes to picking out a driver head, because most of them are exactly the same size. While a few manufacturers still offer drivers with slightly small heads (in the 420cc range), you are mainly going to be picking from 460cc options.
• Still looking for graphite. Again with your driver, you will want to find a graphite shaft. In this case, you will be in the majority as nearly every golfer – professionals included – uses a graphite shaft in their driver. Since you aren't going to be taking a divot with your driver, you want the added flex that a graphite shaft can offer to create as much speed as possible through the hitting area. Also, since graphite shafts are almost always lighter than steel shafts, you should be able to swing the club faster due to the lower overall weight.
• Shallow face is usually more forgiving. Since the size of the club head isn't going to help you make your choice, you will want to look at the shape of the club head instead. There are two general categories of driver shapes – deep faced, and shallow faced. The shallowed faced option is going to be longer from toe to heel, with less height as you set the club down behind the ball. This is the choice that is going to best for most high handicap players. The shallow face tends to stretch out the sweet spot, giving you more forgiveness if you miss the ball a little bit off the toe or heel. A deep faced driver can offer control to those skilled enough to use it, but the limited forgiveness makes it a less attractive option for a player wanting an easy to hit club.

It is easy to fall in love with the driver, but don't forget that you have 13 other clubs in the bag to worry about as well. If you spend all of your time – and money – on the perfect driver, you run the risk of not filling out the rest of your set properly. Hitting great drives is a lot of fun, but those drives won't do you any good unless they are followed with solid iron shots and nice putts. Of course it is still important to find an easy to hit driver that works in your game, but don't obsess over this club to the point of neglecting the others.

Don't Forget About the Fairway Woods

The process of picking out some fairway woods which are easy enough to hit while still offering great performance is pretty similar to picking out your driver. In fact, if at all possible, it is a good choice to stick with the same manufacturer and model line for your driver and your fairway woods. By keeping those three or four clubs similar to one another, you will create consistency in your long game, and you may be able to develop a more reliable ball flight as a result. Specifically, try to have a similar shaft in each of these clubs, as the shaft is the engine of the club and mixing and matching is a recipe for disaster.

Many of the things you have been thinking about in the other categories sill apply to the fairway woods, such as finding a good graphite shaft and locating a club head with plenty of forgiveness. However, one important point that applies specifically to fairway woods is whether you want to be able to hit them off the tee, off the fairway, or both. The design of the club head will dictate where you can play these clubs from, so think about how you go through a round when picking out the right model. If you like to hit your three wood from the tee frequently, for example, find a model that has a large face which will generate a high flight and plenty of distance. On the other hand, if the three wood is a club usually used from the fairway in your game, look for a shallow club head that will easily pick the ball off the turf.

One other issue to consider when adding some easy to hit fairway woods to your bag is exactly which clubs you wish to purchase. Are you going to get a three wood and a five wood, or just a three wood along with some hybrids? Maybe you are going to go all the way to a seven wood and skip hybrids altogether? There is no right answer to the question of set composition, so you will need to think about which clubs you prefer to hit and then put as many of those in the bag as possible. If you are a player who loves to hit the fairway woods buy you struggle with hybrids, then you should obviously load up on fairway woods. Figure out which clubs are easiest for you to hit at your target on a consistent basis and the answer to your set composition questions should be a no-brainer.

There is no shame in finding clubs that are easy to hit. Some golfers are stubborn on this point – they load up with clubs that are popular among professionals and then try their best to hit them. That is backward. Instead, start with clubs that will help you get the ball in the air successfully, and work up from there. If you are able to improve your skills over time, you can always get 'pro style' clubs later on. There is no need to make the game harder than it is at this point. While you are developing your swing and trying to lower your scores, cut yourself some slack and build a set of clubs that is easy to hit. Golf club manufacturers have done a great job of developing a wide-range of easy to hit options – it is up to you to locate the right ones to add to your bag.