Different Types of Golf Clubs
The most important aspect of golf is the golf club. A golf club is basically used to hit the ball in golf game. A club consists of a shaft with clubhead and grip. When you buy a standard club set, you will find 14 golf clubs of various types. There are 6 types of golf clubs, each meant for a different purpose and shots. These 6 types are explained further in details.
Wood: These are also referred as long distance clubs since the purpose of these kinds of clubs is hitting the ball a large distance towards the hole. They have a long shaft and a large head to gain the maximum acceleration while driving. Initially the shaft developed was made of Woods, but later manufacturers started making use of carbon fiber, titanium and scandium for making Wood shafts. Although Woods are made of different metals they are still called Woods to denote the general club purpose and type. You will find 3 to 4 Woods in a set of golf clubs.
Iron: They are clubs with shorter shaft as compared to Woods and flat angled face. These are specially designed for shots approaching the green or from difficult lies such as rough, base of hills or over trees. They are used in the middle of each hole. There are short, medium and long irons with flat heads. IT got it name as Irons because it was made of metal. It can also be divided in two types, cavity-back and muscle-back. As the name sounds, cavity-back irons have some metal removed from the head to make a cavity while muscle-back iron doesn't have any cavity.
Hybrid: By the name you would have already guessed that it is some kind of mix of clubs. It is a cross between the above two types of clubs, the Wood and the Iron. It delivers the long distance of Wood with the Iron's swing. They can be used in replacement of high numbered word or low numbered irons. Most golfers prefer this as a replacement of Iron clubs. They are sometimes also referred as Rescues.
Wedge: It is similar to a putter with few variations. The main change compared to a putter is that it has a higher loft around 30-40 degrees. It is mostly used to drag the ball out of rough to the green using an action similar to putting. It may also be used to putt the ball on the green to set it up for the second putt. The use of Wedges is limited to very few shots, mostly the short distance ones as it can damage the turf if a harder stroke is made.
Chipper: A chipper is designed for low speed swings. It is used only to hit the ball to a shorter distance usually 20-25 meters. It is recommended that these clubs are only used on green. As with other clubs, there were also initially developed using woods but later manufacturers started building these with metals as well.
Putter: The sole purpose of a putter is to roll the ball from a point on the green to the hole. The loft of a putter usually is between 5-10 degrees. You won't find any putter which exceeds 10 degrees. You will find grooves on the impact area of a putter to reduce the skidding of ball on the impact.