Want a better equipment setup? It all starts with avoiding this common pitfall

Having played rounds with more weekend golfers than she can count, I asked the two-time major winner Lydia Ko to offer up some advice for amateurs currently struggling with the gear in their bag as she wrapped up a practice session on Wednesday at the Ascendent LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America.

Up until Ko’s answer, most of the responses I’d received focused on the importance of getting fit for the gear in your bag, which is a critical component of the set-building process. Ko also mentioned fitting but added another vexing problem that’s plagued golfers for years.

“Don’t just buy a club simply because a tour pro is using it,” Ko told GOLF.com. “I feel like [amateur golfers] do this a lot, and it hurts their game because they are now playing a club that either isn’t suited for their game or properly fit.”

Instead of simply putting it on the weekend golfer, Ko recalled a moment back in 2010 when she struggled to ignore the new gear siren song after Tiger Woods switched to a Graphite Design Tour AD DI driver shaft at the Masters.

“I still remember Tiger switching to that shaft and thinking if Tiger used it, it must be the shaft for me,” Ko said. “Not necessarily. Even still, it felt like the whole world used that shaft. I used that shaft. But just because Tiger is using it, you still need to realize it probably isn’t right for you. I’ve learned my lesson, but I’ll admit I’ll still see Justin Thomas or another big name play well and I’ll say, ‘Oh, that putter looks good.’ It’s just the temptation. I no doubt get tempted to do some research to see what model they are using.”

Knowing what the pros are playing won’t hurt your game — it’s akin to tracking the shoe Lebron James wears over the course of a season — provided you’re using the knowledge gained as another way to track your favorite golfers. And if you do decide to entertain the idea of playing Max Homa’s same Titleist driver, make sure you see a fitter to determine if it’s the best model for your game.

“Luckily for us, if we want to use a putter model that’s being used by a big name, we have fitters out here who can tell us if it’s right for our game,” said Ko. “A lot of golfers don’t use the fitters at their disposal — but they should.”

Want to overhaul your bag? Find a fitting location near you at GOLF’s affiliate company True Spec Golf. For more on the latest gear news and information, check out our latest Fully Equipped podcast.