Offset Golf Clubs: What are They & What are Their Benefits?

If you’re an avid golfer, then you probably enjoy a little friendly competition, especially during an afternoon round with your favorite golfing buddy. While it’s always fun watching your golf ball move ahead of your friend’s on the course, you certainly don’t want it to moving ahead of your hands during your swing.

One of the most common mistakes high-handicappers make when taking a swing is letting their own hands lag behind the ball at address, causing a whirlwind of problems between the greens. Golf equipment manufacturers are keen to this ubiquitous swing flaw, and have developed a solution: offset golf clubs.

What Are Offset Golf Clubs?

Offset golf clubs are designed with the wavering-wristed golfer in mind. While the golf club components of an offset club are comparable to their regular counterparts, there is one key difference: offset golf clubs have clubheads that are set back from the shaft in varying increments. Most offset clubs accomplish this displacement by bending the hosel, which is the joint between the head and club shaft.

This displacement puts a player’s hands in front of the clubhead without having to worry too much about breaking the line of your wrists at impact. When the golf ball is addressed during a swing, the clubhead will naturally be a little behind the hands, as opposed to a standard one that may end up beating a player’s hands to the golf ball.

So offset clubs are just that: golf clubs with heads that are literally out of line from the shaft. But how does this type of club benefit a player’s game in the first place?

How Can Offset Golf Clubs Help My Game?

Wielding an offset golf club can be a miracle cure for players that constantly struggle with producing a solid impact led by their hands instead of the clubhead.

Offset clubs work in several ways. First, squaring the clubface at impact can be a challenge for many high and mid-handicap golfers. By setting the clubhead a little further back from the shaft, golfers have a fraction of a second longer to square up the face of the club before hitting the ball. It may seem miniscule, but as many golfers already know, the smallest changes can often times yield the biggest results.

These clubs also help players reduce the amount of slices they hit on a given day. Offset helps correct those nasty slices by moving the club’s center of gravity back from the club shaft. When the center of gravity is further away from the shaft of the club, players have a better chance of squaring things up on impact, reducing the amount of face angles that cause high-spinning slices.

While the benefits of offset golf clubs are many, it is important to note as with any training aid that offset golf clubs can make picking up another set of standard clubs a little tricky. That’s because offset golf clubs allow players to focus less on squaring the clubface – along with other appropriate golf mechanics – and more on hitting the ball straight and true. Most experts recommend using offset clubs to help you get your game off the ground, or for players that are short on practice time.

These types of golf clubs are perfect for players that are tired of seeing their golf balls slicing toward the trees and into the parking lot of their favorite local golf course. Offset golf clubs are available from most manufactures such as TaylorMade and Tour Edge, and they give players an edge by moving the club’s center of gravity back a bit. Clubs with an offset are great tools for players looking for more time to square up their shots, and want to keep their hands – along with their scores – ahead of the competition.