It’s that time of year when all the new equipment is being announced, which triggers our interest and excitement about what clubs we might want to add to our bags this year. Will it be a new driver, irons, fairways or hybrids? Maybe a new putter? Or wedges?

I strongly suggest you start this process by making a detailed assessment of what is in your bag now, and which part of your game could use the most improvement. To help you in that process, I’d like to share some insights into your bag that you might not even be aware of.

One of the common threads that runs through all of us – regardless of our skill level – is that we all want to get better. We’d like to hit our drives longer and straighter, iron shots that find greens more often, pitches and chips that get closer and putts that go in more often. And we all seem to take great pleasure in finding that next “missing link” in our bags that will help us achieve one of those goals.

But as you ponder what you might want to buy this year, let me share some thoughts about how little things can often mean a lot when it comes to tweaking your equipment. On the surface, a golf club seems to be a pretty simple thing – a piece of metal, at the end of a tubular piece of metal or graphite, with a rubber-like handle at the end. But when that golf club is put into motion at 100 mph or so, a lot of dynamics begin to happen.

Here are some random observations I’ve made over the years about equipment cause and effect:

Increasing your driving distance. The industry has taken us on this dramatic quest for distance and power, and the average driver sold today is over 45” long. That’s two inches longer than the standard of 35 years ago. And while the humongous driver heads brag about “forgiveness”, the fact is that your longest drives (and straightest) will always come from dead center hits. It’s still a fact that a sweet spot miss of just ½” will cost you 7-9% distance loss, and a miss of ¾” will increase that to 12-15%. I suggest you try gripping down on your driver an inch or more the next time you play and see if you don’t hit the ball closer to the sweet spot and see it consistently going longer and straighter. It’s been proven over and over again.

Examining Iron Specs – The “standard” way a set of irons was engineered for decades was that the irons varied in length by ½”, and in loft by 4 degrees, and the pitching wedge was at least 48 degrees of loft, or even more. But over the past few decades – driven by the relentless quest for distance – almost all modern sets of irons are built around loft gaps that have increased to 5° at the short end of the set and as small as 2.5° at the long end. And the modern “pitching wedge” rarely has over 45 degrees of loft, and many are pushing that club down to as low as 42-43 degrees. Before you do anything with your irons, I strongly suggest you visit a qualified clubfitter and verify your loft and length specs and your carry distance differentials through the set. The cost of an hour or so on a launch monitor will be well worth the experience and knowledge you’ll gain.

Fit your putter. It amazes me to watch how many golfers – even some of the pros on TV – have the heel or toe of the putter slightly up in the air at address. The simple fact is that this makes the face point right or left because of the loft. I’ve long been a true believer in putter fitting. A good fit will ensure that your putter really is aimed at the target, and that the lie angle allows the ball to come off the putter straight. And while the style of putter has long been a considered a matter of personal preference, there are some different dynamic performance principles between toe hang, face-balanced and lie angle balanced. I suggest you get a brand-agnostic and style-agnostic fitting if you are going to invest in a new putter this year.

Watch Your Grips. Even when you spend hundreds of dollars on a driver or set of irons, you get disposable “handles”. It’s a fact that grips wear out. They get dirty. And they need replacing regularly. Take a close look at yours. Worn, dirty grips cause you to grip the club tighter to have control. And bad shots are much more frequent because of that.

Experiment. The toys are a big part of the fun of golf, so don’t be afraid to experiment. I’ve long suggested all golfers should try the blade style short irons of one of your better player friends or pros, but experiment with other clubs, too. Hit your buddies’ hybrids, fairways, irons, drivers. Try different golf balls. It’s fun and enlightening. But I would urge you to do one thing before you buy any new golf club – take it/them to the course for a few rounds to see if the performance in the fitting bay or demo day carries to the course for you.

So, there you have some random thoughts of the hundreds that swirl around in my head. Let me know your other questions about equipment and I’ll try to address them in future columns.