How to choose a golf club sets?

for begineers, I will not recommend you buying an expensive set now. People usually buy based on the folllowing criteriion:

Shaft Material - Steel or graphite?
Check your swing speed - if you are a strong person who could swing fast, go for a heavy set such as those with steel shafts. if not, go for graphite, which is lighter and A LOT easier to swing and achieve the speed that you need.

Head design - muscle back (MB)(also known as blade) or cavity?
If you just started to play, go for cavity type which is more forgiving (easier to hit) because it has a larger hitting surface and bigger sweet spot.

Length of shafts - make a big difference
Try to get a demo and swing it, see if you like it and feel it. you have to try it.

Stiffness of shafts -
L- Light for Senior /Ladies - less stiff and easier to swing, with a larger spring effect.
R - for golfers with regular swing speed (90 to 98 miles per hour)
S (stiff) or RR - Stiff is designed for those who could swing and get the ball at 100 mph or faster (near pro golfers)

Club sets - 3 thru 9 + P or 4 thru 9 plus P and S?
begineers should have a set which has more short clubs (wedges) rather than buying a set with a 3-iron which new player will hardly use. (3-iron could be replaced by No. 5 or No. 7 fairway wood)

Style and budget -
if all of the above factors have been considered, now is down to your budget. If you just started golfing, any major brands will work for you for now, coz you
are still in the process of developing/stablizing your swing plane. A top of the line set may not perfectly fit your swing style now, may be later.

Most of the golfers will buy a 1 or 2 years old design set (say go for some 2005 models instead of 2006 latest design) so you can use it to develop your swing, and after you could master your skills, then you can go for a more professional level set.

Callaway X-16 and later models are very forgiving but expensive
Taylormade OS (oversize) series is very easy to play, stay away from their LT series (they are designed for the professional players)
Ping is more for experience golfers, Cleverland also (these could be your next set)
HK golfers like Mizuno a lot.
Wilson is kind of the last group of the pack in terms of style and performance.

The link below has a lot of information and descriptions to show you more on the characteristics of each set. Just one final word: Your driver/wood set should somewhat similar to your iron set in terms of the swing style so you dont need to adjust your swing speed and style too much when you switch between woods and irons.

Good luck and have fun in golfing.....

2006-11-10 04:49:50 補充：
typo: should be beginners, not begineers......hehe..

you can visit www.golfsmith.com, they have a lot of helpful information to coach you for club selection. you can also visit www.nikegolf.com