"Please Release Me!"

It has been a pretty quite week in Oak Ridge clubfitting land, because of big family visits for the baptism of grandbaby #2.


However, there are some interesting fitting developments coming up. I have been reading a number of posts lately related to fitting people who are hitting the ball High and Right (talking right handers....). And have had two similar discussions with local people who are having some similar results.


One is a single digit handicapper who is interested in getting more clubhead feel. I provided him some lead tape to put on the bottom of his club to test, and he said that adding 4 grams of lead tape was causing him to hit the ball high and right. Now, this is a player who has pretty good swing mechanics. So it is highly likely that the cause of high/right in this case is in fact due to the higher club swingweight and head weight that could be inhibiting him from closing the clubface - releasing the clubface - at the end of his swing. We are going to work together later this week with the Opti Vibe optimization weights - some weight down the shaft and some at the butt end, and vary the location of the weight down the shaft - to see if we can come up with an optimum club feel for him that can produce some more distance and not produce high/right shots.


Another case is just speculation at this time.....I got a call today from someone who hits his fairway woods well, but has the high/right shot pattern with his driver. I sent a post to the AGCP forum tonight asking for some feedback from others on solutions to high/right, and one of the answers from a fitter whose views I respect was Be Sure He Releases The Club (he said "Please Release Me!". And Ball Position can also be a cause of high/right.


It is also possible, however, that driver characteristics can be helping to promote High/Rightitis. If the driver is too long for this player (a good possibility...) then the player may not be setting up in an athletic position and may in fact not be able to release the club as he should. If the club swingweight/MOI is too high, then as much as he would like to be able to release the club, he might not be able to do so easily.


So no full answers on this yet - hopefully meeting with the second person later this week to get some club measurements as a start and then see if they tell me anything. And it is also clear that good swing mechanics are important - but also that sometimes club characteristics can keep a player from producing swings that provide good results. Bottom line - it is important to look at the combination of a player's swing and his clubs to find the true cause of mishit shots.


Tony