I think that everyone who buys a driver through a web site deserves to be sure they are getting what they think they are getting. I had some experiences this past week or so with clients that made me want to share some simple information with you about drivers.
If you buy a driver from a web service provider and the advertisement says that it is "10.5 degrees of loft" can you be SURE that is the loft of the driver? Well............maybe.............sort of. Here are some simple things that you should really know about buying a driver sight unseen!
1. There are two things that determine the True Loft of a driver AS YOU PLAY IT....The real measured loft of the face, and the FACE ANGLE of the driver.
2. In recent years, most drivers I have seen in stores have some amount of Closed Face Angle to them. This means that when you set the driver so the face is flat on the ground and you do not attempt to manipulate it so that the face is square to the target line, that the face will look a little shut to the target line. Some players can actually benefit from a closed face angle particularly if the slice the ball........the close face can help them to somewhat reduce the amount of their slice.
3. However.....if you have a driver that for example has 10 degrees of loft, and say it has a 2 degree closed face angle. Now if you set this driver face so that the face is square to the target line......the EFFECTIVE LOFT of the driver face will actually be 12 degrees. And you might wonder why you hit that driver higher than you think you should.
4. And the opposite holds true. If you have a driver with 10 degrees of loft and 2 degrees open face angle, and you square the face, then the Effective Loft of that driver will be 8 degrees.
My tip to you then, particularly if you want to play with a driver that has a face that is square to the target line at address...... Make sure you know what you are buying before you click "Purchase." If you want a 10 degree driver with 0 degree face angle, be sure that is what you are buying!
Tony
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
A Great Time With The Tennessee Guys!
This weekend we had a great day of clubfitting and some golfing with the members of the AGCP Tennessee Chapter. We did this at the Stoneybrook Golf Club in Columbia, TN. This is the third meeting of the TN Chapter that Jim Holley, one of the TN AGCP clubfitters, has organized. I had to miss the first two of these, and have been really looking forward to getting together with this group.
Dan Wilt - Link to the Links Custom Clubfitting - has a fitting and clubmaking facility at Stoneybrook, and he gave us a tour of his shop. Dan had his Zelocity launch monitor set up and most of us hit some drives and looked at the specs of our swing speed, etc. from the Zelocity.
One of the neat capabilities that Dan uses is directly linking the output from the Zelocity to another great clubfitting software package - Optimal Flight. Optimal Flight can be used to take driver (and other club) ball speed, launch angle, and ball spin data and identify optimal conditions to increase shot distance. I knew that this capability was available in Optimal Flight, but had never seen it in action. One of the things I took away from the meeting is that I need to set my Zelocity / Optimal Flight system up in a similar way to collect data directly into Optimal Flight.
We spent most of the morning outside under a tent at the driving range giving golfers who came to the range some fitting tips. There were a few players who hit some shots who could REALLY hit the ball far - but who also hit a lot of offline shots. For most of these players, having them hit a driver with a much heavier shaft - 75 to 85 grams instead of the 60 or so grams in most of the typical OEM clubs - resulted in some obvious improvements in their drives.
Then, because all of us are golf nuts, we played the Stoneybrook course in the afternoon. Some vendor representatives from Leaderboard Golf, SK Fiber Shafts, and Global Tour Golf, were also there and played with us. We did a blind draw two man point quota tournament, and closest to the pins on all par threes, and gave out some prizes for some winning teams and individual winners. Late in the day we parted ways, but all of us were excited about the first year of our state AGCP chapter.
It is exciting to see this small group chapter group growing little by little. Jim Holley is doing a great job of organizing get togethers, and each one seems to be a little better and the group is growing.
SHORT GAME MUSINGS.....I continue to, more and more, believe that improving the short game one of the fastest ways to improve your scoring. This weekend I tried a tip I read in a recent Golf Digest article by Raymond Floyd - in the September 2009 issue. He suggested you should never ground your club on short shots. I did this while playing, and all of my short shots were improved.....you might consider reading this article if you can get it!
Tony
Dan Wilt - Link to the Links Custom Clubfitting - has a fitting and clubmaking facility at Stoneybrook, and he gave us a tour of his shop. Dan had his Zelocity launch monitor set up and most of us hit some drives and looked at the specs of our swing speed, etc. from the Zelocity.
One of the neat capabilities that Dan uses is directly linking the output from the Zelocity to another great clubfitting software package - Optimal Flight. Optimal Flight can be used to take driver (and other club) ball speed, launch angle, and ball spin data and identify optimal conditions to increase shot distance. I knew that this capability was available in Optimal Flight, but had never seen it in action. One of the things I took away from the meeting is that I need to set my Zelocity / Optimal Flight system up in a similar way to collect data directly into Optimal Flight.
We spent most of the morning outside under a tent at the driving range giving golfers who came to the range some fitting tips. There were a few players who hit some shots who could REALLY hit the ball far - but who also hit a lot of offline shots. For most of these players, having them hit a driver with a much heavier shaft - 75 to 85 grams instead of the 60 or so grams in most of the typical OEM clubs - resulted in some obvious improvements in their drives.
Then, because all of us are golf nuts, we played the Stoneybrook course in the afternoon. Some vendor representatives from Leaderboard Golf, SK Fiber Shafts, and Global Tour Golf, were also there and played with us. We did a blind draw two man point quota tournament, and closest to the pins on all par threes, and gave out some prizes for some winning teams and individual winners. Late in the day we parted ways, but all of us were excited about the first year of our state AGCP chapter.
It is exciting to see this small group chapter group growing little by little. Jim Holley is doing a great job of organizing get togethers, and each one seems to be a little better and the group is growing.
SHORT GAME MUSINGS.....I continue to, more and more, believe that improving the short game one of the fastest ways to improve your scoring. This weekend I tried a tip I read in a recent Golf Digest article by Raymond Floyd - in the September 2009 issue. He suggested you should never ground your club on short shots. I did this while playing, and all of my short shots were improved.....you might consider reading this article if you can get it!
Tony
Monday, August 17, 2009
Ah Tiger!
Now, I have to admit that I did not get to watch all of the PGA tournament yesterday. But I did see the start of the round and the last hole, and in between was calling my golf buddy for an update.
Y. E. Yang was amazing and the shot he hit over the tree on 18 was one that I think could only be hit by someone who was totally relaxed in his game. He deserved to win yesterday.
But I come out of the weekend having an even greater appreciation for Tiger and his talents, and I also believe that this loss is going to bring even greater success for him in the future.
How many of us - other than the money - would want to be Tiger? The totally unrealistic expectations, the fact that he is always under the spotlight? Few if any of us could handle what he has to go through every day.
I think he will come out an even better player in future majors......this loss might actually be what allows him to win a Grand Slam some time in the future. He no longer has the "what if I lose when I am ahead in the final round?" weight on his back..... If anything I believe he will look back and see the value in finally losing from the front. And maybe it will help him get the other weight off his back - to be able to come from behind in the final round of a major.....
I can't wait to see what happens next!
Tony
Y. E. Yang was amazing and the shot he hit over the tree on 18 was one that I think could only be hit by someone who was totally relaxed in his game. He deserved to win yesterday.
But I come out of the weekend having an even greater appreciation for Tiger and his talents, and I also believe that this loss is going to bring even greater success for him in the future.
How many of us - other than the money - would want to be Tiger? The totally unrealistic expectations, the fact that he is always under the spotlight? Few if any of us could handle what he has to go through every day.
I think he will come out an even better player in future majors......this loss might actually be what allows him to win a Grand Slam some time in the future. He no longer has the "what if I lose when I am ahead in the final round?" weight on his back..... If anything I believe he will look back and see the value in finally losing from the front. And maybe it will help him get the other weight off his back - to be able to come from behind in the final round of a major.....
I can't wait to see what happens next!
Tony
Monday, August 10, 2009
A Great Weekend!
My brother Harry comes every year to play the Oak Ridge Country Club Member Guest tournament with me. We played this past weekend, and did the best we ever did in the tournament - winning our flight, first round playoff match, and getting into a chip off on the first shootout playoff hole. For me this weekend is pretty much both the highlight of my golfing year and also the end of the summer golf season for me.
Both my brother and I now play clubs totally fitted and built by me. He plays an SMT Indio driver, Golfworks KE4 3, 5, and 7 woods, Wishon 785 HF 4 and 5 hybrids, and Wishon irons. I built him a new putter that he put in play this weekend and he putted great - the fit for him was about an inch shorter than his previous putter, and he liked an oversized Winn grip for the putter. He putted great with this the entire weekend. I play with an SMT 455DB driver, Wishon 3 and 5 woods, Wishon 785 HF 3, 4, and 5 hybrids, and Infiniti Assure irons and wedges. I play a Golfworks putter, and use the Opti Vibe putter optimization weights in the putter to improve its feel for me.
There were for me three great highlights of the weekend....
1. In our second match on Saturday - when we were down two holes - we were playing a par five and Harry hit a 200 yard 3 wood to a steeply uphill green to 30 feet, and sunk the putt for a birdie. It was one of the finest shots I have ever seen....I am still not sure how he did it!
2. In the first hole of the shootout - alternate shot - I stood on the tee to hit my drive - and I looked out on rows of carts of people watching the play and it was TOTALLY quiet....not sure I have ever experienced such a calm time on a golf course. I was enough in control of the moment to slow down and truly enjoy it.
3. Finally, today we played one more round and my brother shot his first ever 37 for 9 holes - one over par. He made two birdies in a row (first time ever) and easily could have shot even par. We were quietly rooting him on!
Golf never ceases to be a great sport to play. But getting to compete and sometimes succeed in tournaments - what a treat!
Tony
Both my brother and I now play clubs totally fitted and built by me. He plays an SMT Indio driver, Golfworks KE4 3, 5, and 7 woods, Wishon 785 HF 4 and 5 hybrids, and Wishon irons. I built him a new putter that he put in play this weekend and he putted great - the fit for him was about an inch shorter than his previous putter, and he liked an oversized Winn grip for the putter. He putted great with this the entire weekend. I play with an SMT 455DB driver, Wishon 3 and 5 woods, Wishon 785 HF 3, 4, and 5 hybrids, and Infiniti Assure irons and wedges. I play a Golfworks putter, and use the Opti Vibe putter optimization weights in the putter to improve its feel for me.
There were for me three great highlights of the weekend....
1. In our second match on Saturday - when we were down two holes - we were playing a par five and Harry hit a 200 yard 3 wood to a steeply uphill green to 30 feet, and sunk the putt for a birdie. It was one of the finest shots I have ever seen....I am still not sure how he did it!
2. In the first hole of the shootout - alternate shot - I stood on the tee to hit my drive - and I looked out on rows of carts of people watching the play and it was TOTALLY quiet....not sure I have ever experienced such a calm time on a golf course. I was enough in control of the moment to slow down and truly enjoy it.
3. Finally, today we played one more round and my brother shot his first ever 37 for 9 holes - one over par. He made two birdies in a row (first time ever) and easily could have shot even par. We were quietly rooting him on!
Golf never ceases to be a great sport to play. But getting to compete and sometimes succeed in tournaments - what a treat!
Tony
Monday, August 3, 2009
Happy "0" Day to Me!
Well.....................today is my 60th birthday. My family came over and everyone really spoiled me. I took the morning off, hit chips and pitches and sand shots for 1-1/2 hours and did not think once about day job. And a good friend called me tonight and said he likes the 4 hybrid that I built for him.
And that is about as good as it can get!! I am very blessed.
Tony
And that is about as good as it can get!! I am very blessed.
Tony
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