Golf Digest Top 700 Clubfitters List - Made It!

The February 2011 issue of Golf Digest will hit the streets today. "Game Improvement Golf" made this list, which is a pretty exciting result for my business. The full list is shown in the link below.....

http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/2011-02/clubfitters-listing

More than 76 Assn. of Golf Clubfitting Professional (AGCP) members made the list, this is the group that I would with closely to continuously learn how to improve my fitting abilities.

This is the first time Golf Digest has prepared a list of clubfitters for their February Equipment issue. It is an indication, I believe, that they acknowledge the true value of precision clubfitting to players.

Tony

Brrrrrr.......So Make Use Of Your Basement!!

Pretty darn cold here the last week or so for Oak Ridge, TN.......and we live in what is actually a pretty temperate climate.

So not much time for golf here over the holidays. While I am still pretty busy at this time with building a new set of clubs for a client, and some regripping, I find myself also thinking about being out there playing. Or at the least doing something to improve my game.

One of the best indoor swing training devices that you might consider buying and using indoors is the Swingrite trainer. It is designed to "click" during your downswing when you have done a correct transition and so been able to hold your "lag" in your swing - a large key to improving how far you can hit the ball.

Not only is this an effective swing training device, but it works well indoors in basements with low ceilings - so you can do a full release to the end of your swing without worrying about hitting the ceiling with the club (something that I have often done in my basement!!).

To put my "money where my mouth is" regarding this device, I presently have two of them and would like to give one away as a late Christmas gift to a blog reader. So I will take the first 20 emails that I get that note that they have read this post, and pick one winner for the Swingrite trainer. I will pay postage to send this anywhere in the U.S.

Happy New Year!!

Tony

Do you ever Wonder??

A fellow clubfitter wrote a post in his newsletter recently that really struck me, and I thought I would share the basics of if with you.


Are golfers getting tired of the fact that every year there is a new Best Thing that the big companies are producing and promoting? Is this new thing the color of the driver, the color of the shaft, the head MOI of the driver, the weight of the grip? Are maybe the new possibilities running out?


And do any of these changes help you play better compared to getting a club in your hands that is the right length, flex, flex profile, swingweight/MOI for you? These things actually do not change every year. Something worth pondering....


Merry Christmas!!


AND do not forget to watch the ReMax Long Drive Championship replay on one of the ESPN channels on Christmas Day!!


Tony

Dear Santa! - The Best Golf DVDs

Thought I would provide suggestions for some great instructional golf DVDs for anyone interested in perhaps some close to late Christmas purchases....

1. "Secrets of the Short Game" - Phil Mickelson - in my view the best instruction on improving the short game I have ever seen.

2. "Tom Watson's Lessons of a Lifetime" - instruction on all elements of golf.

3. "Dave Stockton's PUTT TO WIN" (and there is a similarly named book that is excellent). There are key simple things discussed in this DVD about putting.

I believe the Mickelson and Watson DVDs can be purchased from Amazon.com, and you would have to go to Dave Stockton's web site to purchase his DVD.

Tony

Feel Is The Real Deal!

Finding the right golf club characteristics for a player is often as much a matter of the right Feel of the club as it is getting specific values of flex and MOI/swingweight for the player. The "numbers" may sometimes not be as important as putting a club in a player's hands that simply FEELS right.


In a driver fitting this weekend, we determined that the player needed a shaft that was quite a bit softer in flex than what he was playing. Also shorter in length than he was playing. And pretty high loft, about 15 degrees.


But then it got interesting. With the club that was the best first-level flex and length, we started adding weight to the clubhead to see how if affected how the club felt and how he could release the clubhead at impact. We got to a certain added head weight and he said "that feels really good."


We added 2 grams more weight - he could not close the clubhead as easily. I was looking to make some other changes to the feel of the clubhead, but he absolutely did NOT want anything but the one that "really feels good."


No doubt in my mind after that feedback that that club was the right one to build. Built it tonight to exactly the specs of the test club and hopefully the snow will stop enough soon so that he can get to hit it.


I am always a bit amazed at how players can hit on a club that is Absolutely the best feel for them, and how this is certainly the club that is the best fit. To me player feedback is at the same level of importance as that from launch monitors, impact labels, and precision test clubs.


Tony

Young Folks and Clubfitting

This weekend I had the chance to see Des work with a young boy who has a BEAUTIFUL swing. If he continues to be interested in golf, has fun in the process of improving, and finds a way to get to practice and improve, he has the potential to be a pretty good player.

For someone like this who is truly showing an interest in playing golf, getting clubs that truly fit him can make a big difference. His present clubs are very light, and so he has to adapt to them. Practicing this great swing with clubs that he does not have to adapt to can keep him on the way to developing and improving the good swing habits he now has.

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Tonight is a really neat night in the golf world of Oak Ridge, TN. Scott Stallings from Oak Ridge, playing in the PGA Qualifying Tournament - 6 rounds of golf - made the PGA tour for 2011. It was exciting to get to see this achievement happen for him, and all the best for his hopefully the first of many years on the PGA tour!!

Play to YOUR Strengths - and Create New Ones!

As I am working with more and more players, and particularly players with higher handicaps, I see good opportunities for them to shoot lower scores, reduce their handicaps, and get greater enjoyment by playing with the right type of clubs to match their games and their swings.


This is based on the fact that...

1. Not all players can hit the ball the furthest, for them, with a 10 degree driver.

2. Not all players can hit low loft fairway woods to maximize distance.

3. Not all players can hit 3, 4, 5, and even 6 irons well.

4. Not all players can hit lob wedges well.

5. Not all players have great sand shot technique (for sure I am in this category!!)


Careful and thoughtful review of the clubs you play and what can work best for you can help you eek out a few strokes each round....


1. By getting enough loft on your driver and the right length for it so that you maximize center hits.

2. By playing fairway woods with enough loft so that you maximize distance with these clubs also.

3. By only carrying a 3 iron in your bag if you want to have a club that you can hit to escape from under trees. By either carrying high-loft fairway woods even up to 11 and 13 wood lofts - or playing the right hybrids to get long irons out of your bag.

4. By keeping a lob wedge in your bag if it helps your short game....but if not by taking it out and developing good technique with your sand wedge for short shots.

5. By carrying a club that you can dedicate to getting you out of the sand easily - the Wishon Wide Sole wedge and some of the Golfworks wedges are great examples of clubs that can really help you in the sand.


This strategy will help you to keep the ball in play, to maximize the number of good shots you hit because you are playing with clubs that fit your game and swing style, and by making it easy for you to get out of bunkers when you get in them. Then "ALL" you need to do is keep working on your putting (and using a putter that fits you well) and your short game.


Being strategic about the clubs you have in your bag is a good way to hit more great shots and shoot lower scores.


Tony

3 Great Years And Counting - THANKS DES!!

I am drawn each Thanksgiving to spend at least a little time remembering that I have been fortunate to partner with one of the best Teaching Pros in Tennessee - Des Mahoney.


About 3 years ago we started our collaboration, and I think it has been valuable from both ends. I have learned a lot about the golf swing from watching his teaching, and I think he has learned a lot about the value of precision clubfitting from my work with my clients.


We have a number of folks that we work with together. A great way to truly improve your golf game.


I have also watched Des show folks how to improve their physical abilities with appropriate stretching. This is a hidden strength of many if not all of the folks on the PGA Tour.....I believe most see how much good stretching can help them to optimize their golf swings. Des has taught me a number of stretches that at a minimum improve some of the back issues I have, and that I think will ultimately help me to hit the ball further.


Another strength that Des has is his love of teaching young players. And his understanding that to if you want to become a good player, a great way to achieve that is to have an indoor net and hit balls into the net. There are no shortcuts to developing a good repeatable golf swing.


We have a great teaching/fitting partnership - maybe one of the best in Tennessee! Thanks again Des.


Tony

4 of My Favorites!

Four of my favorite suppliers of great golf components are Tom Wishon Golf, Kent Sports (Alpha golf heads), SK Fiber shafts, and Infiniti golf heads. Today they were all part of my efforts to build some new clubs.....


1. This weekend I brought Des Mahoney, the teaching pro I partner with, two new 6 irons to test. These used Wishon Superlight steel shafts - I had rebuilt his irons about a year ago and he wanted to compare his older clubs with two newer clubheads. So I built two new clubs to exactly the same specs as the 6 iron I built for him a year ago. Today I ordered 11 more of these shafts to use to assemble new clubs with the head he chose from the testing.

I also ordered a demo wedge head from Wishon today - the wide sole lob wedge. A great option for a player who wants some help getting out of sand traps.


2. Today I also ordered some Alpha Response Offset fairway woods - 18 and 21 degrees - and an Alpha Response offset hybrid - 25 degrees - to build for a client who needs some help closing the clubface easily.


3. I nearly completed building a new Infiniti Assure gap wedge for a client who needed a distance option between his pitching wedge and sand wedge. This is one of my favorite heads, particularly for someone who loves who likes to play a club with a wide sole.


4. Finally, for the Alpha fairway woods and the Assure gap wedge I am using SK Fiber VIP and TT 80 graphite shafts. The great thing about these is the consistency of them in terms of buildin frequency matched club sets.


All of these companies make the highest quality golf heads and shafts - easy to build with and designed to produce great golf results.


Tony

Your First Set Of Clubs - The Fit Is STILL It!!

You want to get your first set of golf clubs, and you have read that getting clubs that truly fit you are the best way to go.


But most likely you think - how can that matter for me when I am just starting?


Well, maybe just as much as for players who have well developed golf skills, the right starter set will be well worth the investment. Here are some aspects of a good starter set that can help you...

1. A driver that is the right length for you with enough loft to easily get the ball to carry well in the air.

2. A fairway also with lots of loft that will again be easy to hit and get good carry.

3. Perhaps one hybrid club as a substitute for a 4 iron.

4. A 5, 7, 9 iron and pitching wedge with "game improvement" characteristics that are forgiving to mishits.

5. A sand wedge with sufficient bounce to help you hit sand shots well.

6. A putter that is PERFECTLY fit for the right length and lie to make it easy for you to get the golf ball in the hole!


9 clubs to start - but built for you to help you to see good results at the start. And also to help you be able to get good instuction to develop a quality golf swing!


Tony

WATCHING AND ASKING - Very Important Fitting Tools!

It is important to have things like launch monitors and precise fitting clubs to use in club fitting. But it is JUST as important to pay attention to the way a player hits the ball, and particularly if there are any physical issues that he/she has.

A great case of this happened in a driver fitting that I did this weekend. At the start of the fitting, when I was about to take some video of his swing to measure tempo and club release point, I noticed that he had a tendency to keep the clubface open at impact. At the time did not know if this was related to swing mechanics or something else, but I "filed it away" for later evaluation.

I asked what his normal "misses" have been with his driver, and he said he missed to the right (push fade). Launch monitor and Golftek data confirmed that this was also true during the fitting session.

One of the driver head options that can help reduce the severity of push-slice misses is the Alpha HMO Response driver. This head includes both offset and a closed club face, and for players who are not afraid to let the club "play" as it is designed - looking at the clubface closed at address - this can be a great option.

During the process of testing different driver heads, the player noted that he has arthritis in his wrist and this keeps him from easily releasing the club. After hearing that, it became clear that the Alpha head would be a great option for him. Golftek results showed that the face at impact was close to square and final outside testing showed that he hit this club very straight. 44 inches, 15 degrees true loft, and the Alpha head. A winner!

Knowing about physical issues is just as important as any other fitting measurement. This weekend was a great reminder!!

Tony

Fit The Misses Too!

For every fitting that I do, I ask the player "what are your misses?" The answer to this question often provides initial hints into what kind of club improvements can provide the most value to players.


Many fittings result in increased distance with irons or drivers, or reduced dispersion of shots. But a recent post on the AGCP web site caused me to think there is a lot more to consider in paying LOTS of attention to the Misses players make - maybe more atttention to these than to the great shots.


There are a lot of things that can be done to golf clubs to "make misses better." Like fitting with an offset driver when a player slices a lot, or fitting with more loft when a player does not get drives and fairway woods in the air, or even recommending a sand wedge with a very wide sole to make sand shots easier.


So finding ways to increase distance with irons and woods is a great thing to strive for. But just as important is to make sure that the clubs really fit the player's swings - and maybe the best way to helping a lot of folks get more enjoyment in golf is simply to help them make all of their misses better.


Tony

Higher IS Further!!

At the AGCP Roundtable 5, we had the treat of listening to Tom Wishon (Tom Wishon Golf) talk for about 2 hours on things he has learned from working in the golf club business for about 40 years.


He noted his belief that the top 3 factors that have a major influence on driving distance are (in order of importance):

1. Driver loft
2. Driver length
3. Driver MOI/Swingweight


I believe that shaft flex and shaft flex profile are also important in fitting for distance - but I think Tom's point is that the three factors above play the Most important role in obtaining more distance.


The more I have thought about this in the past month, the more I agree with him. I recall one of the best driver fittings that I have ever done, and what I did was put the player into a 13 degree driver with a 43 inch length. This was for a player over 70 years old who I do not think has ever hit his drives 200 yards - but he could with this club.


I also think about what I see from the "big boys" on the PGA Tour. I do not think you ever see drives that are low and boring any more - they all fly high and carry long. All of their drives fly significantly higher than I know my drives do.


But the majority of drivers that we see in stores are still 9.5 degrees, 10 degrees, 10.5 degrees of loft. Maybe good for players who have 100 plus mph swing speed, but most of us are well below that.


Do not be afraid to test 13 and 15 degree drivers - the final results may surprise you!


Tony

Putter Grips - A Little Means A LOT!!

I am amazed sometimes at the little things in club building that can be important.

At the AGCP RT5, I realized that it is VERY important to install putter grips onto clubs so that the flat part is PERFECTLY perpendicular to the face of the putter.

And it makes such sense when you think of it. We all want to square the face up, and when we put our hands on the grip we all want to make the flat part of the grip be parallel to the putting line.

If the grip is not installed properly, we are adjusting and manipulating our strokes to compensate for this. Not something that leads to consistent putting.

So if you read this blog take a look at your grip. If it is not square, find someone who has the equipment to install it totally square to the line to take out this level of uncertainty in your putting stroke.


tony

Some Key Tidbits on The Successful AGCP RT5

Well we had another great AGCP Roundtable this past week. It started with a Demo Day last Wednesday and then 3 days of presentations and interactions with AGCP sponsors who attended the meetings. More than 60 AGCP members attended and there were excellent presentations on key elements of clubfitting including how to fit golfers who have disabilities, on the influence of metallurgy on the ability to bend iron heads, on how some important elements of installing grips on golf clubs, and business basics for clubfitting business development, on how to organize clubfitting websites, and on the key interactions between clubfitting and golf instruction (and more).


From the standpoint of readers of this blog, here are some tidbits that I hope might help your golf games....

1. If you ever the chance to get an evaluation of your putting stroke with the SAM PuttLab, I highly recommend it. This is the Cadillac of putter stroke diagnostics, and it provides some great insights into how you might improve your putting stroke. And you might also want to check out "The Putting Doctor" website - Glenn Combs has a simple process for improving putting that is well worth the investment.

2. A good resource discussed for tracking your golf game shots and identifying areas for improvement is the LinxTracker.... website of the same name.

3. Back to putting, an overlooked area that could lead to improvement is simply to determine if your grip has been put on straight so that you can square up the clubface. You might visually look at your grip and if it is not on straight get your putter regripped.

4. Again back to putting......a way to get an initial check on the effectiveness of your stroke is to simply check if you are aiming the putter on line......and if you are hitting the ball on the sweet spot of the putter.

5. From the standpoint of getting effective help with your golf swing, finding a teacher who focuses on the fundamentals is very important.


By far the best part of the Roundtable happened at the end. Tom Wishon from Tom Wishon Golf Technology gave a 2 hour presentation on what he has learned from 40 years of working in the golf business. He discussed many things - including that almost all drivers that people buy off the rack are too long - but the key thing was something he said at the end and that needs to be emphasized over and over again.....


Custom Built Golf Clubs Are The Best Golf Clubs
That You Will Ever Play With.


Tony

Off We Go - AGCP Roundtable 5!!

The AGCP Roundtable 5 starts on Wednesday with a Demo Day. Followed by 3 days of terrific presentations on topics like MOI matching, tips and tricks for clubbuilding, how to handle business finances, marketing, and a lot of others. More than 60 of the best clubfitters in the world will again attend, and it is my favorite time of the year. Tom Wishon will be giving the Keynote Address for the Conference on Saturday and it should be great.


I will do a couple of extra blog posts this week to note some of the highlights of the conference. Off we go!


Tony

"Framing" The Situation ...

Two weekends ago one of those great "Murphy's Law" events happened that can be frustrating but hopefully useful.


I had a driver/fairway wood fitting session with a client and could not get my video camera to work. I had been using an old Sony video camera to record swing sequences so that I can measure club release point - where a player breaks his wrist cock - and overall swing tempo. These are important to know to get the right "flex profile" for a driver or fairway wood shaft. I use software called V1 Home to step through video frames to collect this data.


It turned out that the firewire cable taking video from my Sony camera to my computer was broken - not sure how but it was. I ordered another cable but....


In the process of not knowing if the camera did not work or if the cable was broken, I asked my AGCP fitting friends about what cameras they are presently using, and a lot of them said I should look at the Casio EX-FM 25 camera. This camera takes still shots, but also takes video and can get to frame rates easily of 240 frames/second - about 4 times the resolution of my present Sony camera. And with good lighting I might even be able to get to higher frame rates with it. As you can guess then, I bought it and it is a terrific camera.


Two things about it should help improve my fittings. First, the greater frame rates will allow me to get more precise info. on club release point. Second, I am looking forward to setting the camera up and taking some high frame rate video of player putting strokes. I suspect that this putting data can help identify ways for players to improve their putting.


Tony

Quality Component Heads - The Truth

I did two fittings this weekend, and one of them was with a past customer who I built a set of irons for a month or so ago. He told me that he had never broken 90 before, but had recently shot 86 using the new irons (he also said he now hits his pitching wedge 130 yards, wow!). The fitting we did was to find him a new set of fairway woods, and we settled on a Wishon 525 GRT fairway wood head with an SK Fiber TT 80 wood shaft built to the specs that produced best test results - in particular a 42 inch length 3 wood ("standard" is 43 inches), 15 degree loft, and appropriate weighting and shaft flex. He bombed this test club when he hit it outside.


These results illustrate - as has been the case with other customers - that there are a LOT of great component golf heads out there. Not "knock off" clubs that try to imitate clubs like Callaway and others. But Wishon Golf, Infiniti Golf, Alpha Golf, and others who make heads that stack up with any of the OEM heads that can be bought.


Designers of these component heads have lots of experience with creating clubs that are easy to hit and also that produce good distance and accuracy.


The additional value of using these heads versus rebuilding OEM clubs with the right shaft and club weighting is that when you get these heads you KNOW what you are getting. This makes it much easier to do quality flex and MOI matching of clubs, and the results in terms of consistent feel and quality shots can definitely produce better golf.


This is not to say, to be fair, that rebuilding OEM clubs is not a good way to also get good results. But one should not be afraid, if they find a quality component head that you like, to play these clubs. With the proper fitting and clubs built to test specs, the results can be outstanding.


Tony


PS...........could not miss chance to talk a little about the new camera I just bought for use in fittings. A Casio EX-FH25. It will allow me to take video at 240 frames a second - about a factor of 4 higher resolution than my previous digital video movie camera could produce.

October Golf Digest - A Must Buy!!

I have to admit that while I subscribe to a few golf magazines, I do my best to not take the instruction in them too seriously.


However, I believe that the October issue of Golf Digest is a must buy because of the feature - "Why You Can't Putt." Now clearly this is a grabbing title their marketing guys got this right. But there are about 20 pages in this issue that are well worth reading.


There is great information on the mental side of putting, some good tips from Dave Stockton (right now the hottest putting instructor out there), an article on how to read putts better, and a lot of information on how to have a putter correctly fit for you.


Page 68 presents a lot of good information on the basics of good putter fitting. Certainly getting the right putter length, lie anglei, and putter face loft (for most at least 4 degrees of loft) are musts. And then - at least for me - the putter needs to look good in your hands - you must believe that the head design is made for you. There are two other items that I think are sometimes overlooked but that are important to consider......

1. Putter length is a key fitting parameter. However, if say your present putter is 36 inches and you really should be playing a 34 inch putter, simply cutting the shaft to get to 34 inches is not enough. Like any golf club, when you cut the putter 2 inches you reduce the putter swingweight by about 12 swingweight points - the equivalent of adding about 24 grams of weight to the head. Good putter swingweights are typically in the range of about C6 up to about D4 - some like lighter some heavier. Consider if you are going to have your shaft cut to a shorter length getting some weight added back to the head - either with lead tape or by adding weight down the shaft.


2. Is the putter built correctly - when you sit the head on the ground does the putter face "square up" - is it square to your chosen target line? If not, then you have to adjust your stroke to compensate for this misalignment - and compensation in putting is a clear way to more strokes on the green.


Enjoy the October Golf Digest issue!!!


Tony

FEELING Wrist Cock Release - Can You?

Most all golfers watching the slo-mos of swings like Tiger's and other pros see that they typically have a very late wrist cock release. They hold their wrist cock until just about the 6 o'clock position and then release the club. This is one of the keys to achieving maximum distance for a player especially in driving.


I would contrast the TV pictures to the videos of most players who I have seen swing in fittings. For most of these folks - and I am included here - their wrist cock release is more like at the 9 o'clock position or higher. I can also say for myself that sometimes I can feel a later release and almost always it is a time when I hit the ball a lot farther.


The true way to learn how to effectively produce "lag" is to find a good teacher who can teach you the proper swing sequence to create this lag and delayed wrist cock release. However, there are some pretty good tools out there to at least help players to get a "feel' for what this late release is like.


One of them, my favorite, is the Swingrite training club. You can set different levels of tension with this club so that the club "clicks" and you know you have produced a late release. The audible feature of this is great as is the fact that you can change the tension so that you can train yourself to feel what a stronger release is like.


Another tool to let you feel a later release is the "Gotcha Ready" weight device that you can attach to your club. If you put this up near the grip, it helps you to feel the sensation of a later release of wrist cock. I recently purchased this to see if it works, and I believe the added weight in my hands helps me to sense a later release.


After using the Gotcha Ready, I realized that the of the reasons counter weighting of clubs can help some folks get greater distance on their drives is this feeling of more weight on your hands. Counterweighting can, I believe, help you keep that feel of holding your wrist cock until later in your swing.


All of these can help players to get a feel for one of the things the pros do that many of us do not - release the club late in their swings.


Tony

Expanding Test Clubs - Easy to Justify!

With one week end to go until the boss (!) gets home, I have made lots of progress in improving my overall group of test clubs for fitting.


This week I am about to finish seven new driver test shafts..............two at 45 inch length (about the max length that I usually fit some one in) and five at 44 inches - varied weights from 55 grams up to a steel wood shaft weighing 105 grams. Now I will able to truly test for the influence of shaft weight on club path - remembering how weight affects path due to the "nine ball flight laws."


And later this week I will finish building a set of six 85 gram graphite shafts (range of butt flexes) so will now have iron shaft weights from about 60 grams (graphite) all the way up to over 120 to 130 grams raw shaft weight (steel). SK Fiber, Aerotech, FST, Wishon, and KBS shafts.


A really neat new addition (I love to add new shafts to my test club set!) are some SK Fiber lightweight graphite test shafts in a range of flexes, with overall 6 iron test club length of a little over 40 inches. These were built to be able to fit a 6 foot 9 inch golfer. We did an initial fitting this past weekend, and we found that he needs his shafts to be just a bit softer than the test clubs I had. So I am building two additional test shafts this weekend, and am sure that these will lead to the right fit and better iron distance for this player.


Bottom line - having a full range of test shafts and test heads is the only way to really do fittings that lead to improved ball striking, distance, and confidence.


Tony

Back At It - Adding New Iron Fitting Shafts

After an enjoyable but VERY hot weekend playing in our annual Member Guest tournament, I have a few iron fittings coming up in the next few weeks.


I presently have graphite and steel iron fitting shafts, in raw weights of about 60 and 70 grams in graphite, and 90 - 100 and 120 - 130 grams in steel. There is a hole between the graphite and steel shafts that I am starting to fill in this week.


I ordered six Aerotech i80 Steelfiber shafts - these combine steel and graphite fibers into one shaft - raw weights of about 85 grams. I will build these to different butt frequencies - 5 cpm apart. The Steelfiber shafts are a high quality shaft presently being used on the PGA tour by at least one prominent player. Many of my clubfitting friends strongly endorse this shaft, and I look forward to having these as a option for future club fittings.


What has pushed me to add this group of shafts is the fact that it is hard to predict what shaft weight and shaft feel will produce the best results for players. So it is important to test a number of options to be sure that all reasonable possibilities are covered to find the best fit for players. I never thought, for example, that 70 gram graphite SK Fiber shafts would be a good fit for me because I still swing the club pretty agressively - but I love the feel of these shafts and all I have to do is swing smoothly to get good results.


It is pretty difficult to have "too many" iron test fitting shafts - which is good news for customers!


Tony

Back In The SWing Of Things!

My "higher power" is out of town for a few days, which is going to give me the opportunity to get quite a lot of clubbuilding done the next week or so. Some of my tasks to complete in the evenings this week and part of next include....

- Finishing two iron builds

- Rebuilding two hybrid clubs

- Building some flex test clubs for a tall golfer

- Putting some extenders into two wedges

- Building a new set of driver fitting test shafts - varied shaft weights

- Rebuilding some of my driver test heads so that I can reduce the weight in the heads


I am starting to get very excited about improving my driver fitting test clubs. I am in the process of doing two major improvements to my driver fitting clubs.

First, installing some new FAZ FIT connectors into my test driver heads to reduce the total weight of the heads and connectors. It is easy to add weight in testing - as Dana Upshaw told me "lead tape is your friend."

Second, and I think most importantly, I am building four new test shafts using 55, 65, 75, and 85 gram Aldila NVS driver shafts. This difference of about 30 grams in shaft weight will allow me to test more effectively for the influence of shaft weight on ball flight - shaft weight has a major influence on the driver swing path for a player. I will probably also build at least one steel driver test shaft so that can go up to about 100 grams or so of shaft weight for players who might benefit from this.


While shaft flex is important for drivers, if you cannot hit the ball in the middle of the clubface you will not have the opportunity to maximize the distance of your drives. Driver shaft weight and its influence on club path is important to test for.


Tony

More Next Week.....

I have been out of town getting to play golf at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh, PA for 3 days. What an Experience.....the most fun and interesting course I have ever played. Thanks LJ and CJ!


But in terms of blog post tonight.....my "higher power" is about to go out of town for 3 weeks and so I think I will let it rest for this week..............back next!


Tony

Expecting The Possible!!

This weekend I did some testing with a player who was presently playing lightweight steel iron shafts - about 95 grams raw weight - and we were looking to see if a different type of steel shaft would get better results. He had pretty high swing speed, and he has always played steel iron shafts.


At the end of the tests, we also did some tests with a few 75 gram graphite shaft types - and there was a large jump in shot distance - more than 10 yards, sometimes 15. Admittedly I did not expect that this would happen - but I was glad we did not eliminate the possibility of using lightweight graphite shafts.


These results reminded me of something that is really the difference between great club fitting and just so so fitting. Fitters all have some preliminary ideas on what shafts might work best and what flexes and weight profiles might work best. But it is better to be open to testing across a range of possibilities of types of heads, shafts, flexes, and weights and determine what is the best fit based on performance. Preconceived notions on what will work can be a starting point, but having a wide group of test clubs to work with and test can sometimes yield results that are surprising and maybe even better than expected!


Tony

Are There "Magic Clubs?"

I have been playing with 3, 4, and 5 hybrids in my bag for the past year or so. But this past week I decided I wanted to see how a 7 wood would play and if it would feel easier to hit than my 3 hybrid.


So I bought a Wishon 915 F/H 21 degree head, and built a 41 inch 7 wood to the flex and MOI values that I believe are a good fit for me. I used an SK Fiber TT 80 shaft, and tip trimmed the shaft to a PCS flex of 4.8. I matched the club to the MOI of my present fairway woods and my driver (I swing my fairway woods pretty aggressively).


Well.................I put this club in play this past Sunday, and it was absolutely amazing. I have never swung a club that was so easy to hit. Great ball flight, easy to hit strong shots out of pretty deep rough, and it feels like it swings itself! Today I ordered the 9 wood equivalent of this club and am hopeful that club will play as well as the 7 wood. Some of it might be the 919 F/H head, but I am sure that is not all if it................the club is a perfect match to how I swing.


Is every club built based on clubfitting going to be what I call a "magic club?" For some players I have built clubs for the matching of the right flex, MOI, shaft, and club length has resulted in clubs that are very easy to hit and that feel absolutely wonderful. The object of all of my fittings is to find a set of club specs that would achieve this.


I do believe, though, that the likelihood of finding clubs that truly have a magic feel to them and that produce superior results is higher when they are built on the best possible fitting for a player.


Tony

Short Game - Short Game - Short Game!

Every few weeks there is a post on the AGCP forum that just seems to get lots of attention and responses.


The latest one relates to wedge bounce and wedge sole width - how important are they to wedge play, how does one do correct wedge fittings? So far over 25 responses to the initial question on this one, and a lot of good ideas on how to do wedge fitting. Mostly I am talking about sand wedge fitting.


For me the key lessons learned from the posts are.....


1. Getting good at wedge play is well worth the effort. If you can find a good teaching pro who can teach you good wedge technique and particularly sand play technique, you can overcome many of the missed shots that are part of a normal round of golf.


2. There is no one wedge that is good for all conditions of play. Some will play well in soft sand, some in harder sand. Some in soft fairways, some in tight fairways. And some can help you if you tend to "pick" the ball, where some others can help you if you tend to hit your wedge shots fat.


3. If you can find a fitter who has a variety of wedges with different bounces and sole widths, you should consider hitting shots will these different types of wedges and see what works best for you. Experiment.............see what wedge type can work well for you and your game and course conditions.


4. Finally............and this was not in the post but is my personal view............most players are better off not attempting to use a lob wedge. You might consider, in fact, carrying two sand wedges - one with a "normal" amount of bounce and sole width, and one with a wide sole design. Then you will have the tools to hit shots from a wide variety of lies and sand types.


Tony

More on Drivers.....

I got to read the latest Golf Digest this weekend, there was a good article related to Hank Haney and his relationship with Tiger - worth reading.


The part I remembered most is that Haney said that when Tiger was hitting the ball furthest he was playing a 43 inch driver.... And that now he is playing a 44 inch driver. This info. is for sure food for thought about driver length and whether most of mortals should be playing the 45 and 46 inch drivers you can buy in stores. I have been playing a 44 inch driver for at least a year, and there is no noticeable difference in how far I hit the ball.


The other "driver" item that I have run into twice this weekend relates to face angles of 460 degree drivers. Twice this weekend I was with players who I believe are playing drivers with about 2 degree closed face angle. Both can draw the ball pretty easily - and so the closed face is exactly what they do NOT need to hit the ball well. Closed face drivers have come from the fact that 460 cc driver heads are hard to close by lots of players - so a "fix" for this in drivers in stores is to sell drivers with closed faces - for the "masses." If you are looking to buy a new driver, it might be a good idea to be careful you know what you are REALLY getting and be sure it is right for you - it is a shame to pay a lot for a driver that will not work for your swing.


Tony

Madux Lee Wright - Hello Dude!

Well, my second grandson was born today - Madux Lee Wright, 7 lbs 13 oz, 20-1/2 inches long.


As always, pretty neat stuff.


Wheh my first grandson, Emerson, was born about 2-1/2 years ago, I remembered that there is a commorative driver that you can buy from Louisville Golf - today I did the same for Madux. They sell a wooden headed driver, and engrave the baby's name, weight, and birthdate on the head.


The thing I guess I did not know from when I did this for Emerson is that the LENGTH of the club is made to be the length of baby when he or she is born - a nice touch!


As you might guess we are flying pretty high about the birth, everyone is doing very well. It is kind of fun to think that there could be a possibility in say 10 or so years that we could have a foursome of me, my son, and two grandsons. I suspect that David's other father in law feels the same way!


Tony

A Break In The Action....................Well, Sort Of!

This year has been the busiest one I have had so far in the almost four years since I started clubfitting and clubmaking. It has been a lot of fun to see some new clients come to me because others have referred them.


But....at the same time.....I believe that there are things I need to do to continue to improve my clubfitting abilities. And truthfully I hope to be able to say the same thing ever year......I see how the best fitters are always looking to improve what they do and how they do it.


For me, the next big improvement step is to move up to a more sophisticated Launch Monitor system. Last week I purchased an Accusport Vector Pro launch monitor. I think this particular unit has some indoor fitting capabilities that will greatly enhance my indoor fittings. Specifically, better measurement of ball flight - left and right of the target - and improved measurement of ball spin.


Coupling the Vector Pro and my present Golftek V swing analyzer system will allow me to truly measure all key fitting parameters indoors. I will now be able to measure club and ball speed, ball spin, launch angle, shot dispersion (left or right), Power Transfer Ratio, club path, clubface angle at impact, and a number of other important parameters. Having all of this data will allow me to really see how changing shaft flex, shaft weight, club MOI/swingweight, and club length affect key ball striking results.


The small down side (if there is one....) is that it will take me a little time to get the new system operating. Tonight, for example, I added memory to my laptop computer so that it could collect data at the speeds needed by the Vector. I will operate the Vector Pro and the Golftek at the same time, so adding this memory will also allow me to ensure that I can collect key data with no problems.


But all in all I am very excited about being able to take my fittings to a new level of sophistication. In a way the timing of making this change is probably right - since in a few days I will probably be making a trip to Georgia to see my new grandson - Madux Lee Wright - be born! On the downtime moments, I can do some Vector Pro manual reading and be ready to get back to fittings when I return...


Tony

What IS A Driver Fitting?

I have done a pretty large number of driver fittings in the last month or so. In doing these, I have realized that it is important to set appropriate expectations for what can and cannot be accomplished in driver fittings.


There is no question that everyone would love to get more distance with their present driver head or with another driver head. This is always a key focus for a driver fitting. It is important to know, though, that the maximum that a player can carry a driver is pretty much defined by physics. If you know a player's swing speed, you can get a pretty good estimate of their maximum carry distance by multiplying their swing speed by 2.5. 100 mph swing speed, max driver carry length will be about 250 yards.


A major focus in all driver fittings that I do is consistency. I work to find the right length driver that the player can hit in the center of the clubface the most. Finding the right shaft for the player - based on his swing speed, swing tempo, and club release point - has a major influence on the ability for a player to hit consistent drives with minimal dispersion of shots.


Another important focus that can help consistency is shaft weight and club MOI/SW. These two variables can influence swing path and the ability of the player to close the clubface when he hits the ball. The right choice of shaft weight and/or MOI/swingweight can help the player to hit straighter shots or at least to reduce the magnitude of pull and pushed shots (see the 9 Ball Flight Laws from last week's post.....).


And yes you can also provide help to increase driving distance. Some players can benefit from a different type head, from a head that is smaller (to help them to be able to close the clubface), and sometimes with a head that has some offset or closed face angle - to reduce the magnitude of a slice.


For players with very slow swing speeds who want more distance, you can use very lightweight shafts with very soft flexes - and can use a superlightweight grip for the player so that they have the lightest possible club to swing. Or, in some cases, you can help them more by building them a 3 wood with 13 to 15 degrees of loft, or can build a driver that has a higher loft than often played.


There are, then, a LOT of ways to help players to improve their driving. Some can lead to more distance, and in a lot of cases increased consistency can be as important or more important as more distance.


Tony

The Nine Ball Flight Laws....

Thanks to Dana Upshaw today for posting (through AGCP forum) this link that summarizes the key types of ball flight that are possible - what have been called the "Ball Flight Laws:"

http://www.hkprogolf.com/ball_flight_laws.html

This article discusses the nine ball flight types, which are...

Pull hook
Pull
Pull fade or slice
Draw or hook
Straight
Fade or slice
Push draw
Push
Push fade or slice


The article rightly notes some suggested swing thoughts and changes that can help a player to stop a particular type of flight. It also discusses the influence of shaft flex, shaft weight, grip size, lie angle, and grip size on these different ball flights.


The article rightly shows that "straight" shots are produced when the club travels from inside the target line to square at impact to back inside the target line.


In my view grip size is not likely to be a great contributor to the type of ball flight a player produces. Lie angle and shaft flex can make some contribution to which type of ball flight can be produced, and definitely should be evaluated. Shaft weight can have a major influence on swing path, and club swingweight/MOI can have a major influence on the club face angle relative to the swing path.


So what is your predominant ball flight?


Tony

Driver Fittings - And Optimal Flight Software

First things first though! - We spent the weekend with our grandson Emerson and his mom and dad this weekend, and I realized a little while ago that I did not write a blog post last night.....first time I forgot in about a year. I guess watching Emerson attempt to hit golf balls distracted me from getting on the computer last night!


It is going to be a busy driver testing and fitting week - one test session and two fitting sessions coming up. I am actually adding two great test heads to my fitting clubs - the Alpha V5 LX head and the SMT 455 DB head. Club Conex Faz Fit fittings to use with my present group of test shafts. Am also making up two new 44-1/2 inch test shafts to fill in some holes in test shaft group.


In addition to collecting data launch monitor and video fitting data (and using the BMT shaft fitting system for choosing the right driver shaft) a workhorse for driver fittings is the Optimal Flight software (www.qualitygolfstats.com). Optimal Flight takes the launch monitor data to another level of usefulness - it allows me to do a lot of "what if"" projections in terms of what launch angles and ball spin rates can produce the best driver results. It also has the capability to do Real Time collection of the launch monitor data so that I can evaluate how changes in launch parameters can improve results.


Today I purchased the 2010 version of the software - well, most likely just the first version this year, because the developer Todd Koss is great at updating Optimal Flight on an almost continual basis. He is going to help me with learning how to use some of the new capabilities of the new release - so that I can do a first test drive on Thursday night.


If you ever want to get a sense for what this software does, you can in fact purchase a 1 week license to use it and give it a thorough test drive. Or you can come to Centenial some time and let me show you the capabilities that it has. It is a First Class piece of software that is invaluable for driver fittings.


Tony

Protecting Your Clubs - And a Great Article!

Tonight I thought I would pass on some advice on making sure your clubs can be kept in good condition. In the summer months particularly, you should not leave your golf clubs in your car trunk. You may not think that temperatures can get high enough in your trunk to affect your clubs but - especially in the hot days in the south - temperatures can get well into the 200 degree levels, and this is hot enough for some epoxies to fail. I know of a recent experience of this happening from a post from another clubfitter. Even without failures directly from heat, you run the risk with steel shafted clubs of the combination of heat and humidity causing rust inside the shafts. Last year I reshafted a set of irons for a client due to rust in the shafts. Better safe than sorry - keep those clubs out of your trunk!


I also wanted to pass on an article from clubfitter who has done some recent great writing - J. Lynn Griffin, owner of The Golf Stop in Columbia, South Carolina. This article is right on the money related to fitting of the right driver and fairway wood lofts, shaft flexes, and substitutes of hybrids for irons. I hope that reading this will provide some of you with food for thought about the makeup of the clubs you play.

Here is the web address for the article:

http://www.peakperformancegolfswing.com/fairway-woods-hybrids/


Tony

Great Putting - Some Thoughts

I thought I would share a few putting tidbits tonight - at least some things that have resonated well with me lately.


First, today I received an email noting that Yes Golf (maker of a well know putter that is being used by a number of touring pros) are offering a free DVD on the key elements of great putting. I am not sure how long these will be available, but if you read this note you might want to go to www.yesgolf.com and see if you can order one. No cost for this, I think all they are interested in would be getting your email address.


Putting is more of interest to me today than normal, because yesterday I had the best putting day I have EVER had. I played our club Member-Member tournament with my best golf buddy (as usual) this weekend. The second day of the event is always 9 holes scramble 9 holes alternate shot - we shot 1 over par which is pretty good for this format, and we won the overall event in our flight. As to my putting, I think I made 3 long putts and at least 4 putts in the 5 to 6 foot range. I attribute this to a number of connected things....

1. I believe my putter fits me perfectly. Right length and lie angle. I have an "Opti Vibe" weight down the shaft and this optimizes the feel of the putter for me.

2. A few months ago I read what I think is the best book on putting I have ever read - Dave Stockton's "Putt to Win." I particularly like his thought to pick a very specific target to roll the ball over.

3. Finally, confidence which has been building for the past few rounds. I feel like my setup has been great and I have a chance to make ever long putt I am looking at.


I hope some of the info. in this post might be helpful to you in your efforts to drain lots of putts!


Tony

Golftek V Swing Analyzer - 10 Swings For You!

I have been working for about a month to get my newest piece of equipment working - a Golftek V Swing Analyzer. This Saturday I put it through some final testing paces and it works well - and I can now use it for some neat measurments to improve future fittings.


This Golftek V - using an array of sensors - can measure club swing path and club face angle at impact. It can also measure swing speed and ball speed and a few other parameters.


The reason I purchased this was to be able to make quality measurements of club swing path and club face angle at impact. Now in my fittings I will be able to see the impact of changing things like MOI/swingweight and club shaft weight on these - and so be able to do more detailed and effective fitting to improve player ball striking.


For the next few weeks, if anyone who reads this post is interested in hitting about 10 shots with the Golftek - perhaps drivers and 6 irons - and seeing some data on their swing path and face angle at impact - let me know and I will arrange a time to get together with you to do this. I will not be at Centenial this Saturday (playing in local golf tournament) but can arrange another time to allow you to get your "10 swings" in and see what the results are!


Tony

Testimonials - Gotta Love Them!

I was fortunate that two of my clients recently wrote great testimonials on the clubs I built for them. For me, this is like extra pay - it is great to have someone say that they really love what you do for them.


What got me thinking a bit more about these lately is that I know there are a lot of the major club companies who are advertising that they do "clubfitting" at demo days. And to be truthful, most of these folks now have some very sophisticated equipment that they can use - particularly TrackMan launch monitors, the cadillac of the launch monitor.


I wondered though - do you think any of the folks who have been fitted at these demo days write a testimonial on the quality of the work and the results? Maybe some do, but I would be surprised if this is the case. Can a truly professional fitting be done in a case where most likely something like 40 to 50 people hit some clubs and get some launch monitor specs?


When I and other AGCP professional clubfitters do a fitting, it takes at least 1-1/2 hours of testing. Then in almost all cases I build a test club and we do some final testing and mods to ensure that the fit is REALLY the fit. Finally (as I started tonight for a client) I build the clubs to as close as possible to the exact specs that I measured in the fitting. To do this takes time and attention to detail.


Is this worth it in the final analysis? Well, I think that the testimonials on my web site from clients speak for themselves. And it is a blast to know that someone is playing a lot better golf using the clubs I built for them.


Tony

To OEM or not OEM....??

There has been a lot of discussion on the AGCP forum posts this week in terms of OEM golf clubs - in terms of their quality and whether clubfitters like to reshaft OEM clubs for players or use other great heads - like those from Wishon, Alpha, Infiniti, Scratch, Bang, and others - for building clubs.


I personally have had great success both ways. OEM heads definitely make quality golf heads. They look great and play well. What often happens is that they are not coupled with shafts that are the right fit for players. I have sometimes found players playing shafts that are 1 to 2 flexes too stiff for them for example. But they can be rebuilt and when they have the right shafts and the right weighting that can play very well.


On the other hand, the quality of heads from Wishon and other major component companies are as good as OEM heads. And sometimes - not always, but often for irons - they are easier to build to fitting specifications than building with OEM heads. When you buy quality component heads you know the head weights you will get. And with some heads like those from Wishon you have the ability to add "hosel weights" and can easily vary club MOI/swingweight specifications.


The question then is - if you really like the OEM heads that you are playing with but think that the clubs are not a good fit for you - how do you find out? The easiest way to find out is to have your clubs regripped and have a clubfitter identify the specifications - overall weight, MOI/swingweight, length, shaft flex, lofts/lies - for your clubs. To correctly determine shaft flex you need to measure flex with the grips off.


So..............the next time your clubs need regripped if you bring them to me I will also do a full set of specifications on them - no additional cost - and provide you with some ideas on how well they might fit your game. All you need to do is let me know you have read my blog!


Tony

Personal Golf Club Evaluation...

One of the kinds of emails that I truly enjoy receiving is when someone fills out the "Personal Golf Club Evaluation" form on the home page of my web site. Every week or so I get one of these evaluations from folks I do not know, and it I think is a good starter in terms of learning what people want out of improved golf clubs.


Because I want to help players play the best golf they can, obtaining this information is a key starter to helping folks find clubs that can improve their games. The answers people provide in terms of how they hit different clubs are not always the same - some for example say they would like to hit hybrid clubs like they hit their irons, while some say exactly the opposite.


Usually I can see something in the responses that suggest areas where clubfitting can improve the player's game. If a player says that they do not putt well, it could suggest they need a different putter but also could suggest that some mods could be made to their present putter that can help them putt better.


The evaluation also asks what is the player's favorite club and least favorite club, and favorite shot and least favorite shot. I know for me the favorite club and shot would be the driver, and least favorite shot would be the 20 to 40 yard pitch shot. Improving short pitch shots is something I have concentrated on a lot for the past few months, and I have put a Scratch sand wedge in my bag - digger/driver grind - that suits the way I hit short shots well.


I really encourage anyone who might be interested in being fit for clubs to first fill out this form and send it to me. After completing it, I always ask the player if they want to visit me at Centennial Golf Course - where I do fittings - and let me make a few simple measurements to get an idea on the length and weight of their clubs. Getting a good evaluation up front of player's likes, dislikes, and desired areas for improvement is an important initial key to the fitting process.


Tony

Is Lighter Longer? Is Longer Longer?

Great Masters this week, and Phil certainly deserved to win. Eagle, eagle, birdie.....amazing!


Watching these guys on TV, though, it is surprising how often they hit it into the trees. There has been a lot of discussion today on the AGCP forum that perhaps some of this is being caused by using shafts that are not the right weight for players.


Shaft weight has the biggest influence on the overall weight of a club. You all probably are seeing ads for how there are now REALLY light drivers being sold, because this is supposed to help players swing faster and hit it further. Maybe this is true for some, but also most likely not true for everyone.


In fact, I am in the process of building the lightest driver I have ever built for a client. It will probably come out to a total weight of about 275 grams, using an ultralight grip and very light shaft. This is more than 25 grams lighter than typical driver weights. For this player, I am sure that lighter is the way to go, and will lead to increased swing speed and added distance.


It gets different, though, when you are talking about folks who swing the driver at speeds of greater than 100 mph. For these players, light shafts may result in some increased swing speed, but most likely will also result on over the top swings and pull hooks. Yes, there will be some really long drives in there too..............but a lot more second shots played from the trees.


If you are really a "boomer" then - unless you are a long driver contestant and do not care if you hit more than 1 out of say 6 fairways - then you should think about getting a heavier shaft in your driver rather than lighter. Playing second shots from pretty green fairways rather than pine straw is a LOT more fun!! And most likely any loss of distance will be minimal.


Tony

What a Sports Week!

Well, I am drained tonight after watching the NCAA basketball final game tonight. I think it was the most intense final game I have ever seen. Butler certainly could have won, Duke did.......two beautiful teams.

And on top of this we get the Masters this week. I had the chance to go to Augusta for practice rounds about 10 years ago......and the two things I remember are how beautiful the course is and how effortlessly these guys hit the golf ball. I am hoping it is one of the best Masters ever, and am rooting for Ernie Els to win his first Masters.


Back to clubfitting info. next week!


Tony

6 Days Of Golf! Hitting It Longer....

Well, getting home from yearly golf trip with 16 buddies and it was great.

No clubfitting goodies to talk about this week, but if you want to read an article on the physics of hitting the ball further here you go!

http://www.tutleman.com/golf/clubs/golfSwingPhysics.php?ref=


Tony

Putter Swingweight - Rules of Thumb.....

I have been doing some putter length mods the past few weeks. I am learning that this again one of those "who would know?" areas of which club is right for a player. The Tom Wishon "Common Sense Clubfitting" book (one of the best references on key factors on fitting) suggests that in general putter swingweights should be between about C8 and D7 depending on the way a person swings the putter with best results. My personal bias for all golf clubs is that a player needs to somehow "feel the club head" to get consistent results.


Talking just about conventional putters now, there is clearly a relationship between what the clubhead weight should be for a specific length of putter. If a putter is a shorter length like 32 or 33 inches, the head needs to weight more than for a putter of length of 34, 35, or 36 inches.


I did swingweights for some specific putters before cutting them to length. While some of them turned out to be in the C8 - D7 range, others were in the mid E swingweight range and one tonight was F5 - really heavy! This putter should never have built as long as it was.......it would be very difficult to swing consistently.


The fix for a putter that has too low a swingweight is pretty easy - put some tungsten powder down the shaft to adjust the weight feel. Not as easy to adjust a putter that is too swingweight heavy. One good option for that is Opti Vibe weights down the shaft to change the weight feel of the putter.


Overall though - It is a good idea when you purchase a putter to buy one that has adjustable weights on the head so you can "tune" the feel of the putter. But if not that..........ask the person selling you the putter if he can measure the swingweight of it for you. And do not afraid to trust that if it feels either too heavy or too light for you it probably is - even it if has the most beautiful putter head know to man. You should not compromise on getting the "flat stick" fitted right for you.............you use it more than any other club in your golf bag!


Tony

Oops........But Thank You MOI!!

Tonight I was finishing a golf club for a client who will be going on a golf trip in Thursday. I went to a local golf store and bought the grip he wanted............well, not quite...... Bought a Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord..........but did not realize that this grip came in "0.580 core" and "0.600" core. The larger one is the one I wanted, and I did not think to check if there was a different one. And the weight of the 0.580 core grip is slightly higher than the weight of the 0.600 grip - by 1.5 grams.


In the "old" days I would have been pretty fussy about this (well I was not pleased to tell the truth, being a prefectionist....) but I quickly realized that I could make this grip work just as well for the player. I do all of my fitting now to MOI (Moment of Interia) rather than Swingweight - MOI is more of a dynamic measure of how a player swings a club, and Swingweight is a static measurement. When I did the fitting for this player we found that the best MOI for him was 2,833 (in metric units).


1.5 grams of weight in the grip makes a difference of about 1/3 swingweight points. But since MOI is related to location of mass relative to the distance of that mass from the butt end of the club, the small extra weight of the grip should have essentially no affect on the final club MOI. And so no real effect on how the club feels when the player is swinging it.


So I put the slightly oversized grip on, stretched it just a little (to get it back to Men's standard size), and measured the club MOI at 2,836.....................3 points off from 2,833 target which is essentially nothing.


So the player will get his driver back tomorrow, 44 inch length (more than an inch less than he was playing), butt flex about a flex softer (fitting his swing), and the MOI that we tested. And if, after his golf trip, he wants me to put the other grip on I will - but the club will swing the same. Pretty cool!


Tony

Shafts and More Shafts.....

A few years ago I purchased a copy of Tom Wishon's Shaft Profiling Software. Tonight I updated this software to the newest version.............and it includes quite a number of new shaft frequency profiles.


How a person swings a golf club can influence the shaft that is the best performance fit for him or her. Two people who have the same swing speed can differ greatly in when in their swing they "release" their wrist cock and how aggressively they swing at the golf ball. It is entirely possible that these two people would play shafts that have the same "butt flex" - the flex measured for the full length of the golf club - but one would play better with a shaft that has a soft tip flex while the other plays with a shaft with a stiffer tip flex.


So you should be asking - how would I know which shaft would work best for me? The best answer is to find a clubfitter who has test clubs with a range of test shafts with different flex profiles - and determine by measurements which shaft you hit better (launch monitor data can provide this kind of information).


Personally I often also find that when the "right" shaft is put in the hands of a golfer it simply feels right. The player can feel the shaft unload properly when he hits the ball and "he knows." It is great to be with players when this kind of experience happens, because you know that you are really finding a shaft option that will help them hit the ball further and more consistently.


Shaft profiles are one of the key variables in professional clubfitting.


Tony

Remembering The Beginning.....

Tonight I was talking with a friend who reminded me of the first person who ever did a "club fitting" for me. It was the start of my journey to become a clubfitter...............


I went to a club demo day and a club OEM rep fitted me for a driver. This was about 10 years ago. A 7 degree driver that when I hit it "right" I could hit it pretty well but had to really hit it perfectly.


I had known about a great local clubfitter and clubbuilder in Oak Ridge - Richard Hess (a great person and clubfitter, who died a few years ago) - and I thought what the heck why not take the club to him and see what he says the flex of the shaft is. I thought that I was playing with a Stiff Shaft - but he told me it was actually an XX Stiff shaft based on his PCS standard for shaft flex. Internally I hit the roof and said can you build me a driver that fits me which he did - and I sold the OEM driver on eBay. A few years later I also had him build me a set of irons and they worked well for me for a number of years.


The truth is though that if this had never happened I would never have known what it was like to have clubs that REALLY fit me and my game. And would have never become interested in clubfitting as a second career.


The other interesting thing is that this same story keeps repeating itself in my efforts to create great golf clubs for players. Tonight I did specs on a driver shaft - after doing a driver fitting this weekend - and the shaft butt flex was at least 2 flexes too stiff for the player. See some similarity to what happened with me? It is a great feeling to be able to help people get clubs that truly fit their games and their golf swings. So thank you Mr. OEM fitter for teaching me where I ultimately needed to go!


Tony

Science or Art or .....

Late night tonight working to build a set of clubs for a younger player. He in fact is doing a school science project related to clubfitting, shaft frequencies, impact measurements, etc. It is fun to watch him learning some of the elements of fitting, and I would be shocked if his project did not go really well for him.


For sure there is a lot of science to clubfitting. But I believe that to be REALLY good at it there is also a lot of Art to doing great fittings for golfers. There seems to be to always be something Just a little different about each fitting, and without experience in seeing lots of different situations it would not be easy to create good fitting results.


I was remembering tonight the first real class I took related to clubfitting. It was in the fall of 2007, and introductory fitting class offered by the Professional Clubfitting Society. I think I learned a lot from the class, but I also walked out of the class wondering if I could ever get good at fitting.


I have been fortunate since that first class to have had opportunities to learn a great deal about fitting - from AGCP members, from doing fittings for clients, from my efforts to fit myself for clubs. Now I would say I am a pretty good clubfitter - not great measured against a lot of the folks who I know are at that level, but now at a level where I am pretty confident that I can help most people find clubs that will improve their games and enjoy golf more. And for sure a high level above my skill level when I took that first fitting class in 2007.


And for the engineer I am trained to be, thinking of myself as a bit of an Artist is kind of fun!!


Tony

When Is Light Right?

One of the big rages at the PGA show this year was lighter clubs and grips. A couple of the major companies are marketing grips a lot lighter than standard, and you probably are also seeing some companies saying they now have the lightest driver available - and suggesting you will get great improvements in distance with those clubs.


Is lighter ever really better? I would say that if someone suggests that making a club lighter AND longer is going to really help that you should be wary. However, there can in fact be conditions where lighter is worth looking at.


I built a slightly different driver for myself this past week that seems to help me reduce some of my major "misses." My usual poor miss with the driver is to the right. Most times when I do this I have been able to "feel" that I have not closed the clubhead. I have always thought this was largely a swing fault...............and most likely there is some element of that. But the driver I just built for myself is an SMT Nemesis....................a smaller head (around 400 cc) and easier to "close" than typical 460 cc heads. And I also built this club about 40 MOI points less than my previous driver - roughly 4 grams less head weight than I had been using.


Results? This past Sunday I drove the ball MUCH better than I had been. A few misses to the right but a lot more draws and straight shots. And also a greater feel for the clubhead and feel for the ability to close it when I hit the ball. Now if it would ONLY stop being so cold when I play.....(37 degrees.....).


So maybe it is possible that a lot of your typical misses are not fully the result of your swing...........or at the very least you can find a combination of clubhead size and club MOI/swingweight that can make your driver FEEL easier to swing.


Tony

The Wall Street Journal and Clubfitting

Yesterday I got to play golf in Oak Ridge, TN in beautiful 37 degree weather (at least it was supposed to be that warm....). Afterward, one of my golf friends said that he read an article in the Wall Street Journal about the benefits of clubfitting. The link to that article is provided below:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704878904575031702339499956.html

There were at least a few things in that article that peaked my interest in terms of benefits to golfers (besides the obvious overall view of the article that everyone should be fitted for clubs):


1. The article suggested that to some club fitting is "daunting and incomprehensible." I had never thought that that might be true for some golfers. But maybe that thought is worth considering. Personally I always attempt to make the fitting process as understandable and even fun as possible. But maybe it would be a good idea to keep working to identify ways to make the process more understandable.

2. "Any fitting is better than no fitting." While I understand the intent in this statement, a fitting that for example puts a golfer in a shaft that is two flexes too stiff (I have seen this) is not really better than no fitting.

3. The part of the article that I liked the most was when he describes a recent fitting that he had done for him. As part of this the fitter actually found that his driver and 3 wood were a pretty good fit for him, and that for the most part his irons were a good fit. To me this shows the integrity of the person who did this fitting...........to say yep your clubs are actually pretty good for you. I have had some recent driver and iron fitting experiences where there were similar results, and felt good about the fact that I did not try to "create" a reason to have the person change clubs when it was not really necessary.


Hope you might take the time to read this article, it is enjoyable and informative.


Tony

ACCRA Golf and the PGA Show - January in Florida!

My better half and I spent last week in Florida. We are hoping to make this an annual trip, which would be wonderful since we can hopefully coordinate it with future ACCRA Golf outings and with the annual PGA Merchandise Show. In getting to participate in these two events, I think I learned quite a few things that can help me provide better service and results for my golf customers.


ACCRA Golf Outing. I believe this is the 6th annual outing that this company has been hosting. About 100 excellent clubfitters spent a day of eating, golfing, and learning about ACCRA golf products. The two products of most interest to me are the ACCRA wood shaft line and the KBS Tour steel shafts. The wood shafts are designed so that if you fit a player in a specific shaft in his driver, you can use a slightly higher weight shaft with similar flex characteristics for the his fairway woods. I have not used many of these shafts in the past but plan to make them one of my top line shafts for future fittings.

The KBS Tour iron shafts are already in my test shaft group - but now there will be more options with these shafts. In the past the KBS Tour 90 (approx. 90 gram weights) were in taper tip only, but now the Tour 90 shafts will come in parallel tip versions - meaning it will be possible to control the flex of these by tip trimming them.

A wonderful added benefit of attending this event was getting to see Jamie Sadlowski - two time World Long Drive Champion - hit some balls. Like 220 yard 7 irons, and drives over 300 yards with a 30 inch long (yep!) driver, and absolutely nuking his 47 inch gamer driver. It was an awesome show of bombing the ball!


2010 PGA Merchandise Show. This was my first opportunity to spend time at one of these, and it was well worth the effort. I believe there were something like 60 aisles of companies showing clothing, golf equipment - you name it related to golf. For me it was a chance to visit some equipment companies and learn some things to help my business. Some of the things of most value to me were.....

1. I visited the Fujikura golf shaft booth. A big win for me was to learn that I can purchase these shafts - top quality - through M.L. Wilson Company, an AGCP sponsor. I now have access to the full line of Fujikura shafts, and I will consider recommending them - along with Aldila, ACCRA, and SK Fiber shafts - in future driver and fairway wood fittings.

2. There were a LOT of booths where putters and putting improvement aids were featured. Two of the best are the Rife putters and the Contour putters. Both are great custom putter options for players.

3. I visited the Nippon steel shaft booth. Though I have not used these in the past, they have some very light 75 and 85 gram steel shafts that can be good alternatives for players desiring to continue to play steel shafts but want lighter weights.

4. In the grip world, Winn, Lamkin, and Golf Pride showed some excellent new products. Pure Grips and Global Tour Golf - which market Star Grips - are additional options for excellent rubber composite grips.

5. Hireko Golf makes a great driver fitting product that I plan to start using when it is available (April). They have a test driver head and shaft insert system that allows you to vary driver face angle - something that is an important variable in driver fitting.

6. Finally, I visited the Zelocity launch monitor booth and purchased the most recent upgrade to my Zelocity Pure Launch software.


All in all I visited about 50 different golf equipment booths during my day at the Show. It was in the end a tiring but productive day that should help me provide better service to my fitting clients!!


Tony

Off We Go!

My higher power and I will be leaving for Florida tomorrow for a few days. To get her some good relaxing time, and to get me a day at the PGA merchandise show. First time I will go there. Also will get to do a Demo Day with the ACCRA shaft folks. So that is all for this week, but hopefully a LOT to report on the trip next week (unless I decide to sneak in some small notes during the week!).


Tony

FEELING The Clubhead - The Hidden Edge....

Almost everyone who I have done a fitting for lately has received some significant benefits from identifying the right weight feel for their clubs. And it does not go one way only - sometimes adding more weight is the key, sometimes reducing weight is what makes the clubs pay better.

Some examples include....

1. Adding 8 grams of head weight to irons and seeing ball flight trajectory increase significantly.

2. Adding just a few grams to a club and seeing impact go from off center to dead in the center of the club.

3. Increasing the MOI of a driver and learning that the player can now "feel" the head and control it.


I think all of this makes sense.................but I think for a reason you may not think. I think we all inside are attempting as best as possible to hit the golf ball on the center of all of our clubs. And we do the best we can to adjust our swings with the clubs we have to make this happen. But when we get the RIGHT club weight feel, then we allow ourselves to "go on automatic" in terms of hitting the golf ball - center contact becomes effortless, more distance and consistency results.


I am working to get some new equipment into my fitting in the next month or so. When I do, I will be able to measure how open the clubface is at impact, and what the actual path of the club is as it approaches the ball. Once I can do that I will be more easily able to see how club head weight and also shaft weight affect club path and club head contact with the ball.


Bottom line..............just a few GRAMS of head weight can result in significant improvements in ball striking!


Tony

Putters - Cut and Boo....

The most important club in a golfer's bag is the putter. Getting the right balance and feel in a putter can make all of the difference between being able to sink 3 footers and roll long putts well. And if the putter does not have the right feel and you do not know it, you might think you have poor putting technique when the truth is you have a poorly fitted putter.


But what happens if you find a putter in a store that you like but it is too long for you? Well, your friendly golf club dealer can offer to cut the putter to make it shorter. That sounds like a good idea, so you do it.


But when you do this, you affect the feel of the putter..............you reduce the "swingweight" of the putter and - unless you compensate for cutting the length - you make the putter feel lighter and have less feel of the putter head.


If you reduce the length of a putter by 1 inch, you need to add about 12 grams of weight to the putter - either lead tape or perhaps putting tungsten powder down the shaft - to compensate for this length change and get the putter head feel that the longer putter had.


So if you need to reduce your putter length, realize that you also need to modify the putter weight so that you keep the right weight feel for the most important club in your bag.


Tony

Who Is That "Average" Golfer?

I am beginning to wonder what that average golfer out there is, particularly in terms of the right lengths of clubs for him/her to play.


If I look over the fittings I have done in the past few months, I would say that "average" length clubs do not fit at least 50% of the people I am working with. Right now I am working with three people all who I expect will not fit into standard length irons and in fact will need irons that are a lot shorter than standard.


A large majority of my iron fitting clubs are built to do testing with people who fit into standard length clubs. And I can adapt these to be able to fit folks who need clubs just a bit longer or shorter than standard.


However, when people need clubs that are more than 1/2 inch shorter than standard, it is important to have some fitting equipment particularly devoted to these players. Today for example I rebuilt some driver fitting shafts so that I could do testing for players who might need 42-1/2, 43, or 43-1/2 inch long drivers..............................this is compared to the 45 inch plus drivers they would most likely buy in golf stores.


Shorter clubs can mean significantly lower swingweights/MOIs, and it becomes very important to test for swingweight/MOI for shorter sets - and add clubhead or shaft weight if necessary - and be sure players can "feel" the clubhead when they swing it. Often players who have shorter clubs have never been able to truly feel the weight of the head, and when they actually can get the right swingweight/MOI in their clubs their ball striking immediately improves.


Working with players who need shorter clubs is another gratifying experience - because often they have never felt what a golf club that is the right length and swingweight/MOI for them feels like and performs like.


Tony