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.

----------

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!!