"Bubba the Bomber" and Your Driver....

It was fun to watch Bubba Watson win the PGA tournament this weekend, pretty exciting stuff down the finish of this one.

As a lot of you probably know, he has often been the longest driver on the PGA tour. Forget about the pink shaft, he absolutely bombs it.

He, as do a lot of players on the PGA tour, plays a 44-1/2 inch length driver. This is at least an inch shorter than any driver you will purchase at a golf store.

He surely has done extensive testing to find the right length for his driver. And you can bet that he is working to hit the ball far, but also in the middle of the clubface as much as possible and also in the middle of the fairway as much as possible.

Few of us "mortal" golfers can consistently hit a driver well that is longer than 45 inches in length. Hitting the ball in the center of the face as much as possible will lead to longer driving distances.

Keep showing us Bubba..........maybe we will learn from you!! Even if we do not play pink shafts....

Tony

Driver Fitting Basics......

There is presently a lot of buzz about some new driver heads that have weights about 25 grams or so lighter than present "conventional" driver heads. These are being promoted to produce more clubhead speed and more distance with the driver. One of the ads I saw for a light driver suggested it would be best to play with a 47.5 inch shaft. This is more than 1.5 inches longer than present driver shafts that you can purchase in stores, and this recommendation is being made so that the club swingweight will be heavy enough so that you can feel the clubhead.

While I am not convinced that lightweight drivers are a good option for most players, here are some basics that you might want to consider when you purchase your next driver - hopefully from a precision clubfitter:

1. The key fitting elements that affect the performance of a driver are the club length, shaft flex and flex profile, club swingweight/MOI - AND how you swing the driver (more on that later).

2. For any player of any level of skill, the maximum performance you will get from a driver in terms of Carry Distance is 2.5 times your swing speed. So if you have a swing speed of 100 mph, the maximum carry you will achieve will be 250 yards. No matter what anyone tells you, with whatever head and shaft combination you use, you will not carry the ball further than this. And this is with perfect contact on the sweet spot of the clubhead.

3. For players of swing speeds of 70 mph or lower, the 2.5 factor is more like 2.2. So for a player with a 70 mph swing speed, the most he will be able to carry his drives is about 154 yards. Again, with best contact on the sweet spot.

4. Contact with the sweet spot of the driver is king! So if you can find a club length, shaft, and swingweight/MOI combination that promotes the most consistent contact on the sweet spot, you will have the best opportunity to maximize carry distance.

5. For slower swing speeds, drivers with higher lofts can help to provide maximum carry distance.

6. Now beyond carry distance to total distance - roll out of the drive is influenced by ball speed, launch angle, and ball spin. The shaft can have some influence on ball spin, but most likely your technique will have a major influence on your ball spin. The ball you play with can also have an influence.

7. If you decide to have a fitting done for your driver, a key parameter that is measured as part of the fitting is the Power Transfer Ratio - PTR - which is the ratio of the ball speed divided by your swing speed. For drivers option PTR is about 1.48, and if your measured PTR is much below this you are not achieving optimum conditions with the driver you are testing.

8. Finally, of you do decide to hit some very long drivers with lengths in the range of 47-1/2 inches, if at all possible do some test with impact labels. If you see you are consistently hitting this driver in the center of the face great. But if not most likely this club is too long for you.

Happy driving!

Tony

Choosing Wedges To Help You Play Better.....

During all of the snow of the past week, I went back and watched a number of Ralph Maltby (Golfworks) videos that I have. If you are looking for some easy to understand information on some of the key elements of clubfitting, these are excellent resources.

The one I was most interested in was "Learn All About Wedges." In it he discussed the evolution of wedge heads (here I am talking sand and lob wedges), how one measures bounce for a wedge, but most importantly the concept of "Effective Bounce." It was interesting to read again that a large majority of wedge heads on the market do not look substantially different than the original sand wedge designed by Gene Sarazen something like 50 years ago.

There are four variables that influence the "effective bounce" of a wedge head, these are.....

1. The normal bounce angle built into the wedge,

2. The width of the sole of the wedge,

3. The radius of the sole of the wedge, and

4. The sharpness of the leading edge of the wedge.

There are two primary reasons why, I believe, most mid to high handicap players should seriously consider playing wedges with high effective bounce (usually one with wider sole width):

1. To help players to more easily hit good sand shots, and

2. To eliminate one of the two ways a player can mishit a wedge. These two ways are hitting the shot fat and hitting it thin. With a wedge with high effective bounce, you can hit a shot fat but because of the bounce can still get good shot results. So you only have to be concerned about thin shots.

Look into, then, the option of non-standard wedge heads for the wedges in your bag. You can give your self the opportunity to save a number of shots around the greens and in the bunkers.

Tony

Wedge Shafts - How Do YOU Feel?

In the interest of being curious, when I get wedges with steel shafts to regrip I always check the flex of the shafts.

Just about every time, the shaft flex is - based on the flex standard that I use - XStiff to XXStiff. This is becoming less and less of a surprise to me, but now I am wondering why most of these shafts are so stiff.

Clearly wedges are for the most part "feel" clubs. Yes, you might hit a full sand wedge or lob wedge from time to time, but mostly you are hitting 30 to 50 yard shots, pitches around the green, and sand shots.

I know of at least one player who likes his sand wedge to be very stiff - he calls it "rebar" - particularly for use in sand shots. I also, though, know a lot of fitters who have great success building wedges that are actually slightly softer in flex than the other shafts in a set.

It all comes down again, then, to that wonder four letter golf word - Feel. And particularly for wedges, it is worth finding out if you perform better with wedges that are very stiff, or wedges that are a bit softer than the other irons in your bag.

Tony

There are Grips and there are Grips!

A good practice in terms of maintaining your golf clubs is to get them regripped at least once a year. And most often folks do this during the winter months, when they do not get to play as often because of cold weather.

When someone talks about "standard size grips" the actual standard is to measure the circumference of the grip 2 inches from the end of the golf shaft and 5 inches from the end of the shaft. Standard at 2 inches is 0.900 inches and standard at 5 inches is 0.807 inches. Then other sizes are based on being below or above these standards.

There are a lot of variables that are worth considering when you get your clubs regripped. One of the often overlooked ones is the size of the grip, particularly if you have problems with your hands and wrists. There are a lot of quality grips available in sizes 1/16th of an inch over up to 1/8th of an inch over standard. These can be a great option when you have issues with your hands. Most often these grips are from 10 to 30 grams heavier than standard size grips. Using these will decrease the overall swingweight of the club and so you may "feel" the clubhead a bit less.

Another option is the overall weight of the grip. There are now grips in standard size and oversize that are significantly lighter than a typical 50 gram grip. These lighter grips significantly decrease the overall weight of a club, and also increase the club swingweight - you may "feel' the clubhead more with these lighter grips.

Another great option in terms of gripping clubs is to add more tape the the lower end of the grip. This will make the club a bit larger in the lower hand, and a lot of players like this feel particularly again if they have hand and wrist problems.

It is worth it, then, to consider all of the potential options that are available to you when you get your clubs regripped. You may not know that there is more to this than simply putting a grip on!

Tony