Yo Keith - A Passion for Compassion!

Keith Chatham is one of those truly great clubfitters - he does his stuff in Kerryville, Texas. He has won many honors, and when he speaks we all listen.


Recently I found a post he did on the Tom Wishon clubmaker forum that was inspiring and I think something many of us clubfitters aspire to. He talked about his Passion for clubfitting, but more about his Compassion for helping golfers to play the right golf clubs for them. Compassion for golfers who have never had the experience of playing clubs that truly fit them, compassion for disabled golfers who have in the past only been able to get off-the-rack clubs, compassion for lady golfers who have never had someone fully attend to their club needs.


His words are wonderfully inspiring, and something that I hope I get closer and closer to each day as I work to help golfers. Recently, one of my clients said that he no longer waits for golf catalogs to come to his house, because he knows that the clubs in those catalogs are not for him.


Thanks Keith.


The Fit Is IT!!

Tony

Miura Heads and KBS Shafts - A Great Marriage!

I am delighted that - this past week - I received approval to become a Miura Golf club head dealer. I have a number of clubfitting friends who carry Miura irons for their clients, and they all say that the feel and performance of these heads is as good as it gets. Anyone interested in seeing the obvious quality of these clubheads can look at them on this website:


http://www.miuragolf.com


At the same time, I am also carrying KBS steel shafts, which are available at various flexes and weights, both taper tip and parallel tip. KBS shafts have been the up and coming shaft on the PGA tour for quite a while. The full line of KBS shafts can be seen on this web site:


http://www.kbsshafts.com


It was PRETTY exciting this weekend to learn that the winner of the Players Championship played Miura irons and KBS shafts! Here is a press release describing the Miura clubs that were played in the Players Championship:


http://www.thegolfwire.com/stories/237316


This is a clear indication of the quality of both of these products, and I look forward to offering Miura heads combined with KBS and other quality shafts to my customers in the future. In about a week, I will have five of the available Miura heads and nearly the full line of KBS shafts available for testing in my iron fitting system.


The Fit Is IT!

Tony

So Why Is It That.....?

Many of you from time to time see it said that the average golfer handicap has not changed one bit over many years. Who really knows why that is - but it does seem a little strange that with all of the new technology we have, with lots of opportunities for golf instruction, with more attention to fitness, with more attention to the mental part of the game, that this seems to be the case.

For me, today marks the start of my personal efforts to really go after that statistic for the players that I get to work with. I retired from an 34-1/2 year engineering career this past Friday, with the intent of truly learning the science and art of professional clubfitting to help folks play better and get more enjoyment from golf.

I am struck with how much I have learned over the past 5 years but also how much there also is to learn to help players improve. It is very satisfying when a fitting goes very easily and the clubs immediately work well and players see immediate improvement. However, there are also times when the complex interactions between the golf clubs and the way the player swings do not provide quick fixes - and THAT is when the "art" and experience part of fitting comes into play and where perhaps even more satisfaction lies. In these cases, the ability to learn from others who have had similar experiences is invaluable.

It is going to be a great ride - striving to do all I personally can to help bring that average handicap down - one player at a time!

The Fit Is IT!

Tony

Seeing the Little (BIG!) Things

One of the valuable lessons I learned from my trip in March with Dana Upshaw was the importance of taking and analyzing swing videos during fittings. There are often some small and simple clues from video that can help make a fitting produce great results. This happened during a driver fitting this weekend, when seeing that the player was positioning the ball too far back in his stance, and then getting him to correct that, lead to - once he had the right club in his hands - substantial improvements in driver carry distance.

There is perhaps a more far reaching value from this however - and it is how important the FUNDAMENTALS of the golf swing are, and how easy it is to stray from these. I can remember reading that Jack Nicklaus would start each year by working with his teacher to almost "start over" - work on ball position, etc. as though he was just a beginner golfer. And most of us can remember seeing pictures of PGA pros warming up and putting sticks on the ground to work on alignment and other key fundamentals.

Working to engrain the most simple elements of the golf swing can pay big benefits!

The Fit Is IT!

Tony

Turning Down Business ??

Today I talked with a potential new client, actually someone who lives within a mile from my house.

I mentioned to him that I will be spending some time soon with Dana Upshaw, one of the best 2 or 3 clubfitters in the world (my opinion....) - he offered to let me come to his shop and learn as much as I can from him about how he does clubfitting and club building.

So I asked if this new client wanted me to work with him before I visit Dana - and he said "why would I do that, why not wait until you learn more?" I realized - I never thought of that - and it made great sense!!

Part of the fun and excitement of clubfitting is the opportunity to continue to learn new ways of doing things better. Most weeks there are at least 2 or 3 new things I learn from the AGCP web forum, and each time it is a pleasure to learn from the best.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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