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
Monday, January 18, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
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
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
Monday, January 4, 2010
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
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
Monday, December 28, 2009
DOES It Matter - The 2010 Version....
On the home page for my web site, I pose the question "Does It Matter?" - do professionally fitted clubs really make a difference in how people play golf.
This year I was able to help people answer that question YES when I built clubs to fit their swings and games. The Yes answers included putting people in drivers that are the right length and have the right shaft to produce more consistent drives, iron shafts that match their swing speeds and release characteristics, wedges that spin the ball and help them to hit more consistent short game shots, putter weighting that is optimized for their putting strokes.
As the year ends I thank my clients (and also Des Mahoney, the Teaching Professional at Centenial Golf Course) who helped to more than double Game Improvement Golf sales this year. And looking toward next year, I am very excited because I will soon be obtaining new equipment to help me show players even more clearly that professionally fitted clubs do matter. I will be upgrading my driver fitting test clubs to allow me to do even better length and weight fitting. And I am evaluating a number of measurement systems so that I can accurately measure the effects of club and shaft weighting on clubface angle and club path. In the next few weeks I will present details on these new fitting systems and equipment.
And finally, I am looking forward to continuing to work closly with great club component companies like Tom Wishon Golf, Infiniti Golf, SK Fiber, ACCRA, Alpha Golf, Scratch Golf, Global Tour Golf, Tour Lock, Swing Science, Golfworks, and Golfsmith to provide quality clubheads, shafts, and grips that can help players lower their scores and enjoy golf more.
Thanks to all of you who read this weekly blog - and have a Happy New Golfing Year!!
Tony
This year I was able to help people answer that question YES when I built clubs to fit their swings and games. The Yes answers included putting people in drivers that are the right length and have the right shaft to produce more consistent drives, iron shafts that match their swing speeds and release characteristics, wedges that spin the ball and help them to hit more consistent short game shots, putter weighting that is optimized for their putting strokes.
As the year ends I thank my clients (and also Des Mahoney, the Teaching Professional at Centenial Golf Course) who helped to more than double Game Improvement Golf sales this year. And looking toward next year, I am very excited because I will soon be obtaining new equipment to help me show players even more clearly that professionally fitted clubs do matter. I will be upgrading my driver fitting test clubs to allow me to do even better length and weight fitting. And I am evaluating a number of measurement systems so that I can accurately measure the effects of club and shaft weighting on clubface angle and club path. In the next few weeks I will present details on these new fitting systems and equipment.
And finally, I am looking forward to continuing to work closly with great club component companies like Tom Wishon Golf, Infiniti Golf, SK Fiber, ACCRA, Alpha Golf, Scratch Golf, Global Tour Golf, Tour Lock, Swing Science, Golfworks, and Golfsmith to provide quality clubheads, shafts, and grips that can help players lower their scores and enjoy golf more.
Thanks to all of you who read this weekly blog - and have a Happy New Golfing Year!!
Tony
Monday, December 21, 2009
ReMax Long Drive 2009 - Always The Best!
I watched the ReMax long drive championship tonight - it was on ESPN on Sunday and I recorded it. Probably got in trouble with the boss since I was really focused on watching this.
As always, what a great show! 360 plus drives from Seniors and Super Seniors, 400 plus drives from the "younger" bombers. And the winner was........well, not fair, you do not really want me to tell you who it was.
They showed a lot more TrackMan launch monitor data this year than they have in the past. It was interesting to see that some of these guys got there with high launch and a bit higher spin and some got there with lower launch and lower spin. But it seemed to me the winning formula was to optimize roll, which most often means lower spin. There were a few shots that had spin rates in the range of 1,500 rpm or less................super low numbers.
There were OEM driver heads in the mix, but also other great heads like Alpha, Geek Golf, Krank Golf, and others. Most of the heads with lofts less than 7 degrees.
It was also great to see Jason Zuback in the mix again.................he was close to making the final four, and the poor guy could only hit it 380 in the quarters..........my can he hit that ball!
The ReMax is on again on Christmas Day I think at 2 pm on ESPN2. If you are on the down side of present opening, this is a good present to give to your self if you want to do some couch potato resting!
Merry Christmas to all!
Tony
As always, what a great show! 360 plus drives from Seniors and Super Seniors, 400 plus drives from the "younger" bombers. And the winner was........well, not fair, you do not really want me to tell you who it was.
They showed a lot more TrackMan launch monitor data this year than they have in the past. It was interesting to see that some of these guys got there with high launch and a bit higher spin and some got there with lower launch and lower spin. But it seemed to me the winning formula was to optimize roll, which most often means lower spin. There were a few shots that had spin rates in the range of 1,500 rpm or less................super low numbers.
There were OEM driver heads in the mix, but also other great heads like Alpha, Geek Golf, Krank Golf, and others. Most of the heads with lofts less than 7 degrees.
It was also great to see Jason Zuback in the mix again.................he was close to making the final four, and the poor guy could only hit it 380 in the quarters..........my can he hit that ball!
The ReMax is on again on Christmas Day I think at 2 pm on ESPN2. If you are on the down side of present opening, this is a good present to give to your self if you want to do some couch potato resting!
Merry Christmas to all!
Tony
Monday, December 14, 2009
Dear Santa - Bring me a Scratch Wedge!
I recently built four Scratch demo wedges particularly so a new client could test them. We did this testing today and he liked the playability of all of them. But he particularly liked the "Driver/Slider" grind with a KBS R flex wedge shaft. It was fun to watch, because he is a good player (3 handicap and has been lower) and has great feel with clubs. He could easily feel the difference between an S flex wedge shaft and the R flex one.......hitting the R flex shaft made less than full swing shots much easier to control.
When I order these wedge heads for him tomorrow, I think I will add a Digger/Driver grind cast wedge head for me. Scratch sells three wedge grinds - Sweeper/Slider, Driver/Slider, and Digger/Driver. I completed the Scratch Wedge Evaluation form on their web site and it is clear that the Digger/Driver is a good fit for the way I hit wedge shots......misses most often fat shots. This grind helps players like me to still get good shot results even when we hit a little behind the ball.
All wedges are simply not the same and do not play the same. Scratch is really on to something with their line of wedges, and their sales have skyrocketed since Ryan Moore started endorsing their clubs. I believe I am the only clubfitter selling Scratch wedges in East Tennessee......so if you are interested in them please get in touch with me and come to the Centenial Teaching/Fitting Center sometime to try one out.
Tony
When I order these wedge heads for him tomorrow, I think I will add a Digger/Driver grind cast wedge head for me. Scratch sells three wedge grinds - Sweeper/Slider, Driver/Slider, and Digger/Driver. I completed the Scratch Wedge Evaluation form on their web site and it is clear that the Digger/Driver is a good fit for the way I hit wedge shots......misses most often fat shots. This grind helps players like me to still get good shot results even when we hit a little behind the ball.
All wedges are simply not the same and do not play the same. Scratch is really on to something with their line of wedges, and their sales have skyrocketed since Ryan Moore started endorsing their clubs. I believe I am the only clubfitter selling Scratch wedges in East Tennessee......so if you are interested in them please get in touch with me and come to the Centenial Teaching/Fitting Center sometime to try one out.
Tony
Monday, December 7, 2009
Please Do Not Tell Emerson!
Emerson happens to be my #1 grandson at this time (I am sure many of you have a similar grandson). He turns 2 years old in two weeks.
The debate is - do I get him his first real set of golf clubs this birthday? And the answer is pretty easy to guess.....of course I do. Not totally sure when he will REALLY first use them though I will help him some when I see him at his birthday party.
A well kept secret in terms of golf clubs for children is AccuLength golf clubs (www.acculength.com). These clubs are unique because they are designed to be able to expand in length up to 4 inches - by adding individual 1 inch shaft pieces that can be epoxied into a specially designed shaft. They sell four different types of golf club sets, that allow clubs to be fit for length for children from 3 feet tall to 5 foot 4 inches tall. The set that will work best for Emerson is the AL500, which comes with a 24 degree wood, a pitching wedge, and a putter. Quite enough for a normal 2 year old don't you think?
I am not sure Emerson will be ready quite yet to play in a group with his dad and two granddads.....but might as well get him thinking along those lines. And...........I will try to keep his dad happy by including some soft golf ball substitutes.......to keep the windows in the house from intercepting golf balls!
Grandkid's are the BEST!
Tony
The debate is - do I get him his first real set of golf clubs this birthday? And the answer is pretty easy to guess.....of course I do. Not totally sure when he will REALLY first use them though I will help him some when I see him at his birthday party.
A well kept secret in terms of golf clubs for children is AccuLength golf clubs (www.acculength.com). These clubs are unique because they are designed to be able to expand in length up to 4 inches - by adding individual 1 inch shaft pieces that can be epoxied into a specially designed shaft. They sell four different types of golf club sets, that allow clubs to be fit for length for children from 3 feet tall to 5 foot 4 inches tall. The set that will work best for Emerson is the AL500, which comes with a 24 degree wood, a pitching wedge, and a putter. Quite enough for a normal 2 year old don't you think?
I am not sure Emerson will be ready quite yet to play in a group with his dad and two granddads.....but might as well get him thinking along those lines. And...........I will try to keep his dad happy by including some soft golf ball substitutes.......to keep the windows in the house from intercepting golf balls!
Grandkid's are the BEST!
Tony
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