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
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
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
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
Monday, March 15, 2010
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
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
Monday, March 8, 2010
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
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
Monday, March 1, 2010
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
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
Monday, February 22, 2010
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
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
Monday, February 15, 2010
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
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
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