Archive for the ‘Equipment’ Category

Custom Fitting Tall Golfers

Monday, March 8th, 2010

The Proper Club Length for Tall Golfers

Custom fitting tall golfers may present specific challenges for a number of reasons but the automatic assumption that tall golfers require longer clubs is not necessarily correct (the corollory to this is that short players don’t automatically require short clubs either). The length of the golf club should be determined by what the tall golfer feels comfortable and confident with.

Key factors for determining the club length for the tall golfer include playing ability, athletic coordination, health and physical make-up. The ability of the golfer to return the club head squarely and consistently to the ball is critical. A tall golfer who has difficulty hitting the ball solid may be better off with standard clubs if there are no physical limitations such as health. This being said, there are several fitting variables to consider when fitting longer golf clubs for the tall golfer.

Shaft flex - A given shaft flex will tend to feel more flexible as a club is lengthened. The longer the club is lengthened, the ’softer’ it will feel. If no adjustments are made for this, a tall golfer who requires a ‘Regular’ flex shaft may end up with a shaft that has an ‘A’ flex or even an ‘L’ flex totally unsuitable for his swing and wondering why he is spraying his drives all over the golf course. This would apply to both graphite and steel shafts, woods as well as irons. This particular problem can be compounded even further because there are no real standards between manufacturers related to shaft flex. One manufacturer could easily have an ‘R’ shaft flex while the next manufacturers’s shaft is labelled as Stiff but has essentially the same flex characteristics.

Lie - As a general rule, the longer the club is from standard, the flatter the lie must be. Lie can impact ball direction. To upright a lie and the ball can fly to the left. To flat a lie and the ball could be pushed to the right.

Club Balance and weight - The total weight and weight distribution (swing weight) of the club is important for overall feel. As club length gets longer, the head of the club will feel heavier if no compensating weight is added to balance the club.

Grip Size - Grip size is important for both feel and comfort as well as potentially impacting ball direction. A grip that is too small may cause the golfer to hook or pull the ball.

All things considered, there are several equipment variables directly related to the equipment in the tall golfers golf bag that could have a considerable impact to his game. While the length of the golf club should be determined by what the tall golfer feels comfortable and confident with it is evident that the tall golfer should have their equiment checked for proper fit and make-up and all equipment variables reviewed against what he may really require versus what he may have in his bag.


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All Golf Shafts are not Created Equal

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

 

A golf shaft is a golf shaft is a golf shaft right? Just give me a driver off the rack with an ‘R’ flex and let me loose. Unfortunately, that’s what most high handicap golfers tend to believe. The problem with this is there are no real standards for what constitutes a particular flex, or relative stiffness, in a golf shaft. One manufacturer’s Stiff flex is another manufacturer’s Regular flex. That’s why if you’ve ever borrowed a friend’s driver on the golf course and decided that’s the driver for you, you may be disappointed after you purchase it. You may find that you can’t hit it because it comes in a different shaft. They just aren’t the same.

This issue is compounded by other important factors for golf shafts that include shaft material and weight, the particular bend or ‘kick’ point (where the shaft bends most during the swing) of the golf shaft and the golf shaft’s torque or resistance to twisting during the downswing. On top of this, club length affects the shaft flex as well unless adjustments are made. A longer club will feel more flexible. A shorter club will feel stiffer.

With all of these variables at play in selecting a proper golf shaft for your swing one thing is sure – the chances of getting the right shaft off the rack are negligible. A shaft that works for one golfer will be the completely wrong choice for another golfer even if they both require the same flex golf shaft.

To complicate things even further, price is no determinant either! A $12.00 graphite shaft may be a far better choice for you over an $80.00 shaft because it has the particular specifications you need over and above the $80.00 shaft. Go figure…

The reason high handicappers can benefit greatly from custom fit golf clubs is that each of these variables in the golf shaft can be considered in light of that player’s abilities and particular playing characteristics.

Each of these variables affects the playability of the shaft in 5 important ways:

 1. Trajectory
 2. Solidness of feel
 3. Consistency of hit
 4. Directional control
 5. Clubhead speed or distance

The key factor in determining the appropriate shaft flex for a particular golfer is their swing speed which correlates to how far they can hit the golf ball. Swing speed for the average golfer is around 84 -87mph. Golfers with lower swing speeds require a shaft that is more flexible but getting a shaft that is too soft will find that golfer spraying his drives all over the golf course and spending more time looking for golf balls than playing golf. A shaft that is too stiff will cause a lower than normal ball trajectory with subsequent loss of distance, consistent pushing the ball to the right or slicing and will tend to feel like a board in the hands of a golfer with a sub-95mph swing speed.

The lighter a shaft is the faster swing speed can be attained (and greater distance) but too light a shaft will cause problems. Golfers with smooth swing tempo’s can benefit from lighter golf shafts. Golfers who tend to have quicker swing tempo need more weight (and stiffness).

The ‘bend‘ point of a golf shaft helps to determine ball trajectory and directional control. A low bend point (towards the clubhead) provides for a higher trajectory and softer ‘feel’ but may cause some directional problems with faster swings.

A golf shaft’s ‘torque’ is an important consideration in terms of feel. This is only a consideration for graphite shafts. Golfers with high swing speeds require shafts with low torque to reduce twisting. Golfers with slower swing speeds would look for higher torque to get a better feel for the golf club.

So, not all golf shafts are created equal. Each golf shaft has particular characteristics that impact playability and shafts between manufacturers are not consistent with respect to key factors such as flex with price having little to do with either quality or suitability for a golfer.

That being said, there is a high degree of flexibility by a custom golf fitter to fit the appropriate shaft to a golfer so that they can hit the ball with a normal trajectory, good consistency and directional control while providing a solid feeling for the golfer.


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Shaft Spine Alignment

Saturday, September 26th, 2009

The ‘spine’ of a golf shaft is like a backbone. It can be visualized as a longitudinal line or plane on a golf shaft that is more resistant to bending. All cylindrical objects have a spine including both steel and graphite golf shafts. The reason this matters is that if the spine of a golf shaft is not considered when mounting a clubhead then that club will never play consistently. That’s one club. Now imagine a bag full of clubs with spines randomly set…That’s what you get with golf clubs off the rack…even a set of $800 clubs or a $500 Driver.

Spine alignment refers to finding the spine for each shaft and then aligning it perpendicular to the clubface (either at the 3:00 o’clock or 9:00 o’clock position). When the spine is aligned in this manner the golf club becomes more stable, improving the golfers ability to hit the sweet spot more consistently. Tests have shown that a golfer’s ability to hit the sweet spot (impact repeatability) improved from 14% to 51% when they moved to spine aligned clubs. Missing the sweet spot by two-tenths of an inch will cost you six yards.


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