be the case.
Finally, at the centre, you are measured up on a length and lie gauge to find the right angle for your clubs when you are in a comfortable address position. You then move to the driving range, where computers, linked to high-speed cameras, record the results of hitting a number of balls with a selection of carefully-chosen clubs. Typically, a 5-iron is used as a standard club and after a few warm-up shots (hitting balls off a mat into a net five yards away) the computer-camera machine is calibrated.
You then hit four balls, taking your time, with your old 5-iron. Each shot is displayed on a screen showing, by computer enhanced graphics, how far (and with what spin) the ball would have travelled down a fairway. The computer also measures the club speed at impact, ball carry, angle of the club face, swing path, impact point on the club – and tempo of each swing from start to impact.
Warming to the task, you then repeat the four ball series of swings with five different 5-irons, selected by the centre’s pro, and varying in flex and swingweight from D0 to C9, C6, C3 to flyweight. Then, perhaps a little impatient to see how you’ve performed, you return to reception for analysis and detailed explanation.
From the computer print-out of all your shots, the pro shows you that your old 5-iron has generated an average clubhead speed of 76 mph, giving a carry of 170 yards (which makes you feel like Ian Woosnam), a clubhead closed at impact by one degree (which, with your in to out swing, explains the hook) and an impact point in the centre of the club (well at least you’re doing something right). The C3 5-iron, with a graphite shaft, has a higher average clubhead speed of 79 mph, but its carry was less at 168 yards and the ball was generally struck near the heel. The featherweight club, strangely enough, only generated an average 75 mph speed and you didn’t really like its feel anyway.
One 5-iron in the series really does stand out. It’s a perimeter weighted club with a C9 swing weight, an ‘R’ flex steel shaft and a one degree flat lie. Giving a consistent impact in the centre of the club face, this is clearly the club for you.
So do you immediately reach for the cheque book and order a matched set? Well, there is no hard sell pressure to buy, curiously enough. Custom club suppliers generally like to sell their wares through your club pro – and prefer him to attend the fitting out sessions, if possible. What they do give the golfer is, above all, a feeling of confidence that his clubs really suit him and that if he does need a ‘Mulligan’ on the first tee, he will only have himself to blame.
CUSTOM-MADE CLUBS WILL SUIT YOUR SWING.
Armed with his personal club spec though, there are still other considerations for the golfer to ponder over when it comes to selecting the combination of clubs that he carries around. Being long off the tee, or having a short game, can make a difference. Let’s see how the members of our fourball could each pick the best mix.
Bob, who is a confirmed slicer, should probably never wield a driver in anger. There’s nothing to be ashamed about this; it’s merely pragmatic. A 2-wood off the tee, with a modern loft of 13 degrees, will reduce his sidespin and slice. It should have a metal or graphite head, with an ‘R’ flex steel (or mid torque graphite) shaft. He could also consider carrying a three, a five and a seven wood of similar materials, while his irons should have similar shafts with perimeter weighted heads to aid off-centre hits. Finally, on all of them, he should fit (having tried out first) say one sixteenth of an inch thinner grips, which should increase his hand action.
Brian, who lacks length off the tee, constantly has to hit longer second shots to the greens, needs help from his clubs to gain as much distance as possible. All his shafts should be ‘A’ flex (or high torque graphite) to give as much ‘kick’ as possible. He should use a driver and try thinner grips to increase his clubhead speed.
Doug, the rare hooker in our fourball, could consider leaving his driver behind, a 2-wood giving him almost as much distance and probably being straighter off the tee. With ‘R’ flex shafts in all clubs, he should also carry a 4-wood, which is an excellent club from light rough. He should try slightly oversize grips to help him hold the clubs more in the palm and control his tendency to end up left.
Finally comes Matt, who has a handicap of 16, the lowest of the four. He may need ‘S’ flex (or low torque graphite) shafts on all his clubs and could sport a driver, three and five woods all with persimmon heads. He could also use forged traditional irons – if he could afford them and if he played more. But then we all need to play a bit more, don’t we?
Playing more with the right equipment would benefit, if not the Tour pro. It’s sobering to note that, despite modern technology, in mid 1994 the average drive of a player on the US Professional Tour measured some 264 yards, only eight yards more than the average in 1969, 25 years previously. Average US pro scores have fallen by one stroke (to 71) during this period – though many courses have been stretched. However, this has been credited to the fact that players are fitter today, more athletic and have benefitted from more intensive coaching. There is also the considerably greater financial incentives for each tournament. None of this applies to the social golfer, who probably hasn’t changed at all in the past 25 years – but high tech clubs would have a positive effect on his game, if only he played with them a more.
But what about that vital complement to any set of clubs, the balls that make the game go round? Well, they can make (or unmake) the player too. There is an enormous choice of golf balls on the market today and you can buy a type that both suits your game and the course you are playing. Too few golfers though know how to make that choice, or even think for a moment about the ammunition they use. Rather like motor cars, there are no bad golf balls now. Some are different and feel better than others, softer, harder, some last longer, some don’t cut as easily. But it is quite important and sensible to get a golf ball that suits your game. It can make quite a difference.
The proof is seen in most golfer’s bags: a mix of balls, two-piece and wound, with a few balata covers (often cut) and with a variety of compressions and trajectories. How can any golfer hope to play with any consistency with such a mixture? There is no need to.
All the ball manufacturers, in co-operation with golf magazines, regularly publish listings of makes with details of their construction, covers and compressions. There are also charts grouping balls suitable for traditionally forged clubs and perimeter weighted ones; high trajectory balls (if you normally hit them lower than you’d like) and low trajectory types; those suitable for courses with narrow fairways and others with wide open spaces. The weather is also catered for: certain ball types are listed for windy conditions, and others for abnormally dry or very wet ones.
A golfer can gain some useful information from these charts, but there are three points you should bear in mind:
A balata cover is very soft and if you’ve got any roughness on the face of your irons or if the grooves in the clubs are a little bit sharp, every time you hit it, even if you strike the ball correctly, you will rough it up as if you’ve rubbed a file or rasp over the cover and after two or three holes a ball can look very aged indeed. Surlyn is more durable, a little bit stronger.
You would probably find the use of a 100 compression ball downright off-putting (it’s rather like hitting a stone) so use a 90 compression ball and stick with it.
When you’ve decided on the optimum ball for your game and course, don’t buy any other type. If you find any others in the
