The Secret to Golf

You might have been fighting that slice or hook for 10 years. But, no matter how many years you have had your problem, no matter how many lessons you have paid for, no matter how many tips you have gotten from Golf Digest, all of your problems can be fixed! You just have to stop looking at your swing as the culprit and start looking at the equipment you are using. Because more then likely those clubs you are playing with are the real reason why your swing is killing your score.

When I say start looking at your equipment I do not mean you need to go out and spend $1000 to improve your game. What I mean is there have been many bad swings over the history of the game and those golfers have been VERY successful. And the reason they were is because they fit their equipment to their swing and not the swing to their equipment.

Have you ever had a driver that was too long for you? Actually more then 75% of us do in my opinion. It forces you to change your swing plane, which in turn makes every other part of your swing change. But even though we feel this change in our swing, we still decide to do nothing about it. And getting the length cut down on a club is a 5 minute fix. YEAH JUST 5 MINUTES!

4 Other Things That Can Fix Your Game Right Now

•  Club Head Style
• Shaft Choice
• Shaft Length
• Shaft Flex

These are the major components to properly fitting a golfer and if ONLY ONE of these variables is not matched up to your swing you could be in for a nightmare of bad habits.

The Secrets

In the topics below you will discover answers to the issues we have all had in our golf careers. This next few minutes will change the way you look at your golf game forever and will make you the most informed golfer on your block…so enjoy.

1. Club Head Style

Did you ever say to yourself, “I don’t feel like my swing is that bad, why can’t I score better? Well if you have said this to yourself, then CLUB HEAD STYLE might be a problem you need to address.

Technology in the golf industry has come a long way, so if you are still playing irons that are 5 years old or more you most likely could benefit from the advances in new iron head construction. Here are some of the variables of a head that have an impact on making the game a little easier for the average golfer. I know this looks like a lot of info but just take it step by step and let it sink in. Or come back to it over the next few days and read it 2 or 3 times. Your game will be glad you did.

Offset

Offset is the amount the face of the club sits back from the hosel, this aids in helping reduce a slice with your clubs. Generally the better golfer you are the less offset you want. However this is not always true. For some reason the better your score gets the less you start liking the look of the iron head sitting that far back from the hosel. It is a hand control issue more then anything else. When you feel like you are the one actually in control of the club you want there to be less and less offset on your new sticks. But, for a Mid/High handicap player offset can be a major factor in making solid contact more often. The best analogy I can give you is if you were a baseball player, would you rather have the feeling of hitting a home run or a broken bat single. Solid contact plays a major role in distance and accuracy control. So if you are constantly having that broken bat single feeling with your irons you might want to consider going to a head with more offset.

Perimeter Weighting

You might have noticed the trend in the cavity design of new irons lately. Irons in past years had more of the weight behind the impact area of the cavity. Today’s irons have more of the weight towards the perimeter of the cavity. This is called PERIMETER WEIGHTING. If you always hit the ball dead center, you would want a small sweet spot and no perimeter weighting so you could put as much physical mass directly behind the impact point of the ball. This would make a very long and accurate golf shot. However, if you are off — even just a millimeter — your shot will go astray. By having an iron with perimeter weighting you are maximizing the forgiveness of your irons. So unless you play 4 to 5 times a week you most likely do not hit the center of the sweet spot 100% of the time. Therefore you might want to consider the amount of perimeter weighting you need on your irons.

Sole Width

Sole width is another factor when considering your next iron set purchase. Simply put, the larger the mass on your irons the easier it is going to get grabbed when in the rough. A narrower sole is easier out of tight lies and wider soles are easier from plush lies. That is why we tend to recommend a mid to wide soled iron and more blade style wedges. The majority of your wedge shots are going to be from thicker grass. So for your SW and LW you might want to consider looking into a more traditional type of wedge. Many people but a set of irons that have the matching wedges. This is great looking but rarely good for your game.

Heel to Toe Length

This iron attribute is more cosmetic then anything else. But it does affect forgiveness. Some players like the look of a more compact iron, although a longer heel to toe design has a larger effective hitting area. So if you are the kind of golfer that is looking for the maximum amount of forgiveness you might also want to consider a longer heel to toe design.

Face Height

Face Height is similar to Heel to Toe length. If you are looking for the most forgiving iron you should take face height in consideration.

Shaft Choice is one of the most important dynamics to improving your golf game.

You don’t know how many times I hear a golfer tell me, “Give me an x-stiff in my driver” But he only hits the ball 175 yards off the tee. Or the guy that says, “Well my buddy saw me swing and he said I need a stiff flex in my clubs.” First things first, don’t listen to the buddy who just read a “Golf Digest” and thinks he’s the next Butch Harmon, but still shoots a 112. Simply pay attention to the key aspects of a shaft and how that fit to your swing.

Kick Points

Ball flight is a problem for many golfers that are not even aware of it. Many golfers are losing 3-5 strokes a round just because they have too low of a ball flight pattern. No, we do not want you to have a high BALLOONING ball flight. But, yes you do want a more penetrating higher ball flight that lands softly. Think about the shots that you have to play over a bunker with the pin tucked closely behind . With too low of a ball flight you might land on the green but not be able to stop the ball before you have run it 30 ft past the pin. You happily walk up to the green, pray for a two putt and go to the next tee box. But what if you could have played that same shot and been able to stop the ball 10-15 ft past the cup. You might have been able to sink a one putt and saved one to two strokes on that hole alone. The tables below show which shafts give you the ball flight you are looking for.

High Ball Flight – True Temper Dynalite, Dynamic Gold High Launch, True Temper GS 75

Mid Ball Flight True Temper TT Lite, Rifle (Depending on Flex)

Low Ball Flight – Dynamic Gold, Dynamic Gold Superlite, Rifle (Depending on Flex)

Shaft Torque

Just because a shaft says stiff flex it does not mean that it is the right shaft for you. Even if you fit that criteria, torque comes into play as well when properly fitting a shaft to a golfers swing speed.

Think about a $4 graphite shaft that is a stiff flex and a $40 graphite shaft that is also a stiff flex. There has to be a reason why that shaft is more expensive . Generally it is for a couple reasons : Better materials, better tolerances, and more precise kick points and torque tolerances for the flex it should correspond with.

To get the maximum distance and control out of your shaft you need to have the right torque rating . If you hit the ball 275 on average without roll and are playing a 2.5 torque stiff shaft you are most likely not getting everything out of that shaft as you should be. Remember torque is the amount the head turns on the shaft from right to left. If you do not put enough load on the shaft to maximize the 2.5 torque rating you are not allowing the shaft to load and unload to its maximum capacity. Therefore you are not getting the maximum distance out of your new stick.

Most hitters need “a little pop” to help the club head release properly through impact. Players should not get carried away in thinking that lower torque means better control. The following chart will assist you in getting the right torque rating for your next driver shaft. Remember that this rating is more precise for higher quality shafts, due to the fact that they rate there shafts more accurately.

X-Stiff / Stiff = 2.9 – 3.4 torque
Firm / Regular = 3.4 – 3.9 torque
Senior / Ladies = 4.0 – 5.0 torque

Shaft Weight

Don’t pay so much attention to swingweight. To many golfers get caught up in trying to get that D2 weighting they hear about. But remember every golfer likes a different feel. Some like more feel in the head some like their weight more evenly distributed throughout the entire club. And remember also that irons and woods are different . I prefer a lighter feeling head on my driver, so by the 14th hole I don’t feel like I am lugging around a 2 X 4 . This way I feel like I am in more control of my game throughout my entire round. This is just one opinion, but the point is to have you start actually thinking about the clubs in your bag in a different light.

Below is a list of problems that could be occurring due to the wrong length shaft:

Clubs Too Long

• Low Hook – Tends to make the toe of the club stick up. This causes the heel of your club to grab first which turns your toe in causing the right to left spin on the ball and the lower ball flight.

• Higher Ball Flight Then Normal – Many times golfers with too long of a club will tend to try to over compensate, which causes them to stand too tall and lean back on their downswing. The leaning back can cause extra loft to be added to the head which can cause a high shot with a loss of distance.

• Super Fat Shots – Your body has to compensate for the extra length if your clubs are too long. But since this is not your bodies natural motion it will tend to forget about 40% of the time. So when your body forgets that extra length makes contact with the ground a hair to soon. This is what will cause those Super-Fat shots.

• Worm Burner – This is the opposite of the Super-Fat shot . In this instance your body actually over compensates for the length and stands too tall. You then make your contact in the center of the ball. This will cause that screaming worm burner or the shot that flies 60 yds. over the green.

Clubs Too Short

• Push Or Slice – Too short of an iron will have to toe pointing down into the ground. This causes the toe to grab to early and pushes your heel forward. This causes the left to right spin or the open face which causes the push or slice.

• Catching It Thin – If you are catching it a little thin more often then not. You might have a set of irons that are a little too short for you.

Too Flexible

of a shaft and your going to have less control, and you will produce a draw or a hook.

Too Stiff

of a shaft and you are going to lose some distance, and you will produce a fade or a slice.

FLEX CHART

I would love to give you a table that shows exactly what swing speed corresponds with what shaft flex. But unfortunately every shaft company goes by different standards . So a UST Gold 75 stiff might play a whole flex stiffer then a Penley Graphite Light Stiff. The following tables are a good rule of thumb for the majority of shafts on the market.