The golf equipment business tries to convince us that every new driver will deliver more distance.
It’s called marketing and there are some equipment rules that we should all pay attention to as we try and put together that perfect set that will help us shoot lower scores.
Here are three important notions, so pay attention!
DRIVER LOFT:
This is a hot topic and you can spend a lot of time discussing it. Too many players are using shafts that are too stiff and clubheads that have too little loft.
A few years back, saw a gentleman on the range using a driver with 9.5 degrees of loft. The guy had to be in his mid-80s and his shots with that driver weren’t getting higher than chest-high. With his swing speed, he needed a shaft with a LOT of flex and a driver with no less than 12 degrees of loft.
Fact is, too many players are using drivers with 8 degrees or 9 degrees of loft when they can really use one with 10.5 or 11. With modern golf balls, the optimum launch angle is 12-14 degrees. That gets the ball up in the air and more hang time equals more distance. More loft also equals more accuracy.
Simple physics.
LOB WEDGES:
Most middle to high-handicap players don’t need 60-degree wedges. Unless you have mad short game skills, you don’t need anything higher than a 58 or 56-degree sand wedge. Too many players want to hit shots a la Phil Mickelson but that takes years and years of practice and the ability to produce those shots under tournament pressure.
Back in the 50s, 60s and 70s, there were no lob wedges. Seve Ballesteros could hit incredible shots with his sand wedge, he would open the face and create more loft that way.
Flop shots are not easy to master and most players would be better off if they simply learned to make crisp contact and get the ball on the green.
PUTTER FITTING:
It’s the only club that you’ll use three times on a hole. Yes, how many times did you three-putt during your last round?
In professional golf, it’s the most important club in a player’s bag. The one area where technology can really help is putter fitting. It’s essential that your putter is the proper length and that it sits flat on the green. A well-fit putter will result in more comfort over the ball.
For unknown reasons, too many weekend golfers don’t recognize the value of putter fittings.
Get fit — it will pay off with more putts holed!
One Comment
baxter cepeda
All good advice. But as the Black Knight says, any definitive statement in golf has a good contradiction.
While it’s hard to disagree about having enough loft on drivers, today’s drover lofts seem not as important. Drivers today work well with upswings, which many weekend warriors have too much of from leaning back during the swing; the old trying to help the ball up.
Not sure about this 80 year old man Tom saw swing but For some less loft isn’t the worst thing with today’s drover tech.
The lob wedge can no doubt hurt average players trying to do too much with it; but it can also help weekend warriors be able to stop it somewhat near the green when playing from terrible spots around the green.
Imo 62-64 degrees can also be helpful for Many golfers who struggle to open the face with wedges; so more loft is needed for such players.
But No doubt once a weekend warriors starts to open a 60-64 degree like they are lefty, they will likely have issues.
The putter fitting issue is also true. But What’s also true is if a golfer puts in some good work with any flat stick, they will be rewarded. Putting is multi faceted and it is an art, as many great putters have proven. From aokis toe up to strickers heel up, there’s a lot of ways to be successful putting.