The "Feel" Factor in Club Fitting What Determines the Right Shaft for You? The Love/Hate Relationship with Your Clubs Club Length Relates to Distance, Accuracy So, You Changed Your Own Grips Why High-Tech Clubfitting Works Interchangeable Shafts? What's Next?
The "Feel Factor" in Club Fitting By: Dan Sueltz While we pride ourselves on having The best technology for custom fitting golfers, at the end of the day if a club does not feel good you will not have the confidence to make a good repeatable swing. That being said, not all golfers have a heightened sense of feel. In our club fitting interview, less than 20% of our golfers think that they are "feel" players. So what are the major factors in the "feel" of a golf club? Static Weight (Overall Weight of the Club) The lightest club in your bag is your driver and the heaviest club is your sand or lob wedge. Driver heads weigh about 200 grams, shafts are usually 60 grams and a standard grip is 50 grams. This makes the total weight of a men's driver around 310 grams. The only way to change this is by using a lighter/heavier shaft and a lighter/ heavier grip. Ladies golf clubs are usually lighter because they have lighter shafts and, in some cases, lighter heads. As club builders we have to be very careful when changing any of these factors as it can completely change the performance of the golf club. For example, changing to a heavier grip, such as an oversize or jumbo grip from a men's standard can make the club feel heavier but the balance point or swing weight will get lighter because more of the weight is in your hands. In general, golfers with smooth tempos, slow transition from backswing to forward swing will like lighter shafts. Golfers with a fast tempo and quick transition will like the feel of heavier clubs. Golf equipment manufacturers have really jumped on the light weight band wagon in search of more distance for their customers. The problem is that a club that is TOO light for your natural swing can cause erratic shots and poor contact. Our fitting system is sophisticated enough to make initial club weight recommendations based upon the golfers swing attributes and physical makeup. But, at the end of the day, the golfer will tell us if a club feels too heavy or too light. Swing Weight (Balance From Head to Grip) If you have played tennis or baseball, you will know the difference between a head-heavy feeling racquet and a head-light racquet. A club that feels too heavy in the head can cause a golfer to cast or throw the club too early in their swing trying to get the club around. A club that has too light of swing weight will give the golfer the sensation that they do not know where the club head is during the swing. The biggest dynamic in changing the balance point or swing weight of a golf club is the length of the club. If you think your club is too long and you cut it down 1", you will lose 6 swing weight points, which could be enough to make you lose control. Same with adding length. You move the head farther from your hands and it will automatically feel heavier. Most golfers can tell the difference in clubs with 3 swing weights difference, but only the very sensitive golfers can feel one swing weight difference. Shaft Flex and Tip Stiffness Accuracy, distance and consistency in golf shots is accomplished by accurately matching the shaft butt stiffness (flex), tip stiffness, weight, swing weight and length to each golfers individual swing. We know after testing over 10,000 golfers that shot dispersion (accuracy) is much worse if a golfer is playing shafts that are as little as a third of a flex off from their optimum. That is why we precisely fit and build our custom clubs to exact specs which are to a tenth of a flex and exact swing weight. We do, however, take into consideration how a club feels to the golfer and make slight adjustments to help improve the feel of the club. A shaft that is too stiff in the butt section will feel "boardy" or harsh. A shaft that is too soft in the butt section will feel "loose" or whippy. A shaft that is too stiff in the tip section can also feel harsh or like there is no "give" or response at impact. A shaft that is too soft in the tip section will feel "mushy" at impact. We try to accomodate each golfers feel issues as long as it does not adversely impact distance, accuracy and consistency of ball striking. So What Does This All Mean? Without making major compensations to distance, accuracy and consistency, we make modifications to our equipment recommendations to make the feel of the golf clubs very comfortable. Even the grip selection is important since the grip is your contact point with the golf club. Golf is such a game of confidence that we want our golfers to feel comfortable AND confident with every club in their bag. The result? Better scores and more fun! The Love/Hate Relationship with Your Clubs By: Dan Sueltz Every golfer has clubs they love and clubs they hate. On certain days you play well with certain clubs and others you put in time out! Since this is the only sport I know of that uses 14 clubs (or more) to hit one ball it is no wonder we have certain "favorite" or "go-to" clubs. You probably did not buy all of your clubs at the same time and they are most likely not from the same manufacturer so the chances of all 14 clubs matching you are slim to none. When we fit golfers to an entire set of clubs it is very important to review all of the golfer's existing clubs to see how well they match up. We look at everything from club length, shaft flex, shaft weight, to swing weight. These are the "feel" characteristics of the golf club. We then show the golfer a graph of his/her existing clubs to visually look at the differences in lengths and shaft flexes. The most obvious differences between clubs can be explained in a chart like the one below: This golfer had "adapted" to the 3 wood, hybrid and irons in his bag, but absolutely could not stand his driver. Why? Because it was 2 flexes stiffer than the rest of his clubs and the shaft weight was too heavy. Every golfer has a natural swing that determines the most comfortable weight and flex of the club. Touring professionals are very particular about the weighting of their clubs. At D'Lance golf Performance Center we use a progressive weighting technique that makes every club in your bag feel pretty much the same. This allows you to develop more consistency in your swing and more repeatable results from one club to the next. It will be very difficult for the average golfer to make big improvements in their game with inconsistent equipment (see related article). Your natural body movements will adapt to the club(s) that fit you best and you will feel out-of-synch with the rest of your clubs. When we build a new set or rebuild an existing set of clubs, they will look like the chart below: Now you can begin to make great improvement in your game because you will LOVE the way you play...we guarantee it! Length Relates to Distance and Accuracy By: Dan Sueltz Our fitting philosophy has always been to have our golfers play the longest, lightest, softest flex shaft that they can control. This is especially true in fitting longer clubs like drivers for golfers looking for more distance. No matter what our golfers say in our interview process about hitting straighter, more consistent shots, they want more distance! But does it always work? We know from actual launch monitor testing that what you may gain in distance, you can sometimes lose in accuracy and consistency. Perhaps that is why the average driver length on the PGA Tour is 44.5". Geoff Ogilvy plays an 85 gram Aldila VooDoo shaft at 44.5", but he still hits it 290 yards! There is no doubt that most golf equipment manufacturers are trying to get more distance by putting light weight shafts (45 to 55 grams) and lighter weight heads in their drivers and going to lengths of 46" to 46.5". Why? The longer length increases club head speed and, if you hit the ball on the sweet spot, also increases ball speed. We have had several golfers try longer driver shafts, up to 48", and increase distance up to 50 yards! So, should you try a longer shaft to get more distance? Here are my rules of thumb for longer shafts: 1. If you are a good driver, meaning consistent contact and usually straight off the tee, try adding length...up to 1" or more. 2. If you add length, you need to use a lighter shaft and potentially a lighter weight or adjustable weight head in order to maintain feel, swing weight and control. 3. As the shaft length gets longer, the butt stiffness must increase to maintain feel and ability to square the club face at impact. 4. If the swing weight of the club gets too heavy, try counter balancing with weight in the butt of the club. Be careful as too much counterbalance weight will cause the overall weight of the club to feel too heavy. 5. If you have a very fast tempo, longer may not be better as you may lose control and distance. If you think you would like to try a longer driver, give us a call and we can discuss the options with you. If you have not been through a driver fitting, take advantage of the special below and we will show you how YOU can get more distance AND accuracy out of your driver.
So, You Changed Your Own Grips By Dan Sueltz There is something about changing your own grips on your golf clubs that is appealing. Sure, it might save you a few bucks but the satisfaction of feeling a tacky new grip at the start of the new season is what it's all about. But, be careful. You can ruin a set of clubs by not paying attention when you put on those new grips. Maybe you should leave this job to the professionals!. 1. Pay attention to Grip Weight. It used to be that grips were pretty much all the same weight..right around 50 grams. Not anymore. If you replace the old grips with a lighter grip, the swingweight of the club will increase, potentially making the clubhead feel too heavy. By adding a heavier grip, such as a midsize or oversize when you had been playing a standard grip size, you will reduce the swingweight of the club, potentially making the clubhead feel too light. We have seen many a set of clubs ruined by replacing the grips with either too heavy or too light of grip. 2. Remove the old wraps. Not very may golfers or even pro shops remove the old grip tape when installing a new grip. By just adding another layer of tape on top of the old grip you are increasing the diameter of the grip in your hands. This could potentially cause you to feel uncomfortable in your swing and reduce the amount of wrist release causing a weak fade. 3. Get 'em on Straight! Nothing worse than getting the grips on and noticing that the logo on the grip when lined up with the club heads leading edge appears to make the club look open or closed. Without a grip vise and alignment guide you could be setting yourself up for a serious fade or pull shot. 4. Be Careful With Winn Grips Any grip that has an underlisting can cause you to rip or tear the undlerlisting if you do not use the proper pressure or amount of solvent when installing the grip. Just to be safe, let a trained professional install your grips. No muss...no fuss...just better golf!
Why High Tech Club Fitting Works
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Steel |
Graphite |
Shaft - Irons |
Grams |
Grams |
True Temper Dynamic Gold |
127-134 |
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Matrix 115 |
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115-120 |
FM Precision Rifle and PX |
115-135 |
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UST V2 95 |
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95-97 |
True Temper Dyn. Gold SL |
105-109 |
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True Temper TX-90 |
95-101 |
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Nippon 950GH |
94-96 |
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Matrix Studio 94 |
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94-96 |
True Temper M-80 |
80-85 |
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Matrix Studio 84 |
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84-86 |
Grafalloy Pro-Launch Blue |
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80-82 |
Fujikura Rombax 7X07 |
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75-77 |
Matrix Studio 74 |
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74-76 |
Matrix Studio 64 |
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64-66 |
What About the Feel of Graphite?
Another major reason for choosing graphite shafts instead of steel is feel. Graphite tends to absorb the shock of a miss-hit much better than steel. The feel of a “stinger” when you hit a thin shot with a steel shaft is very uncomfortable, especially if you have arthritis or tendonitis in your hands or elbows. TrueTemper makes an option in steel shafts called Sensicore that actually dampens the vibration substantially, but the shafts are still heavier than graphite. Several PGA Tour players like K.J. Choi, Hale Irwin and Rich Beem are now playing graphite shafts in their irons because they like the feel better than steel.
Isn’t Steel more Consistent?
Steel shafts in general are much more consistent than graphite shafts because of the way they are manufactured. The rolling or extruding process of making a steel shaft versus the wrapping process of graphite shafts produces more even shaft walls and weight distribution throughout the length of the shaft. At D’Lance Golf we test thousands of graphite and steel shafts to select the most consistent shafts on the market. When we manufacture finished clubs at D’Lance Golf, we make sure that each graphite or steel shaft is frequency matched and spine profiled so that each club in your set, regardless of whether it is steel or graphite has the same flex and feel. There is no reason to fear inconsistency in graphite shafts when they are custom-built and frequency matched!
So What Should You Do?
First, by testing your swing on the True Temper Shaft Lab at D’Lance Golf, you will know the optimum shaft flex, weight, swing weight and shaft tip profile for your natural swing. Each person has a natural way of swinging the club that produces an optimum shaft flex for both their woods and irons. Based upon your forward swing time, and your ball speed with either a 6 iron or driver, we will then make recommendations for either graphite or steel shafts. In general, players with faster forward swings and higher ball speeds will need to play heavier shafts. The decision as to whether to play graphite or steel is then based upon two factors: 1. Feel and, 2. Cost. Most players can quickly feel the difference in a graphite shaft versus steel, especially at the same weight and flex. Graphite will feel more comfortable, especially on miss-hits. Graphite shafts, however, are more expensive in both new clubs and in re-shafting existing clubs. Good graphite shafts will cost 25% to 200% more than steel. Some of the most expensive graphite shafts can cost as much as $1,200 because they are made with exotic materials like Zylon. So, don’t waste your hard earned money on the trial and error method of shaft selection. Call D’Lance Golf at 303-730-2717 (Englewood) today for an appointment to get your swing analyzed and test different clubs in steel and graphite shafts.Do You Have a Weight Problem?
by Dan Sueltz, D’Lance Golf
No, I am not suggesting you go on a low-carb diet or have the people at Weight Watchers review your golf swing. What I do know is that every golfer needs clubs that have just the right weight, both balance or swing weight, and total weight, for them to hit consistent, long, straight shots. Our research shows that factors such as body mass index, downswing time, and total shaft flex dictate how heavy and what swing weight will work best for each golfer. All golfers should try to play the longest, lightest, most flexible shafts that they can control. The biggest factor, next to shaft flex, for loss of control, is club weight.
Heavy Shafts or Light Shafts? In the last several years, shaft weights have gotten lighter and lighter. The reason? Lighter shafts are easier to swing and usually give you more distance. In general, steel shafts are heavier than graphite shafts. This is why most drivers and fairway woods have graphite shafts instead of steel. The problem is that if your shafts are TOO light, you will be very erratic and not hit the ball consistently. The smoother your swing and slower your downswing time, the lighter the shaft you can play. Major manufacturer’s usually put only one weight of shaft in their clubs, 65 grams in drivers, for example. You usually tell how much a stock shaft weighs by looking at the logo on the shaft. The Aldila NV 65, for example, is a 65 gram shaft, while the Fujikura Speeder 757 is a 75 gram shaft.
Swing Weight versus Static Weight. Those of you that play racquet sports know the difference in feel of a racquet that feels heavier toward the head versus one that feels heavier in the handle. The same goes for golf clubs. The three components of the golf club; grip, shaft and clubhead, make up the total static weight of the club. How those components fit together determines the swing weight or balance of the club. There is a swing weight scale that goes roughly from C-1 (lightest) to E-9 (heaviest) in terms of head-heavy feel. Most golfers cannot tell the difference between 3 swing weights, C-7 versus C-9, for example. However, if you put a light swing weight club (C-7) in the hands of a golfer that is used to swinging a heavy steel shafted club (D-6), they will immediately be able to feel the difference. Also, the heavier the grip (a jumbo Avon Chamois grip), the lighter the swing weight. That is why golfers that change their own grips can completely destroy a great performing set of clubs by putting heavier or lighter grips on them. Heavy grips AND shafts mean high swing weights. This is why when some golfers switch from steel to graphite in their irons it takes them a long time to adjust to the new clubs.
Progressive Weighting. Since golf clubs get progressively shorter from driver (usually 44-45”), to lob wedge (35-35 ½”), the swing weight and feel of the club will change unless the shafts are progressively changed throughout the set. This means your lightest shaft should be in your driver and the heaviest shaft should be in your lob wedge in order to obtain the same feel. This goes for ALL golfers, not just tour players. For example, when Tiger Woods won the 2005 Masters, he played an 83 gram shaft in his driver, 103 gram shafts in his fairway woods, and steel shafts (127 grams) in his irons. At D’Lance Golf, we have always used progressive weighting in making sets as this gives the best feel and performance.
So How Do You Know What Weight is Right for You? At D’Lance Golf Performance Centers, we have done extensive research after testing over 7,000 golfers and have developed a model that predicts shaft weight, swing weight, shaft flex and shaft tip stiffness.
From there we test your shot dispersion by using several different weighted clubs in your shaft flex on our launch monitors. The club that gives you the longest, straightest shots is the one for you! So, no more whining. Get your clubs checked and swing profile analyzed to determine what shaft length, weight, and flex will help lower your scores.
For more information or to schedule a True Temper Shaft Lab swing profile and club analysis call D’Lance Golf at 303-730-2717 or visit the website at www.dlancegolf.com.
Graphite Shafts Unwrapped
By: Dan Sueltz
I spent two days in California last week visiting two of the top graphite golf shaft manufacturers in the world: Fujikura and Matrix Composite Corporation (Matrix). I was determined to unwrap the mysteries of the new graphite shafts we are seeing in the marketplace today. Fujikura has been the Number 1 wood shaft on the PGA Tour for the past five years and is going strong again this year. Matrix has the Number 1 graphite iron shaft on tour and has a reputation in the industry for making the highest quality shafts. So what is new?
High Loft and Low Spin
Every golfer should be trying to increase their launch angle and combine that with a lower spin rate of the ball they are playing. Why? The modern golf ball and club head are designed to be matched. If you took an old persimmon wood and hit a Pro v.1 it would barely get off the ground. With today’s technology the ball should launch high ( roughly 16 degrees off a driver with a 125mph ball speed). Both Fujikura and Matrix are producing shafts that have multiple trajectories for different players. Both companies agree that higher launch angles create flatter trajectories with today’s lower spin golf balls. The result is more distance as the lower spin and higher launch creates a longer roll-out after the ball lands.
Matching Shaft Profile to a Golfer’s Swing
Every golfer should be playing the longest, lightest, softest shaft that they can control. In addition, the shaft and club head should provide the optimum launch angle and spin rate to give the maximum ball speed and minimum shot dispersion. At D’Lance Golf Performance Center, we test every shaft in eight different places along the shaft to determine its quality, butt stiffness, tip stiffness, and trajectory rating. For example, we know that a Fujikura zCom shaft will have a much softer tip than the Fujikura Speeder. While we know this from the product brochures, now we can evaluate shafts from multiple companies and have a true comparison. The graph below shows the relative tip and butt stiffness of several 75 gram wood shafts.
Materials Make a Difference
Make no mistake, there is a shortage of carbon composite for golf shafts. The war in Iraq and the boom in the aircraft industry has taken a huge share of the available graphite for golf shafts. In addition to the 40 million new golf clubs sold each year, over 25 million shafts are sold in the after-market for re-shafting existing clubs. The companies with the longest business history like Fujikura and Matrix will get their share of high quality composite material. To make lighter, stronger shafts that still have good feel and control, both Fujikura and Matrix have introduced more exotic materials. Fujikura has several new designs of its Triax weave material made of Kevlar being introduced later this month in their Rombax wood shaft. Matrix has gone a step farther and introduced their OZIK shaft with Zylon, a body armor material that absorbs shock and provides an extremely fast recovery time. What does this all mean? Longer, straighter shots with better feel and control.
What Graphite Shaft Should YOU Play?
Three factors determine what graphite shaft YOU should play. First, is your shaft load profile as tested on the True Temper Shaft Lab. This shows us how much you bend the shaft, when you release the shaft in your downswing, the timing of your downswing and the kick velocity of the shaft prior to impact. This determines shaft weight, flex, swing weight and tip stiffness. Second, is validation of the shaft load recommendations by testing on a launch monitor to see the results in terms of ball speed, shot dispersion, distances and spin rates. Finally, there is you, the golfer. If the shaft does not “feel” or look good, you will not hit it good. We see it every day. With the right shafts in your clubs, you will hit the longest, straightest, most consistent shots of you life.Are You MAXED Out?
By Dan Sueltz
The golf industry has literally maxed out. We are at the maximum allowable driver head size at 460cc. We are at the maximum allowable C.O.R. (coefficient of restitution), or how “hot” the clubface can be. We have maximum driver lengths, and we are about to reach a maximum in MOI for drivers (the resistance to twisting so your shots go straighter). You have tried all the new maxed out clubs and it still has not helped your distance, accuracy or consistency. So how do you maximize YOUR performance this season.
Maximize Your Swing
If you are not taking lessons, now is the time to start. When you work with a qualified instructor, you will understand how the fundamentals of grip, alignment, stance, posture and balance all work together to create a more consistent, repeatable swing. Only by viewing your swing with a video analysis system can you actually SEE what you are doing in your golf swing. Are you making a “death move”? Do you have the proper weight shift? Do you lose your balance in your swing? A good instructor will notice these simple faults and put you on track to maximizing YOUR swing, not trying to have you emulate Tiger Woods or Annika Sorenstam. Make it your goal this year to maximize your swing potential.
Maximize Your Equipment
Equipment is much easier to change to match your swing. Since golf is played with fourteen clubs, the chances of each of those clubs being matched to your swing are slim to none. The correct length, weight, shaft flex, and head design can make a HUGE difference in accuracy, consistency, and distance. The perfect match of swing to equipment starts the day you pick up a club. Even beginning golfers will benefit from the right equipment. The most important things are club weight, length, shaft flex, swing weight and shaft tip profile. If your golf clubs are too heavy or too light you will make very inconsistent contact. If your clubs are too long or too short your will hit fat or thin shots. If your shaft flex does not match your swing your shots will be left, right, short and long. If your shaft tip profile is not correct, you will hit high or low shots and have a “dead” feeling club. While you are trying to maximize your swing, your imperfect clubs are getting in the way! With the right equipment, you can immediately see and feel the difference.
Your Existing Clubs
“Maximized” Clubs
So Maximize Your Golf Game This Year!
First, make sure that you visit a qualified instructor to help you with your swing. At the same time, make sure that you are fitted to the correct equipment for your swing profile. Whether you are a beginner or accomplished golfer, you have a unique swing profile that determines the equipment specs that will fit your swing. This is not based upon swing speed or tempo, but on how you bend or load the club during your swing. This can only be tested on the True Temper Shaft Lab. Then, test a variety of clubs with the correct shaft on a launch monitor like the Golf Achiever to see which club gives you the best distance, launch angle and shot dispersion. The result will be clubs that fit your swing giving you greater accuracy, consistency and distance. You’ve been MAXIMIZED!
Visit D’Lance Golf Performance Center and get yourself maximized. Make an appointment today to visit D’Lance Golf in Englewood (303-730-2717). For more information, call or visit the website at www.dlancegolf.com
Find YOUR Perfect Golf Clubs!
By Dan Sueltz
OK, it’s long after the traditional golf season and you are sitting in your easy chair watching the Golf Channel and reflecting on YOUR golf game. You bought a new driver off eBay. Tried it for a while. Then sold it to your buddy. You purchased a new hybrid club and still can’t keep it from snap hooking OB. You irons are a disaster and your wedges are an adventure in long, short, left and right. If only you could find those perfect clubs! You know. The ones you had that you hit straight and long but somehow you sold them or broke a shaft. Well, stop this eternal searching!
Why Perfect Golf Clubs are Hard to Find.
My passion is golf and, being an engineer, I also like to know how and why golf clubs that seem to go long and straight are not the same for everyone. It is actually pretty simple. This is the only sport I know of where you use 14 clubs (or more!) to hit one golf ball. The chances of every golf club in your bag having the right length, weight, swing weight and shaft flex are slim and none. Stew Calder, a fly fisherman and avid golfer, made my first set of custom clubs for me about 20 years ago. My first comment was, “Man, this is like cheating!” All of my clubs worked. I mean ALL of them. So when I started the company, I made it my passion to know everything there was to know about fitting and building custom golf clubs. Enter Tom Wishon. Tom is the most knowledgeable individual I know of when it comes to designing golf equipment that can be fine tuned to each individual’s swing. In fact, Tom’s books have been instrumental in how we at D’Lance Golf Performance Center have developed and refined our fitting and golf club building processes. His latest book, “The Search for the Perfect Golf Club” is a must-read for anyone seriously interested in improving his or her game by getting equipment matched to them. Even Tiger Woods, the number one player in the world, in an interview on The Golf Channel said that for every amateur player, “the ultimate key is have equipment fit to you, not you try to fit your equipment.”
Golf Clubs are Built for the Masses.
 Click image for details |
I spent a day at the Callaway Research Center in California this spring. Todd Stribel, director of PGA Tour Operations, said to me, “Dan, our objective is to sell $300 million in drivers this year. We cannot possibly fit every golfer like you can.” And the same is true for all of the other manufacturer’s. The market sweet spot for each manufacturer is a particular range of handicaps for each line of clubs. A “forgiveness club” will usually have a very big sweet spot, large offset, and soft shaft. Why? Studies have shown that the two most important things golfers want in irons is feel and to get the ball in the air. So, soft shafts make the clubs feel good. And, big cavity back, wide sole clubs get the ball in the air. The problem is, these clubs are way to whippy for most golfers. The result is high, off-center shots and the occasional shot that gets airmailed over the green! This is especially true of the hybrid clubs. Even worse, shaft companies are spending a ton of money branding their shafts with bright colors and logos on Tour. So, the average golfer sees his favorite pro win with a particular shaft and just has to have it in his driver on Monday! Now c’mon! Are you all of a sudden going to add 30 yards to your drives with XYZ shaft? Not unless you have it fit to your swing!
It’s Not the Club it’s My Swing.
We have all heard the argument that it’s not the golf club it’s the person swinging the club that makes the perfect shot. If this were true, every player could play the same clubs and all they would have to work on is a better swing. Indeed, every golfer should be trying to develop his or her own perfect swing. The trouble is that the fundamental swinging motion is pretty well fixed by the time you are 8 years old. The way you walk, talk, chew your food, is “learned” at a very early age. That is why the most successful golfers started very young. After testing over 7,000 golfers, I can tell you that the actual swinging motion (shaft load, downswing time, release point) is incredibly consistent from one swing to the next. It’s the mechanics of your swing that cause inconsistent shots. The only thing lessons can change is the mechanics of your swing.
So, Get YOUR Perfect Clubs!
The most important things for matching your swing for your perfect clubs are club weight, swing weight, length and shaft flex. The only choice you have when you buy clubs off the rack is shaft flex. If your golf clubs are too heavy or too light you will make very inconsistent contact. If your clubs are too long or too short you will hit fat or thin shots. If your shaft flex does not match your swing your shots will be left, right, short and long. While you are trying to create the perfect swing, your imperfect clubs are getting in the way! With the right equipment, you can immediately see and feel the difference. Whether you are a beginner or accomplished golfer, you have a unique swing profile that determines the equipment specs that will fit your swing. This is not based upon swing speed or tempo, but on how you bend or load the club during your swing. This can only be tested on the True Temper Shaft Lab. Then, test a variety of clubs with the correct shaft on a launch monitor like the Golf Achiever to see which club gives you the best distance, launch angle and shot dispersion. The result will be clubs that fit your swing giving you greater accuracy, consistency and distance. So go to D’Lance Golf and experience the most extensive golf club fitting outside of the Tour. All fittings are done by appointment so make your appointment today. Call D’Lance Golf Performance Center in Englewood (303-730-2717) or visit the website at www.dlancegolf.com
What Determines the Right Shaft for YOU?
By Dan Sueltz
The science of fitting golf shafts has gone to a whole ‘nother level. Golf shaft fitting used to be more of an art than a science. Watch the ball flight on the range. Get a sense for the feel of the shaft. Estimate how many of your shots were on target. Yep. That’s the shaft for you. Not anymore. Now we can measure your shaft load before impact, your “release point” in your downswing, and the kick velocity of the shaft at impact. After testing and fitting over 10,000 golfers, we have developed a unique formula for proper shaft selection. We can literally help you get more distance with tighter shot dispersion with the right shaft. Now you can hit those long, straight shots more consistently. But what is right for YOU?
Measuring Tempo
Every golfer has a unique tempo. Ever had your buddies tell you to “slow down”? Sorry, Charlie, but your tempo and downswing time are unique to you and your personality. Sure, you can probably do it for a few swings in a round, but then you go back to your old habits! A golf swing lasts from about a second to two seconds. When we test golfers, downswing times vary from as little as three tenths of a second to as much as a full second. The slower your tempo, the lighter the shaft and club swing weight you may need to control the club. Faster tempos may require heavier, higher swing weighted clubs so the golfer can feel where the club head is during the downswing.
Transition and Load
Every golfer transistions from their back swing to their forward swing differently. This transition can be fast, medium or slow. The faster the transition, the more load or force is put on the shaft of the club. The slower your transition, the lighter the shaft and softer the butt stiffness of the shaft needs to be to store and release as much energy as possible. Faster transitions may require heavier, stiffer shafts so the shaft stores the increased load and does not bend too much in a toe-up/toe-down or lead/lag direction causing errant shots.
Release Point.
Every golfer “releases” or stops accelerating the club at different points in their downswing. This is true for everyone, even the pro’s! This loading and releasing action creates a unique profile for each golfer. After testing over 10,000 golfers using the True Temper Shaft Lab, we have identified six common profiles, or “swing prints”, kinda like fingerprints, that help us determine what type of shaft will work best. The graphs on the right show three of them.
Each of these load profiles will require a different weight, flex and shaft tip stiffness for the best performance for the golfer. And, for the majority of golfers, this profile does not change with lessons or practice!
Since the True Temper Shaft Lab is not widely available, the average golfer can think of their release point in relationship to the image below. An early release would be at the 9-10 o'clock position, a middle release would be in the 8-9 o'clock position, and a late release would be in the 6-7 o'clock position. A trained fitter can determine these release positions or you can use a high-speed video to determine your release. A couple of video examples of swings and release points can be found on www.youtube.com at http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dlancegolf&aq=f
Shaft Kick Velocity
The proper shaft for you takes into consideration your launch angle for both woods and irons. By using your shaft kick velocity as determined by the Shaft Lab, we then test the golfer with different shafts with different tip stiffnesses to determine the best one. The higher the kick velocity, the stiffer the tip in order to control the clubhead and launch angle. Golfers with very low kick velocities will benefit from softer tip shafts that help get the ball in the air and actually accelerate through the ball at impact. By testing on a launch monitor, we can measure launch angle, distance, shot dispersion, and several other key statistics and properly fit the shaft to the golfer.
So What Should You Do?
To hit each club in your bag the farthest and straightest of your ability, each club needs to be matched to your optimum shaft flex, weight, swing weight and tip stiffness. The first step is to have each of your clubs tested to determine their exact flex, swing weight, and weight. Then, you can see how closely they match your swing profile. If the shafts are off by as little as a third of a flex, three swing weights and 10 grams in total weight, you will notice that your shot dispersion is quite a bit greater than you would like. While we can tell you that you need to have a shaft flex in your woods of low stiff (5.7 Shaft Flex Index) with a 75 gram shaft in a stiff tip, it will be highly unlikely that you can purchase a club off the rack that has those exact specifications. By custom building or re-shafting your existing equipment, D’Lance Golf can frequency match your clubs to the EXACT CPM you need prior to building your clubs, put in the correct weight of shaft, and swing weight them to your exact specifications. Buy your clubs off the rack and you will be lucky to get the consistent, accurate clubs you bargained for.
So, don’t waste your hard earned money on the trial and error method of club buying. Call D’Lance Golf at 303-730-2717 today for an appointment to get your shaft load analyzed and your current clubs profiled. That way you are assured that each club in your bag will perform consistently from swing to swing, day to day, throughout the season.Loft, Lies and Videotape
By Dan Sueltz
No, we are not going to discuss your latent desire for someone to videotape your next round of golf. What we are going to uncover is the truth about loft and it’s effect on distance, lie angles and the effect on direction. We will also discuss what high-speed videotape can tell you about the shafts in your clubs and how they effect BOTH distance and direction of your shots.
Loft, Launch Angle and Distance Explained.
In the past 30 years, the lofts of all golf clubs have gone down dramatically. Why? Everyone is looking for more distance and a lower lofted club angle will give you more distance….or maybe not. A 6-iron in the 1980’s had a loft of 34 degrees. Most modern 6-irons are between 30-31 degrees. The problem is that, unless you create enough ball speed for your launch angle, you can actually LOSE distance with those new clubs. The average golfer will have a ball speed of 100 mph for a 6-iron and 120 mph for a driver. The optimum launch angles for these ball speeds will be 22 degrees for a 31 degree 6-iron, and 16 degrees for a 10.5 degree driver. Only by testing your ball speed on a launch monitor can you accurately determine the correct loft of club, shaft launch angle and club length. Every clubhead and shaft combination can create dramatically different distances. Ever wonder why you hit your 7 iron the same distance as your 8 iron? It could be that the loft of your 7 and 8 irons are very close to the same and they need to be adjusted.
Don’t Lie about Your Lie Angle.
The lie angle is the angle the shaft makes when the club is resting flat on the sole of the club. We talk about lie angles that are too flat (toe of the club is pointing down at impact), or too flat (toe of the club is pointing down at impact), or too
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upright (toe pointing up at impact). If your clubs are too flat you will tend to hit shots right of target (for right-handed golfers). If your clubs are too upright, you will tend to hit shots left of target. The effect of incorrect lie angles on direction is more pronounced with shorter clubs, like wedges than for a longer club. If your lie angle is off by 2 to 4 degrees, you will hit your wedge 5 to 10 yards off line from 120 yards! You should have your loft AND lie angles checked at least once a year by a professional clubfitter to make sure they are accurate, especially if you are playing soft, forged irons.
The Videotape Won’t Lie.
When you swing your golf club the shaft will bend in six directions; 1) toe up, 2) lag, 3) toe down or droop, 4) lead, 5) twist right, and 6) twist left. If your shafts are not matched to your swing, you will get either too much bending and twisting in the shaft or not enough. A properly matched shaft will have just the right amount of toe up/toe down to return the shaft to the same spot it was before you took your swing. Shafts that are too soft (flexible) for your swing will cause too much toe droop at impact. Without adjusting the lie angle to compensate for these soft shafts, you may push the ball to the right. Likewise, a properly matched shaft will have just the right amount of lag/lead to store the most energy in the shaft so that you maximize distance. Too little lag/lead and you will lose distance. Too much lag/lead and you will hit inconsistent distances (long on one shot, short on the next).
Soft Shaft at Address Too Much Toe Droop at Impact
So What Should You Do?
First, by testing your swing on the True Temper Shaft Lab at the D’Lance Golf Performance Center, you will know the optimum shaft flex for your natural swing. Each person has a natural way of swinging the club that produces an optimum shaft flex for both their woods and irons. Next, you should test both your woods and irons to determine their lofts, lies, and launch angles using a loft/lie machine and a launch monitor. This will give a reference point against the optimum launch angles for your ball speed. The lofts and lies of your irons can be adjusted to give you the optimum performance. The lofts on your woods are not easily adjusted so you may have to look at a different loft and/or shaft combination to get the optimum result. Call D’Lance Golf at 303-730-2717 ( Englewood) today for an appointment to get your swing analyzed and determine the optimum loft and lie for your clubs! The videotape won’t lie.
High Tech Club Fitting Gets Results
By Dan Sueltz, D’Lance Golf
It is amazing to me how many golfers that tell me they have had their clubs custom fit to them, but were really fit the old-fashioned way. They go to a location that has a bag of demo clubs, hit a few on the driving range while the club fitter watches their ball flight, and then make a selection based solely on length of the club, lie angle, shaft type, and grip size. I’m sorry, but this is like tuning an automobile engine by listening to the sound and looking at the color of the exhaust. Today’s modern club fitters take advantage of launch monitors, shaft load testing systems, and high tech club building techniques to fine-tune a golfer’s equipment to match their swing. The results are truly amazing for golfers of all abilities.
Get Tested on a Launch Monitor
Any modern club fitter should be testing you on a launch monitor that shows launch angle, ball speed, carry distance, and spin rates. This will help you determine the correct loft of driver and irons. It will also help you determine the appropriate launch characteristics of the shaft you should be playing. Be careful to choose a club fitter that knows how to interpret the results. A Ping G2, Taylor Made R7 Quad, and Cleveland Launcher Comp, all at 10.5 degrees will have quite different launch angles due to several factors. Proper launch angles mean optimum distance for both carry and roll.
Measure Your Shaft Loading
The old fashioned way of fitting shafts is to check your swing speed. If your swing speed is 90-95 mph you need a regular shaft, and so on. This “post impact” measurement does not take into account that each person loads the shaft differently. A smooth swinging golfer can generate far more club head speed with less shaft loading than an aggressive “hitter”. Only by truly measuring “pre-impact” load using the True Temper Shaft Lab can you properly determine the appropriate shaft flex and weight. Then, a high tech fitter can have you test various heads on test shafts to dial you in to the shaft that gives you the most distance, the best accuracy and the best feel.
Accurately Measure Shot Dispersion
I was tested by a major manufacturer for a driver this year. I hit several balls with four different drivers with the results for launch angle and spin rates determined by their launch monitor. The recommendation they made was probably accurate based upon spin rate and launch angle, but I could not keep the ball on the range! High tech club fitters can actually show you which combination of shaft flex, head type, loft, and shaft launch angle will give you the best results. For example, with the right club you may pick up 7 more yards of carry with a shot dispersion that is +/- 5 yards instead of +/- 17 yards!
Clubs Built to Your Specifications
The final step is placing you order with the club fitter. He or she recommends the shaft length, grip, lie angle, and shaft flex. For most major manufacturers, their custom build operations only deal with these variables. They do not do frequency matching, so all clubs will not perform the same. They may do swing weight, but no two clubs will exactly match. A high tech club fitter also will have a high tech production shop that builds your custom set of clubs to very tight tolerances.
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| Custom Set - Major Manufacturer |
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| Custom Built Set |
Results are Dramatic!
With properly fit equipment, you can drop 2 to 20 strokes off your game. The most important result is the feeling of confidence that you will get, knowing that each club in your bag will perform consistently. Sean Thomas dropped from a 6 to a 3 handicap in just a few weeks after getting properly fit equipment. Each player is different but the results are the same. More consistency. Better accuracy. Lower scores. More fun! Go high tech in your next fitting and savor the results.
Call D’Lance Golf Performance Center at 303-730-2717 to schedule your high tech club fitting!
How to Cheat at Golf
By Dan Sueltz, D’Lance Golf Performance Center
I’m dead serious. When you follow the tips in this article for improving your golf game, it will make you feel like you are cheating! When I had my first set of clubs custom built for me my reaction was the same, “this is like cheating.” No, I am not going to show you how to hit a foot mashie, or tell you to buy pencils with erasers. I am going to show you how with the correct equipment, your shots will improve so dramatically that you will feel like you were cheated because you did not make these changes sooner!
Give Yourself the (Right) Shaft. Each week we see the touring professionals drive the ball farther and stick their shots closer to the pin. Why? Sure they have a lot of talent, they practice a lot, and have the best instructors. They also have the tour vans that test and tweak their equipment to give them the competitive edge. Of all the parts of the golf club, the only one that moves when you swing is the shaft. The touring professionals play the longest, lightest, softest shaft that they can control. Once they see an increase in shot dispersion, they stiffen up the shaft, make it heavier, and cut it down. When we fit Future’s Tour player Kathleen Robinson in a new driver before the Colorado Women’s Open, we made sure the weight, length and shaft flex were matched to her swing. We also aligned the shaft so that the spine, or rotational axis of the shaft would keep the clubface square at impact. She went out and hit all 14 fairways the next day. That’s not cheating but it’s close! Ask Barry Jennings, Robert Cloud, Barbara Churchich or Stephanie Ferguson. The right shafts can drop 2 to 20 strokes off your game. Make sure that all fourteen clubs in your bag are matched to your swing. We know that even if you were fit by one of the major manufacture’s the clubs were not custom built to your exact length, weight and flex. If the shafts don’t match your swing you will lose distance, miss more fairways, and fly more greens. You’ve been cheated.
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| Typical “off the rack” set |
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| Custom Built Set |
Check Yourself on a Launch Monitor. If you have not been on a launch monitor, you need to check out the launch monitors at D’Lance Golf. We tested a gentleman the other day that has always played very stiff shafts in his irons and woods. He bought a new driver with an extra stiff shaft and was hitting it high and right. First we tested the club and found that the actual loft of the driver was not 8.5 degrees but 11 degrees! When we tested him on the launch monitor, his launch angle was 19 degrees, or 6 degrees higher than his optimum for his ball speed. By testing different shafts and heads, we dropped his launch angle to 14 degrees, the perfect angle for his ball speed. Even better, he picked up 10 yards distance in the process. Now that’s cheating.
Get a Big(ger), Better Head. While keeping your ego in check, you definitely should take advantage of the latest driver technology. Ask Rob Barber, Al Keeler, Danny Wyrick, and David Sewell. Better yet, ask their playing partners that lost a few side bets. Stepping up to a larger, more forgiving driver with the new harder faces will give you at least 10 more yards and you will hit more fairways. Why? Because the harder faces cut down on the spin rate and let the ball bore through the air easier. Cheating? Not hardly. Just taking advantage of new technology.
Play the Ball Fit For You. Yes, that’s right. It DOES matter what ball you play. And playing the right ball will give you more distance, consistency and accuracy than you ever thought possible. If your ball speed off a driver is under 130 mph you should player a softer ball like the Precept Laddie Extreme, or Maxfli Noodle Spin. These balls spin more and will help you get a higher launch angle for more carry distance. Once you go over 140 mph ball speed off your driver, you need to play a lower spin ball like the Hogan Tour Deep, the Callaway HX Tour, or the Maxfli M3 Black. These balls have a special urethane cover design that spins less the faster it is going. That’s cheating.
So, put away your cheating thoughts and start cheating the right way. The right shaft, the best launch angle, a hot new driver, and the right ball will have your playing partners scratching their heads in wonder. Even better, when your equipment is perfectly matched to your swing and precisely built to your specifications, even YOU will think you are cheating!
To schedule your FREE swing analysis and club profile, call 303-730-2717 (Englewood).
The Right Shaft for You
By Dan Sueltz, D’Lance Golf Performance Center
In the past year there have been some tremendous improvements in golf shafts. Nanotube technology, super light steel shafts, variable launch angle, constant weight shafts. What makes it even more confusing is that major club manufacturer’s are starting to offer even more custom shaft options. But, before you decide to buy the latest shaft you saw some pro win with on tour last Sunday, let me offer you a little advice about the three most important factors: flex, weight, and launch angle.
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| Soft Shaft at Address | Soft Shaft at Impact |
| A shaft that is too soft for your swing will not get back to square at impact. This shaft is drooping 5 inches at impact causing a high, right shot! | |
What shaft flex should you be playing? With all of the changes in shaft technology, major golf club companies still try to build clubs with a few flexes that will fit the majority of golfers. Some companies like MacGregor have started offering subflexes in their woods like “S” and “S+” because they know that distance, consistency and accuracy can be dramatically different with the right flex. In general, shafts that are too soft for you will have a very good feel to them, but your shots will go left, right, long, and short, with a lot of inconsistency. Shafts that are too stiff will feel harsh, have a low or extremely high ball flight and will usually play shorter than a properly fit shaft. Shaft manufacturer’s typically use swing speed to determine the proper flex, however, we have learned that two players that have exactly the same swing speed will need completely different flexes because of the way the bend the shaft in their downswing. By using the True Temper Shaft Lab, we can determine exactly which flex is optimum for your swing. Then, by testing you on a launch monitor, we can see which shaft gives you the tightest shot dispersion and the best distance.
Why does shaft weight make a difference? The lighter the shaft the more swing speed you can generate which should give you greater distance. The problem is that golfers with a very fast forward swing will feel out of control with a very light shaft. Tiger is a perfect example. It took him almost 6 months to transition from his old heavy steel shafted driver to his new Diamana graphite shafted driver. His driver shaft is toughly 15% heavier than what you and I can buy off the shelf. Then, he couldn’t hit his steel shafted 3 wood because it felt too heavy. So now Tiger plays a slightly heavier graphite shaft in his three wood than in his driver. This is what we call “transition or progressive weighting”. Your lightest club in your bag is your driver and your heaviest club is your sand wedge. The weights from club to club should transition smoothly and get progressively heavier so that all clubs in your bag feel the same. In general, smoother “swingers” need lighter shafts while stronger “hitters” need heavier shafts. The problem is that major manufacturers usually put only one weight in their stock sets.
What about kick-point or launch angle? Thank goodness we in the golf industry have started using launch angle instead of kick point. The launch angle of the shaft can affect ball flight by as much as two degrees but usually not much more. Most shaft companies offer a high launch and standard launch version of both their wood and iron shafts. In general, the more launch angle the better as you will get more carry distance. The Aldila NV has a slightly lower launch angle than the Aldila NVS. All of the shaft manufacturer’s are providing better options across the board. Do not confuse shaft stiffness with launch angle. Some of the latest shaft technology allows extremely stiff shafts to have softer tips and therefore higher launch angles.
So, how do you put it all together? Putting the right shaft with the right club head can turn that clunker in your bag into a diamond. First, make sure that you are professionally fit to the correct length, weight, launch angle and flex in your shaft. Then, make sure that the clubs are built to your exact specifications. At D’Lance Golf, we specialize in custom fitting AND custom building. The True Temper Shaft Lab allows us to determine your optimum shaft weight and swing flex to within a tenth of a flex. We then build your clubs to that exact specification. If your shafts are not matched to within two to three tenths of a flex, you will see dramatic changes in shot dispersion and consistency. So, don’t guess at which shaft will be best for you. Call D’Lance Golf today to schedule your swing analysis and club profile. You will be on your way to more consistent shots and lower scores.
To schedule your FREE swing analysis and club profile, call 303-730-2717 (Englewood).
Optimize YOUR Launch Angle
By Dan Sueltz, D’Lance Golf Performance Center
It seems like the hottest words in golf these days are “launch angle”. At D’Lance Golf Performance Centers, we have been using launch monitors for the past three years to perfectly match YOUR swing characteristics to the launch angle that is best for you. Knowing your current launch angles for both your woods and irons is important in order for you to adjust your clubs to get your optimum distance and ball flight. But, before you plunk down your hard earned money on new clubs or new shafts, I will let you in on a few secrets.
Match Your Club Loft to Your Ball Speed
That’s right, I said ball speed, not swing speed. The old measure of fitting club lofts and shaft flexes was to look at swing speed and tempo. The new measure of fitting driver loft is to accurately measure ball speed and spin rate. This also goes for fitting irons for optimum trajectory and distance. Ball speed is determined by a number of factors, most importantly club head face elasticity (C.O.R.), shaft flex and tip stiffness, and ball type. At 150 mph ball speed your optimum launch angle that gives you the most carry distance will be between 12.5 to 14 degrees. This means you would play roughly a 9.5 degree driver to achieve this launch angle. Most golfers that we test on our launch monitors have a ball speed of 115 to 135 mph, which means they should be playing a 10.5 degree driver. When we test players using a 6 iron with a 31 degree loft (standard), the optimum launch angle at a 100 mph ball speed is 21 to 22 degrees. This is because an iron creates much more spin from the descending blow into the ball.
Different Heads Produce Different Launch Angles
A MacGregor MAC TEC, Alpha C830.2 and Taylor R7, all at 9.5 degrees of loft with the same shaft will produce different launch angles. The reason for this is that each club head designer is trying to achieve maximum performance for their intended market. In fact, we have tested several drivers that are marked 10.5 degree that have an ACTUAL, measured loft of 12 or even 13 dgrees. The only way to truly determine which loft is correct for you in a given driver is to test it side by side on a launch monitor to accurately measure launch angle, spin and distance. The same goes for irons. A Mizuno MP-32 will have a much different launch angle than the MacGregor M675, for example.
Shafts Are A Big Factor in Launch Angle
If you think you need a light weight, stiff flex, low kick point, low torque shaft to hit the ball a mile, think again. In addition to launch angle, you need to consider the overall weight, swing weight, shaft flex, shaft stiffness profile, and tip stiffness. There is a dramatic difference between shafts made by ACCRA, Aldila, Fujikura, Graphite Design, Grafalloy and others in terms of which one best suits your game. Even within a manufacturer’s line you will find different shafts with dramatically different launch characteristics. The Aldila NV, Grafalloy Comp NT, Fujikura Tour Platform and MCC MFS TTR are low-to-mid launch shafts. Their cousins, the Aldila NVS, Grafalloy ProLaunch Blue, Fujikura Vista Pro and MCC MFS+ are higher launch shafts. Be aware, however, that we can only change launch angle by 2 to 3 degrees purely by changing shafts. Only by testing your swing on the True Temper Shaft Lab to determine optimum shaft flex, and then using the Golf Achiever to test several different shafts and head combinations can we determine EXACTLY the right shaft for you.
Test YOUR Launch Characteristics
So there you have it, if you want to hit the ball farther this year, with more control, get a better launch angle. With the right head, ball, shaft, spine angle, and power coil, you will be hitting the ball farther and straighter than you ever have before!
If you would like to determine the proper launch angle for your swing, call D’Lance Golf and schedule a time on the Golf Achiever Launch Monitor by calling 303-730-2717(Englewood).
Hybrid Club or Fairway Wood?
By Dan Sueltz, D’Lance Golf
Of all of the things I noticed at the PGA Expo this year, it seems that every golf club manufacturer is jumping on the hybrid club bandwagon. My guess is if you don’t already have a hybrid club in your bag, you will by the end of 2005! These clubs are seen as a replacement for long irons (2, 3, 4 iron) and make it much easier to get the ball airborne off the tee as well as off the fairway. What is interesting is that most manufacturer’s are coming out with two models; hybrid irons and hybrid fairway woods. So which style should you choose and what shaft should you put in it?
Why are long irons so hard to hit? Over the past twenty or so years, manufacturer’s have decreased the loft on long irons substantially in order to attempt to create more distance. A 4 iron from the late 70’s was typically 28 degrees of loft, the same as a modern 5 iron. While cavity backed clubs were designed to help get these stronger lofted clubs in the air, most average golfers still struggle trying to hit a long (39 inch) 3 iron with any consistency. By designing hybrid clubs with wider bodies, the clubs appear “meatier” giving the golfer more confidence. In addition, most of these hybrids have a lower center of gravity thus promoting a higher ball flight.
Why not just get a 7 or 9 wood? First of all, very few OEM manufacturer’s like Taylor Made, MacGregor and Mizuno actually make a 9 wood (usually a 23 degree loft). Most 7 woods are 21 degree lofts which is a good replacement for a 3 iron. So finding a good replacement for your 4 and 5 iron will require a little searching and working with companies like Sonartec, Wishon Golf, KZG and Infinity. These companies will make hybrid clubs in lofts up to 26 degree (6 iron replacement) so you have a lot of options. The first question you need to ask yourself is “where will I use this hybrid club the most? Off the tee or off the fairway and in the rough?” If your answer is off the tee, go for a hybrid iron style like the Sonartec Md, Taylor Made Rescue Mid, Mizuno CLK or MacGregor Go-Long irons. If your answer is from the fairway or rough, you may want to stay with a 7 or 9 wood or try the Taylor Rescue Fairway, MacGregor MacTec fairway woods or Cleveland Halo utility club.
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(iron-style) |
(wood stlye) |
What about shaft options? Interestingly enough, most manufacturers are putting very soft and short shafts in their hybrid clubs. The main reason is to make the clubs easier to hit (shorter shaft) and easier to get in the air (softer shaft). These soft shafts usually result in fat shots and pulls due to the excessive toe droop and closed club face at impact. When we fit golfers in hybrid clubs we normally make the shaft about three quarters of an inch longer than the corresponding iron length (38.75” five iron replacement, for example). We also want the shaft to be the same type as their fairway woods, i.e. graphite, and usually in an 85 gram to 105 gram weight, depending upon the golfers loading factor, body mass and forward-swing time. For most golfers, we like them to approach hitting hybrid clubs like an iron. This is also because most hybrid clubs have the lie angle of long irons so trying to sweep the club off the fairway will result in a hard draw or pull shot.
Chicken or the Egg: Better Swing or Better Clubs?
By Dan Sueltz
We have all heard the argument that it’s not the golf club it’s the person swinging the club that makes the perfect shot. If this were true, every player could play the same clubs and all they would have to work on is a better swing. Indeed, every golfer should be trying to develop their own perfect swing. The trouble is that the fundamental swinging motion is pretty well fixed by the time you are 8 years old. The way you walk, talk, chew your food, is “learned” at a very early age. That is why the most successful golfers started very young. The only thing lessons can change is the mechanics of your swing.
Equipment, on the other hand, is much easier to change to match your swing. Since golf is played with fourteen clubs, the chances of each of those clubs being matched to your swing are slim to none. The correct length, weight, shaft flex, and head design can make a HUGE difference in accuracy, consistency, and distance. The perfect match of swing to equipment starts the day you pick up a club. But what should YOU do?
My swing is not good enough for custom fit clubs. This is absolutely the worst excuse I have ever heard. Even beginning golfers will benefit from the right equipment. You need the right tool for the job to be successful. You wouldn’t think of using a pocket knife to cut down a tree, would you? The most important things are club weight, length and shaft flex. If your golf clubs are too heavy or too light you will make very inconsistent contact. If your clubs are too long or too short your will hit fat or thin shots. If your shaft flex does not match your swing your shots will be left, right, short and long. While you are trying to create the perfect swing, your imperfect clubs are getting in the way! With the right equipment, you can immediately see and feel the difference.
Custom clubs are too expensive. If you go to the right place, you will have a variety of price ranges to choose from in custom clubs. All of the clubs fit and built at D’Lance Golf Performance Centers are built to the same tight tolerances regardless of price range. All club heads are designed by companies that have their own engineers and patents. No “clones” allowed! Shafts and grips come in a variety of prices, but all of them are from the most reputable manufacturers in the industry. You can easily get a set of custom clubs at the same price you would pay for “off the rack” clubs, but with much better fit and performance. Remember, the clubs you buy at a regular golf store or discount outlet are built for the “average” lady or man. That means a five foot, six inch female and a five foot ten inch male. Since over 80% of the golfers surveyed by a leading golf magazine felt they would play better with custom fit clubs, what are you waiting for?
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So, get equipment fit to your swing. First, make sure that you visit a qualified instructor to help you with your swing. At the same time, make sure that you are fitted to the correct equipment for your swing profile. Whether you are a beginner or accomplished golfer, you have a unique swing profile that determines the equipment specs that will fit your swing. This is not based upon swing speed or tempo, but on how you bend or load the club during your swing. This can only be tested on the True Temper Shaft Lab or by a qualified club fitter that measures your Tempo, Transition and Release. Then, test a variety of clubs with the correct shaft on a launch monitor like the Golf Achiever or Trackman to see which club gives you the best distance, launch angle and shot dispersion. The result will be clubs that fit your swing giving you greater accuracy, consistency and distance.
Visit D’Lance Golf and experience a high-tech fitting for yourself. Make an appointment today to visit D’Lance Golf in Englewood (303-730-2717) for your FREE evaluation. For more information, call or visit the website at www.dlancegolf.com
Don’t Get Bounced Off the Fairway This Fall
Once the leaves start falling the fairways and bunkers start getting a little firmer. With firmer and tighter cut fairways you may have noticed a few more shots that you hit a little thin or actually felt the club “bounce” off the fairway and into the back of the ball. With these changing conditions you should consider playing clubs, especially wedges, with less bounce.
What is bounce anyway? Bounce is measured in three ways. First, the bounce angle is the angle between the sole of the club and the leading edge of the club when the club is set on the ground with the shaft perpendicular to the ground. The higher off the ground the leading edge, the more bounce you have on your club. Second, the width of the sole is another factor. The wider sole means more bounce, a narrow sole means less bounce. Finally, the angle or camber of the sole will affect bounce. Clubs with more camber or rounding of the sole will have less bounce than clubs with less camber, or rounding.
Why does firmer ground make a difference? Clubs with less bounce will tend to dig into the ground if the ground or sand is soft. This is because the leading edge angle is sharper. Clubs with more bounce will literally “bounce” off the fairway or sand. On firmer ground, clubs with more bounce, like sand wedges, will bounce off the ground causing thin or skulled shots. For these conditions you need clubs with less bounce so the club will dig slightly into the ground at impact. The same applies to hard sand, shallow sand, and wet sand. Use a lob wedge (shorter shots) or gap wedge (longer shots) because they typically have less bounce and will dig slightly into the sand for a softer landing shot.
So how do I know the bounce angle of my clubs? Let’s just talk about wedges for now. There are four wedges most commonly used by golfers; PW (pitching wedge), GW (gap wedge, also known as an AW or E wedge), SW (sand wedge), and LW (lob wedge or U wedge). Most companies make only one bounce angle for each of their wedges. Cleveland Golf broke the mold, however, and is now making Standard, Low, and High Bounce wedges for the very reasons we are talking about in this article. DeLaCruz and MacGregor VIP Tourney VFOIL wedges are Low Bounce and are perfect for tighter fairways. On the flip side, there are some companies that design specialty wedges with extreme bounce so it is easy to get shots out of fluffy sand. Remember the Alien wedge? That wedge had over 30 degrees of total bounce! The following table will help you determine what you may have in your bag.
Wedge Type |
Loft |
Standard Bounce |
Low Bounce |
Pitching Wedge |
46 - 49 |
8-10 deg. |
4 - 6 deg. |
Gap Wedge |
50 - 53 |
8 - 12 deg. |
4 - 8 deg. |
Sand Wedge |
54 - 56 |
12 - 16 deg. |
10 - 12 deg. |
Lob Wedge |
57 - 60 |
10 - 12 deg. |
2 - 8 deg. |
If you are a beginning golfer you may be playing with clubs that are designed to get the ball in the air and out of the sand easily from any lie. These clubs usually have a very large degree of bounce and a very wide sole. The new Lovett wedge also has a lot of bounce. These are easy to hit in soft, fluffy sand or turf conditions but difficult to hit in wet sand or off of hard, tight fairways.
So What Bounce Should I Play? In general, bounce is a good thing for beginner golfers or taller players. This is because your golf swing is a little more upright (steeper) and you will tend to “dig” your wedges into the ground. I would suggest that you use standard bounce wedges in your PW, SW and a low bounce in either your GW or LW (both if you carry four wedges in your bag). This will allow you to hit a few more “bump and run” shots around the greens with your low bounce GW and LW. For better players, you should alter your wedges for the ground conditions you will be playing. In spring and fall, fairways are tight and you should be playing low bounce wedges. In summer and on lush fairways and deep rough, standard or even high bounce wedges will help you cut through the grass for crisper shots.
So don’t get bounced off the fairway this fall. Play the right wedges and you will hit the flagstick!
Dan Sueltz,
D’Lance Golf Performance Center
Get More Consistent in 3 Easy Steps
After working with over 6,000 golfers in the past few years, there is one word that every golfer speaks when looking to play better golf. Consistency! But consistency in any endeavor, not just sports, requires three things: 1) the right technique, 2) the right tools for the job and 3) practice, practice, practice! And what will consistency give you? Better shots, lower scores, and more fun!
Step 1: Eliminate the “Death Moves” in Your Swing.From a swing technique standpoint, the only way to gain consistency is to eliminate what Jim McLean calls the “death moves”. These are motions in your swing that cause you to get out of balance, off plane, and out of synch with your natural body motion. There is no recovering from a “death move”, such as a reverse pivot, or over-rotation. You simply cannot get the clubface back to the ball squarely and consistently. At D’Lance Golf, by using high-speed video equipment, we can isolate the problems in your swing and offer you simple drills that can help correct these moves quickly. By comparing your swing to a professional with similar body type, we can show you the correct position at each step of your swing that will help you strike the ball with more accuracy and consistency.
Step 2: Get Consistent Equipment Matched to YOUR Swing Because no two golf swings are alike, it is important to match all of your clubs, from driver to putter, to your particular swing. If you say it’s “the Indian, not the arrow”, you haven’t talked to a bow hunter lately. Shaft technology is even MORE advanced in bow hunting than it is in golf! In golf, the shaft is the only moving part of the golf club so having the right length, weight, and flex is critical. At D’Lance Golf we spend a couple hours with you to determine the correct clubs and shafts using the latest in shaft analyzers, launch monitors and club profiling equipment. Once we have determined the correct equipment for you, we don’t leave anything to chance. We actually build each of your clubs to very exacting specifications in our production facility in Englewood, Colorado. We have built or re-shafted over 80,000 clubs to exact frequency, swing weight, and total weight parameters.
 Your Swing Profile |
 Your Club Shaft Profile |
Clubs not only matched to each other but matched to YOU!
Step 3: Practice Makes Permanent so Make It Count- All Year!If you only spend time hitting balls on the driving range, you are missing out on getting feedback on what your clubhead is doing when you swing through the ball. At D’Lance Golf, we use all of the latest launch monitors and video systems to give you instant feedback on swing path, face angle, ball speed, clubhead speed, launch angle, spin rates, distance, and many more factors. When you practice, you should be working on getting consistent in all of these factors. On the driving range, you can only estimate the consistency, accuracy and distance of your shots. At D’Lance Golf, you can literally hit hundreds of balls, 24 hours a day to create the muscle memory you need for consistency.
So take these three easy steps to consistency; 1) The right swing techniques for YOUR swing, 2) The right equipment that matches your swing, and 3) continuous practice all year round with feedback that helps you improve. You will play better golf….FASTER!
For a complimentary swing analysis and club profile, call D’Lance Golf Performance Center at 303-730-2717 (Englewood).
Miracle of Modern Shaft Technology
By Dan Sueltz, D’Lance Golf
Just when you think technology in golf shafts cannot get any better, along comes some new material, a new design, and better performance. If you have been struggling with consistency in your iron distances or lacking length off the tee, you had better look again at improving the shafts in your clubs.
How do shafts affect consistency? Since the shaft is the only moving part in the golf club, the more your shafts are consistent from one club to the next, the better your shots will be. Take a look at the photos below. At address the shaft is straight and in line with the target. At impact, this soft shaft has bent over 5 inches causing the ball to fly high and right of target. A properly fit shaft will bend no more than one half inch at impact. Since your downswing time is less than one half a second, it is virtually impossible for you to change your swing to affect contact at impact. More accurate contact with the ball will give you more fairways and greens!
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How do I determine the proper shaft? The first step is to determine shaft flex. We have found in fitting over 5,000 golfers that shaft flex is the most important factor in creating a very tight shot dispersion. If your shafts are too soft, your shots will be left and right of target, sometimes long and short, and very inconsistent in ball flight. If your shafts are too stiff for you, you will see lower ball flight, loss of distance, and shots that are consistently right of target, for a right handed golfer. With 13 clubs in your bag, the chance of each club having the same flex is pretty slim. The shaft flex also affects the lie angle of the club at impact. Soft shafts will give you a false reading that you need your clubs bent more upright due to the toe droop of the club at impact. The exact flex of the club is so important that you will see a significant change in shot dispersion if your shafts are off as little as two tenths of a flex from your optimum. By testing your swing on the True Temper Shaft Lab, we can determine your exact flex down to the tenth of a flex. Using the Golf Achiever launch monitor, we can also measure the tightness of your shot dispersion to dial you in to exactly the correct flex, weight and length.
Does the type of shaft REALLY make a difference? Absolutely! Look at the pictures below. On the left is a shaft from MCC (Matrix Composite Corporation) that has a patented Tip Torsional Resistant (TTR) tip for stabilizing the shaft at impact with today’s large driver heads. On the left is a less expensive conventional shaft. Notice the wavy pattern at impact in the conventional shaft. Because of this, ball flight will be erratic. At D’Lance Golf, we test every shaft we use for playing characteristics on the MCC Shaft Profiler to determine stiffness, spine strength, and overall launch characteristics. This means you will get the best shaft for your investment.
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The bottom line is that you will begin immediately to play better golf and have more fun with the correct shafts in your clubs. So whether you are looking for new equipment or love your old clubs but they need some help, look at the shaft first. Since it is the only moving part of the golf club, it is important that it moves correctly for your swing profile. With every club in your bag exactly matched to your swing, you will begin to see the consistency in both distance and direction you have been looking for since early this spring!
Putt for... Doooooh!
by Dan Sueltz, D’Lance Golf
Drive for Show... Putt for Dough! That is the catch phrase for all serious golfers. On the other hand, when you miss those short putts or rack up another three-jack, you are more inclined to use the Homer Simpson phrase….dooooh! Since putting accounts for 40-45% of your strokes during a round, you should spend a little more time honing your technique and making sure your putter is fit for you so you will make your putting stroke with confidence. To make sure your putter is exactly right for you, follow these tips.
Not too short, not too long! The common putter length is 35 inches for men and 34 inches for women. Our experience at D’Lance Golf is that most golfers are playing with putters that are too long. If your putter is too long you will not be able to get your eyes directly over the ball and see the effective line to the hole. You may also feel uncomfortable and feel like the putter is too close to your body. The result is usually a putt that is pulled left of target. If your putter is too short, you may tend to be too far over the ball, be in an uncomfortable position, and push your shots right or hit the putt thin. At D’Lance Golf we use several devices to adjust your putter length correctly including the Eyeline Putting Alignment System and the DV Putt digital putting analysis system to make sure you are correctly aligned over the ball. Or, experiment with a long putter to develop a more consistent stroke. |
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| Too Long | Perfect!! | Too Short |
Lie angle is critical. If the lie angle of your putter is incorrect, the sole of the putter will not be parallel to the ground and you will consistently pull or push your shots. To test this, line up for a putt and have a friend view how flat your putter is to the ground. If the toe of the putter is off the ground at address, your putter needs to be bent more upright so you will stop pulling your putts to the left. If the heel of the putter is off the ground, your putter needs to be bent flatter. Adjusting the lie angle needs to be done in conjunction with testing the length as length will affect lie angle.
Swingweight and MOI. The balance of the putter you are using is very important for you to develop a consistent stroke. The swingweight and MOI (moment of inertia) of your putter will have a dramatic affect on distance control. A putter that is too light, or has too low of MOI will cause you to consistently leave your putts short or feel like you have to “jab” at the ball to get the ball to the hole. A putter that is too heavy will cause you to scuff the ground behind the ball, hit the ball too long, and potentially push the ball right of target. At D’Lance Golf we use a number of techniques to fit putters for MOI including the Balance Certified Pro-Balance System. By adjusting the weight in the grip of the putter with counter balance weights, you will quickly find which weight is comfortable for you and helps you make a more consistent stroke.
Loft gets the ball rolling straight to the hole. Most putters are designed with 3 degrees of loft on the face. Putters tend to get a little abused over time if you have a “failure to communicate” and slam the putter on the ground. When we check putters for loft, we see anywhere from 0 degrees to 8 degrees of loft! The correct putter loft gets the ball rolling quickly with minimal skid, right on line. If your loft is too low, your putts will bounce and hop to the hole causing your putts to drift offline. Golfers that “forward press” their hands before they putt tend to de-loft their putters up to 5 degrees. If you forward press, your actual putter loft may need to be increased in order to give your putts truer roll. If your loft is too high, your putts will skid too much before the ball starts rolling and cause your putts to stray.
So now you know what it takes to become a better putter. No more three putts. Get the right equipment for your game and start taking strokes off your score.For more information or to schedule a True Temper Shaft Lab swing profile and club analysis call D’Lance Golf at 303-730-2717 or visit the website at www.dlancegolf.com.
Did You Get the (Right) Shaft?
By Dan Sueltz
The golf season is upon us and you are itching to get some new equipment. You have been to your local pro shop or driving range and tested a few clubs. The first thing you noticed is that you seemed to hit an "S" flex more consistently in one manufacturers club but an "R" flex better in another. You want to spend your hard earned money on the right equipment, but this inconsistency is driving you crazy. What is going on here?
Why R is not really R.
First of all, every manufacturer like Cleveland, Callaway, and Taylor Made have shaft companies like Fujikura, Graphite Design and Grafalloy make shafts specifically for their clubs. These shafts are designed to perform with the clubheads (like the Launcher 400) to get particular performance characteristics, like higher launch angles, etc. These shafts are also designed for a particular target market, like beginners, better players, etc. Because of this, an R shaft in a Cleveland Launcher 400 will not feel or hit the same as a Firm flex in a Callaway ERC. The same holds true for steel iron shafts. A Dynamic Gold S300 shaft in one club will be stiffer or softer than in another. That is why you may hit one manufacturer's clubs better in an R flex than an R flex in another.
Why Shafts are Inconsistent
Steel shafts in general are much more consistent than graphite shafts because of the way they are manufactured. The rolling or extruding process of making a steel shaft produces a shaft of more uniformity and consistency. Graphite shafts are made by wrapping multiple thin layers of graphite material around a tapered steel mandrel. This wrapping process produces overlaps that cause thick and thin spots and uneven weight distribution throughout the length of the shaft. One measure of shaft consistency is its frequency, or CPM (cycle per minute) as the shaft is rotated around its axis. Steel shafts are very consistent but graphite shafts can vary as much as two full flexes from shaft to shaft. This is why you can hit your buddy's driver great on the range, go to the local pro shop and buy the exact same thing, and not hit it out of your shadow!
Spines are Everywhere
For both graphite and steel, but especially for graphite, the stiffest part of the shaft creates a "spine". This spine can cause you to hook or slice if the shaft is not properly aligned in the clubhead when it is assembled. At D'Lance Golf, we test each shaft on the MCC Shaft Profiling Machine to determine the exact location of the stiffest part of the shaft. We then align this spine so that it is facing the target line of the club at address. By doing this, you will have a shaft that aligns itself perfectly square at impact. No major manufacturer does this in their stock clubs. Most clubs purchased over-the-counter will have a variety of shaft alignments and will perform erratically. Just when you think it's your swing, you are wrong again..it's the shaft!
What the Pro's Do
The touring pros are trying to hit the longest, lightest, softest shaft that they can control. At D'Lance Golf, we test this theory for everyday golfers by testing you on the True Temper Shaft Lab to determine optimum shaft flex. Then, we have you hit a number of different demo clubs and then review your results on a launch monitor. The launch monitor tells us the launch angle, distance, shot dispersion, and several other key statistics. Each shaft will create different shot patterns depending upon the flex, weight, length and spine alignment of the shaft in the club. The touring pros have tour vans that follow them to each major golf tournament so that they can tweak their shafts to each course they play.
So What Should You Do?
First, by testing your swing on the True Temper Shaft Lab at D'Lance Golf, you will know the optimum shaft flex for your natural swing. Each person has a natural way of swinging the club that produces an optimum shaft flex for both their woods and irons. To hit each club in your bag the farthest and straightest of your ability, each club needs to be matched to your optimum shaft flex. The next step is to have each of your clubs tested on a frequency meter to determine their exact flex. Then, you can see how closely they match your optimum swing. If the shafts are off by as little as a third of a flex, you will notice that your shot dispersion is quite a bit greater than you would like. While we can tell you that you need to have a shaft flex in your woods of low stiff (5.7 Shaft Flex Index), it will be highly unlikely that you can purchase a club off the rack that is that exact flex. By custom building or re-shafting your existing equipment, D'Lance Golf can frequency match your clubs to the EXACT CPM you need prior to building your clubs. Buy your clubs off the rack and you will be lucky to get the consistent, accurate clubs you bargained for. So, don't waste your hard earned money on the trial and error method of club buying. Call D'Lance Golf at 303-730-2727 today for an appointment to get your swing analyzed and your current clubs profiled. That way you are assured that each club in your bag will perform consistently from swing to swing, day to day, throughout the season.
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Get 20 More Yards Off the Tee!
by Dan Sueltz, D’Lance Golf
Go Big! Let the Big Dog Eat! Grip it and Rip It! You’ve tried all the catch phrases but you still can’t get it past your buddies off the tee. In addition to several power moves that Long Drive Association member Jeff Clark has shown me (he only hit it 424 yards in competition at Park Hill earlier this year), I have become a firm believer in using the latest in driver head, shaft and ball technology to add awesome distance and better accuracy off the tee.
Get a bigger head! While there are some jumbo heads out there, the golf industry seems to be settling on a driver head size between 350 and 410 cc’s. The extremely large heads have such a high failure rate (the heads actually implode) that the manufacturers do not make them anymore. The larger heads of the MacGregor V-Foil (350 and 410cc), the Alpha Reaction V2 (360 and 400 cc) offer a larger sweet spot and a much better head design that reduces lost distance from off-center hits. Also, the extremely hard beta titanium faces create greater ball speed with less spin. Carl Paulson is fifth in driving distance on the PGA Tour with the MacGregor V-Foil and Vince Howell used the Alpha Reaction V2 to set the world distance record in LDA competition at 462 yards! These type of heads offer the latest in construction and material technology that eliminates dead zones and provides more energy at impact. And they are legal!
Tee it high and let it fly. This is especially true with the bigger heads. You need to tee the ball so about half of the ball is above the top of your driver at address. This means you will have to use a two and three quarter inch or three inch tee. Because of the roll or curvature of the face of the club from top to sole, any ball hit at or below the center line of the driver will have a severely low ball flight.
The right shaft does the trick. All of the touring pros are playing the lightest, softest, longest shaft that they can control. If they lose control off the tee, they first try a stiffer shaft. Then they play a heavier shaft. And finally, they shorten up the club. I believe Tiger Woods went back to his trusted Titleist 975d more because he was comfortable with a shorter, steel (heavier) shaft than the actual head design. If you are losing control off the tee, the first place to look is in the shaft flex. Because all manufacturer’s have their own flex design standard, you will find that a Firm flex Callaway plays much different than a S flex Taylor Made. That is why it is so important to know your own swing profile to understand what “true” flex you need for your swing. This can only be accurately tested using the True Temper Shaft Lab. The Shaft Lab measures acceleration and loading of the shaft rather than speed. Every golfer has a maximum point of acceleration in their forward swing. Once you stop accelerating the club, the shaft takes over and delivers the clubface to the ball. If the shaft is too soft, you will get wildly inaccurate shots, but every once in a while you will “catch” one and get a huge drive. Unfortunately, it is every once in a while. If the shaft is too stiff, you will lose distance because you are not maximizing the energy of the shaft. The right shaft will feel like an extension of your arm in the swing, delivering a smooth, crisp feel at impact with awesome distance and accuracy.
Play the right ball for your swing. It’s all about ball speed off the club face. Using a launch monitor, we can determine your ball speed with any type of driver head. It is not uncommon for a golfer to pick up 4 to 10 mph in ball speed with a ball designed for their swing dynamics and a harder, beta titanium driver. This can mean up to 25 yards more distance. If your ball speed is under 140 mph, you should play a softer ball that is more ballistically designed to spin more and pick up launch angle at impact. If your ball speed is over 140 mph, you should be playing a ball that is more aerodynamically designed to reduce spin and cut through the air. Balls are designed with different cover materials that actually spin more at lower speeds and less at higher speeds.
Launch angle is critical. Over 20 percent of tour players are now using drivers over 9 degrees of loft, up from less than 5 percent two years ago. This is because fairways are softer meaning players need more carry distance. It is great to hit a low bullet in the fall and watch the ball roll forever, but not so great to see that same shot stick in the fairway on an uphill par four. Again, a launch monitor will help you determine the best launch angle and club face angle for your ball speed.
So now you know what it takes to out-drive your buddies. No more whining. Get the right equipment for your game and start taking strokes off your score.
Get Consistent! The Right Shaft Does It.
By Dan Sueltz, D’Lance Golf
OK. We are half way through the season and your scores still are not coming down. You are not hitting as many fairways as you would like and your iron play is very inconsistent. Think it’s your swing? Think again. It’s time to get your equipment checked. Look at Tiger Woods. Tiger is having a tough time off the tee this year. Tiger has been used to playing a steel shafted driver at a 43 and one half inch length. The shorter length and heavier weight of the steel shaft fits his swing and makes him much more consistent. Whenever he goes to a longer, lighter shaft, he misses more fairways than he hits. In working with over 5,000 golfers, we have determined that the correct length, weight and flex in the golf shaft is the most important factor in distance, accuracy, and consistency.
Why is weight so important? The only way to change the weight of a golf club is with the shaft and the grip. A MacGregor V-Foil 350, an Alpha V2 and a Titleist 975K driver head will weigh within one or two grams of each other. The graphite shaft of most drivers on the market today will weigh 62-70 grams. A steel shaft will weigh 126 grams, roughly twice the weight of graphite. If you are a smooth swinger with low to moderate loading of the club, you will get better feel and control with a lighter shaft. If you have a more aggressive, fast swing and load the club to a high S (stiff) or X (extra stiff) flex, you will have more control and accuracy with a heavier (75 – 90 gram graphite or steel) shaft. The load is determined by using the True Temper Shaft Lab which shows not only how much you load the shaft, but exactly when in your forward swing you stop accelerating and the shaft takes over to deliver the clubhead to the ball. Forget about potential loss of distance with a heavier club. More accurate contact with the ball will give you more fairways and greens!
How do I determine the correct length? There are two ways to determine the proper length of the club that is right for you. First, take a static measurement based on the length of your arms from the first crease of your wrist to the floor. This gives a good starting point. Second, by observing your posture, and placing impact tape on the face of the club we can determine if you tend to hit the ball more on the heel or the toe. The proper length has you hitting the ball consistently on the center of the clubface. If your clubs are too long you will tend to hit the ball on the heel of the club, hit behind the ball and potentially pull the ball left of target. If your clubs are too short you will tend to hit the ball on the toe of the club, hit your shots thin (towards the middle of the ball) and potentially push the ball right of target (for a right handed player). Even major manufacturers like Titleist, Ping and Callaway have their own standards for length so be sure you have the correct length for YOUR swing.
Does shaft flex make that much difference in consistency? Absolutely! We have found in fitting over 5,000 golfers that shaft flex is the most important factor in creating a very tight shot dispersion. If your shafts are too soft, your shots will be left and right of target, sometimes long and short, and very inconsistent in ball flight. If your shafts are too stiff for you, you will see lower ball flight, loss of distance, and shots that are consistently right of target, for a right handed golfer. With 13 clubs in your bag, the chance of each club having the same flex is pretty slim. The shaft flex also affects the lie angle of the club at impact. Soft shafts will give you a false reading that you need your clubs bent more upright due to the toe droop of the club at impact. The exact flex of the club is so important that you will see a significant change in shot dispersion if your shafts are off as little as two tenths of a flex from your optimum. By testing your swing on the True Temper Shaft Lab, we can determine your exact flex down to the tenth of a flex. Using the Golf Achiever launch monitor, we can also measure the tightness of your shot dispersion to dial you in to exactly the correct flex, weight and length.
The bottom line is that you will begin immediately to play better golf and have more fun with the correct shafts in your clubs. So whether you are looking for new equipment or love your old clubs but they need some help, look at the shaft first. Since it is the only moving part of the golf club, it is important that it moves correctly for your swing profile. With every club in your bag exactly matched to your swing, you will begin to see the consistency in both distance and direction you have been looking for since early this spring!
I Feel the Need for Speed….Ball Speed!
by Dan Sueltz, D’Lance Golf
To coin a phrase from that classic movie, Top Gun, “I feel the need for speed!” But contrary to popular belief, it is not clubhead speed that produces more distance but ball speed. In addition, the correct ball for your swing and the type of face material on your clubhead will have a dramatic affect on ball speed. If you are like most golfers we work with, your ball speed is 110 to 145 miles per hour. Finding the right swing techniques to increase ball speed, choosing the correct ball and fine tuning the type of equipment you play will have you hitting longer, straighter, more consistent shots.
Why clubhead speed doesn’t matter. If you have ever watched a horse race or track meet, you have watched the winner cross the finish line at precisely the same speed as the closest competitor. The difference is that the winner is usually accelerating through the finish line while the other competitors are actually decelerating. The proper swing motion creates acceleration through the impact area that increases ball speed off the clubface. When you take a practice swing, listen for the “whoosh” that occurs as you swing. If the whoosh is behind the ball, you are not accelerating, but decelerating at impact. Practice swinging and trying to hear the whoosh AFTER the impact area. Technically this is done by holding the angle between your left arm and the club for a longer period of time during your forward swing before allowing the natural movement of your hands to extend the club down the target line after impact.
How weight transfer delivers more mass creating higher ball speed. Golf is a passive sport which means the golfer has to create the energy to move the ball off the tee. This is unlike baseball or tennis where a moving object, the ball, has stored energy that will react to a bat or racquet. To create increased ball speed, the mass of your entire body must be used to move from your right side to your left side (for right handers) in order to create the most energy. I worked with Brian Pavlet, currently No. 2 on the Long Drive Tour, and he explained that his tremendous length off the tee comes from loading all the weight possible behind the ball and then accelerating through the hitting area and getting his entire weight over to the left side at the finish. Of course a great, long swing arc and powerful hands help a lot too! Brian’s ball speed is 210 MPH where the average PGA Tour player is at 165 MPH.
Play the right ball for your swing. When we test golfers on our launch monitor, we look for their current ball speed with their existing equipment and try to improve their ball speed purely by helping them select the right ball. If the ball you are currently playing spent the summer in the pond on #13 you could definitely get more speed and consistency. For golfers with ball speeds under 135 MPH, you should be playing a softer compression, higher spin ball. Premium balls like the PRO VI, Apex Tour, and TA LG will give you no advantage in distance because they are designed for golfers with ball speeds over 140 MPH. Conversely, some of the more inexpensive balls are very high compression and you will actually lose distance. By testing your swing on a launch monitor and testing the balls you currently play against several others, you can select the best ball for you.
Hard faces and high COR mean greater ball speed. In general, today’s high technology drivers will compress the ball more and create more ball speed than clubs that are a couple of years old. The other advantage of this technology is that it creates less spin off the club face. With too much spin, the ball climbs too rapidly and moves off target line quicker causing a loss of accuracy and distance. With too little spin, the ball looks like it is falling out of the sky because there is not enough spin to keep the ball in the air. Again, selecting the correct ball that optimizes spin rate and ball speed for your swing is important to gaining more distance and accuracy.
As a final consideration, do not be so focused on getting the highest ball speed that you forget to look at consistency of shot dispersion. The right shaft in your club can give you more speed and control. As Harvey Penick has said, “The woods are full of long knockers.” Distance and accuracy are achievable with the right ball, equipment, swing techniques and practice.
In the past two years, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of manufacturers that are making forged irons. Companies like MacGregor, Wilson, Titelist, Hogan and Mizuno have long been known for their quality, forged irons. Mizuno took its place on top of the PGA Tour with its forged irons in the 1990’s. Now Nike, Taylor Made, and even Callaway are getting into the market. Several smaller companies, like KZ Golf, have made an impressive suite of forged clubs for both the better players and mid level golfers. Before you decide to jump on the forged bandwagon, here are a couple of thoughts:
What is the difference between forged and cast technology? Golf clubs have been constructed with soft carbon steel since the early 1900’s. To actually forge a golf club, the steel was heated and pounded by hand to the rough shape of a golf club head. The head was then ground by hand and then polished or plated with nickel to improve the appearance. The resulting club head was much smaller than today’s club heads and much more difficult for the casual golfer to hit consistently. Good players liked the feel of the soft carbon steel and the way it grabbed the ball so they could “work” the ball with a fade or a draw.
Enter Karsten Ping. When Ping introduced the first cast club, it became a winner with casual golfers overnight. Cast club heads are produced by pouring liquid metal into a cast. Once the metal has cooled, the cast is broken away and the club head is finished by grinding away any rough edges. The molds allowed club head designers to move the weight of the club around the edges of the club to make the club more forgiving on off-center hits. Designers could also make thinner faces and larger club heads, all without changing the weight of the clubs dramatically. Remember, a forged five iron head will weigh the same as a cast five iron head! The only difference in the finished weight of the club is the additional weight of the shaft and grip. So, cast clubs became very popular because they were more forgiving. In addition, since they were less expensive to manufacture, prices began dropping dramatically.
Are today’s forged clubs easier to hit? Yes and no. KZ Golf, MacGregor and a couple of other companies have introduced larger, cavity backed forged clubs with larger sweet spots and more perimeter and sole weighting. The result is a club head that has the same great soft feel with more forgiveness. This has been accomplished with new, high pressure forging presses than can forge the clubs to almost the same design specs as a cast club. The true “players club” is still the blade or muscle back design rather than cavity back. Think of the sweet spot on a blade as the size of a dime and the size of a quarter on a cavity back. The new forged cavity back clubs truly are easier to hit than blades but not as forgiving as a mid-sized cast club.
Should you play forged irons? If you are consistently breaking 90 and you are serious about improving your level of play you should consider moving to forged irons. With the forgiveness of the new cavity back forged irons you will not suffer the dramatic loss of distance and accuracy you get from a miss-hit with a forged blade. The smaller sweet spot, however, will force you to produce a more consistent swing. And finally, there is the feel of forged. You will never forget the first time you hit an absolutely pure shot with a forged club. It is like the softest, smoothest feeling in the world.
So, how do you get started? As with any golf club, the most important part is the shaft. First, make sure that you are professionally fit to the correct length, weight, and flex in your shaft. Then, make sure that the clubs are built to your exact specifications. The wrong shaft will make your experience with forged irons less than pleasant because the shaft will not allow you to find the sweet spot on the club consistently. At D’Lance Golf, we specialize in custom fitting AND custom building. The True Temper Shaft Lab allows us to determine your optimum swing flex to within a tenth of a flex. We then build your clubs to that exact specification. If your shafts are not matched to within two to three tenths of a flex, you will see dramatic changes in shot dispersion and consistency. So, don’t guess at your flex. Call D’Lance Golf today to schedule your forged club fitting with the great selection from Mizuno, MacGregor and Alpha and Wishon.
Why Custom Fit AND Custom Built Means Better Golf
This year you are going to play better golf and have more fun! You signed up for lessons. You are practicing at least twice a week. But now you need to fix the one part of your golf game that can help you be more consistent in every aspect; off the tee, fairway to green, and on the putting surface – your equipment.
Does Custom Fitting Make That Much of a Difference?
Absolutely! Golf Magazine did a players test that showed that custom fit equipment took four strokes off a 16 handicapper’s score in back to back rounds. Now, you might say it was course knowledge, but the golfer swears his custom clubs were more consistent, more accurate, and felt better. In a recent Golf Digest survey, over 80% of the respondents said they believed custom fit equipment would help them play better, however, only 35% have had clubs custom fit for their swing. Our experience at D’Lance Golf after fitting nearly 5,000 golfers is an improvement of 2 to 20 strokes. Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!
Aren’t All Custom Fit Clubs the Same?
Unfortunately, not. All major manufacturers like Callaway, Titleist, and Ping have their own fitting system and fitting standards. Even their recommended club lengths are different. A standard club length in Ping will be ½” longer than a standard club length in Callaway, for example. Lofts and lies for irons are also quite different. Taylor Made, Ping and Callaway lofts are much stronger than Titleist and Mizuno resulting in lower ball flight with the same shaft flex. Most fitting systems will get you the correct length, lie and swing weight, but the correct flex recommendation is still an art.
Drivers and fairway woods are even more difficult to fit. The only true way to determine which loft driver is best for you is to test a driver with the correct length, shaft flex, and tee height on a launch monitor. A Cleveland Launcher will hit the ball much higher in the same loft than a Taylor 500 series. This is because of the design of the club head, not the effective loft.
Are Custom Fit Clubs Actually Custom Built?
Not at all. The lengths are custom cut. The lies are adjusted before they are sent to you. And the lofts of the irons are usually adjusted to manufacturer’s specifications. What is not custom fit is the shaft flex. Each different style of club head has a different weight distribution that can affect the true flex of the finished club. If a club head is too heavy the flex will be too soft resulting in a wide shot dispersion. If the club heads are too light, the shaft will be too stiff resulting in low, weak shots with a loss of distance. If you ordered graphite shafts, watch out. Because of the inconsistencies of most graphite shafts, the shafts will vary dramatically from club to club in shaft flex. To paraphrase from a popular movie, “Graphite shafts are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get.”
What is Custom Built?
At D’Lance Golf, we build each club to the exact length, weight and flex as determined by the True Temper Shaft Lab. We believe the most important part of your equipment is the golf shaft. It is the only moving part in the club. The correct length, weight and flex will give you the consistency, accuracy and distance you need to play better golf and have more fun! By building each club to the exact flex throughout your set, you can take the same swing with each and every club in your bag with the confidence that you will get the same result each time. We frequency match each club so that your clubs are within a tenth of a flex. Because each club head has a different weight, and is drilled to a different hosel depth, cutting the shafts to a manufacturer’s standard will not give you the correct flex.
Have More Fun
Playing with clubs that are specifically built to your swing will allow you to enjoy the game like it should be. The results speak for themselves. Ask Tom and Vivian Beebe, Ken Murphy, Ken Anderson, Mark Voytko, Rod Barber, Bill Ellis and hundreds more like them. More distance, improved accuracy, and better feel will give you a more enjoyable experience on the course.
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D'Lance Golf
14 Inverness Drive East #120A
Englewood, CO 80112
Phone: 303-730-2717
Fax: 303-730-2848
Email: info@dlancegolf.com
