Note: Port St. Lucie, FL, The PGA Learning Center. Seems impossible we're in our final hours at the golf school. Weather yesterday was fantastic, if rather windy. (O.K. golf school students, it was really windy.) I was able to play with everybody in the afternoon and while not all shots were perfect, I saw some very good golf. I want to personally thank the staff at the PGA Learning Center — fantastic job! None better. And our new friends at the Hilton Garden Inn (right across the street from the Learning Center). Top drawer all the way.
One great experience was that we discovered one of our students had driver with a shaft way too long (see below). We had it cut down at the Learning Center (they have everything there) in minutes. “A” was very happy!
Keeping in harmony with the Surgism, “the setup determines the motion,” a major part of setup involves the golf club, in that it must “FIT” the golfer in numerous parameters to be a good club for that player.
Some of the major fitting points that must be considered involve the specs of the club.
These include: head size… 460CC or smaller; face alignment… square, closed or open; shaft material… graphite or steel; shaft weight… light, medium or heavy; shaft flex… ladies, senior, regular, stiff, X-stiff or XX-stiff; shaft kick point… low, medium or high; shaft length; grip material; grip size; and round or ribbed grip.
These are a lot of components, but there are even more.
Today, we're going to look at length and the shaft.
You might be thinking at this point “I have a good driver. It is from one of the top companies, and I paid “BIG BUCKS” for it, so it has to be good.”
Oh contraire… my good friends!
It may not fit you in one or a number of specs. That could be the main reason why you can't hit it consistently.
Two weeks ago, I had a lesson with a new student, B, who told me he was a mid to high single digit player but struggling with consistency in ball striking and direction. He had major setup issues that affected his follow through and finish (body rotated way left of the target with arms collapsing around the chest) causing the ball striking and direction problems.
We fixed the setup and focused on getting him to the T-Finish: square to the target and arms and club over the left shoulder.
He took to this like a duck to water and was hitting good, solid, straight and longer 7 iron shots within minutes.
We upped him to a 5 iron… still good.
We went up to a hybrid and then a 3 wood…still good.
Went up to a driver. First shot, block right, close to power slice.
Second shot, pull hook.
The third was a thin, skank-like cut, but at least it was up the middle.
All with swings that looked good, he said felt pretty good. He was confident his forward up swing to the finish was good.
I took his club and hit three shots. I hit them better than he had, but for me they were still poor shots. I felt the problem in the first swing, which I blocked and confirmed in the second, when it went left. The problem was not his swing, it was his club. His shaft was way too weak.
He was swinging a fishing pole and he needed something like a telephone pole. I gave him my driver, which is a soft X-stiff. He hit three good, solid and relatively straight drives, and he could feel the difference in the shaft. He said it was more “rigid.”
Lastly, he was swinging a 46 inch driver. Mine is 44 inches. Standard for most companies is 45 inches. Even though B is around 6′1″ and I am only 5′9″ (give — or more likely take — an inch), 44 inches is all he needs.
He smoked his 3 wood, so I told him to consider it the “gold Standard.” I told B to go to a PGA Professional club fitter I recommended and use his 3 wood as the base when get fitted and have his driver re-shafted. I also told him to get the rest of his clubs checked.
Golfers are quick to blame their swing, and not their clubs, especially expensive ones.
So if you feel you made a pretty good swing and got poor results, check out your equipment first. A good swing is only as good as the club in your hands. A poorly fitted club, especially a driver, “The Big Stick,” can make a good swing look bad… real bad.
The moral of this story and the key to B's success and yours is that I can give you a great setup and “The Peak Performance Swing,” but you also have to have “Peak Performance Clubs.”
The Surge!