Clubfitting Basics For The Driver
No club in the bag gets as much technology put into it as does the driver. For some golfers, bashing the long ball is the most fun they have on the course.
A lot of emphasis is put on driving the ball long these days, and it seems to have overtaken the short game in importance in the minds of many golfers. Actually, driving distance is somewhat important. If the average course length that the average golfer plays is around 6,200 yards, and they hit the ball around 220 yards off the tee for the typical 14 drives, that means that the driver is responsible for 3,080 yards, or about half of the yardage. So, you can see that the driver is a pretty important club.
Too many of our students have drivers that are ill-fitted for them. Often you will see them struggle to get much height on the ball, even on good hits. While a low bullet was the preferred ball flight back in the days of balata balls, the modern ball requires a different flight. The mantra of high-launch and lowspin best suits what should be happening today.
There is a limit on how much height the ball should be hit, though. And, it may be beneficial for some golfers to hit the ball lower than what is considered optimal, since optimal involves carry distance. Golfers who play firm courses will probably find that they will get more overall distance (carry + roll) if they hit the ball lower than what will give them the most carry.
A launch monitor is the best tool for dialing in a student’s proper specs, but not everyone has one, nor are they always readily available. Without a launch monitor, how are we to determine if a student’s driver is not right for them?
While standing outside, reach your arm straight out in front of you horizontally. Now, raise your arm so your fingertips are as high as the top of your head. Your fingertips now approximate the top trajectory you should see most students’ drives reach. If your students’ drives are noticeably lower than this, they are likely shortchanging themselves when it comes to their drivers.
To get more height, a driver with more loft is needed. You might have seen some advertisements for shafts that promote higher launch angles, but primarily this is done through driver loft. One of the shaft’s functions is to affect backspin. Assuming your student’s launch angle is good, if their drives fall out of the sky fairly quickly, chances are they are not getting enough backspin. They need a shaft with a softer tip and a lower kick point. If their drives tend to “balloon” or upshoot, they are probably getting too much backspin and need a firmer-tipped shaft with a higher kick point.
In general, golfers who have fairly quick tempos and transition moves benefit most from firmertipped shafts, while those who have slower tempos and transitions will be fit best with softer-tipped shafts. A good source for shaft information is the Golfworks, and their online catalogue can be found at www.GolfWorks.com.
As for shaft flex, a very general guideline is that swing speeds from 85-95 mph should use regular shafts; swing speeds from 95-105 stiff shafts; and 105 and above extra-stiff shafts. This guideline is not hard-and-fast. For example, there might be those with swing speeds under 95 mph, but with very quick tempos, who will best be served with a stiff shaft, and those above 95 mph, but with very slow tempos, who should use regular shafts. A good rule of thumb is for the golfer to use the most flexible shaft that they can control.
If you clearly see that a student’s driver is not right for him, don’t hesitate to speak up. And, with the above information, you can probably steer them into driver specs that are very close to what they need. For more information on learning all about clubfitting, please contact jenn@usgtf.com.
Teaching Advice On Rhythm And Tempo
When it comes to rhythm in the golf swing, many golfers are somewhat Readmore
Teaching Student’s About Patience
Golf is a game of a lifetime… and you as a teacher of this amazing game need to bear the torch for its disciples. Create awareness in your students that there is no easy way. No real shortcuts. Enjoying practice and having an understanding of the steps necessary in order to advance is the only “secret.” One must learn and truly grasp fundamentals that are time-honored in order to advance and prosper with this game. The commitment is similar to learning a musical instrument. The formula is the same. Fundamentals well-rehearsed lead to sound technique, and followed with a commitment to improve continuously leads to achieving your potential.
Once a student gets hookedby the game, whether from a drive that flies much farther than the effort would suggest, or a high, towering iron shot that seemed equally effortless, the “magic” begins. The brain and spirit of a golfer become addicted, triggering the excursion of a lifetime! Like any long journey, its passage reveals unique and surprising twists and unexpected delights and stumbles along its way. It is all but boring, and skilled practitioners of this game know all too well to expect only the unexpected.
So, why do so many quit before they really begin this journey? We as teachers must share a bit of the blame, and perhaps should try to lessen the burden of the learning experience and the requirements necessary for golfing proficiency. That is only part of the answer, but it is more complex than that. Instant gratification is the byword today. This is the now generation, waiting only micro-seconds to be informed, entertained, gratified and fed! Yet, we can’t force golf into this micro-second community; that is both the peril and charm of golf. A great deal of the joy of golf is its contradiction to today’s “now” mentality.
Like it or not, we only slowly acquire the skills necessary to approach mastery of this game. Yet, mastery is only rarely touched upon, and it fleets as quickly as it embraces us. How dare golf do this to us?
Neither riches nor power have control of the golf gods. These gods lay their deaf ears upon all of our crying and moaning, and they care not for our misery. This god shows such little compassion that most flee this wrath, escaping to some other endeavor, all the while secretly dying to touch again upon that moment, day, or week of greatness. To feel and bask in the glory of great ballstriking, or effortlessly scoring on the course puts the hook in deep! The exquisite joys of those sparse moments of golfing greatness continuously beckon to us, like a cruel mistress calling us to her bedside, knowing full well of our burning desire to be satisfied by her special charms. This is the pleasure and the passion, the pain and joy of golf. The lows are low, and the high are high; but, therein is the addiction, and few who have experienced these peaks and valleys would trade for these moments. We must help our students stay on course. To endure and persevere.
We surely can’t stop the world from turning so fast, but we can take a ride down a less-traveled and more peaceful path, that of patience and perseverance, which leads to golf’s inner circle – those who dare to be humbled and exalted by this game. So, let your students know what truly lays ahead – the journey of a lifetime, the pathway to self-mastery, the mastery of patience and perseverance!
Where should golf be spending its marketing efforts?
So where should golf be looking to grow revenue? Simple. There will be 76 million people retiring in the next 10 years. They will have money and time on their hands. Talk about a marketing opportunity. Think I’m off base, then check out a place called the Villages in central Florida. It’s a retirement community. They have 28 executive courses and 9 regulation golf courses and each is full every day. Statistics say there are about 25 million golfers in the United States. That’s less than ten percent, which means that a great number of those retirees have never played golf. If I were a golf course owner, I’d be down at the Social Security office handing out flyers about the benefits and healthy activity of golf. I’m not discouraging junior efforts, just being realistic when it comes to keeping cash flowing.
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