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29 Mar 2019 admin

To Edinburgh and Back

By Mike Stevens, USGTF Teaching ProfessionalTampa, Florida

Edinburgh, Scotland, is old. Evidence of people in the area date to 8500 BC. The city has been home to royalty, novelists, poets, engineers, scientists and golfers. It is the home of the oldest golfing society – the Royal Burgess Golfers of 1735. They played at Bruntsfield Links, which is steps from the heart of the city. It is still in operation today as a 36-hole short course which is free to everyone. A few blocks away is Leith Links, where the first rules of golf were established by John Rattray in 1744. The course no longer exists and now serves as an open park, but once a year the course is laid out for play as it was back those many years ago. Leith was also the site of the first international match between Scotland and England in 1681, featuring the Duke of York, who would become King James VII.

On this occasion of my travel to the golfer’s land, the lovely Mrs. Stevens and I let an apartment adjoining Holyrood Park across from Arthur’s Peak, the top of which I reached one day, giving me a magnificent view of the city and Edinburgh Castle. We were there for the annual World Hickory Open and Archie Baird International matches. There’s nothing more satisfying than golf on century-old courses with the clubs of the original game. Just east of the city are the courses of East Lothian, where this year the venues were Gullane #3, Luffness New and Kilspindie. Those familiar with the area know these well. A record number of participants from around the globe gathered at the sites, including four from the Florida Hickory Golfers clan.

The weather was spectacular for the entire week. Think of fall in New England. Not a drop of rain, either. Our first round was played at Gullane #3, and I managed to turn a good round into a mediocre 79 and a five-shot deficit. On day two at Luffness New, my game was just not there. Numerous mental mistakes and a couple of bad breaks resulted in a disastrous 85, well back of winner Johan Moberg of Sweden. Such is golf, and age has caught up to me. For our third and fourth rounds, we ventured over to 150-year-old Kilspindie GC, where the Florida Hickory Golfer team of myself, Winter Park’s Bill Geisler, Lakelander Mike Tracy and Tampan Steve Haigler managed to take third place in the Archie Baird International Championship. It was a great way to close out the week.

The remainder of the trip was a respite from golf, as the frau and I spent time wandering Edinburgh’s many historic sites, from the Queen’s Palace, the National Museum, and another trek up Arthurs Peak to the café where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter , “for sure, maybe, possibly,” as it said on the marquee. We especially liked the writer’s museum chronicling the lives of Robert Lewis Stevenson, Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott. I have to say, it is one of the most fascinating cities I have had occasion to visit.

I said Edinburgh is old. Everywhere you go there are dates on buildings going back centuries, and then you arrive at Castle Rock, which dominates and overlooks the city. The “Maidens Castle” goes back to 989 BC. In America, Scotland is known for golf, but her contributions to the world are so much more.

  

22 Mar 2019 admin

Making Sense of Modern Wedge Design

Years ago, picking a wedge was simple. In addition to your normal iron set, usually 3-PW, you would buy a sand wedge to complement the set. Companies usually had only one choice of sand wedge, usually 56° in loft, and one bounce and grind option that wasn’t even stamped onto the clubhead. Professional golfers who desired a different grind would manually grind down the sole themselves, or have a clubmaker do it for them.

That has all gone out the window today. Walk into any golf store that has a decent selection of products, and you will find wedges anywhere from 46° to 64°, with all sorts of bounce angles and sole grinds. S-grind, M-grind, W-grind…it’s enough to make anyone’s head spin. Let’s dig in and try to make some sense of all of this so you can help your students select the wedges suited for their games.

Be aware that many of your students will not even have a sand wedge in their set. A sand wedge is important because the proper bounce angle on the flange helps to get the ball out of sand. In addition, it’s a versatile club that can be used around the greens and even for full shots.

Here’s a brief description of the names of each loft:
• Pitching wedge: 46°, 48°, 50°
• Gap wedge: 50°, 52°, 54°
• Sand wedge: 54°, 56°, 58°
• Lob wedge: 58°, 60°, 62°
• X-wedge: 64° and higher

You will notice some overlap in lofts between descriptions. That’s because that particular loft can serve multiple purposes, depending upon the set makeup. There is also an angle of bounce of the flange, as we mentioned earlier. Normally with pitching and gap wedges, this angle of bounce is fairly low, perhaps in the 4° to 8° range. Sand wedges are usually in the 10° to 14° range, and lob and x-wedges have bounce angles similar to those in pitching and gap wedges.

As a general rule of thumb regarding bounce angles, the steeper the angle of attack, the greater the bounce angle is needed. If we have a steep angle of attack with a low-bounce wedge, it can dig in to the turf and decelerate quickly before the ball has had a chance to leave the clubface, negatively affecting the shot. As another rule of thumb, the softer the turf and ground, the more bounce angle is needed.

Sole grinds and flange sizes are another aspect of wedge design. The bigger the flange and the more the sole is exposed to the ground, the lesser the versatility it provides. The smaller the flange and the less the sole is exposed to the ground (something shaped like a “half-moon”), the more the versatility is available.

A dilemma in selecting a wedge can occur for someone who has a steep angle of attack who plays on firm turf, and someone with a shallow angle of attack who plays on soft turf. This is where sole grind and flange size come into play. For the steep angle/firm turf player, a higher angle of bounce with a smaller flange and a sole grind that is more of a half-moon might be a good option. A player who has a shallow angle of attack who plays on soft turf might benefit from a lower bounce with a fuller sole grind. However, as with many things in golf, these are preferences and may not necessarily work for a particular golfer. If a player is going to hit mainly full shots with a wedge, the bounce angle and sole grind become less important, as the ball is likely to be off the clubface by the time the clubhead interacts with the turf.

Most golfers, despite their attack angle and turf conditions, would likely benefit from playing wedges with more bounce. Wedges used in the sand, in particular, should have bounce angles of at least 10°, and bounce angles of 12° to 14° should be strongly considered.

Wedge design today is a highly involved science and art that has resulted in a dizzying array of choices. Make sure your students have loft gaps of no less than 4° and no greater than 6°, and then help them select their arsenal based on the advice given here. And since many golf retail stores offer 90-day playability guarantees, if the wrong wedge selections are made, they can easily go back and get the right ones for their game.

14 Mar 2019 admin

The New Fundamentals of Teaching The Driver

Okay, so in full disclosure, these fundamentals may not exactly be new, but hey, this catchy headline grabbed your attention, didn’t it?  And we  are  going  to  introduce  a  thought  that  may  be somewhat  controversial.  In  any  event,  there  are distinct  differences  between  what  was  taught  a number of years ago with what is necessary today to get maximum effectiveness out of the driver.

Back in the persimmon wood and balata ball era, the desired ball flight started low and then all of a sudden climbed up into the sky. This was due to the dimple pattern on the golf ball, the construction of the ball itself, and the downward strike that most good players employed, which resulted in much higher backspin rates than we see today.

We know now that to get maximum distance, the ball flight must be fairly high and the backspin rate fairly low. It wasn’t too long ago that a launch angle of 10° to 12° with backspin under 3,300 rpm was considered ideal.  Launch monitors tell us that launch angles of 15°, 16°, and even 17° and 18° are required for golfers of average swing speeds to carry the ball its maximum distance, and spin rates should be under 2,500 rpm.  TaylorMade Golf, a USGTF industry partner, tells us that the holy grail of driver ball flight is 17° of launch angle with 1,700 rpm of backspin.  Today’s driver and shaft combinations make that possible, although it can be difficult for many golfers to achieve.

Golfers tend to make the same mistakes when it comes to the driver. They don’t tee the ball high enough and they don’t set up properly. They then tend to swing outside-in in relation to the intended target line with a downward strike and an open clubface, further robbing them of distance.

To correct these problems, the first thing is to make sure at least half the ball is teed above the top of the clubface. As traditionally taught, ball position should be opposite the forward heel. Many golfers suffer  from  a  stance  that  is  too  narrow,  and  it’s recommended  that  the  stance  be  wide  enough  so the insides of the heels are at least shoulder-width.

Here is where things get interesting. The USGTF Technical Committee sees golfers who, time after time, set up with open shoulders in relation to the feet and a back shoulder that is far too high. This results in not only improper alignment, but a center of  mass  and  a  body  tilt  that  is  too  far  forward.  It is imperative that these golfers set up with square shoulders and a lower back shoulder, with the center of mass centered between the feet or even slightly back. Most golfers who are put in this position will tell you that they feel really closed to the target line with their shoulders and that they are leaning too far back, but a simple picture or quick video should convince them otherwise.

We’ve  long  been  taught  that  a  backswing  that is  too  far  to  the  inside  will  result  in  an  over-the- top  swing,  but  the  Technical  Committee  has  been seeing more and more golfers who incorrectly take the  club  back  too  far  to  the  outside.  Members of the Technical Committee have found success in encouraging players to take the club back more to the  inside  and  returning  the  club  from  the  inside with  an  upwards  strike.  This  might  go  against what  you’ve  been  taught  or  even  your  personal experience  with  some  students,  but  we’ve  found this is a necessity with many.

In order to return the club from the inside, students should be encouraged to keep their back to the target on the downswing much longer than they are used to. Many of these students spin their shoulders  out  prematurely,  which  throws  the  club to  the  outside  and  results  in  the  dreaded  outside-in swing path through impact. Another image that has worked well is to get the student to drive the butt end of the club into an imaginary target that is to the right of the target line. While technically the direction of the downswing path is determined by the quality of the transition move from backswing to downswing, getting a student to move the hands and  arms  in  a  certain  direction  can  be  a  path  to success. Please be aware, and we are not ignorant of the fact, that these tidbits of teaching instruction will not work on everyone. But when it comes to getting a student to deliver the clubhead to the ball in a certain way, we must be open to ideas that we may not have thought of or are different than what we may believe.

Equipment-wise, some students don’t want to go out and buy a new $500 driver every year, but the fact is that there are incremental improvements with each  iteration  of  driver  introductions  by  the  major manufacturers. So while it’s not necessary to buy a new driver annually, a driver should be updated at least every 2-3 years.  Manufacturers keep making the effective sweet spots on drivers bigger so that mis-hits will lose very little distance compared to sweet-spot strikes. Spin rates are being optimized and equipment makers are also finding ways to, in effect, get around the USGA limits on spring-face technology and have produced drivers with more ball speed the last couple of years.

The bottom line with teaching the driver is the ball flight must be fairly high with low spin rates. Through equipment and innovative teaching, we can get our students to take part in the driver distance revolution that has consumed the golf world the past several years.