Josh’s Tips & Tricks: Is Your Equipment Ready For The Season?
Intro
Hello golfers and welcome to this weeks tips & tricks. This week I would like to talk to you about your equipment. Now is the time to ensure that your equipment is ready for the upcoming season to give you the best chance of playing great golf in the scoring months. I’m going to cover each part of the bag and give you some clues as to how you can modify your current clubs. Alternatively there could be possible replacements or additions if you’re willing to splash some cash.
Clubs
Driver
For most people this is the most exciting club to be custom fitted. Seeing improvements in distance and dispersion off the tee is a fantastic feeling and with many new innovative products on the market it’s very tempting to try them out.
Technology is improving and developing year on year but for most drivers one thing has remained the same for several years. That is the loft sleeve. I often see people struggling with their adjustable drivers because they have messed around with the settings since they were fitted. When fitted for a club there are many factors to consider. When the loft changes so does the clubface angle. Below is an example of how the loft and lie impact on clubface angle with TaylorMade Woods.
If you have adjustable woods and would like some guidance on how they should be set up using the optimiser feature on Trackman book a custom fit HERE.
Woods
For the everyday club golfer I personally think that a fairway wood is one of the most crucial clubs in the bag. Not every hole requires a driver off the tee and therefore the next best option is a fairway wood. If you’re a shorter hitter and need help with second shots into greens guess what? You need a fairway wood.
Some fairway woods are adjustable like drivers but most aren’t. Therefore having the correct amount of loft and the right shaft are key. Most people assume that a 3 wood would go the furthest however lots of people I see hit a 5 wood or even a 7 wood further! This is down to the way they deliver the clubface and how much speed they generate. If I was to put a reliable long club in every club golfers bag it would be a 5 wood.
If you struggle with your fairway woods or don’t have one and would like some help and advice from myself click HERE.
Irons
Getting the right type of irons for each player is very important. The way that iron is then set up is also vital. The lofts and lies of your clubs can play a huge part on your ball flight. Not enough loft and you won’t be able to spin the ball and stop it on the green, too much loft you’re losing distance. The lie angle will send the ball in a particular direction due to what we call face plane tilt. If the toe is up the face will point left and if the toe is down the face will point right.
See the image below for an example of this or try it out for yourself with a pen or a tee on the clubface. The lofts and lies can be adjusted and we do it at Windmill with our state of the art loft and lie machine.
If you fancy a new set of irons or would like to check if they’re set up correct for you book a custom fit or yardage gapping HERE.
Wedges
If the face on your wedges looks something like the one in the image below you need to consider upgrading your wedges. The purpose of the grooves is to grab onto the golf ball creating friction and therefore spin. Without spin the ball will not stop on the green quickly enough and you’re not gaining maximum control.
Like with irons the lofts and lies of wedges are the key to good scoring. Wedges are control clubs and therefore controlling the launch and spin massively help with distance control. Having the correct gaps in loft between your wedges can give you a large variety of shots within the scoring zone.
If you have a large yardage gap between your wedges or your grooves are lacking book a custom fit or yardage gapping HERE.
Putter
As we all know putting is about confidence. We have all had good days and bad day son the greens. Some days your putter is your best friend and other days you want to launch it into the pond next to the green. Trust me, I know because I have experienced both plenty on times.
Most people underestimate putter fitting. This includes head design, loft, lie, shaft length, grip, weight, and swing weight. We can easily modify some of these factors and it could make all the difference on the greens. The easiest to change and often most beneficial are the grip and length.
I have cut down many putters for my players to help them with posture and control. If a putter is too long the player will struggle to find the correct relaxed posture and lose control of the clubhead mush easier. At the same time as fitting the shaft length I have changed the grip on the putter to help with control. Putter grips are a minefield and are very personal. There is no right or wrong way when holding a putter, just what feels more comfortable. If a putter grip is well worn it can take away feel. Take a look at the image below for an example of this.
If you would like to have your putter measured and/or a new grip fitted speak to the staff in the shop. If I’m about in the shop grab me and I’ll help advise. Alternatively, if you are fed up with your current putter and would like a putter fitting click HERE.
Summary
Golf is hard. Having the wrong equipment makes it even harder. There are affordable ways to improve your current equipment but new toys are always fun. I love custom fitting and love seeing peoples scores improve with better fitted equipment. It’s very easy to be spontaneous and impulsive but trust me having fitted clubs is the best way to improve. Buying something online because It’s a “good price” doesn’t mean money well spent for you. Knowing how far you hit your clubs and identifying gaps is also important going into the season. Rent Trackman yourself on the driving range or book me for a yardage gapping to get your results.
Cheers,
Josh