Why Can I Hit This Club But Not That Club?
Experienced custom clubmakers know the answer to this question. But most golfers who experience this after a visit to a retail golf store/pro shop to buy the latest and greatest new model don’t really know the answer why they can hit one club better than another when both are supposed to be a credible fit to the golfer.
What’s more, when a golfer buys a new golf club(s) from their local golf store or pro shop, if they end up hitting the new club(s) poorly or worse than their previous club(s), more times than not the golfer comes to the conclusion the new club is a “bad design” and has no clue that the reason for lack of success has nothing to do with the design of the clubhead or the shaft.
Why is it that golfers so often buy new clubs only to find they are either perform no better than or sometimes worse than the clubs they have played previously?
The answer to this question is always the same, regardless of the club. The reason it is so common for golfers to be able to hit one club well and another one not so well is because something about the lesser performing clubs doesn’t properly FIT the golfer’s individual combination of size, strength, athletic ability or swing characteristics.
There are no less than 12 different specifications that explain how one golf club can perform different than another. Here’s the list – Loft, Lie, Face Angle, Length, Swingweight, Total Weight, Shaft Overall Flex, Shaft Bend Point, Shaft Weight, Set Make-Up, Grip Style/Size, and Clubhead Design. To experienced custom clubmakers, there are sub-spec variations within some of these 12.
But these are the 12 KEY clubfitting variables that if matched correctly to the golfer’s size, strength, athletic ability or swing characteristics will ensure the golfer can and will play to the best of their individual ability. Likewise, if one or more of these 12 are not well matched to the golfer, therein lays the answer to this question of Why Can I Hit This Club But Not That Club.
The trick is then to find which of the 12 fitting specs are right and which ones are not. And the only way to truly get to the bottom of that quest is to employ the services of a trained, experienced professional custom clubmaker. If you are a golfer who has thought about this question, there are several places on our website to find the CLUBMAKER LOCATOR link. Use it. Find a clubmaker in your area and go see him or her. I’ll bet the farm you’ll be glad you did.
Tom
I can believe what Tom has said & will find out in about a week when my clubs will be ready to hit for the first time.
I know that several of the 12 variables do affect you ball striking as no 2 club companies use the same specs for their clubs.
The Wishon clubs being built for me will “tell the tail” when I strike the first ball on the course.
Setting the variables will be the “proof of the pudding” for me.
Lous
Tom, love the blogs.I was talking to the clubmaker I use, and he said the clubs that concern him are the multi adjustable ones like Taylormade’s R11 family and Titleist 910.He said because they can be adjusted to some extent, they take away his role as a clubmaker because some of the characteristics he could alter can be done by means of a spanner that comes with the club. However, I was of the view that despite all this adjustability “off the rack” it still doesn’t choose you the right shaft and grip to name but two.I would have thought… Read more »
Darren: For custom fitting to do the most to allow each golfer to play to the best of their ability, there are 12 separate specifications that need to each be custom fit to the golfer’s size, strength, athletic ability and swing characteristics. Those 12 specs are, 1) Length, 2) Loft, 3) Lie, 4) Face Angle, 5) shaft weight, 6) shaft overall flex, 7) shaft bend profile, 8) total weight, 9) swingweight, 10) grip style, 11) grip size, 12) clubhead design (which has a sub set of several individual features such as offset/face progression, center of gravity, Moment of Inertia, face… Read more »