Articles

4  MISCONCEPTIONS  ABOUT THE GAME OF GOLF
    
Each year golfers spend millions of dollars on equipment……and much of it is spent on equipment that will never meet their needs.  Much of this wasted money could be saved if the golfing public knew more about the equipment they are using.

MISCONCEPTION…..Today’s golf clubs hit farther than those of a few years ago.

You would think with all this new technology today’s clubs would have to be better.  According to Tom Wishon, a renowned club maker, what we are seeing is a marketing gimmick he calls the vanishing loft disease.  Over the past few years the club companies have been lowering the loft and increasing the length of their clubs without telling you.  Today’s pitching wedge hits as far as your old 9 iron, because if you measure the loft IT IS a 9 iron.

MISCONCEPTION…..The longer the driver is, the farther you will be able to hit it.

You would think the longer the club, the longer the swing arc would be, therefore the faster the clubhead will go. The faster the clubhead the farther the ball will go?
Testing has shown the average gain in distance between a 43” driver and a 45” driver is all of ONE YARD. The real problem here is the longer the driver the more difficult it is to control.
Today’s drivers off the rack are 45” long. The average tour player is hitting a 44.5” driver. If they could swing and control a 45” driver they would.  So what makes us think we can? The biggest single factor in driver accuracy is the length of the club so get your driver checked out to make sure it is the right length for you.

MISCONCEPTION…..The lower the loft on my driver the farther it will go.

The distance a driver can be hit is a function of the loft and the speed the club head is going. The lower the swing speed the higher the loft of the club needs to be. If you have a 8.5, 9 or 9.5 driver you better have a swing speed of 110 mph plus to achieve your maximum distance.  Think of a hose….if you cut back on the water pressure the first thing you do is increase the angle to get more distance.

MISCONCEPTION……I play a stiff shaft, it says so right on it.

The "s" or "r"’ or "x" you see on your shaft is actually meaningless. The problem is there is no agreement within the shaft industry to what constitutes a "s", "r", or "x" shaft. One company's "s"  is another companies "r". A professional club maker has the tools to measure shaft profiles and can measure you to see what stiffness is correct for your swing.