Club Fitting - Woodlands Golf Center

 

The 14 Club Performance Numbers

10 Static Club Performance Numbers

1. Grip Size

2. Club Length

3. Shaft Flex

4. Shaft Weight

5. Swing Weight

6. Total Club Weight

7. Lie Angle

8. Loft Angle

9. Face Angle

10. Bounce Angle

- There are 10 important static club performance numbers that need to be evaluated to determine the performance capability of a set of clubs. First, sets of clubs need to be consistent in progression of their performance numbers, e.g., lie angles. Second, the performance numbers must fit the golfer to achieve maximum game improvement, e.g., grip size, club length and swing weight.

4 Dynamic Club Performance Numbers

11. Ball Speed

12. Launch Angle

13. Spin Rate

14. Power Transfer Ratio

- There are 4 dynamic club performance numbers that are the most important launch monitor data. These data are representative of the performance of both the golfer and the set of clubs and should be compared before and after alteration and with demo clubs of other specifications.

Terms & Definitions

 

1. Grip Size - Measured in thousandths of inches at 2 inches down from butt cap. Grip size is a critical
2. Club Length - The playing length of a club measured from the end of the grip to the intersecting point on the sole created by the linear extension of the shaft plane.
3. Shaft Flex - The designation of a shafts’ resistance to bending or the flexural feel built into the design of the shaft. Shaft flex is important for direction of ball flight and tempo of swing.
4. Shaft Weight - The actual weight measured in grams. Shaft weight is mostly associated with feel.
5. Swing Weight - The measurement of comparing the distribution of the club’s total weight
6. Total Club Weight - The total weight of the club measured on a gram scale in ounces and grams. Total weight affects the golfers balance and tempo.
7. Lie Angle - The angle formed between the shaft plane and the horizontal face plane (attitude). Lie is the most important factor for ball direction.
8. Loft Angle - The angle formed by the vertical shaft plane and the pitch of the face. Loft is the most   

9. Face Angle - When viewed in a playing position face angle is the angle formed by the club’s face plane (open, square, closed) and the square vertical shaft plane when the club head is soled in it’s natural lie angle position.
10. Bounce Angle - The angle formed by the bounce contact point on club’s sole and the leading bounce edge on the club face. Bounce is critical on wedges for executing short game shots.
11. Ball Speed - The velocity at which the ball travels in miles per hour. Ball speed directly determines how far the ball travels.
12. Launch Angle - The initial angle in relation to the ground line that the ball leaves the club head
13. Spin Rate - The amount of back spin imparted to a ball when struck by a club measured in revolutions per minute (RPM). Spin rate is affected by swing mechanics, loft angle and shaft flex.
14. Power Transfer Ratio (PTR) - The ratio of ball speed divided by club head speed. Power Transfer Ratio is a measurement of how well the ball is being impacted by the club head.

Understanding The 3 Components Of A Golf Club

Club performance involves three distinct components of modern day golf clubs; grip, shaft and club head. These components individually and collectively contribute to the overall performance of shot making resulting in ideal ball flight.

The performance features of each club component must be evaluated and altered when necessary. It is

important to understand these performance features and how they effectively make up a completed golf club. It is the sum of these performance features that produce ideal ball flight. In other words, the brand name on a particular club is less important than the performance features designed into the club. Club manufacturers engineer performance features into their club designs, which work best when they are in sync with the player’s swing skills.

Component:

Grip

What They Are

- Grips can be made from rubber, leather or any number of polymers. What feels good to one player will not necessarily feel good to another. Grips are very much a matter of personal choice. This choice may be influenced by the cost of certain grips, but grips are still the most personal choice specification when it comes to golf clubs.

What They Do

- Grips are the only contact a player has with the golf club. Grips provide traction between a player’s hands and the club. Worn grips are more likely to slip during the swing and produce inconsistent results. Improperly sized grips may not feel comfortable to a player, again leading to inconsistency.

Why They’re Important

Grips are designed either round or ribbed and come in a variety of weights. Refer to the USGA Rules of Golf

Appendix II – 3 for specifications regarding golf club grips.

Grip Size Chart:

When measuring grip size the Calipers should be placed 2" down from edge of grip cap to take the

appropriate diameter measurement reading.

- As they are the only contact a player has with the club, grips should be kept clean and should be replaced at the first signs of wear. Don’t expect huge playability changes as a result of changing grips. Grips influence feel more than ball flight, but feel is a very important factor. Worn grips or improperly fitted grips lead to tight grip pressure, which brings tension into the golf swing. This makes the golf club grip a performance factor.

GRIP SIZE - DIAMETER

MENS 1/64" UNDERSIZE 0.885

MENS STANDARD 0.900

MENS 1/64" OVERSIZE 0.915

MENS 1/32" OVERSIZE 0.930

MENS 3/64" OVERSIZE 0.945

MENS 1/16" OVERSIZE 0.960

LADIES 1/64" UNDERSIZE 0.835

LADIES STANDARD 0.850

LADIES 1/64" OVERSIZE 0.865

LADIES 1/32" OVERSIZE 0.880

Component:

Shafts

What They Are

others contend the golfer is the engine and the shaft is what connects the club head to the golfer. It is also known that the mass and center of gravity of a club head will affect the performance of the shaft as the head squares itself. Shafts may be made of a variety and/or combination of materials and are designed to transfer energy from golfer to golf ball in the most efficient manner possible.

- Golf shafts have been labeled as "the engine of the golf club" by many in the industry while

What They Do

distinctive colors and geometries. They may be very firm or very flexible. They can be light or heavy and can

frequency matched, weight-sorted, flat-line oscillated or none of these.

Shafts are probably the most mysterious of all club components due to the sheer numbers of designs available and manufacturers who produce them. There are literally thousands of different shaft types produced during the past decades. With all of the different shafts on the market, it is important to quantify key playing characteristics of specific shafts so that we may analyze their effect on ball flight, launch angle and spin rate. Through the use of a launch monitor and specific shaft designs from a few manufacturers, a best-matched shaft for a player’s driver can be identified. This shaft will work in concert with the club head to provide the highest launch angle with the lowest spin for the longest drives possible.

- Shafts are designed to provide the optimum combination of distance and accuracy for a golfer. They may be made from steel, graphite and other composite materials. They are available in a variety of possess a wide range of torques. Their balance and kick points can vary from shaft to shaft. They can be

Why They’re Important

performance will be compromised.

- Properly matched shafts will allow a player to consistently return the club to impact in the desired square club head position. The shaft will feel good to the player, while at the same time optimizing his distance potential. If a shaft is too stiff or too flexible, too heavy or too light, or lacks the proper feel,

 

- One of the key skills necessary for an equipment expert to possess is the measuring and comparing of a shaft’s frequency. This information is valuable in matching shafts to a player’s swing tempo. This process is referred to as "Frequency Matching." It is an absolute standard for selecting the correct shaft for a particular player’s tempo - the elapsed time from the start of the down swing to ball contact. Since all clubs have different lengths, the shaft flexibility is different for each club. When plotting the shaft frequency on a graph it will provide a "Sloped Gradient."

Frequency Matching allows golf clubs to be easily duplicated for playability. Flex standards for parallel tip steel shafts have a tight range in the same flex among most models and manufacturers while taper tip shafts are

different since all shafts in the set weigh the same or have "constant weight." In contrast graphite shafts have a wide range in the same flex among manufactures and within the same manufacturer. One company’s senior flex may be another’s stiff flex. This leads to much confusion when it comes to finding the correct shaft for an individual player, especially when it is related to the feel of the golf shot. Feel is "user defined" and varies among players but feel can be duplicated through Frequency Matching of the shaft’s performance.

Why Frequency Is Important

oscillates in a unit of time. Shaft frequency is measured in cycles per minute (CPM). What does the CPM reading of a golf shaft truly mean? It is an absolute measure of the shaft’s flexural feel to a golfer. In essence it can be expressed as the flex of the shaft.

To explain how this is true, one must first understand the role of a golf shaft in relation to the sum of the three basic components that make up a golf club. When hitting a golf ball, it is the club head that delivers the blow to the ball. We know that distance is the result of mass times velocity squared (D=mv2). But how do we deliver the club head to the ball to produce a golf shot? That is where the golfer enters the equation. He swings the club in a way that generates club head speed to transfer energy to the golf ball. Due to the mass of the club head, the faster it is moving (velocity) the greater the distance.

So what is the purpose of the golf shaft? It has been defined as the engine of the club. But is it possible the golfer is really the engine? Actually the shaft is nothing more than what connects the club head to the golfer. If the golfer can deliver the club head to the ball in a perfect position at the greatest velocity he can generate, he will maximize the shot distance.

What if he doesn’t? There are a lot of golf club specifications that may cause a bad shot, but in regard to the shaft, if it is not the correct flexural feel the golfer will have difficulty returning the club head perfectly to the ball. Trick shot artists prove this by hitting perfect shots with clubs that have rubber hose or chain shafts. Naturally, they do not generate a lot of club head speed so the distance is not that great, but the club head was delivered to the ball in a perfect hitting position.

Shaft manufacturers design shafts to produce certain ball flight results with specific profiles that relate to

trajectory. They also design "feel" into their flexes. It is difficult to relate shaft profile measurements to golfers’ feel. This is where frequency can be used as a measurement of flex. The golfer feels the club head through the shaft. When the shaft does not perform to the ideal feel for the golfer, the flex is not correct. Butt frequency is a direct correlation of that feel because the golfer relates that feel through the grip at the butt end of the shaft.

Frequency "feel" is interpreted to mean the relationship of the weights of each component of the club and how the golfer feels those weights are distributed when swinging the club. Frequency is used to produce a "matched set of clubs" by comparing each shaft’s butt frequency to a gradient. The gradient will vary with different shaft designs and geometry. The advantage to a golfer of a "matched frequency set of clubs" is he can swing each club in the set with the same tempo to achieve consistent club head velocity at impact. This is the basis of the FM Precision frequency matching method developed by Dr. Joe Braley. This is not possible if frequency-flexes vary within the set.

- Why is frequency matching so important? To answer this question we must first understand frequency. In respect to golf shafts, frequency can be defined as the number of times a shaft

Frequency is used to match a like shaft when replacing a broken shaft. It is used to determine the flex of a golfer’s favorite club for building other clubs with similar shafts. It can be used to measure the symmetry of a shaft by comparing the CPM readings around the shaft’s circumference in 6 equal 30° planes. When the CPM varies 3 cycles or less, the shaft is considered symmetrical. Obviously, frequency is a club performance-fitting variable for game improvement.

FREQUENCY FACTS:

Frequency

to the club’s length and head weight.

- The measurement in cycles per minute of the shaft’s flexural characteristics in relation

Natural Frequency

- All rigid objects have a natural frequency.

Frequency Rate

create oscillation.

- The rate of frequency is not dependent on the amount of force required to

CPM (Cycles per Minute)

- The number of shaft oscillations in a one-minute unit of time.

Swing Weight

decrease is equal to one (1) CPM increase.

- Each swing weight increase is equal to one (1) CPM decrease and each swing weight

Club Head

- Each 2-gram club head weight change is equal to one (1) CPM change in frequency.

Gradient/Slope

gradient/slope for all shafts of similar flex feel.

- The progression of cycles per minute between each club in a set. There is no one

Frequency Matching

a gradient/slope.

- Building golf club sets to match the desired cycles per minute progression on

Flex

and model of equal length the higher the CPM reading the stiffer the flex.

- The designation of a shafts’ resistance to bending. When comparing shafts of the same brand

Flexible

- Easily bent, not rigid.

Feel

- Term used to describe the playing characteristics of a golf club.

Flex Feel

- The performance "feel" designed and built into a shaft’s "flex" geometry.

Flat Line/Single Frequency

- The same number of cycles per minute for each club in a set.

Deflection Board

- Method used to measure a shaft’s beam strength, not its flex.

Circumferential Readings

shafts circumference to determine the shaft’s symmetry.

- Measuring the cycles per minute of a shaft in 6-30° planes around the

Shaft Profiling

- Measuring cycles per minute in multiple zones along a shaft’s longitudinal axis.

Shaft Beam Length

the center of mass of a tip weight or club head.

- The distance from the inside edge of the clamping device at the shaft’s butt to

Face Plane Oscillation

- Measuring cycles per minute in a shaft plane parallel to the club’s face plane.

Oval Oscillation

- Shaft oscillation in an oval or non-straight pattern.

Damping

- The effect on CPM readings caused by grips or clamping pressure variations.

Spine/Seam

-longitudinal axis of a shaft.

Component:
Club Head

The design of the club head and the material that it is constructed from may vary greatly. Heads may be forged, cast, have face inserts, or have bore through hosels. Clubs are designed with varying center of gravity and this has an effect on ball flight. Metal woods have built in bulge and roll to create gear effect and MOI specifications that affects ball flight. Finally metal woods have a specific COR (face spring-like effect) limits, MOI limits,

dimension limits, volume limits, equivalent time requirements, and groove requirements set by the USGA Rules

of Golf. Refer to the USGA Rules of Golf Book Appendix II, 1 a, and b, and 4 Clubs / General - Club Head.

Club heads are made of different materials such as carbon steel, stainless steel, and titanium. Their hosel designs are offset, non-offset, progressive-offset, and face progression. Also, club heads come in varying weights for the assembly of matched sets of golf clubs.

 

What They Do

- The driver head imparts distance, loft and spin to the ball at impact. A properly fitted driver will optimize these three variables in combination with the shaft of the club to provide maximum distance and accuracy. The driver may be made of stainless steel, titanium, graphite or a combination of these materials that include other alloys, magnesium, and aluminum. Current models of drivers range from 400cc in volume to USGA-conforming maximum of 460cc. The heads may have unique weighting features to influence their centers of gravity. They may have unique hosel bore configurations to create stability and influence feel. They may have shallow or deep faces, square or closed face angles and different head weights to influence ball flight.

Why They Are Important

paramount importance in golf club performance.

- Golfers perceive the head of the club to be the most important component of the club. This is not exactly true; without the properly matched shaft and grip, the club will not perform to its optimum level. Matching a driver’s loft, CG, feel and looks to a player will help ensure that the club performs as intended. Any compromise in any of these factors and the player will not perform to potential. The driver is the club that puts the ball into play on a majority of holes. Matching its launch characteristics to the player is of

 

Head Size

- The larger the head, the higher its MOI and the more forgiving it will be on off-center hits.

Volume

- Head size is measured in cubic centimeters (cc’s). Larger heads tend to have higher Moments of Inertia (MOI’s). Material plays a role in driver volume due to weight of material.

Head Breadth (from face to back)

- The greater this distance, the deeper the COG of the head and the higher the launch angle for a given loft.

Face Height (from crown to sole)

- The deeper the face, the higher the COG of the head and the lower the launch angle. The shallower the face, the lower the COG and the higher the resulting launch angle.

Face Angle

- The angle of the face plane in relation to the shaft plane. The larger the head, usually the more closed the face is to help square the face at impact.

Bulge and Roll

- The radius from heel to toe and top to bottom of the club’s face.

COR

- The higher the COR, the more potential for higher ball speed. As most of today’s drivers are designed with the highest COR possible, any ball speed difference as a result of COR are not quantifiable.

Hosel Bore

- The deeper the bore, the stiffer the shaft will feel and the lower the launch angle for a given shaft.

Head Material

different types of face construction, which may have an influence on distance as well as on sound and feel.

- The head material itself will have no influence on distance. What head material allows are

Weighting Additions

- Some of today’s club head designs allow for the movement or removal of weight, either added to or taken away from certain areas of the club head. The addition of a heavier material somewhere on the head is designed to influence the center of gravity (COG) of the head. If the weight is placed low or rearward, the resulting launch angle will be higher; if weight is added toward the face or higher on the club head, the resulting launch will be lower. Weight placed toward the heel will have the effect of helping to close the club face; any weight toward the toe will tend to keep the face open. It is interesting to note the addition of lead tape will have an effect on swing weight and feel, but not on ball direction or trajectory due to the small amount of weight.

Score Lines

ultra-thin, the addition of score lines may compromise face strength. Thus many manufacturers eliminate score lines in the center of the face, while some eliminate them totally.

- Score lines have no effect on ball flight. With the faces of many of today’s drivers being made