It’s long been known that stiffer shafts, especially in the tip section, can behave more consistently than softer ones. That’s simply because the less a shaft bends during a swing the more predictably it will perform. The trade-off, however, is in energy transfer, which can be restricted if a given shaft is much too stiff for a given swing. Therefore, the trick in fitting golf shafts is to identify the shaft bend profile that will optimize ball performance for a specific golfer.

While all clients of my shop already go through a comprehensive shaft testing process as part of a driver fitting session, those with off-the-rack drivers may find the Shotmaker to be effective in tightening up dispersion patterns with their clubs. This is because OEM shafts including the so-called exotics are often times de-tuned versions of popular after-market shafts. How else do you think companies can offer a $300 after-market shaft in a completed driver that retails for $299? Specifically, many of these shafts are much softer in overall flex than the originals to match the needs of the average golfer and keep the costs down.

The fitting process for the Shotmaker is quite simple. After creating a ½” hole in the grip cap, the various 12” inserts, which are available in multiple flexes, can be installed and performance tested against an existing driver without an insert. If an insert is identified that improves performance, then a grip cap is installed to complete the process. If not, then the insert is removed and a cap covers the hole in the grip. No harm, no foul.

So, if you struggle hitting fairways and you’re looking for a minimally-invasive way to test whether or not modifying your existing driver shaft would help, consider the Shotmaker from Harrison Golf. Fitting and installation takes about 30 minutes. It won’t cure a 50 yard slice, but it may help you hit more fairways and convert excess side spin into a few more net yards. Fitting is available Mon-Sat by appointment.

1) I just obtained a used set of XYZ irons that I really like. Can you custom fit them to me?

The quick answer is that any existing club can be optimized. That still doesn’t mean it would be the best choice for a given individual. One issue here is there are 20+ variables I can change as a clubmaker to optimize a club. Most golfers, however, only include a few of these in their definition of custom fitting such as lie angle. A more important issue that is overlooked is whether or not the clubs involved are actually well-suited for the golfer to begin with and, therefore, worth modifying. Let’s start with the XYZ clubs first:

To Modify or Not to Modify?

Using an extreme example, it makes no sense to re-grip Grandpa’s Wilson Staff Blades for a beginning golfer just because they’re free. That’s because the head design and shaft characteristics are the most important factors when matching clubs to swings. A high handicapper, which includes not only beginners, but average golfers that shoot around 100, would play much more efficiently with a more forgiving head design and enjoy the game more. Said another way, although a tennis shoe may fit your foot properly, that doesn’t mean it’s ideal for basketball.

How about the 5-year old XYZ irons you just got on eBay? The head design is relatively current and they come from one of the major OEM companies so they’ve got to be good, right? The first thing to remember is that most clubs end up on eBay because they didn’t work well or the owner found something better. The second thing to understand is that with virtually no standards in the industry for major factors like loft and shaft flex, the odds are very good that the measured specs for the clubs will not match the head or shaft labels. The bottom line is if you have to make any major changes like reshafting, the used clubs could end up costing more than a new custom fit set.

What’s Not to Like?

Unlike Facebook, it’s not so straight-forward to define the term “like” as it pertains to a golf club. In my world of clubfitting, repeatable ball performance determines whether or not I like a golf club. It may have an appealing shape, but it has to work for me. This view, however, often clashes with that of many golfers who make emotional buying decisions based on name brand, tour results, or the way a club looks without ever trying the club. This is especially important for clubs that can’t be returned because aesthetics will never trump results. So, before you commit to purchasing used clubs make sure you are doing so for the right reasons. If you’ve always wanted a certain brand and model, go for it. Just make sure to allow for some added expenses to get these clubs to match you and your swing properly.

Basic Fit vs. Optimized

Getting back to club modifications, the sky is the limit on the types of changes that can be made. Basic fitting issues such as re-gripping and lie/loft bending are common for previously-owned sets and are used to get clubs to match your physical body characteristics such as hand size. Optimizing clubs to match your swing, however, is an entirely different process involving launch monitors and head/shaft fitting systems. By focusing on the science of clubmaking, an optimal combination of head, shaft, and grip can be identified for any individual’s needs. This includes determining whether a more suitable head and/or shaft would improve upon the performance of an existing club.

What’s a Golfer to Do?

Here’s the approach I recommend to my clients regarding club modifications:

1) If you’re convinced your clubs are fine the way they are, but could use a few minor tweaks to get them to fit better, focus on making sure the shaft lengths are a reasonable fit, the grips are doing their job, and leave it at that. You can always throw in lie/loft adjustments and swingweight changes, but they are of minor importance compared to having the right head and shaft.

2)  If you’re set on optimizing existing clubheads, start by comparing your existing clubs to a test club that has been selected by a qualified fitter as part of a fitting session. If your clubs hold their own, consider having a clubmaker temporarily convert an appropriate club from your set to a test head that can be used with a wide variety of test shafts. The measured results from this level of testing will replace educated guesses regarding the optimal shaft and flex to use. Just be aware there may still be a better mousetrap out there with regards to head design.

3) If your goal is to eliminate as many variables as possible, perform the same tests as above, but add an appropriate selection of head designs to the process. Choose the head/shaft combination that consistently optimizes ball performance for your swing. Following this process will leave no stone unturned and put you and your swing in charge of your game, which is good unless you’re looking for reasons to blame your clubs.

Those of you that have worked with me know I don’t get caught up in the marketing hype of golf companies that merely introduce a new cosmetic version of last year’s products. It takes a lot more than head color to get my attention, which is why I am so excited to have access to fairway woods and hybrids that can finally be precisely fit to the needs of an individual golfer just like the irons can.

The new bendable 929HS and 775HS clubs from Wishon represent one of those functional technological improvements that club fitters and builders have been waiting for. And it took someone like Tom, with more patents than he can count, to bring them to market.

There’s no real secret to Tom’s solution to the problem: If you want hybrids to bend like wedges use similar metals in the hosels of other clubs. The results of his efforts, however, are huge. By using softer 304 stainless steel, the lie and loft of these new clubs can be bent up to 4 degrees in any direction. This means golfers that have previously been forced to adapt to improper lie angles can now make more solid impact. And yardage gaps that may have been impractical to resolve in a set can now be effectively addressed by altering loft angles to an appropriate setting. And as if that weren’t enough, the clubs also feature thin, forged high-strength steel faces for a high COR. The result is maximum distance fairway woods and hybrids that can be precisely fit to any golfer. Sounds like a win-win for everyone.

With the introduction of radically lighter components, the latest attempt to increase distance in 2011 involves experimenting with drivers as much as 60 grams lighter. Considering the overall weight of a traditional driver is about 310-320 grams, this reduction is significant. The question is: Can these ultralight clubs work for you?

I’m currently experimenting with driver heads as light as 175 grams, which is about 15% lighter than normal. When paired with a 50 gram shaft and 25 gram grip the result is a club in the 250 gram range. Well below those currently being marketed by others. The primary difference, however, is that these companies are using traditional weight clubheads with reduced shaft and grip weights, which results in a heavier head feel or higher than average swingweights. While this may work for stronger players, my belief is that golfers with average swing speeds and below can benefit from using lighter clubheads in the driver.

Using bowling equipment as an analogy, balls range in weight from 6 to 16 pounds. And many in the bowling industry recommend using the heaviest ball one can comfortably throw. This means that although the strongest of the players might use a 16 pounder, everyone else is better off with something lighter. For example, a 14 pound ball at 16 mph delivers more energy to the pins than a 16 pound ball at 14 mph. If we translate this into selecting the optimal weight of a driver head, many golfers could benefit from a lighter than average weight. We don’t really know since the golf industry has traditionally kept driver head weights at around 200 grams so that the swingweight of a finished club stays around D0.

Doing the math, it appears that a 175 gram driver head needs to yield about 7% more clubhead speed than a 200 gram head to break even with regards to energy transfer. That’s about 4-6 mph depending on your existing swing speed. If my initial launch monitor tests hold steady with regards to results, this shouldn’t be a problem. Combined with the results from the range and golf course, everyone that has tried one of these clubs so far has had good success. There’s still some fine-tuning to be done, especially in the fitting process, but that will be resolved shortly.

The chief beneficiary of the lighter driver heads should be slower swingers or golfers with smooth swings that can more easily control these ultralight clubs. Big hitters, especially those with fast tempos and transitions to the downswing, are likely better suited to traditional weight clubs. When you consider, however, that most golfers don’t bomb the ball 300 yards, that leaves an enormous number of golfers that could potentially benefit from all of the new lightweight components recently introduced to the market.

So, if you fit the mold and are looking to gain some additional or lost yardage these ultralight drivers might do the trick. Testing is easy. Simply book some time, take a few swings, and let the launch monitors do their job. Follow that up by watching some balls fly at the range with a demo club and compare the results against balls hit with your current club. If the winner is a new driver, then enjoy the extra yardage.