The Lie angle of a golf club is THE major factor influencing the accuracy and consistency of shots and I witnessed the biggest change in lie angle I've ever seen this week in a fitting - and we didn't touch the clubs actual lie angle at all to change it!!
If the head is too flat at impact for the golfer's style, the loft on the club face will actually send the ball right of target. As a general rule a 6 iron that is just 1 degree too upright would send the ball 3 yards offline PLUS if the club hits the ground just before the ball, the toe will be digging in and twisting the club face MASSIVELY to the right of target.
I
n this case the golfer's iron shafts were much too weak for their swing speed, they were 85gram steel shafts that measured senior flex on our frequency analyser. This meant that the shaft was deforming thorough impact and DROOPING, allowing the clubhead to bow downwards at speed. I've seen it make the clubhead droop as much as 8 degrees too flat in the past - that's a whopping 24 yards offline just because the shaft is too soft. Well, this week I witnessed an incredible 15 degrees of shaft droop making the club much too flat at impact. So the golfer's clubs were sending the ball up to 45 yards off target when he made a perfect swing!!!
We tested a shaft which was 4 times stiffer and used a head that was exactly the same initial lie angle. The clubhead was now perfectly level at impact just because of the shaft change - that's a LOT! Imagine the unconscious compensations the golfer could be making in order to hit the ball straight. In this case he had fashioned a way of making the irons work but couldn't hit a wood at all because of this.
The lie angle is just one of the things we check during a Game and Equipment Assessment. Now is the perfect time to check your clubs out and the assessment only costs £30. The reason it's also a 'Game Assessment' is because the two things are closely linked.
For Example: If your irons are too flat for you at impact the most common reasons would be:
1. The clubs require bending
2. The shafts need changing as they are causing too much droop
3. Your swing impact would be best to alter through a lesson as options 1 and 2 wouldn't make a big enough difference.
Whilst we were on holiday last week I was reminded about the difference between PRICE and VALUE on one occasion. We were going to buy a waterproof, clear phone case that allows you to take photos or films underwater with your mobile phone - perfect for snorkeling or 'water slide action'! There was a supermarket on site and they were selling them for nearly twice the price of the local shops down the road, but we decided it was too much of a risky exercise to wander along the Egyptian streets and elected to pay more at the hotel.
Once we'd paid for it, the shop owner displayed first class customer service which ended up being way beyond what you would expect. Here's how:
1. He showed us how the waterproof closing mechanism worked.
2. He then placed his own phone in the case, PLUS a paper tissue, PLUS 600 Egyptian Pounds and told us to take it to the nearest swimming pool and leave it in for a minute.
3. Upon returning he opened up the case to show us how everything was totally dry and the phone still worked
4. He then deliberately broke the strap clip and re-tied the strap in a much more secure way, explaining that the clip had been known to break if tugged hard.
Add to this excellent service the fact that we could easily have taken it back for a replacement if it turned out to be faulty and the VALUE we received was far better than the potential PRICE saving we could have sought. You can imagine where we considered buying anything else during the week without hesitation!
Please consider this if you're tempted by a 'too-good-to-be-true' internet deal in the coming weeks as the web-sites battle it out to keep their heads above water leading into Christmas.
Our aim at the Pro Shop has always been to create value propositions and this can be seen in the way we have our own embroidery machine, build our own clubs, and have a no-nonsense returns policy and the way we continually look at ways to improve your experience with us and the way we continually re-invest in the business.
My latest re-investment comes in the form of a 2nd launch monitor to work alongside my FlightScope. A launch monitor is a sophisticated radar which measures what's happening with a golf shot and in 2 weeks' time I'll have one dedicated to measuring the golf club during impact and another measuring just the golf ball. This will enable us to spend the winter measuring your yardage gaps with your clubs indoors, testing which sort of golf ball is best for you, comparing how shafts work and much more in a simpler way.
Srixon and Titleist have some great Christmas deals for free personalisation with the ball ranges. Check out the adverts in this newsletter, on my website and on the email you'll have received this week. These are always popular gifts and add a special personal touch for no extra cost.
This weekend we have a club competition on Saturday, the 4Ball Alliance is an official club event and as such you aren't able to bring members guests to play on competition days - we've had a few enquiries about this so please avoid the day if you're wishing to sign someone in.
A very busy Workshop this week with lots of people getting their kit sorted:
- Mizuno MP15 irons- KBS Tour shafts
- Mizuno JPX Boron forged irons - KBS Tour shafts
- Titleist 716 AP2 irons - Aerotech Steelfiber shafts
- Srixon 945 & 745 combo set - KBS Tour V shafts
- PING driver re-shaft - ACCRA Dymatch
- TaylorMade SLDR re-shaft - Tour Z shaft
- TaylorMade M1 driver - Fujikura shaft
- Tom Wishon 5 wood - S2S shaft
- Cleveland RTX wedge set 52, 56, and 60
- Srixon F45 3 wood - Miyazaki shaft
- Srixon H45 hybrid - Kuro Kage shaft
- Super Stroke and Cork Tree putter grips
- Cobra iron re-shaft
- Wedge loft bending
- Re-grips
