Driver Accuracy
Clubfitting for accuracy, consistency or distance? We ask our golfers in our clubfitting interview process which is most important to them. Most of our golfers are looking for consistency, some more distance, but clubfitting for accuracy is very important to every golfer. Here are the key elements in fitting for accuracy:
Proper shaft and club weight.
A golfers tempo, transition and release point must be matched to the shaft and club weight or accuracy will suffer. If a golfer has a fast tempo and transition, a little heavier club and shaft will help to create a more repeatable swing and tighten up shot dispersion. Conversely, if a golfer has a very smooth tempo and transition, and does not generate a lot of clubhead speed, lighter shaft and head combinations will help create more consistency and accuracy. This is very important when modern drivers. We have seen drivers get very heavy recently which can cause some issues with accuracy. Shaft manufacturers have helped us by making shafts that are counterbalanced so the swing weights are more reasonable. A good clubfitting will take these factors into account and dial you in to the proper weight.
Shorter length, especially in the driver.
We have seen club lengths for driver all over the map. Some as long as 48″, the legal USGA maximum and now as short as 44.5″ for male golfers. Not much attention is paid to lady golfer drivers…pretty standard at 44″. If you are consistently hitting shots left AND right, your driver could be too long. If you are consistently hitting fat iron shots off the heel of the club, your irons could be too long. We have consistently proven that shorter shaft length does not mean a loss of distance if we can get you better contact. The telling point is getting better ball speed and launch conditions. So get fit and see what length gives you the best performance.
As the picture above shows, when we put the right flex and weight of shaft in that golfers driver, accuracy improved dramatically. Our fitting goal is to reduce shot dispersion by up to 50%. Ninety percent of the time, that is done by getting the proper shaft weight, flex and bend profile, regardless of the skill level of the golfer. Our BGF Fitting System takes into account our golfers swing characteristics (tempo, transition and release) and makes recommendations for shaft weight, flex and profile. Our ability to test with literally thousands of head/shaft combinations makes the process of finding the proper shaft pretty easy.
The most forgiving head.
A lot of issues with accuracy can be solved by making sure our golfers have a very forgiving head that helps with accuracy. The key word here is MOI (Moment of Inertia). As an example, the Callaway EPIC drivers have the highest MOI in the industry and in our testing are the most accurate. The same can be said about choosing , fairway woods, hybrids, irons and wedges with the most forgiveness. Of course, balancing that with look and feel is another issue but we always try to find the most forgiving head possible to improve both consistency and accuracy.
So, if you are suffering poor accuracy, it is time to see a good clubfitter! Take is from us, it is much easier to hit greens from the fairway than the rough with the right equipment!
Dan Sueltz
Loading ...
