Better Golf Starts With a Clubfitting and Clubs Built to Your Specifications.
I know we have been saying this since we started the company in 1997, but it is even more true today. Why? Because there have been so many improvements in both golf equipment and fitting technology that you cannot help but get the right equipment in your bag. But, you need to get fit and get clubs built by experts that know what is critical to your success. Here is what it takes:
A Consistent Fitting Formula:
A lot of clubfitters are trained by a particular company (or three) and have a set of fitting guidelines that are very narrow in scope. By that I mean they use only a few fitting parameters like swing speed or distance to determine club weight, length, etc. To be honest, when we started our business, there was no real consistent formula for fitting either. We took some great information provided by Tom Wishon and then blazed our own trail with our BGF Fitting System. We can now take golfer physical characteristics (height, weight, wrist crease-to-floor), swing dynamics (tempo, transition, release point), strength (swing speed, distance), launch conditions (launch angle, spin, shot dispersion) and use these to predict key fitting parameters. These include club length, shaft weight, shaft flex, shaft trajectory and spin profile, and swing weight. We have tested this formula on thousands of golfers from 8 years old to 92 and with swing speeds from 65 to 145 with a driver. The results are consistent and accurate fitting recommendations that takes the guesswork out of clubfitting.
An Extensive Head/Shaft Testing Matrix:
Gone are the days of having only a few irons or drivers to test. I remember the days of testing with a few clubs and then telling our customers to “trust me” that I could make the proper head and shaft recommendation. With interchangeable driver shafts and Club Conex system for fairway woods, hybrids, and irons, we literally have ten’s of thousands of combinations to put together for testing. The beauty of our BGF Fitting System is that it takes the guesswork out of putting together the proper head/shaft combinations for testing.
Fitting Measuring Technology
The fitting measuring technology available today is so much more accurate that almost every credible fitting location has a TrackMan, FlightScope or Foresight launch monitor for measuring critical fitting parameters. The best clubfitters will use not only launch conditions (ball speed, club speed, smash factor, launch angle, spin rate, dispersion, maximum height, landing angle) but club head delivery (swing path, face angle, launch direction, attack angle). We understand the importance of these numbers in making the proper recommendations for loft, lie, shaft flex, and shaft profile (trajectory and spin). We use the launch monitor to validate that we have actually improved on your current equipment performance with new shafts and/or heads.
Custom Building Clubs to Your Exact Specifications
We have been building clubs to our customers exact specifications since we started in 1997. The big difference between then and today is that the specifications are even tighter and the components we have available give us a lot more options. Major manufacturers will only custom build to length, swing weight, loft and lie (be careful here!!). They will only use certain shafts that may or may not be the correct weight or stiffness. We are fortunate to have the reputation in the industry that we can order specific heads, weights and shafts to meet the requirements on the customer order. We then custom build to the exact length, shaft flex, swing weight, loft and lie that was specified on that order. We still have to test the stiffness of EACH shaft and weight EACH head and grip to insure that we can actually build the clubs to your specifications. And when we do, you will have the most consistent set of clubs you have ever used.
Improved Accuracy, More Consistency and Increased Distance
The bottom line is that getting a proper clubfitting and having the clubs actually built to your EXACT specifications will give you a dramatic improvement in accuracy, consistency and distance. So, make this your New Year’s resolution!! Better Golf starts now!
Dan Sueltz