golf59324

During the many years spent wasting my time on the golf course, It has been my observation that some golfers can play with about any kind of swing...and some golfers can play with most any kind of clubs.

I think I fall into the first group. The few times I have built up the courage to go to a Pro for lessons, has been a frustrating experience for the Pro. The Pro usually walks away in disgust after a few attempts at analyzing the subtle mechanics of my swing. One pro even refunded my money and begged me not to tell anyone he had given me lessons.

Yet, somehow I managed to hit the ball and play with about a 12 handicap. How is this possible with a hack swing that is way to flat and way to short with the weight shift of a run away hippo. It's hard to say...but I think it is due to my excellent choice of clubs.

If you look in my bag, which always has a few too many clubs in it, you will find a hodgepodge mixture of this and that. Its something that just happened over a period of time. I really don't know how a person can play with a matched set of clubs.

IN MY BAG

A Titliest D75D driver that I always carry. This Titleist driver is the only driver I could ever hit with any slight consistency. I can hook the ball, slice it or hit it straight with this club...I just never really know when it's going to happen. Usually, there's another newer driver that I am trying out, you never know when you might find the Holy Grail.

A Hogan H40 3 wood. I used this club as my driver for years and I still fall back on it when the real drivers become uncontrollable...which is often. In fact, I can hit this club very consistently...I don't know why I even carry a driver. I guess it's a macho/ego thing.

A Cobra low profile utility wood. This is a good club out of the rough...depending on how the ball is sitting up. If the ball is sitting up too high, I sometimes pop it up...most embarrassing. Come to think of it, I probably should retire this club and just hit my three wood, but I can consistently hook this club and a hook out of the rough is a good shot the have in your bag. If I need to slice it, I grab my two iron.

Six through PW cleveland SP2 irons. These clubs were made famous by Corey Pavin when he had his hot streak in the 80's. These are my money clubs and I love these irons. Unfortunately, they are very ugly with that tremendous offset shank. I had to endure a lot of ribbing when I first began carrying theses irons. My golfing buddies still call them garden tools.

Two through five wilson blades. These are the surving members of my first set of irons I purchased in the sixties...that four iron is really sweet.

A Titliest one iron just for looks. I feel closer to God when I have it in my hand. I also use it a lot on the practice tee...I figure if I can learn to hit it, the other clubs will be a piece of cake.

A pair of 588 RTG cleveland wedges. I really like that soft patina the clubs acquire after a little age. The only problem is my shiny spot is on the toe.

I also carry an old golfsmith high lofted sand wedge, about a 62-degree I think...I occasionally like to try that famous over the head, Phil Nickleson shot. I never have been able to hit it...but I still keep practicing. I think it's a real handy shot to have in your bag.

An early ping putter, never could putt very well with it, but I really like the sound when you strike the ball. I think it annoys my opponents.

That rounds out my set of golf clubs...with the exception of a few other clubs that I carry just because. Good golf is just a matter of matching the club to your swing and since I may have several different, swings on any given day the clubs I carry are entirely necessary. The only thing holding me back from breaking into the seventies is the load restrictions on my cart.

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New and Used Golf Stuff

Think about your swing with its individual characteristics. Compare your physical dimensions, your strength, your setup and posture and of course the way that you take the club back and bring it back through the strike zone to any of your other partners. In fact compare it to your own swing of 20 years ago!

When I sit with you, I see exactly you. I dont see that golfer of 20 years ago or any other player in your fourball, or myself. I then build a solution that will enable you to have a better golf game immediately.

And that solution needs thought. Its not a simple matter of a wrist to floor measurement and your handicap to decide that you need a " longer shaft in a set of stiff flex shafts with a muscle-back club head.

Heres a simple illustration. Lets consider a slightly older golfer who has seen his handicap slip from 9 to 17 over the last 5 years. this mirrors the naturally declining swing speed and strength. this will impact on both the length and height of iron shots. Id also like you to imagine that this golfer is a little shorter in height than average.

In any fitting that we are doing with this golfer we need to make sure that we make it easier to increase the club head speed without reducing the likelihood of making solid contact with the golf ball.

In many cases an obvious option for this golfer is to go with a lighter, probably softer shaft. A less obvious option, but one worth examining, would be to look at a " or " longer shaft than normally fits this golfer. The slightly longer shaft would generate, through natural physics, a faster club head speed, and therefore greater distance.

Of course the slightly longer shaft would increase the chances of missing the sweet spot at contact, so finding a club head with an oversized face (and a larger hitting zone) and a higher MOI (to ensure distance and accuracy when the ball is struck off-centre) would be a good idea.

Visit your local Foremost PGA Golf professional for expert advice and guidance

James Langmead PGA Qualified Golf professional and former callaway Club fitter of the year http://www.thegolfshoponline.co.uk