An article by Rhys Atkinson, PGA AAT
Professional and Founder of Eclipse Golf – The Equipment Specialist Company.
It’s a common assumption that you need to
have a consistent swing before you need to pay attention to your equipment or
have it ‘custom fit’ for you in any way. I can understand that - if you’re looking
to learn or improve your game the most obvious place to start looking for help
is with your local PGA Pro and have him or her help you build a repeating swing
and rightly so.
What is less obvious is the impact that
ill-fitting equipment will have on your ability to learn and the speed of your progress.
This is more important for a beginner
golfer than any other. All PGA coaches will confirm how important
it is to set up properly and consistently.
This becomes more difficult on both counts when the club in question is
an inappropriate length or lie angle.
When you’re learning, getting the ‘set up’
correct can be awkward as you learn how to hold your posture, position your
hands and find the right balance. Most Pro’s will find a club that looks
appropriate for the student to learn with but its rare for a student to have
their arm length taken and cross referenced with height in order to ensure the
club they are learning with will compliment their build and so make the all
important ‘set up’ as easy as possible to master quickly.
The length part of the equation is usually
covered by most Pro’s through the use of a mid iron like a 7-iron to learn
with. The length of this iron club is considered to be manageable and
relatively appropriate for most players.
The actual length we are talking about is approximately 37” for a men’s
7 iron and 36” for a ladies. That’s important – there is no industry standard
for any of the club lengths, lofts or lies so you shouldn’t assume that all 7
irons are made equal which is why paying attention to detail at the early
stages is very important including the actual length measurement.
All 7 irons are not created equal:
The lie-angle, which relates to how high
the toe sits up in the air at address, is particularly important for a beginner
golfer. If it is wrong they will instinctively make amends in how they stand,
position their hands and swing in order to strike the ball cleanly. This will result in unwittingly deviating away
from the coach’s instruction. In short the club is preventing the student from
swinging better. We already know there is no industry standard for the lie
angle measurements and these can vary significantly from brand to brand and
model to model. Its all too common for
the lie angle to be ignored for a long time before the realisation that the
reason for a particular swing movement is rooted in this measurement being a
poor fit for the player.
These two fundamental elements of length
and lie should be reason enough to highlight why custom fit equipment right
from the outset is so important. For a sport that can at times be frustrating
to master (which is also part of its appeal) it makes sense to pay attention to
these details at the start of the learning process.
When it comes to the actual swinging of the
club there are many important elements to consider to ensure your equipment
compliments your strength, speed and style and works in harmony with the
elements of instruction you receive from your coach. I set up Eclipse Golf to address the
details of equipment for golfers because they matter
and are too often glossed
over, mostly due to the eagerness to get into the swing mechanics. My advice is
a little haste will compliment the expertise of your coach. Your equipment is
important right from the start.
Having said that your equipment needs may
change as you progress. Its important to
have all of the below considered to match your equipment to your current swing
but also to consider the likely changes required for the future. This is where
it helps to have coach and equipment advisor working together. With this
approach you are given a cost effective solution that will likely involve club
adjustments to keep up with your progress. One of the services we offer at Eclipse
Golf is to build a club to learn with for beginners that matches their build,
strength and unique characteristics to compliment any lessons or just allow
them the best chance for good results. This custom built iron will be a 6 or 7
iron of a top brand and will be no more than £25 to purchase. This is a
fantastic way to ensure you’re learning of the game is fun and as easy as
possible.
All of the below elements are relevant to
you regardless of your ability. You don’t need to understand it all – that’s
our job, but be sure that they WILL affect your results somehow and that
experienced advice on these elements is hugely important.
Swing-weight
– this relates to how heavy the club-head feels and can be measured
on a swing-weight scale. A player’s
strength, speed and natural swing tempo will lend themselves to a certain
swing-weight range. A good analogy to
compare this too is tenpin bowling – if you’ve ever been you’ll appreciate that
finding the right weight (different colours) of house bowling ball from the
rack is hugely impactful on your accuracy, the speed of the ball and (if you
are good enough) how you make the ball curve. The weights we are talking about
in a golf club are smaller but still of the same importance. Swing-weight is
not often considered in the learning OR fitting process but with the right
guidance can make the game more fun and enjoyable to learn and play and will
help you achieve better results without you even realising why.
Shaft
choice
– a devilish subject to tackle as the array
of choice is wide and varied. In short the selection here considers many
different aspects such as weight, balance and flex that can be measured and
changed to suit a beginning players natural strength and basic swing
characteristics. There is no simple way to classify this – the flex designation
of a shaft (usually Ladies, Senior, Regular, Stiff and Extra Stiff) is often
used in basic fitting to get something relatively appropriate but the
difference between shafts of the same flex category will differ significantly.
Much like Harry Potters Wand - every shaft
model has its own character that should match your swings character. This is an
area that experience and knowledge is vital to get the best advice and make the
most informed decision. At Eclipse Golf we have a unique method of understanding
a shafts character, which I developed when working on The European Tour - it
was designed to make sense of the thousands of shaft performance options
available to the Tour Reps.
Shaft Choice - they all have a character - which one suits you
Wand Choice! Are you Harry or You Know Who?!
Set make up
– this refers to your choice of clubs. For a
beginner this can be daunting but it does not need to be so. This choice falls
under the ‘custom fit’ umbrella and it will ensure any investment into clubs is
cost effective. You are allowed to have 14 clubs in your bag but many golfers
do not need this many and choosing the best options for the players involves much
consideration.
Model
choice
– there is without doubt some wonderful
technology available to benefit from. I was fortunate to work very closely with
the Callaway R&D department for around 15 years and was able to get
insights and in depth information on club design that most people are not privy
to. Your choice of club head is important. It involves consideration of shape,
size, sole design, bounce, offset, loft, weight, grip type, size & tape distribution
amongst other factors.
Choice of club model does not need to
involve new clubs. There are second hand options or it may be that your current
clubs are perfectly suitable. Rest assured though that we will be in a position
to give you the most experienced advice on any new clubs you are considering.
In summary I hope this information is useful
and the message to new golfers to get their equipment right early hits home.
Like any good project your successful improvement requires a plan. That plan
must include equipment as one of the foundations.
To see the services that Eclipse Golf can
help you with please click the below website link or to get in touch with us
for free advice please contact us on the below details.
Rhys Atkinson,
Eclipse Golf Ltd
Office: 01293 223 038
Mobile: 07715 419 862
Email: enquiries@eclipse-golf.co.uk
Web: www.eclipse-golf.co.uk
Copyright Eclipse Golf Ltd 2016. All Rights Reserved
