What To Improve Your Game? Essay, Research Paper

OutlineThesis statement: No longer does anyone have to settle for prefabricated commercial golf clubs with the abundance of custom club manufacturers available.I. Are custom made clubs better than store bought? A. Equipment does not matter. B. On-line poll revealed 88 percent of polled golfers would play better with custom clubs. C. Commercial golf clubs are made for professionals.II. Amateur golfers use oversized heads. A. Bigger heads increase the sweet spot. B. Larger head decreases shot distance.III. Titanium is widely used in club head manufacturing A. Very light metal B. Ball hit better off titanium C. Titanium is very expensive.IV. Custom club weighting helps the amateur. A. Perimeter weighting increases the sweet spot. B. Back weighting decreases loft. C. Bottom weighting increases loft.V. Shafts are the most important design feature. A. Sounders four types of shafts. B. Most golfers play with shafts that are too stiff or weak. C. Graphite shafts are very popular. 1. Light weight. 2. More flex than steel shafts. In recent years golf has swept over the United States like an incurable plague. The popularity of golf has stretched through out the entire country, engulfing millions of people from all walks of life. With this incredible popularity has grown a multi-billion dollar industry of custom made golf equipment manufacturing. No longer does anyone have to settle for prefabricated commercial golf clubs with the abundance of custom club manufacturers available. However, This can be very confusing because of the incredible amount of selection of golf equipment available to the consumer. Everybody wants to be a better golfer says, Lee Eisenberg author of Breaking Eighty: A Journey Through the Nine Fairways of Hell, most people will reach helplessly for a credit card whenever yet another new gadget promises a longer drive, a smoother swing, or an effortless putt (1). There is a big question that every golfer must ask himself: Can I use regular store bought golf clubs, or do I need custom made clubs? According to GolfWeb equipment columnist Ted Johnson, the answer is no. Equipment does not matter that much. The most important aspect of golfing is a good swing and consistency, and that comes down to confidence ( Don t blame it on the clubs 4). There are several others, however, that disagree. A recent on-line poll by Golf Digest magazine revealed that 88 percent of those polled felt that they would play better with custom fitted clubs. Meanwhile, among 75 and 95 percent of all golfers, according to industry estimates, play with clubs that do not fit them properly(Stachura 2). Custom fit golf clubs have become an extremely hot issue in golf manufacturing. Many people are turning to custom fitted clubs because most commercial clubs are designed with the professional golfer in mind. The problem with commercial clubs is that 99 percent of golfers are not professionals(Hodenfield 2). Novice players often need added features like oversized heads, custom club weighting, and graphite shafts to help them improve their game. Custom golf club manufacturers offer a wide range of options to accommodate all golfers. Oversized heads are very popular to the amateur golfer because they are more forgiving to miss hits than traditional smaller heads. However, one critic disagrees. Armour, author of How to Play Your Best Golf All the Time says, the size and the looks of the club heads alone are psychological aids and make these clubs easier to use by the average player (41). Hodenfield states that oversized heads have anywhere from one to three inches more hitting surface which increases the sweet spot immensely ( Fit to Win 1). This is great news to the average player; however, while a bigger head is more forgiving, it also displaces more air as it moves through the swing, which decreases shot distance(Johnson, Questions on Buying Woods 2). In order to increase the size of golf club heads, lighter materials must be used to build them. In Questions on Buying Woods? , Johnson notes that titanium is quickly becoming the material of choice because it is extremely light and durable(3). Moreover, Nelson points out that golf balls come off a titanium head faster than with traditional materials, which helps to compensate for the loss of distance found with using oversized heads. Nelson continues by claming that a better player can use a titanium head to apply spin and control to a golf ball more effectively(1). Despite all the advantages of titanium heads, there is one major problem; titanium clubs are extremely expensive and are normally out of reach for the novice golfer. Ted Johnson, Golfweb equipment columnist, states in his article Questions on Buying Woods? : Titanium clubs debuted a year ago with five hundred dollar price tags. They have since come down some, but three hundred and seventy-five dollars for one club is still pretty steep. Until a new material comes along that offers similar performance for a better price, titanium is here to stay. (3)

It is up to the golfer to determine just how much titanium he wants in his bag as well as how much he can afford. Nelson said it best: While titanium definitely makes for lighter golf clubs, it also definitely makes for lighter wallets ( Titanium–In the Face of Irons 2). Custom weighting of the golf club can help the novice golf player improve his game(Johnson, Catching up on Technology 1). Using lighter materials allows golf club manufacturers to add weight in certain areas of the club which can improve performance. Many modern clubs employ perimeter weighting , which distributes the weight around the edges. This produces a larger sweet spot, which is why they produce straighter shoots with more distance (Johnson, Questions on buying a new set of irons? 2). In her book The Golf Handbook: The Complete Guide to the Greatest Game, Saunders describes that clubs with weight positioned in the back of the head, keeps the golf ball lower to the ground. Whereas clubs with weighting in the bottom of the head helps achieve height of the golf ball(33). Many golf equipment manufacturers make standard clubs with these options but most people do not know the difference. Stachura, author of Are You Playing the Wrong Clubs? states that the only way to know what clubs are best for you, is to get your swing analyzed by a teaching professional (2). The most important design feature one must consider when being fitted for a set of golf clubs is the type of shaft he needs(Hodenfield 3). Johnson states that it is imperative that one has good shafts that are matched to his swing speed ( Questions on Buying a New Set of Irons 3). Saunders explains that: There are four basic grades of shafts: stiff(S), regular men s(R), senior(A), and ladies(L). Most novice male players should use regular shafts and women should use ladies shafts. However, tall women golfers, who use a longer shaft, are advised to use senior shafts, along with senior men. (The Golf Handbook: The Complete Guide to the Greatest Game 32)It is very difficult for a beginner golfer to know what shaft he needs. The best way is to consult a pro shop. The majority of amateur golfers play with shafts that are too stiff. The result is a loss of distance. Because the shaft is so strong, most players cannot get the ball into the air at the proper trajectory(Johnson, Questions on Buying a New Set of Irons? 3). Saunders concurs with Johnson by stating that if the shaft is too stiff, the tendency is for poor height and shots finishing to the right. Saunders also adds that if the shaft is too weak and flexible, it may lead to erratic direction (32). So whether a person s shaft is too strong or too weak, he will have a problem with his game which can be improved with the proper equipment. Many people find that graphite shafts work better for them than steel. Graphite is a synthetic material that is much lighter that steel. Hodenfield explains that there are two benefits of graphite over steel shafts. First, is that light graphite shafts allow manufacturers to make shafts that are longer and still keep the club the same weight as traditional steel. A longer club makes for a larger arc in the swing, which generates more speed at impact, which in turn means more distance. The second benefit of a lighter graphite shaft is that a larger proportion of the club s overall weight is in the head. This creates more flex in the shaft, producing more kick at impact with the ball, which also means more distance(2). The biggest mistake that people make is buying golf clubs without doing any research and finding out exactly what they need. There are numerous variables which need to be accounted for before making the investment in new golf clubs. Johnson states that two golfers who are the same height may need sets that are fitted quite differently. It all depends on posture, hand position at address, length of arms, the size of hands and, finally, the swing itself ( Questions on Buying a New Set of Irons? 5). The best advice that any golfer can receive is before buying clubs, go to a pro shop and get professionally fitted.

Armour, Tommy. How to Play Best Golf All the Time. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1981 Eisenberg, Lee. Breaking Eighty: A Journey Through the Nine Fairways of Hell. New York: Hyperion, 1997Johnson, Ted Don t blame it on the clubs. Internet: Golfweb, 1997: 4.Johnson, Ted Golf Equipment: Catching up on Technology. Internet: Golfweb, 1997: 1.Johnson, Ted Questions on Buying a New Set of Irons? We have answers. Internet: Golfweb, 1996: 2,3,5.Johnson, Ted Questions on Buying Woods? We have answers. Internet: Golfweb, 1996: 2,3Hodenfield, Chris Fit to Win. Internet: Golf Digest Magazine, 1997: 1-3.Nelson, Nils Titanium–In the Face of Irons Internet: LINKS Magazine, 1997: 1,2.Saunders, Vivien. The Golf Handbook: The Complete Guide to the Greatest Game. Great Britain: Crown Trade Paperbacks, 1989Stachura, Mike Are You Playing the Wrong Clubs? Internet: Golf Digest Magazine, 1997: 2.