Technology: Facts vs Marketing Hype
Anyone who has seriously played or followed the game of golf for any length of time
recognizes that the swing is the essential ingredient for improved ball striking.
Great ball strikers, past or present, are successful at delivering the clubhead to the
point of ball impact with routinized precision. The most consistent ball striking,
however, is done at the USGA Golf Headquarters where a robot, the 'Iron Byron', drives one
shot after another consistently over 250 yards, landing all shots within an area of a few
square yards.
Driving robots (there are many) have an important purpose beyond striking shots for
sightseers. For the golf ruling body the robot helps qualify golf balls and
equipment for play in important competitions like the United States Open. For
example, in the 'Rules of Golf' book there is an 'overall distance standard' and 'initial
velocity' rule which places limits as to how fast and how far the ball may go after being
struck by the robot. Likewise, the golf ruling body has club design specifications
which disallow extraordinary deviations from 'the traditional and customary form and
make', to quote from appendix II in the Rule Book. This doesn't mean one can't drive
farther than the robot because some people swing faster than the robot. What it does mean
is that 'miracle' balls and clubs are precluded from use.
So, at least for those who play the game by the Rules of Golf, there is a finite
limit as to how much 'equipment' can improve one's shotmaking; the competitive
emphasis of the game is to reward skill, not apparatus.
Marketing, or do you believe in magic?
Most people buy products based on perceptions created by Marketing. If a
pro golfer(s) uses certain apparatus to win an event, there is usually a groundswell of
buying generated for that equipment brand. While it is true that the equipment may have
contributed to the winner's performance, it is erroneous to conclude the equipment was the
'cause' for success. Had that same winner used clubs and balls of similar
specifications, with another brand name, alas, they probably still would have won.
Remember, under the Rules of golf, miracle apparatus isn't allowed, so the winning pro was
probably more 'skillful' and fortunate that week than his competitors.
A casepoint to remember is Bobby Jones winning Golf's Grand Slam in 1930.
Steel shafts had been out for at least 10 years and were clearly technologically superior
to wood shafts. In fact, many pundits were quoted saying they thought that steel golf
shafts might obsolesce many of the great golf courses of the day. However superior steel
was and proved to be in the future, Jones won the Slam with his relatively inferior
hickory wood shafts. It goes to show that playing better has more to do with skill than
apparatus.
When you hear of someone miraculously hitting the ball 30 yards further
off the tee, or straightening out their irons, or making a lot more 4 foot putts, this is
usually explained by the person making a fundamental stroke change or having equipment
that better 'fits' than that used prior. Too often the golfer gives up on his existing
equipment yielding to the 'other is better' equipment change phenomena when they first
should have tried to correct a fundamental swing flaw or get equipment more suited to
their swing dynamics. If the light bulb goes out in the hallway, don't rewire the
closet or reset the circuit breaker first; try changing the lightbulb; it may be the
better solution and cost a lot less to implement.
Physics
Most golfers want to hit their drives farther. And distance depends on how fast the club is
moving at impact with the ball. Physics governs how the ball reacts at this impact.
Getting the clubhead to the correct point, on the right path, at the precise split second
is a 'swing' issue. But assume that a spring loaded slingshot is used to deliver the
head to the ball. Under this assumption, there is no club shaft or golf swing. In
fact, the slingshot is the clearest way to think about impact since the clubhead at impact
is 'free wheeling' relative to the shaft i.e. the connection to the shaft at impact is not
important. So given a clubhead with a certain weight, sweet spot position, face hardness,
speed and loft a given ball will be carried a consistently repeatable number of yards.
Consequently, for shots hit squarely, there isn't much of a distance variation from a
clubhead built 50 years ago than a high tech one of today, if the heads were matched to
these same characteristics. Besides, with the Rules of Golf limiting the initial ball
speed at impact to 255 feet per second there just isn't much more room for club designers
to legally further distance even if a miracle alloy or design was invented.
Where club technology has really helped the average golfer is with
'un'square hits. Making weight distributed heads for irons, woods, and even the
putter has allowed the average hitter to produce more accurate outcomes on off-center
hits. Thanks to new lightweight materials and manufacturing processes the heads have
also increased in volume giving the player more room on the face to make an effective
mishit.
In addition, lightweight shafts attached to these to newer designed heads
has enabled clubhead speeds to increase translating to more distance.
Club specifications simplified
There are dozens of club specifications which relate to the shaft, clubhead, grip, and
the overall finished club. A number of these are described under the following topics:
Club Weight
Shaft Flex
Driver Loft
Irons Complexity
Women's Specifications
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