Monday, May 20, 2013

3Jack Golf's First Annual Top-30 Clubfitter list

Below is my first annual Top Clubfitter list. As with my Top Instructor lists, this is hardly a scientific process. And at the end of the day it is judged by the clubfitters ability to best fit the equipment to the customer. Technical expertise weighs heavily into the selection process. I hope to be able to expand the list for years to come, but will strive keep the list to only the very best in the clubfitting business.


The list is put in alphabetical (last name) order:

Mike Bednarcik
http://customclubsoffrederick.com
Ijamsville MD


Gene Bonk
www.adsgolf.com
San Marcos, CA


Keith Chatham
www.precisionfitgolf.com
Kerrville, TX


Greg Courtnay
Ionia, MI
www.courtnaysgolf.com


Don Coyle
www.countryacresgolf.com
Mt. Vernon, IL




Chris Darakdjian
www.pureimpactgolfstudio.com
Commerce Township, MI


Monte Doherty
dohertym001@yahoo.com


John Dranschak
www.deadsolidperfectgolfclubs.com
Sunbury, OH




Doc Griffin
www.docgriffingolf.com
Columbia, SC


Dave Hanson
www.hansonsgolf.com
Fort Dodge, IA


Larry Harding
http://www.lrhgolf.com
Ellicott City, MD


Mike Hawton
www.southwestgolfguru.com
Tiverton, UK


Dave Hohnke
hohnke@bluemarble.net
Bloomington, IN


Rich Hurley
RichH@WesternPulp.com
Corvallis, OR


Martin Jones
www.appliedgolftechnology.co.uk
Fife, Scotland


Richard Kempton
www.theclubdoctors.co.uk
Kent, UK


Pat Kinsley
www.appliedgolftechnology.co.uk
Fife, Scotland


Jerry Lovell
www.customcraftedclubs.com
Port Saint Lucie, FL


Roy Nix \
www.mcnixgolf.com
Columbus, GA


Gordon Palmer
www.appliedgolftechnology.co.uk
Fife, Scotland


Ed Robertson
www.appliedgolftechnology.co.uk
Fife, Scotland




Russ Ryden
www.fit2score.com
Colleyville, TX


Frank Stranick
www.fsgolf.net
Gilbertsville, PA


Gary Tozer
www.aussiegolfcentre.com.au
Gateshead, NSW Australia


Bob Uebelhor
http://ubiegolf.com
Indianapolis, IN


Dana Upshaw
dana@danagolf.com
Warner Robbins, GA


Bill Weitzel
www.conquestcustomgolf.com
Liberty Township, OH


Dan Wilt
www.linktothelinks.com
Columbia, TN




Tom Wishon
www.wishongolf.com
Durango, CO


Tony Wright
http://gameimprovementgolf.com
Oak Ridge, TN





3JACK

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Short Game Trajectory Ladder with Mario Bevilacqua

Here's a couple of videos discussing 'trajectory ladders' in the short game with Mario Bevilacqua.

In my junior golf days, I used to be very good with pitch shots, lobs, flops, etc. In my college days I became quite exceptional at it...likely due to me missing so many greens

Now I am not as adept as I once was because between the wirey Bermuda turf and wind in Florida, you have to play a lower trajectory.

But, IMO, short game shots...even chips...really start with getting the right trajectory on the ball. And when I was in my junior golf and collegiate golf days, trajectory is what I primarily focused on.

I loathe the words 'creativity' and 'imagination' around the greens. I always felt it was about visualization and being able to 'feel' the shot required based off the visualization of the trajectory needed.

I think these videos go a ways in helping explaining that











3JACK

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

New GolfWRX Column: Tiger's Game is Statistically Primed for the US Open

Here are my picks for the Byron Nelson:

Keegan Bradley: 18/1
Dustin Johnson: 20/1
Ryan Palmer: 22/1
Ben Crane: 35/1
Jeff Overton: 35/1
Freddie Jacobson: 40/1
Charley Hoffman: 50/1
Harris English: 50/1
Casey Wittenberg: 125/1

Value Pick: Morgan Hoffmann 150/1



When I made my Masters picks a month ago, I mentioned how conservatively Tiger Woods has been playing off the tee. I felt that would work against him at Augusta, where distance usually takes reign over the course. However, I feel that this conservative strategy and style of play will have him primed for a U.S. Open victory at the shorter Merion Golf Club. And this was on display this past week at Sawgrass.

First, let’s go over a couple of key metrics that appear to mean the same thing, but are very different in what they describe.

Read More: http://www.golfwrx.com/87369/tiger-is-statistically-primed-for-the-u-s-open/

Monday, May 13, 2013

The Road to Golf Club Fitting Nirvana: Part VII

Part I: http://3jack.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-road-to-golf-club-fitting-nirvana.html
Part II: http://3jack.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-road-to-golf-club-fitting-nirvana_3.html
Part III: http://richie3jack.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=blog&action=display&thread=4180
Part IV: http://3jack.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-road-to-golf-club-fitting-nirvana_16.html
Part V: http://3jack.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-road-to-golf-club-fitting-nirvana_23.html
Part VI: http://3jack.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-road-to-golf-club-fitting-nirvana_29.html

In part VI, I assembled some of the new irons that I got from Wishon; the 575MMC model. This set is cavity back from 3-iron to the 6-iron and muscleback from the 7-iron thru the Pitching Wedge (and eventually the Gap Wedge).

First, I have had people ask why I am using Cavity Back in the 3 thru 6-irons despite being a proponent of the muscleback blade design.

The answer is that I wanted to experiment with these clubs and I figured that since my ‘Danger Zone’ (shots from 175-225 yards) clubs are the 3-iron thru the 6-iron I wanted to be able to add higher trajectory on those shots if needed. My personal philosophy is that it is generally easier to hit the ball lower when needed from a swing mechanics perspective than it is to hit the ball higher than normal. Thus, get a head design that is more suited for higher launch which is what a cavity back design does.

The 575MMC, even in cavity back, has a smaller head design than my muscleback blades 555M models. Thus it has nothing to do with ‘forgiveness’, but all to do with being able to more easily hit higher trajectory windows.

I finished up the rest of the irons (4, 5, 8 and 9-irons). Here are the main specs with regards to each iron

CLICK TO ENLARGE



I highlighted a few key measurements in red. I will go over each of those highlighted, starting from left right.

DYNALITE GOLD SL SHAFT IN 4-IRON

One of the issues that Balance Index matching presents is regardless of what your optimal MOI Balance Index is, the longer irons will likely need a lighter shaft (conversely, short irons will need heavier shafts). If we need to raise the MOI Balance Index number, that means the shaft needs to get lighter. In the case of the 3-iron and the 4-iron, I needed to raise the MBI number.

The other issue is that MOI and Shaft Bend Profile take precedent over MBI. The shaft that had the closest Bend Profile and weighed less than the Wishon Stepless Steel shaft is True Temper’s Dynalite Gold SL

CLICK TO ENLARGE



What True Temper has done is they have made a lightweight shaft with a balance point more towards the tip. This allows the shaft to be lighter without losing a lot of heft for swingweight or MOI purposes. This also makes the ball fly higher, but I am fine with that in the 3 and 4-irons.

Unfortunately, I only had one Dynalite Gold SL shaft handy. I installed it in the 4-iron and I found that the Balance Index number needed to go lower which means that I needed to add some weight to the shaft. That is as much weight I could add to the shaft with lead tape and not go over the target MOI.


CLUB LENGTH DISCREPANCIES

I prefer to use 3/8” shaft increments instead of ½” increments. With my 555 irons, I used the 6-iron at 38” long as my baseline and went in 3/8” increments from there. However, I decided to use Wishon’s recommended 5-iron length of 38.5” based on his book 12 Myths That Could Wreck Your Game (pg. 22)

http://wishongolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/12mythsPDF.pdf

A problem occurred when I got to my 9-iron and Pitching Wedge. The total club MOI would be too high when I assembled the clubs. That is because the shafts were getting a bit too long at that point. Here are the differences between my current club lengths versus my old club lengths and ‘standard’ OEM club lengths



So had I stuck with the 3/8” increments, the 9-iron would have been 1 full inch longer than ‘standard.’ That’s a reason why the MOI was higher too high. I countered that by trimming an extra 3/8” off the butt end of the shaft and then could simply add lead tape to the shaft to get the MOI and the Balance Index where I wanted it.

RAW HEAD WEIGHT DISCREPANCIES (3-IRON VS. 4-IRON)

Wishon’s heads have a +/- 2 gram tolerance from spec. The 3-iron came in light (I had ordered the 3-iron head over a year ago). When I was ordering the rest of the irons, I had Wishon ‘hand pick’ the heaviest 4-iron head they had on hand. Thus, they hand picked a 248.8 gram head (spec is 246 grams).

From MOI and MBI, I know that generally we have to add either a hosel weight or lead tape to the heads of the long irons. By ordering a heavy head, this just means I would not need as heavy of a hosel weight or lead tape. I will probably do the same to the 3-iron in the future.


GRIP TAPE WEIGHT

Since the ‘shaft-grip’ combination has to generally be heavier for the shorter clubs so the clubhead feels lighter with relationship to the entire club; I tried to put the heavier grips on the shorter irons.

I use an air compressor to install my grips and it is extremely helpful for the MOI and MBI matching process. I typically put 2-wraps of blue painters tape under the grip to ‘build them up’ a little.

When I dry installed my 5-iron I found that the Balance Index was a little too low, meaning I needed a little lighter weight in the ‘shaft-grip.’ I simply used the calculator and found that if I used 1 wrap of tape instead of 2 wraps, it would reduce the tape weight by 1.1 grams and that would allow me to reach my target MBI of 38.0 to 42.0. I can hardly tell the difference in 1 less wrap of tape.


3-IRON MOI AND BALANCE INDEX

I could not get the 3-iron’s MOI and MBI within the targeted range due to the Wishon shaft being too heavy. In order to counter that, I need to either find a lighter trimmed Wishon Stepless shaft which is a completely guessing process…or install another Dynalite Gold SL shaft. However, I have hit the 3-iron very well so far outside of some occasional pulls which may be a lie angle issue.

I plan on looking at this in the future and possibly re-assembling the 3-iron.

So far I’m happy with the performance and the feel of the entire set of irons. Time will tell how the yardage gapping performs and if I feel I should try a different 3-iron. In part VIII, I will do my Hybrid.







3JACK

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Impact and Post Impact: Amateurs vs. Pros

Neat little video from the PGA Tour showing the differences at impact and post-impact of the pros versus the amateurs.








3JACK

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

3Jack Golf's PGA Tour Rundown - Week 18

Derek Ernst with the most shocking victory of the season:



Here's how my Quail Hollow picks finished:

Rickie Fowler: 22/1 (t-73rd)
D.A. Points: 40/1 (t-16th)
Lucas Glover: 50/1 (t-27th)
Ryan Moore: 66/1 (t-6th)
Kevin Stadler: 75/1 (t-73rd)
Ted Potter, Jr.: 150/1 (t-32nd)
Brendan Steele: 150/1 (MC)
Rickie Barnes: 175/1 (MC)
Jason Kokrak: 175/1 (t-50th)

Value Pick: Peter Tomasulo 250/1 (t-50th)


Here are my picks for the The Players:

Justin Rose: 25/1
Lee Westwood: 25/1
Graeme McDowell: 33/1
Brandt Snedeker: 40/1
Billy Horschel: 40/1
Nick Watney: 40/1
Jim Furyk: 50/1
Keegan Bradley: 50/1
Tim Clark: 66/1

Value Pick: Hunter Mahan 66/1


DRIVING EFFECTIVENESS



1. Stenson, Henrik
2. Rose, Justin
3. Mahan, Hunter
4. Bradley, Keegan
5. Weekley, Boo
6. DeLaet, Graham
7. Duke, Ken
8. Clark, Tim
9. Dufner, Jason
10. Horschel, Billy


181. Allenby, Robert
182. Curtis, Ben
183. Kelly, Troy
184. Bradley, Michael
185. Marino, Steve
186. Herron, Tim
187. Wittenberg, Casey
188. Baddeley, Aaron
189. Na, Kevin
190. Weir, Mike



BIRDIE ZONE



1. Chappell, Kevin
2. Gates, Bobby
3. Wi, Charlie
4. Choi, K.J.
5. Haley II, Paul
6. Norlander, Henrik
7. Castro, Roberto
8. Molder, Bryce
9. Clark, Tim
10. Taylor, Vaughn


181. McDowell, Graeme
182. Piercy, Scott
183. Kelly, Troy
184. Romero, Andres
185. Jones, Matt
186. Thompson, Michael
187. Herman, Jim
188. Poulter, Ian
189. Blixt, Jonas
190. Kaymer, Martin



SAFE ZONE



1. Van Pelt, Bo
2. Schwartzel, Charl
3. Fisher, Ross
4. Curtis, Ben
5. Mickelson, Phil
6. Sabbatini, Rory
7. Kirk, Chris
8. Karlsson, Robert
9. Stadler, Kevin
10. Harrington, Padraig


181. Parnevik, Jesper
182. Marino, Steve
183. Ridings, Tag
184. Presnell, Alistair
185. Klauk, Jeff
186. Gove, Jeff
187. Senden, John
188. Ernst, Derek
189. Day, Jason
190. Herman, Jim


DANGER ZONE



1. Garrigus, Robert
2. McIlroy, Rory
3. Snyder III, Joey
4. Leishman, Marc
5. Palmer, Ryan
6. Westwood, Lee
7. Watney, Nick
8. Villegas, Camilo
9. Furyk, Jim
10. Colsaerts, Nicolas


181. Claxton, Will
182. Klauk, Jeff
183. Potter, Jr., Ted
184. Kelly, Troy
185. Meierdierks, Eric
186. Hanson, Peter
187. Na, Kevin
188. Watkins, Aaron
189. Taylor, Vaughn
190. Marino, Steve


SHORT GAME PLAY

1. Stenson, Henrik
2. McDowell, Graeme
3. Leonard, Justin
4. Jones, Matt
5. Gove, Jeff
6. Furyk, Jim
7. Els, Ernie
8. Hoffmann, Morgan
9. Kelly, Jerry
10. Immelman, Trevor


181. Norlander, Henrik
182. Yang, Y.E.
183. Sabbatini, Rory
184. Cabrera, Angel
185. Lee, Richard
186. Fisher, Ross
187. Hoffman, Charley
188. McNeill, George
189. Garrigus, Robert
190. Short, Jr., Wes


PUTTS GAINED

1. Woods, Tiger
2. Molder, Bryce
3. Baddeley, Aaron
4. Jacobson, Freddie
5. Chalmers, Greg
6. McDowell, Graeme
7. Na, Kevin
8. Ames, Stephen
9. Kirk, Chris
10. Garcia, Sergio


181. Colsaerts, Nicolas
182. Sabbatini, Rory
183. Fisher, Ross
184. Stanley, Kyle
185. Mathis, David
186. Tomasulo, Peter
187. Maggert, Jeff
188. Claxton, Will
189. Castro, Roberto
190. Meierdierks, Eric







3JACK

Thursday, May 2, 2013