Upcoming Equipment Experimentation

Next week I will be playing my qualifier for the Florida state amateur at Metrowest. If I qualify, the state amateur match-play championship will be from August 9 thru the 12th. If I don’t qualify, I will likely try out for the state mid-amateur, which doesn’t take place until October (qualifier in September).

With that, I have some upcoming experiments I want to try with equipment.



First, I am in the process of being fitted for TrueAim. I should have a review of their product in the next week or so. I do plan on using their product on my driver for the qualifier as so far, so good. I’m still tweaking the decals on the driver and now want to try it with my 3-wood.



I am also going to experiment with a driver that will optimize carry distance. I will do this by altering the loft of the driver. I’m thinking that a 12° loft or so could optimize carry distance with the same shaft, shaft length, etc. I could then use this in several different situations, like on soft, wet courses or downwind tee shots and since I can already hit my 10° loft driver off the deck well, I can still use the 12° off the deck as my ‘3-wood.’



I’m also interested in trying a belly putter. Statistically, the Tour really hasn’t seen a big improvement in golfers switching to the belly putter. However, we have seen over time golfers greatly improve their putting going to the long putter. But, the long putter has a much larger ‘sample size’ than the belly putter. Personally, I like the idea of being able to ‘automate’ your stroke a little more with the belly putter. I think if you can get the aim down, the feel for the putter and know how to read greens, there’s no reason to not greatly improve. I think the biggie for me is finding a belly putter that I can aim well. I will have to get together with Edel Golf and see what they are doing in this area of putters.



I’m also interested in experimenting with a graphite iron shaft. My thinking here is that with what we know about shaft bend profiles along with MOI matching, I don’t foresee any reason why we cannot have a graphite shaft that is the same MOI and launches the ball just like steel shaft and we don’t have to add length to the club either. The advantages would be the potential for a lighter static weight, which could add clubhead speed along with the vibration dampening attributes that graphite shafts have which can be more friendly on the hands and wrists. The goal here is simple, if I can hit graphite 1-2 clubs longer, but keep the trajectory, accuracy and consistency the same it may be worth the extra dollars to shoot lower scores and better avoid potential injury.

I will experiment with the Wishon Black Series graphite iron shaft. This shaft weights 85 grams compared to the Wishon Stepless Steel (which is performing great) at 115 grams. My only concern is I may wind up having to add too much weight to the head in order to match the MOI. So I will experiment with a 6-iron and see how it works from there.





3JACK

Mis-Hits and Ball Flight Video w/John Graham

Here’s a great video done by 3Jack Top-20 Golf Instructor, John Graham, showing how ball flight can sometimes be deceptive it what is actually going on at impact.


One thing…1-dimple on a golf ball is supposed to be roughly 0.14 inches. In the video, Graham clearly can tell that he hit the ball off the toe. He estimates that he missed the sweetspot by about ½-inch. Now remember, the sweetspot is about the size of a needle point. It is NOT an ‘area’ around the center of the club. It is extremely minute in size.

So when John misses by roughly ½-inch, he’s missing by roughly 3.5 dimples. Where ball flight can confuse golfers even more is when the golfer misses by less than 3.5 dimples because they tend to not even feel that mis-hit. It doesn’t mean you can’t hit great shots, but it can help explain some things more clearly about your swing and you can use that knowledge and work on your mechanics and/or change your equipment specs to start hitting the ball on the sweetspot. Of course, you could run into an issue of now hitting the ball on the sweetspot due to changing your specs, but hitting more inaccurate shots because your impact conditions are designed to hit that push-cut that John shows in the video.

In that sense, it’s much like fixing your aim in putting. One can certainly be a great putter despite mis-aiming their putter at address. But, it requires compensatory moves to consistently get that putter face pointing at the target at impact. And if they don’t, that can cause a myriad of other problems like hitting the ball harder or softer to get the ball into the cup. And from there, it can snowball into some awful putting.

Lastly, impact tape/spray is good to have and test out what is going on at impact from time to time. When I fit golfers for clubs, the last thing we fit is the lie angle.

The reason being is that there are many factors that go into fitting the lie angle that can alter where you strike the ball on the clubface. Typically we find the head, shaft and shaft length first. Then we figure out the MOI using a 6-iron and trying to find their approximate fitted lie angle for that 6-iron.

I’ve had golfers, including myself, mis-hit the 6-iron towards one part of the clubhead and start to think the club is too flat for them. But as we add weight and get their optimal MOI, they not only see their impact dispersion get smaller, but they start finding the sweetspot as well. So sometimes it’s not a lie angle issue, but a weight/MOI issue.

After we get the head, shaft, shaft length, grip and MOI fitted and I get the clubs, I then assemble the club and I instruct the customer to get the impact tape/spray out with each iron and hit 3-5 shots. The good part of the MOI fitting is that it will keep the impact dispersion small and in one area. So the golfer should not be too confused as to where they are striking the ball on the face. You won’t see them hit 3 shots towards the toe and 1 towards the heel. Generally if they are hitting a shot off the toe, they will now hit every shot off the toe. And we now know that they have to bend the lie angle upright to some degree.

I’ve also found that impact tape/spray is very helpful when you mis-hit a shot and miss the sweetspot low or high. Sometimes a shot can FEEL like a toe hit when instead you hit it up too high on the face, even off the heel.

So not only can a Trackman and some impact tape/spray help your swing, but it can help you find the right equipment for your game. You can find John at www.johngrahamgolf.com




3JACK

Ben Hogan's True Equipment Specifications

Recently, Jeff Martin over at www.jeffygolf.com, was able to get the measurements of Ben Hogan's irons from the USGA House. In particular a set of 1953 irons Hogan used and a ‘practice’ set that he also used. You can follow the thread at this link:

http://jeffygolf.com/showthread.php?398-Ben-Hogan-s-iron-specs-some-myths-busted&p=3967#post3967

His 1953 set had different lie angles than his ‘practice’ set. We don’t have the measurement of the 1953 iron lengths. However, I will assume that Hogan used the same length irons as his practice set.

Here’s a look at the lie angle specs:

1-iron: 54.6°
2-iron: 55.6°
3-iron: 57.2°
4-iron: not available
5-iron: 59.3°
6-iron: 60.2°
7-iron: 61.7°
8-iron: 61.7°
9-iron: 62.6°
PW: 62.5°
SW: not available

Here’s the lengths (based off the practice set):

1-iron: not available
2-iron: 38-1/2”
3-iron: 38-0”
4-iron: 37-1/2”
5-iron: 37-0”
6-iron: 36-3/8”
7-iron: 36-0”
8-iron: 35-3/8”
9-iron: 35-1/4”
PW: not available
SW: 34-7/8”

And here are the swingweights (based off the practice set):

1-iron: not available
2-iron: C8
3-iron: C7
4-iron: C7
5-iron: C9
6-iron: C8
7-iron: C8
8-iron: C7
9-iron: D2
PW: not available
SW: D5




So, what do we see?

His clubs were very short in length. Hogan was only about 5’6” tall, but he had no problem with making his clubs rather short in length. Even back then, they were about ½” shorter than vintage iron standards.

His lie angles were fairly flat. But, we have to understand that for every ½” difference in shaft length. That equates to 1° in effective lie angle. So, Hogan’s clubs with relation to today’s standard were more like this (rough approximation):

1-iron: 7° flat
2-iron: 6° flat
3-iron: 5.5° flat
4-iron: 5.5° flat
5-iron: 4° flat
6-iron: 4° flat
7-iron: 3° flat
8-iron: 3.5° flat
9-iron: 2.5° flat
PW: 3° flat
SW: 1.5° flat

His clubs also had a very light swingweight to them. However, we would need to get a better idea of the total weight of the club and the MOI to understand more. That’s part of the problem with swingweight, Hogan may have had very heavy static weight clubs that would be difficult to swing with any real velocity. But if the weight was primarily located towards the butt end of the club, the swingweight will drop.

I have been told by people who have hit his irons how stiff and difficult they were to hit. Give this information, I think it is within reason that Hogan may have put an inordinate amount of weight on the butt end of his clubs.

Once again, thanks to Jeff Martin and the USGA people for putting this together.










3JACK

3Jack Golf's PGA Tour Rundown - Week 28

Zach Johnson wins the John Deere Classic:



Here’s how my John Deere Classic picks finished, with me correctly predicting my 4th winner this year in Johnson:

Zach Johnson: 12/1 (1st)
Ryan Palmer: 25/1 (Missed Cut)
Brendon de Jonge: 33/1 (19th)
John Senden: 40/1 (4th)
Carl Pettersson: 40/1 (36th)
Ken Duke: 50/1 (Missed Cut)
Daniel Summerhays: 66/1 (Missed Cut)
Brian Davis: 66/1 (Missed Cut)
Kevin Stadler: 80/1 (Missed Cut)

Value Pick: Chris Stroud-100/1 (68th)


Here are the updated rankings:


ADVANCED TOTAL DRIVING



1. Bubba Watson
2. Boo Weekley
3. John Rollins
4. Charlie Beljan
5. Hunter Mahan
6. Jason Dufner
7. Graham DeLaet
8. Kyle Stanley
9. Roberto Castro
10. Brandt Jobe


179. Aaron Baddeley
180. Tommy Biershenk
181. Matt Bettencourt
182. Nick O'Hern
183. Stephen Gangluff
184. Tom Pernice Jr.
185. Derek Lamely
186. Michael Bradley
187. Ryuji Imada
188. Joe Ogilvie

Most Improved: Steve Wheatcroft
Biggest Decline: Colt Knost

PUTTS GAINED (VIA PGATOUR.COM)

1. Zach Johnson
2. Aaron Baddeley
3. Ben Curtis
4. Luke Donald
5. Brandt Snedeker
6. Martin Flores
7. Bo Van Pelt
8. Bryce Molder
9. Derek Lamely
10. Carl Pettersson
10. James Driscoll


179. Greg Owen
180. Kris Blanks
181. D.J. Trahan
182. Ricky Barnes
183. Vijay Singh
184. Kyle Stanley
185. Alexandre Rocha
186. Scott Brown
187. Scott Stallings
188. Boo Weekley

Most Improved: Troy Matteson
Biggest Decline: Edward Loar

SHORT GAME PLAY

1. Ian Poulter
2. Jerry Kelly
3. Jason Dufner
4. K.J. Choi
5. Justin Rose
6. Bubba Watson
7. Brian Gay
8. Jonas Blixt
9. Bob Estes
10. Greg Owen

179. Gary Woodland
180. Hunter Mahan
181. Kyle Reifers
182. Michael Thompson
183. Steve Wheatcroft
184. Sang-Moon Bae
185. Harris English
186. Billy Horschel
187. Cameron Beckman
188. Edward Loar

Most Improved: Jamie Lovemark
Biggest Decline: Edward Loar


BIRDIE ZONE PLAY



1. Steve Stricker
2. Padraig Harrington
3. Jason Bohn
4. Garth Mulroy
5. Henrik Stenson
6. Webb Simpson
7. Brendon de Jonge
8. Jeff Maggert
9. Sergio Garcia
10. Roland Thatcher


179. Jhonattan Vegas
180. Jonas Blixt
181. D.J. Trahan
182. Scott Stallings
183. Aaron Baddeley
184. Brandt Jobe
185. Miguel Angel Carballo
186. Billy Hurley III
187. Edward Loar
188. Jamie Lovemark

Most Improved: Ben Crane
Biggest Decline: Nathan Green

SAFE ZONE PLAY



1. Lee Westwood
2. Graeme McDowell
3. Nick O'Hern
4. Ian Poulter
5. Gavin Coles
6. Webb Simpson
7. Jason Dufner
8. Ted Potter, Jr.
9. Louis Oosthuizen
10. Boo Weekley


179. Charles Howell III
180. Edward Loar
181. Troy Kelly
182. Henrik Stenson
183. Scott Stallings
184. J.J. Killeen
185. Jamie Lovemark
186. Matt Jones
187. Briny Baird
188. Mark Anderson

Most Improved: Marco Dawson
Biggest Decline: Zach Johnson



DANGER ZONE



1. Steve Stricker
2. Chad Campbell
3. Bubba Watson
4. Bo Van Pelt
5. Justin Rose
6. Louis Oosthuizen
7. Daniel Summerhays
8. Webb Simpson
9. John Senden
10. Brandt Jobe


179. Lee Westwood
180. Sung Kang
181. Ted Potter, Jr.
182. Sang-Moon Bae
183. J.J. Killeen
184. Stephen Gangluff
185. Edward Loar
186. Joe Ogilvie
187. Derek Lamely
188. Nick O'Hern

Most Improved: Scott Brown
Biggest Decline: Garth Mulroy





3JACK

Tommy Two Gloves, a Statistical Analysis

One of the players fighting for his Tour card as we head down the stretch in Tommy ‘Two Gloves’ Gainey. He is currently ranked 104th on the Money List and even more disconcerting, 170th in Adjusted Scoring Average. Last year he finished 35th on the Money List and 88th in Adjusted Scoring Average.

In fact, here’s what I wrote about Gainey in the 2011 Pro Golf Synopsis:

Quote:

There are some similarities between Gainey and (Rickie) Fowler and as I stated before, I find them to be two of the best players without a PGA Tour victory.

So, what’s going on with ‘Two Gloves?’ First, let’s take a look at his rankings:

Category……………………2012………..........…2011

Advanced Total Driving…….111…………………..77

Putts Gained.……………….110…………………..78

Short Game Play……………162………………….159

Birdie Zone…………………77………………….151

Safe Zone…………………146………………….71

Danger Zone………………78…………………...64

There are some metrics that stand out, but I should go over them before we delve further.

I’m sure some will see the dip in Putts Gained, but Putts Gained is by far and away the most ‘volatile’ metric I use. Meaning, it can change dramatically from one week to the next. Last week Gainey was ranked 99th and now he’s 110th. If he has a pretty good tourney with the flatstick, he can easily be at the ranking he was last season. I would be more concerned if the difference in ranking was 50 points or more at this time of the year. But since it’s still pretty close, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.

While I’m a big believer in the Danger Zone play for Tour players, the difference between 78th and 64th would only equate to a minute difference in Adjusted Scoring Average and money earned. So I wouldn’t read too much into that at the moment.

What’s interesting though are his rankings in Advanced Total Driving, Birdie Zone and Safe Zone play.

He’s greatly improved in Birdie Zone play (shots from 75-125 yards). Last year it was a weak spot for him and I believe during the offseason he worked on shots from this distance. It’s a real common theme from the Tour players, caddies and coaches I’ve worked with, each of them talk about wanting to be an elite wedge player. But as Gainey shows, it’s often a very overrated part of the game, something I pointed out in 2011 Pro Golf Synopsis.

There are 2 big reasons for Birdie Zone shots being overrated.

1. The penalty for a ‘bad’ shot by a Tour player is rather small and the best Birdie Zone players only average hitting the shot to about 16 feet, where the make percentage is still fairly low. In other words, put the best vs. the worst Birdie Zone players together and the difference in their final scores will be smaller than Safe Zone and Danger Zone shots.

2. It’s the least frequently hit Zone shot per round on Tour.

The Safe Zone (shots from 125-175 yards) is the most frequently hit zone on Tour. However, it falls behind the Danger Zone in terms of importance because the Danger Zone is the zone that is the 2nd most frequently visited by Tour players and the penalty is much more severe.

So in terms of shot attempts per round, it goes in order of:

1. Safe Zone
2. Danger Zone
3. Birdie Zone

And there’s a sizeable drop-off in frequency between Danger Zone and Birdie Zone.

In terms of differences in Expected Score values from best to worst, it goes:

1. Danger Zone
2. Safe Zone
3. Birdie Zone

And of course, as far as the correlation to Adjusted Scoring average, it also goes:

1. Danger Zone
2. Safe Zone
3. Birdie Zone




SAFE ZONE PROFILES

There is a correlation between a player’s percentage of shots in the Safe Zone that come from the fairway or tee box and their Safe Zone proficiency. With ‘bomb and gouging’ being all of the rage, the Tour still shows that to a degree, hitting fairways is important. Particularly when it comes to how well you will play from the Safe Zone.

With that, golfers who are struggling from the Safe Zone tend to run into 1 or 2 areas:

1. Hitting too high of a percentage of their shots in the Safe Zone from the rough (instead of fairway or tee box).

2. Just a lack of skill of hitting those shots regardless if they are from the fairway/tee box or the rough.


ADVANCED TOTAL DRIVING

In Gainey’s case, he’s gone from a player who was more or less ‘above average’ off the tee in 2011 and is now ‘below average’ off the tee this season. My Advanced Total Driving metric is a proprietary formula that factors in:

1. Driving Distance
2. Fairway Percentage
3. Average Distance from Edge of Fairway on tee shots that wind up in the rough.

Driving Distance – Gainey went from 46th in driving distance last year (296.7 yards) to 25th in driving distance this year (298.6 yards). When looking at driving distance, it’s better to look at the *ranking* than the yardage to get a more accurate idea of the player’s driving distance. I like to think of this along the same lines as Putts Gained, while an improvement of 21 spots on the ranking is better than no improvement, I would have to see an improvement of 50+ spots to really see a difference.

Fairway Percentage – Here’s where we start seeing a difference as Gainey went from hitting 58.97% (130th) in 2011 to 53.47% (160th) in 2012. Last year he hit 822 fairways (out of 1,394 attempts). This year he would be on pace to hit 745 fairways. In a world where the difference in 100 ranking spots in Scoring Average can be less than 1 stroke, the drop in fairways hit is hurting Gainey’s game.

Distance To Edge of Fairway – Here’s where we see an even bigger discrepancy as Gainey has gone from 92nd in this metric to 150th.

And having looked at his radar metrics (club speed, ball speed, smash factor, launch angle, spin, etc), they are virtually identical. In essence, he’s just more wild with the driver this year.

So that explains the dip in his Advanced Total Driving metric, but does it explain his Safe Zone woes?

Not exactly.

He’s certainly hitting a lower percentage of his Safe Zone shots from the fairway or tee box. In 2011, 73.5% of his Safe Zone shots came from the fairway or tee box. That was 151st highest percentage on Tour. But this year he is hitting 69.0% of his Safe Zone shots from the fairway or tee box, 171st on Tour.

And here’s a look at his rankings from the Safe Zone distances out of the rough and the fairway/tee box:

Distance…........……2011………..2012

125-150 (rgh)………35……………91

125-150 (fwy)………33…………..112


150-175 (rgh)………115………….150

150-175 (fwy)………63…………….83

So part of Gainey’s Safe Zone issues are also flat out worse execution from the Safe Zone. He’s seen a massive drop-off in his fairway shots from 125-150 yards and a drop-off in his shots from the fairway at 150-175 yards.

Still, his rough play is even more worrisome and he’s had even bigger declines from that area. I think that what is happening is he’s hitting more shots off the grid and further away from the fairway and he’s having more difficulty from the rough and hitting more shots from the rough, which is not a good combination.

IMO, the way to secure his Tour card for this season is to focus on the driving accuracy and consistency. That will prevent those big number scores that can make him miss cuts, not make any money and put him behind the 8-ball. It will also help with his proficiency from the Safe Zone and continue to help him from the Danger Zone, which he’s shown to be fairly well skilled at. But it does go to show you how you misleading the idea of improving wedge play can be to a player’s game.








3JACK

Golf Shaft Flex Distortion Video

Here's a good video on how a camera can distort the visual of the flexing of the golf shaft when it's being swung.







3JACK

3Jack Golf's PGA Tour Rundown - Week 27

Ted Potter, Jr. gets his first PGA Tour victory at the Greenbrier.



Here’s how my picks for the Greenbrier finished:

Tiger Woods: 7/2 (Missed Cut)
Keegan Bradley: 35/1 (t-46th)
Dustin Johnson: 20/1 (t-33rd)
Greg Owen: 66/1 (Missed Cut)
Charley Hoffman: 66/1 (t-67th)
Pat Perez: 50/1 (t-27th)
Boo Weekley: 125/1 (Missed Cut)
Scott Piercy: 125/1 (t-12th)
Roberto Castro: 150/1 (t-7th)

Value Pick: Chris Couch: 200/1 (t-52nd)


Here's my picks for the John Deere Classic:

Zach Johnson: 12/1
Ryan Palmer: 25/1
Brendon de Jonge: 33/1
John Senden: 40/1
Carl Pettersson: 40/1
Ken Duke: 50/1
Daniel Summerhays: 66/1
Brian Davis: 66/1
Kevin Stadler: 80/1

Value Pick: Chris Stroud-100/1

ADVANCED TOTAL DRIVING



1. Bubba Watson
2. John Rollins
3. Boo Weekley
4. Hunter Mahan
5. Jason Dufner
6. Graham DeLaet
7. Rory McIlroy
8. Roberto Castro
9. Brandt Jobe
10. Charlie Beljan


175. Billy Hurley III
176. Tommy Biershenk
177. Nick O'Hern
178. Tom Pernice Jr.
179. Stephen Gangluff
180. Derek Lamely
181. Matt Bettencourt
182. Michael Bradley
183. Joe Ogilvie
184. Ryuji Imada

Most Improved: Charlie Beljan
Biggest Decline: Nathan Green


PUTTS GAINED (VIA PGATOUR.COM)

1. Aaron Baddeley
2. Ben Curtis
3. Luke Donald
4. Brandt Snedeker
5. Zach Johnson
6. Bo Van Pelt
7. Derek Lamely
8. Bryce Molder
9. Martin Flores
10. Ryan Palmer


175. Heath Slocum
176. Greg Owen
177. Kris Blanks
178. Vijay Singh
179. Chris Kirk
180. Ricky Barnes
181. Scott Stallings
182. Kyle Stanley
183. Scott Brown
184. Boo Weekley

Most Improved: Troy Kelly
Biggest Decline: Cameron Beckman


SHORT GAME PLAY

1. Ian Poulter
2. Rory McIlroy
3. Jason Dufner
4. Kevin Kisner
5. Jerry Kelly
6. Brian Gay
7. Justin Rose
8. Bubba Watson
9. K.J. Choi
10. Jonas Blixt


175. Bobby Gates
176. Edward Loar
177. Charlie Beljan
178. Cameron Beckman
179. Gary Woodland
180. Hunter Mahan
181. Ryan Moore
182. Steve Wheatcroft
183. Michael Thompson
184. Harris English

Most Improved: Charlie Beljan
Biggest Decline: Steve Stricker

BIRDIE ZONE PLAY



1. Steve Stricker
2. Padraig Harrington
3. Jeff Maggert
4. Henrik Stenson
5. Webb Simpson
6. Jason Bohn
7. Brendon de Jonge
8. Garth Mulroy
9. Sergio Garcia
10. Bo Van Pelt

175. Jonas Blixt
176. Jhonattan Vegas
177. D.J. Trahan
178. Scott Stallings
179. Aaron Baddeley
180. Brandt Jobe
181. Miguel Angel Carballo
182. Billy Hurley III
183. Edward Loar
184. Jamie Lovemark

Most Improved: Sang Moon Bae
Biggest Decline: Patrick Sheehan


SAFE ZONE PLAY



1. Lee Westwood
2. Graeme McDowell
3. Ian Poulter
4. Nick O'Hern
5. Gavin Coles
6. Webb Simpson
7. Jason Dufner
8. Louis Oosthuizen
9. Bud Cauley
10. Robert Allenby

175. Charles Howell III
176. Tom Gillis
177. Scott Stallings
178. Henrik Stenson
179. Troy Kelly
180. Edward Loar
181. J.J. Killeen
182. Jamie Lovemark
183. Briny Baird
184. Mark Anderson

Most Improved: Scott Brown
Biggest Decline: Nathan Green

DANGER ZONE PLAY



1. Bubba Watson
2. Steve Stricker
3. Bo Van Pelt
4. Chad Campbell
5. Justin Rose
6. Louis Oosthuizen
7. Webb Simpson
8. Daniel Summerhays
9. Brandt Jobe
10. Gary Woodland


175. Rocco Mediate
176. Sang-Moon Bae
177. Sung Kang
178. Edward Loar
179. Stephen Gangluff
180. Ted Potter, Jr.
181. J.J. Killeen
182. Joe Ogilvie
183. Derek Lamely
184. Nick O'Hern

Most Improved: Richard H. Lee
Biggest Decline: Marco Dawson





3JACK