|
A change of grip to the correct size and material softness will give you a much better feel and therefore increase that
confidence which leads to reduced strokes - try it you will find it a good investment in your game.
A Brief History Of Grips
We all take slip-on rubber grips for granted today, but there was a time when every grip was a leather type wrap.
The time involved in installing leather grips was one of the more time consuming aspects of club assembly less than
50 years ago - and for those who use leather today, you sure know what I am talking about!
Way back in 1949, a man by the name of Thomas Fawick recognized that rubber might make a good material for a golf grip.
He began a company in Akron, Ohio, that was soon named Golf Pride. While the first rubber grips were moulded onto the shaft,
by 1953, slip-on grips had been developed, virtually revolutionizing the grip industry! When Tommy Bolt won the US Open
in 1958 with slip-on Golf Pride grips, the entire golf industry took notice and the decline of leather grips was a certainty.
Rubber slip-on grips were here to stay, just as they are today.
Rubber grips are used by at least 90% of all golfers today thanks to Mr. Fawick's vision half a century ago.
We salute him and the Golf Pride company for 50 years of grip production, leading the industry even today!
Without Mr. Fawick, we may all still be wrapping leather grips, a task not highly enjoyed by most club makers!
Matching A Wood Head To A Player's GameThere are three key elements of a golf club: the head, the shaft and the grip. By combining these three elements in the proper configuration, a club maker is able to create a golf club that best matches a player's abilities. Often the very first step and certainly one of the early steps in fitting, is the selection of which club head to choose for the player. Let's examine the design characteristics of some of the more popular wood heads and how they relate to specific playability. There are several key playability specifications in a wood head. These include face angle, loft, lie, weight, volume and centre of gravity. In addition to these, cosmetics must be considered. If the head does not "look right" to the golfer, there is little chance that he or she will hit it very well. While cosmetics do not relate directly to ball flight, psychologically they have a tremendous effect on how the player may hit the golf club. FACE ANGLE - Face angle is the direction that the face of the club points in relation to the target. A club face that points directly at the target is said to be square of 0º,one that points to the right of target is labelled as open or slice and one aligning to the left is known as closed or hook. A closed face may be helpful for a player who has slicing problems, while an open face may help the player who has directional problems to the left (vice versa for Left Handed players). Face angle is the single most important determinant of ball direction in woods. LOFT - Loft is defined as the angle of the clubface as related to the ground line. A higher loft will tend to produce higher ball flight. Higher lofts in woods are usually best suited to slower swinging players and to those who may seek accuracy over distance. You may be surprised that for most players whose swing speed is less than 85 miles per hour, a higher lofted driver may actually produce greater carry and more distance. LIE - Lie angle is the relationship between the shaft angle and the ground line. A club with a more upright lie may tend to tilt the club's face plane to the left of target (a potential help for golfers who tend to slice). A flatter lie will do the opposite. The trend in equipment manufacture is toward more upright lies in all clubs, not only woods.
|