The first thing on my list of things to do (and it’s a long list) is to make sure that all of the things I can control I do. Makes sense doesn’t it? Let’s leave as little to chance as possible.
First things First : EQUIPMENT
Can I make changes that will benefit my ability to score? Can I make changes that will make me more comfortable out on the course? Well, with a little lot of help we’re going to find out.
STOP ONE
Checked into The Golf Performance Center at Whistle Bear for a more serious look at the long & short of it – my Driver & Putter.
Optimize, Optimize, Optimize
First of all, like many of you I’ll presume, I am comfortable with my current Driver (even though I was quickly informed it is five generations removed) and it probably stems from the fact that I am a visual ‘feel’ type player – I need things to fit my eye more than they need fit my hands. Being comfortable with my equipment equals confidence, but comfort is no longer good enough — Let’s get things optimized.
Enter Mike Skimson (my ‘guru-fitter’) who immediately suggested we we stay in the same ‘family’ or appearance of club. Remember, I am a visual type player and the look and feel of the clubs Mike placed in my hands did not seem that much different from my trusted Titleist 983k.
It should also be noted that with the technology available today and the myriad of options that all manufacturers are offering pretty much any club / shaft combination can be optimized to suit any individual’s swing and or personal preferences. So decide what you like, then visit a fitting facility to have an expert make sure that the head / shaft / weight / etc. options are ‘fitted’ to your specs.
Now, I know the techno is out there. In the golf media we get to see it all the time and in some ways tend to get over inundated with it to be honest. Journalists can write about it and attempt to ‘talk’ to the masses, but the only way to actually appreciate it is to self apply it and decide to make it work for your swing, your game, your needs. This is the excercise I am going through and it should serve me better than paying attention to what may or may not be on somebody else’s hot list.
Ok. Let’s do it. Out with the old and in with the new.
One tee. One ball. One swing. The difference? 20 yards of extra carry. I just found 20, insert superlative expletive, yards. The machine provided the stats, the range provided the proof.
One swing does not the answer make. There are far too many factors at play here. So we continued to tee up ball after ball after ball and made I am going to guess 10 or so shaft / head combination changes.
Eventually, I was beginning to ‘groove’ things so we determined it was time to stop. (groove by the way is simply making swing compensations for the way I reacted to each set-up – which translates into me making the changes when it should be the other way around – keep it in mind when testing equipment)
SUMMARY OF MY DRIVER FITTING ANALYSIS
An analysis of my Driver Fitting
Next Step : The Full Swing
I have also visited with Clublink Academy’s Sean Casey, one of the best instructors in the business, who tells me that he believes I have the potential to be a ‘scratch’ golfer one day with the right amount of work and dedication. But, before we get waaaay ahead of ourselves, Sean already has me working on my ‘sway’. [MORE]
