Breaking out some new technology

This is another blog about gear and specs. I’m writing a few posts about this right now as this is what I am working to figure out. It has rained so much here over the past two weeks that I fully believe the biblical floods are upon us. Seeing as hitting off of mats into a torrential downpour doesn’t necessarily make for the most realistic golf simulations, I have determined to figure out how to optimize my 2015 gear. For a long time there have been a few suspected issues with what I have been playing with, but there was always so much going on that it was hard to focus on changing gear, and my knowledge base at the time wasn’t quite what it is now. This month is a perfect time for gear shifts and I hope to have it all figured out by January. I have basically played the exact same specs (especially with the irons and wedges=) throughout my set of clubs since I first got a full bag of 14 on December 30, 2011. Three years later my swing has become much more consistent and it’s time to find the right gear to match that swing.

Earlier this week I finally got everything sorted and broke out the FlightScope. I shot a little video of some thoughts while working with the new technology, too:

not the best video quality that I’ve ever shot, but the point comes across pretty well, I think. The new irons really fit me and my swing has almost overnight transitioned from inside to out 5-6 degrees to being close to on plane. this is great as I was never able to control the ball with my previous setup if the club went on plane. It seems crazy, but I think the toe was up with the old irons which caused the ball to have more of a hook tendency so I had to swing out a lot and hold off the face, which wasn’t super easy, especially in pressure situations.

Not so much from here on out. I’m slowly starting to learn more and more about things like lie angle and how that impacts the ball flight. It’s great. Knowledge is a good thing.

To help further that knowledge, today I went down to Oregon City to visit with my friend Jari at Birdie Finish golf. He’s the best master club builder in Portland and I wanted to have him take a look at my new sticks to see how close they were to 3 flat. Golf is not always a perfect science when it comes to ordering new clubs and I have heard horror stories from others about how far off their sticks were from what they were supposed to be. I had complete faith that mine were flat as I could tell from hitting them and the ball flight, but I was curious as to how close they were to what I had ordered. I also wanted to learn more about how to measure loft and lie in hopes that one day I will be able to check and adjust things on my own, as well as many other tasks in club building and comprehension. “One repays a teacher badly if one always remains nothing but a pupil.”

In the meantime, Jari is an excellent source and I would definitely recommend anyone who is curious about your own clubs to go have them checked out. He can definitely help your game.

Here is a short video of Jari working:

For the record, the new Titleist irons and Vokey wedges came in almost perfectly as they were ordered. All were between 2.5 and 3 degrees flat and each one was exactly the loft that it was supposed to be, which is great!

I have learned so much about how gear can influence ball flight over the past month. I’m pretty surprised at just how important it can be. There are probably a few people who fit perfectly into stock-standard clubs, but for the rest of us when you want to get down to that lower handicap it’s an important piece of the puzzle.

I now have great resources here in town as well as the FlightScope to make sure things are going how they should. The next step is to find a driver that instills confidence, as well as a 3-wood. Jari is going to build me a driver to try out and it should be ready by the middle of next week as he has to custom order everything to try and get some stuff that fits me. It also always takes a bit longer as lefties don’t have as many options, so custom it tends to be.

Always moving forward.

9 Responses to "Breaking out some new technology"

Brian Kuehn says:

December 10, 2014 at 5:15 pm

“It seems crazy, but I think the toe was up with the old irons which caused the ball to have more of a hook tendency so I had to swing out a lot and hold off the face, which wasn’t super easy, especially in pressure situations.”

I am surprised that your golf instructors did not note the issues concerning your physique, swing and equipment. It is a shame that these faults were not identified months ago and only now, after the season is closing down, do you have the right answer. Have you had a session with your pro lately? What does he say?
Peter Eller says:

December 11, 2014 at 9:52 am

what happened to the track man you had?
was that just a loaner that you had to return? or was it the track man software licensing cost made it unsustainable ?
dan says:

December 11, 2014 at 10:57 am

Hi Peter,

TrackMan was indeed a loaner. I had to give it back about a year ago, I think in January.

Dan
dan says:

December 11, 2014 at 11:06 am

Brian,

I’ve never really talked with a swing coach about my irons, mostly just the driver setup. For the most part, though, when working with a swing coach they are most concerned with positions in the swing, at least from what I have noticed.

I suppose that is why this has been such an eye opening experience over the past few weeks.

Dan
Tyler says:

December 11, 2014 at 2:06 pm

I was wondering what you and your instructor are working on currently in your swing. Are there any plans to show videos of the pieces you are fine tuning?
Thomas says:

December 15, 2014 at 2:50 pm

Hi Dan,

Glendo has a twilight deal $30 a month, best deal in town

If you want to shoot par at Stone Creek – Here you go! Bruce is great, but if you are analytical on your own you need:

Buy Leadbetters book the Golf Swing

Buy Faldos book

Buy Unconscious Putting by Stockton

use Kevin Na, or Tiger or Ben Hogan as models

To play good (I learned from Na’s teacher from 8 years old on):

1. tilt left hip up higher than right at address
2. both V’s to right shoulder
3. stand close to ball
4. weight pretty 50 50 on balls of feet

1. left shoulder and hands start straight back 2 feet to 8 oclock to LOAD right side
2. ** Always think about left arm going back ***- low across chest to right side of chest at chest high (like Na, Price etc) hands don’t go outside of toes, hands stay in of toes giving you a nice tight turn. clubhead stays outside hands as it begins to cock keeping wrists from rolling – wrists only go up and down – which leads to a checkpoint:
3. **at chest high club must point up so bottom of club points at least slightly inside the ball ***(this forces your wrists to cock up and down) (little bit of wisdom from leadbetter, Faldo and Price really do it, Hogan and Na just a touch, but all need it because it shows wrists have cocked up and down not side to side. Otherwise you will hook it from a closed wrist or have to massively reroute it).

4. ***turn to the top still thinking about the left arm***, Think left arm through right shoulder as left shoulder rotates under chin (look at Na and Hogan). Club stays pointing laid off is actually proper if you look at Hogan and Na. You don’t really need to have it past parallel at all

5. THE REAL SECRET: from Leadbetter: transition move: Left hip goes left causing tension in your back and plants your left leg and heel. Look at Rickie Fowler at the top and see how much coil he gets in his back, its ridiculous. Look at Westwood, Tiger, Sergio, Na, Hogan, Snead etc etc, this coil in the back from the left side separating is the only way to rip it and clear the body out of the way.

In reaction to the left hip rotating, the hands will go at ball, right knee will retain bend halfway down (looking from behind). YOU MAY HAVE TO ALSO CONSCIOUSLY BEND THE RIGHT KNEE TO DO THE PROPER ‘SIT DOWN’

To do it, use the Leadbetter drill, at top with club over shoulders, hold shoulders back while you move left hip left, feel the tension in your lower back. This is the secret.

6. now you are in the ‘squat’ ‘sit down’ position of Tiger, Rory, Snead, Hogan and Na halfway down, the club in the middle of your chest, the knees bent.

From here, you turn/drive everything (hips rotate left, the tail is wagging the lagging hands) at a 45 degree angle left of the target, your legs will straighten.

!!Its like you are rotating to skip a rock or better yet rotating to throw a heavy medicine ball!!

Work on this and see you at the iceberg open at Rose City!
normand says:

December 16, 2014 at 8:59 am

hello dan,I did not forget you was waiting for beginning of 2015 dead season to email you . I am going to arizona to play golf for 2 weeks . Email you in 2.5 weeks
Doug says:

December 19, 2014 at 10:58 am

Good stuff! I hope this is what you needed to take it to the next level!
I think I might get re-fit in the spring. As I was only fit to my 6iron, and that was 3-5 swing changes ago!
Richard Chen says:

December 29, 2014 at 5:44 am

Did Santa brought you a new Driver with the 3-degrees-flat lie?

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