Challenging accepted golf truths

Hello all,

I don't start a ton of threads (anymore?), but reading some stuff, I thought it would be neat to share a couple of thoughts of Tom Wishon's (the guy behind Tom Wishon Golf Technology (http://www.wishongolf.com/)).

Sweet spot: The sweet spot is a pin-sized point on a club. Sweet spots can't be 'larger' or 'smaller' - they just are what they are. When a club company talks about a larger sweet spot, what they are actually talking about is forgiveness - the ability of the club to produce more distance on an off-center hit.

Offset: For a while, the golf world (and I) thought the purpose of offset was to help slicers square the club a split second faster. It kind of made a convoluted sense (as many things in golf do). However, the purpose of offset is to be able to move the weight of the club further back, helping to get the ball airborne, and get trajectory up. To combat a slice, you want the next point:

Hook or Closed face clubs: These clubs set up closed. For a RH golfer, that means that the face should look left of target. While it's tough to setup with a club closed (it doesn't look right - forgive the double enténdre), it sure helps get the face square at impact, if you're prone to an open face.

Driver Length: What gives you more distance: 2" in length, or finding the sweetspot? The latter, of course. So, give up an inch or so (and about 5 yards on your best strikes) and start finding the sweet spot more often. A shorter club is an easier club to control. (But please, just don't grab a hacksaw and chop off an inch or two - there's a few more considerations).


Just a few things that have changed my club purchasing ideas.

__________________
True Length Technology Fitter - www.truelengthtechnology.com
It's live! - www.ShipShapeClubs.com
PCS Class 'A' Clubfitter

A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

I never thought anybody took all that "sweet spot" stuff literally. The sweet spot is just a balance point--a geometric point, like a center of gravity.

There's an easy way to find a club's sweet spot. Just grab the shaft between two fingers, up where the grip begins, and let it hang in the air. With the other hand, holding a pen or some other fairly pointed thing, tap the club face repeatedly, starting at the toe and working back toward the heel. At first the tapping will tend to open the club face a bit, then it won't, then it'll start to close the club face. The point at which the tapping neither opens nor closes the club face is the sweet spot. You could even take a file and make a mark along the top, like a putter.

And speaking of putters, if you do this you my find that even some pricey ones are not marked correctly. That line may or may not be over the sweet spot.

Along the same lines, "forgiveness" is a matter of how much (or how little, really) the club face opens or closes when a given force is applied to it, a given distance away from the sweet spot.

__________________
Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

My understanding of club offset is that it gives more chance for players to have the hand in front of the ball at impact (which you all know is very important in a golf swing). Is this right?

Pinyo, it does (and it does offer a split second chance for the face to close), but it's primary purpose was to get the weight back (which helps get the ball airborne). This is all assuming I understood Tom Wishon correctly. I've lent the book to my brother in law, so I can't double check right now.

For those that are interested, the book is "The Search for the Perfect Golf Club" by Tom Wishon.

It's an outstanding read. A must read, really, before you buy another club.