The Tech Guy:  The Latest Word On Technology In Golf

May/June 2008
Choosing a Putter
The value of having the right putter in your bag can not be understated.  When you consider that 35 to 40 percent of the strokes in a round of golf are made with the putter, it is easy to understand how important it is that your putter be the proper fit for you. The best results in putting occur when all the technical and scientific variables that negatively affect the putt are eliminated or minimized, specifically, the lie needs to be exactly correct for best directional control, the loft needs to raise the ball slightly to minimize skid and maximize roll, the length needs to position you  properly for an accurate repeating stroke, and the swingweight needs to be in the correct range for proper feel and best distance and directional control.  These factors can all be accommodated by a proper fitting session that you can get from most teaching PGA Professionals and at most major golf specialty shops.

However, the importance of selecting a putter head design that complements your skill level should not be overlooked. The proper putter design is paramount in achieving best distance and directional control.  MOI (Moment Of Inertia) of a putter needs to be looked at closely when choosing a head design.  Consider that when you miss hitting the center of gravity on the putter face (the sweet spot), the face of the club twists slightly and immediately starts the ball off line.  A putter with a higher MOI, will twist less and subsequently, help to minimize this effect.  It’s usually quite easy to determine which putter head designs have a higher MOI by simply looking at the head.  A mallet style will in most cases have a higher MOI than a blade style since weight is placed further backwards and to the outside edges of the head, thus reducing that twisting action when struck off center. 

Though putter selection won’t fix a poor putting stroke, choosing one with a higher MOI just may save you strokes.

March/April 2008
Choosing a Golf Ball

As most golfers know, finding the right equipment for their game can be a time consuming and costly venture, but when done properly, can increase the enjoyment and make a big difference in how they ultimately score.   I find that the majority of golfers pay very little attention to finding the right ball to suit their game, usually playing a ball they found in the woods the previous week or a $40 a dozen ball because it felt good and they scored well with it.  This is surprising considering that the ball impacts everything you do on the course, from driving to putting.

Over the years, technology hasn’t been lost on the golf ball and today’s product has advanced to such a level of performance that there has even been talk about limiting ball flight on the PGA Tour.  Today the choices are endless, with 2, 3 and 4 piece constructions, high spin balls, low spin balls and on and on ranging in price from about $10 a dozen to as much as $45 a dozen.  Just walk into any pro shop and you can easily become overwhelmed by the choices presented you.  But if you give a little thought as to how you play the game and spend a little time testing various balls, the choices can be easier.

Here’s one way that you can narrow your choices and find just what balls fit your game.  Many of today’s modern golf shops offer computer ball fittings for around $20 that will give you a printout of balls best suited to your swing characteristics in three categories, distance, control, and any combination of distance and control (eg. 50% distance – 50% control).  Since golf balls differ more in how they spin and react around the green than they do off the tee, your next step should be to test the balls by hitting pitch shots and chip shots around the green to determine which balls more closely react to your short game preferences.  Low spin balls tend to roll more where as spin balls tend to stop quicker.  This is extremely important since any extra yards you may get off the tee are not as important as the opportunity to save strokes with your short game. Finally, hit some putts with the balls to see how they feel off the putter face.  This is highly critical in that the majority of strokes on your score card come from the use of one club, the putter.

Finding the right ball for you isn’t going to fix a bad swing, but it can help you save strokes and ultimately lead to greater enjoyment of this too often frustrating game.

Tech Guy

January/February 2008
MOI Drivers

If you haven’t tried one of the new high M.O.I drivers on the market today, you’re missing out on what I feel is the greatest innovation in driver technology since the introduction of titanium, which gave us unprecedented distance.  In its simplest form, we basically have two challenges in golf, get the ball up in the air and hit it straight.  The better we do these two things, the more we tend to enjoy the game. 

Moment of Inertia (M.O.I.) is the twisting of the club head that occurs on off-center hits resulting in more side spin on the golf ball.  Side spin is what creates those annoying hooks and slices.  By strategically distributing weight inside the driver head, engineers have effectively reduced the amount of twisting of the club head, thus resulting in less side spin, straighter ball flight, and a narrower overall dispersion pattern.  Now the high M.O.I. driver won’t fix a bad swing, but it should help you find more fairways.  Combine this with higher ball speeds across the face of the driver and easier launch and you have a product that hits it on the average longer and straighter.  For me, I now hit it farther and straighter into the woods without that annoying slice.