In the March issue of the TW Standard eTECHreport:

NOTE: the complete March TW Standard eTECHreport pdf version is available by clicking here - 3MB (requires Adobe Acrobat 5 or newer )

 

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First Group of TWGT Video Segments To Be Up in Early April – More to Come!

We know. We should have done this years ago. But in the context of “better late than never,” TWGT is pleased to deliver the start of an ongoing project to provide clubmakers with a series of brief, video segments to be used to support our books to more effectively convince your golfers of the superiority of custom fitting to buying golf clubs in standard form off the rack.

TWGT has just finished four brand new video segments on YouTube and on both of our web sites. Each segment will be aimed at offering consumer golfers information to increase their knowledge and awareness of the benefits of custom fitting. On www.wishongolf.com, our web site for clubmakers, the video segments will be available for use by clubmakers either in streamed form or able to be downloaded to your PC to show to golfers at yours and their convenience.

On our web site devoted to promoting custom fitting to consumer golfers, www.twgolftech.com, the videos will be presented in streamed form in conjunction with written articles about the benefits of custom fitting compared to buying standard made clubs off
the rack.

The first four TWGT video segments include the following topics:

• Custom Fit vs. Standard Off the Rack – 4:17 mins
• What Does Custom Fitting Actually Do for Golfers? – 4:09 mins
• The Facts of Life About the Golf Equipment Industry: Is Technology Used Up in Golf Club Design? – 9:26 mins
• The Basic Elements of Shaft Fitting – 8:57 mins

We want to stress that our initial focus in creating videos will be to support your efforts to educate your golfers and convince them of the benefits of being custom fit instead of continuing to buy their golf clubs in standard form, off the rack. Video segments to further educate clubmakers in areas of equipment design and clubfitting technology are being planned, but our first priority is to create video segments to support custom clubmakers and assist you in elevating consumer awareness about custom fitting.

We urge clubmakers to use these videos in addition to our Search and 12 Myths books to educate your golfers about the benefits of what YOU can do for golfers through your custom fitting skills.

 

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TWGT Shaft Bend Profile Upgrade for 2009 in Process

 

People used to say there are only two constants in life; death and taxes. Clubmakers know there is a third; death, taxes and a whole bunch of new shafts being introduced each and every year which never seem to have enough information to express exactly how the shafts differ or how they will perform and feel for different types of golfers!

Since late February TWGT has begun the process of identifying, requesting, receiving and testing as many of the latest shaft models from the leading shaft manufacturing companies as possible to be able to compile the 2009 upgrade for our Shaft Bend Profile software.

We have requested over 700 new shaft models/flexes from numerous shaft companies to be able to offer clubmakers the largest and most extensive collection of comparative shaft data in the entire golf industry. In addition to new shaft models, we have also identified and requested as many of the missing shafts from the current data base as possible to be able to include as many of the flexes and versions of existing shafts as possible in the Bend Profile software data base.

When complete and emailed by late April (we hope !!), owners of TWGT’s Shaft Bend Profile software will be able to compare empirical data for more than 1300 different shafts to be able to make more precise shaft fitting decisions and recommendations for golfers. If you are serious about shaft fitting and if you’ve been frustrated by the lack of specific, empirical data to compare the overall stiffness and bend profile of shafts, it’s time to look into adding a copy of TWGT’s Shaft Bend Profile software to your clubfitting “toolbox.”

Not sure? Read the next article in this month’s ETECHreport for an inside peek at TWGT’s Shaft Bend Profile software to see what it can do and how it can help you become a better clubfitter.

 

 

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What IS TWGT's Shaft Bend Profile Software and WHY Do Clubmakers Need It?

Ever since he wrote the book, The Modern Guide to Shaft Fitting, in 1991, TWGT’s Tom Wishon has wanted to create an ongoing repository of quantitative shaft information to allow clubmakers to be able to make more accurate shaft to shaft comparisons for the purpose of more accurately fitting golfers. In 2006, that desire became a reality with the introduction of TWGT’s Shaft Bend Profile software. To date, more than 1000 clubmakers have purchased the software and with it, have gained the ability to learn and stay current in their knowledge of the performance, feel and design of shafts.

For clubmakers unaware of TWGT’s Shaft Bend Profile software or unsure of its purpose and function, we wanted to offer a few highlights to show a little more about what it is, how it works and what it can do to improve your ability to identify performance and feel differences among shafts and be able to do a better job of fitting shafts to golfers.

 

What is the TWGT Bend Profile Software?

The software is a working data base of bend profile, weight, balance point and swing speed rating measurements for an ever growing number of shafts. Perhaps the most significant of the data points are the bend profile measurements which show an accurate comparison of how the overall stiffness design of shafts compare to each other.

Through the software it is possible to select any of the nearly 900 shafts (soon to be over 1300) to compare in a graphical overlay format to be able to identify stiffness playability differences. It is also possible to select any shaft and identify all other shafts in the data base which display similar in stiffness playability measurements. Through the graphing format of the measurements, it is possible to identify how much any shaft differs from any other shaft and where, over the length of the shaft, such differences or similarities occur.

 

What is the Bend Profile of a shaft?

The bend profile is the distribution of stiffness of the shaft over its length. Most golfers are only aware that shafts are described by flex. Because flex designations of shafts are only presented using letter codes which have no standard means of comparison, it is quite impossible to know exactly how the stiffness design of one shaft compares to another. Using bend profile measurements of frequency taken at uniform points along the length of each shaft, TWGT’s Bend Profile software is the only possible way to look at how one shaft compares in the distribution of stiffness to other shafts.

 

How do I compare the Bend Profile measurements of shafts to each other?

The software is purchased from TWGT in the form of CD. After following the prompted steps to register the software, clubmakers will launch the program and select “GRAPHS” from the “DATA” menu bar selection at the top of the screen. The following opening main screen appears:

For comparison of any two or more shafts, start by selecting a single shaft of choice from the “SELECT SHAFT” window at the upper right corner of the screen. To select other shafts to compare in graph form to the first selected shaft, scroll down through the main data base field that occupies the entire lower 2/3’s of the screen. Select the shafts to compare by double clicking on the tan box at the far left of each shaft model/flex line. Each selected shaft shows up in the “Selected Shafts” box in the upper center of the screen. By then clicking on the “Frequency” tab at the top of the screen, the graphs of all selected shafts will appear.

 

What do the graph lines of the shafts mean?

The graph line of each shaft shows the multiple zone frequency measurements for each shaft. Seven zone frequency measurements are done for each wood and fairway wood shaft, six for each hybrid and iron shaft. The program creates a smoothed graph line of the multiple zone frequency measurements for each shaft which represents the comparative stiffness playability of each shaft over its entire length. By selecting multiple shafts, it is possible to see how much and where the shafts differ from each other in their comparative stiffness playability.

What differences in the stiffness playability graphs of shafts are significant and not?

When looking at the actual zone frequency measurements of the shafts, we can identify the butt section stiffness as coming from zone measurements 41”/36” for wood/fwy wood shafts, 36”/31” measurements for hybrid/iron shafts. The center section stiffness is depicted from the 31”/26” measurements for wood/fwy wood shafts, and the 26”/21” measurements for hybrid/iron shafts. The tip stiffness is depicted in the 21”/16”/11” measurements for wood/fwy wood shafts, and from the same 21”/16”/11” measurements for hybrid/iron shafts.

From our experience, we see a difference of 9-12cpm in the butt stiffness, 15-20cpm in the center stiffness and 30-40cpm in the tip section stiffness as being up to as much as a “full flex difference” between the shafts for each individual area of the shafts – or rather, significant enough that a high percentage of golfers would notice a definite performance and feel difference in the shafts. Because of ever present +/- tolerance issues in shaft production, we see differences of 2-3cpm in the butt section, 5-7cpm in the center and 10-15cpm in the tip section measurements or less as being insignificant shaft to shaft differences for the vast majority of golfers.

 

How does the software find shafts which are similar to each other?

Any shaft in the database can be selected to compare against. Once this “baseline” shaft has been selected from the drop down menu, the remaining shafts in the database are sorted numerically to find matching shafts. There are three different options that can be used to conduct the sort: a plus/minus percentage difference of the baseline CPM readings; a “Max Points Out” which looks for shafts that match only at a limited number of measurement points; a “Point Offsets” where you can choose to look for shafts that are higher or lower in CPM at discrete measurement points.

 

Percentage

With the percentage pull down box, it is possible to tell the software how closely you want it to search to find similar shafts. For example, by selecting the entry for “2.0” the software will look at each of the discrete zone frequency measurements which are less than plus/minus 2% from the baseline shaft that’s been selected. For purposes related to playability and feel, we find that shafts which are 3% or lower at each of the measurement points will produce the same stiffness, performance, and feel for the golfer.

 

Max Points Out

This allows the user to sort shafts to match the baseline shaft at a pre-determined number of measurement points. So if you want to find a shaft that matches at 5 of the 7 measurement points (for woods), then “2” Max Points Out is selected. The program will look to match any 5 of the 7. This can also be used in conjunction with the Percentage filter.

 

Points Offset

This allows for precise percentage offset at each discrete frequency measurement point as compared to the baseline shaft as selected by the user. If a shaft is desired that is 3% stiffer at the 11” measurement and 2% softer at the 41” measurement, this is the function to use. Whereas the Percentage will look at the entire shaft and each measurement point, this allows for percentage changes at each of the specific measurement points.

There are other functions to sort and filter shafts by within this program. If you’ve been confused by shafts; if you’ve have found it difficult to know how one shaft compares to any other; if you have been frustrated by an industry which offers little or no empirical information from which to compare performance, playability and feel of different shafts, the TWGT Shaft Bend Profile software is the best choice to overcome those problems.

Also, individuals are able to add shafts to their own copy of the software. There are full instructions within the software that go over the methodology and equipment needed for accurate shaft profiling.

At a one time cost of $129.50 (discount for TWGold is available) and with no charge for each year’s update of new shafts, the TWGT Shaft Bend Profile software is not only a steal, but a powerful tool for any clubmaker.

 

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Putter Counterweighting – A Perfect Way to Help Golfers and Promote Your Skills

Clubmakers who have been working with TWGT’s variety of Counter Weights over the past year have found one of the most incredible ways to use the special weights installed at the grip end of the shaft is to help golfers become much more consistent with the putter.

In test work performed at TWGT’s R&D facility, we have found that no less than 80% of all golfers we test fit with a counter weight in their putter identify distance consistency and on center putt consistency the two tangible benefits.

How do you identify which golfers may benefit from a counter weight in the grip end of their putter? First of all, with a preliminary success rate of 80%, clubmakers could pretty much have any golfer experiment with a putter counter weight and see a huge success rate. Primarily, the golfers who will see the most benefit from adding a counter weight to the grip end of their putter will have the following “symptoms”:

 

• Inconsistency with distance control of their medium to longer length putts
• Inconsistency with both pushed and pulled putts
• Inability to keep the putter head stable and steady on the back stroke and forward stroke

For putting improvement, clubmakers are using the 60, 80, and 100 gram models. The concept works by greatly increasing the weight in the golfer’s HANDS, which in turn “calms down” the golfer’s hands and arms and allows them to stroke the putter back and forth with less tension, more ease and greater consistency.

Installation is quite simple and very fast, which allows for test use of each different weight to determine the one that works best for each individual golfer. With the hex bolt tighten/loosen design, the counter weights can be secured permanently in the grip end of the shaft or removed with a simple rotation using a hex wrench.

Clubmakers who offer this unique clubfitting service to golfers will also find more business for their full fitting business – after all, when a golfer immediately becomes a better putter because of assistance from the clubmaker, what will the golfer naturally think about the clubmaker’s ability to work with them for improving the other clubs in the bag?

TWGT’s Counter Weights are sold in 12g, 20g, 30g, 40g for primary use in full swing woods and irons – available in 60g, 80g, 100g weights for use in the putter. Installation tool and hex wrench also available individually.

In addition to offering each counter weight individually, TWGT offers a Counter Weight Kit – installation bit, wrench, and one each of the 12g through 80g counterweights all in one pack.

 

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Basic Clubfitting 101: The Most Simple, Most Effective and Most Visible Fitting Changes

Golfers who may doubt the benefits of custom fitting want visible, tangible proof that custom fitting works better than the brand name clubs they see on the display racks of pro shops, golf retail stores or on line. Too few golfers have the common sense to look past the brand names on the bottom of the standard made clubs to be able to focus on the fact that what you offer is custom fitting.

If you are not confident in your fitting skills and experience, it can be a daunting task to step up to golfers who are brand name brainwashed and prove to them that what you can do will deliver a visible improvement in shot performance. Call this a form of “stacking the deck in your favor” – this month TWGT wanted to outline the most effective fitting changes in golf clubs that will prove to golfers you can offer golf clubs which are far better than any brand name club they could buy off the rack.

Remember, this list is offered as the most significant ways to prove the tangible benefits of custom fitting for average ability golfers.

 

STARTING TIP

Focus only on the middle to higher handicap golfers in your area. Golfers with outside in swing paths, with an early to midway wrist-cock release, with a fade to slice they are frustrated with, golfers who hit the ball all over the face and suffer from shotmaking inconsistency are by far the best target for clubmakers to visibly prove the benefits of custom fitting. The good news is there are far more golfers like this who play the game and who are desperate for tangible shotmaking improvement.

 

DRIVER

Shorter Length, Closed Face Angle, Higher Loft

• Any golfer with an outside in swing path, an early to midway release, a fade to slice ball flight, a swing speed of 90mph and lower and suffering from a propensity of off center impacts are most definitely going to experience a visible improvement when their driver is fit to a shorter length, more closed face angle and more loft than their standard made, off the rack driver.

FAIRWAY WOODS

Common Sense Set Make-Up, Second Longest Wood instead of a 3-wood

• Very few average to less skilled golfers can successfully or consistently hit a modern 3-wood well up in the air from a normal fairway lie. Most average golfers look at a 7-wood or 9-wood as being an attack on their ego as a golfer. Most average golfers who buy their woods off the rack never get the right set make-up in the fairway woods to enable them to experience the most success for longer distance second shots.
  • Custom fitting a 16 to 17° loft fairway wood to replace a 13 to 15° #3-wood can get the average golfer much closer to the green more consistently, from which the golfer’s chance to make par is greatly improved.
  • Adding a 7-wood or even 9-wood can provide many average golfers with clubs that eliminate a distance gap for which they have no club at present because of their inability to hit their low loft irons.

HYBRIDS VS. IRONS

More hybrids, fewer conventional irons

• We’ve said it many times before. Modern iron lofts have gotten so strong that most average golfers cannot consistently hit their 3-, 4-, 5- and even their 6-iron. Many golfers are open to one hybrid in their bag, but most average golfers should be using at least three hybrids and sometimes, four.

Dynamic Lie fitting

• . . . is a MUST for every single golfer to ensure the lie is not a cause of any accuracy problems with the irons.

MOI matching, Different Length Increments

• Many average golfers have found that MOI matching of the irons and moving to a 3/8” length increment between the irons produced a set that can be hit more consistently on center than if the set is built to swingweight with the same old half-inch length increments
  between irons.
  

 

WEDGES

Fit the Lofts/Set Makeup to the Green Design

• Raised greens, undulated greens, small greens, fast greens, tight pin positions = more loft on the wedges used around the greens and more of a case to add a lob type, higher loft wedge to the golfer’s bag.
• Greens on the same level as the fairway, flat greens, large greens, slower speed greens = less loft on the wedges used around the greens and no need for a higher loft wedge than the sand wedge.
  

 

Sole Design Fit to the Golfer’s Angle of Attack and to the Grass and Sand Condition

• Steeper angle of attack, softer, deeper, fluffier sand, longer grass around the greens = more of a requirement for more bounce and/or a wider sole design on the wedges used around the greens.
  
• Shallow angle of attack, coarse, shallow, larger grain sand, shorter grass around the greens = more of a requirement for less bounce and/or a more narrow sole design on the wedges used around the greens.

 

PUTTER
Lie, Length, Loft

• . . . must be properly fit to the golfer’s stance, posture and hand position with the putter at impact during the stroke.
  • In short, the lie angle of the putter MUST be adjusted to allow the center of the sole to be the center point of contact with the green. The length must allow the arms to remain relaxed and comfortable no matter the golfer’s stance and posture. Hands ahead at impact with the putt, more loft; hands behind at impact, less loft.

Counter Weighting

• A 60g, 80g or 100g counter weight installed in the grip end of the shaft of the putter can remarkably improve the golfer’s distance
  control and consistency of the stroke and on-center impact.
  

 

These are a few of the most signficant basics for ensuring a positive and visible change in shotmaking for golfers. No question there are many more fitting elements that can help, but when it comes to “proof in the pudding” for the benefits of clubfitting for golfers, the above points represent changes which will bring about the most tangible game improvement for average to less
skilled golfers.

 

 

 

 

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