Practice Reminder #6

Only one wrist cocks in the golf swing. For right-handers it's the left and for left-handers it's the right.

The "Square"

Just wondering, why have we not seen any square putter yet? Among all, square putter makes most sense...

Practice Reminder #5

Hold the club with light force, accelerate through the ball.

Release

Board breakers in marshal arts say that in order to break the wood prank effectively, the fist has to penetrate beyond the board. In simple understanding, the force is withheld and not fully released until it passes the board. It is then the arm is extended and straightened.

In order for maximum ball distance, it is said release in down swing should not happen prior to striking the ball. This is actually very confusing. It is also said keep the arms close to the body and hands should be ahead of club head. All these instructions actually narrow down to a simple principle, the hands should not be extended and straightened prior to ball impact.

If the hands are not extended, force is withheld, arms are close to body, hands will be ahead of ball and force will be transferred onto ball effectively. All it needs now is to find a synchronized timing where the head is square at impact during the downswing.

It is much easier to remember the principle then to memorize the methods and match it with the swing sequence.

Practice Reminder #4:

Setup: whether close or open stance, always square hip and shoulder to the target. Strong grip for close stance; Weak grip for open stance

Practice Reminder #3:

Twist around from right to left, not slide from right to left. Initialize downswing with left hip feel being pulled backwards.

Practice Reminder #2:

Keep both elbows pointing to the ground at all time during back and down swing.

Practice Reminder #1:

If spine angle is maintained during back swing, lower back muscle will feel stretched, left leg will feel pulling inward.

Proving Yourself

Golf is a never satisfying game. You will never see a good golfer that says “I am satisfied with my game today”. There are many reasons behind this: many clubs to master, changing condition, physique variation, etc… however all good golfers will agree it is a never-satisfying but fun game.

Being fun is the key. It is fun to hit a long and straight shot, it is more fun when this long and straight shot landed where you want it to be, over the pond but before the bunker. It is unbelievable fun when you add a little draw into this shot and it flies long and curve along the fairway, over the pond and before the bunker, and split the fairway in half. Once you have tasted the fun from this, you want more and try to reproduce this whenever you want, so you work hard on it, controlling your shots. In the end, you immerge yourself into the zone, where nothing else matters.

There is, however, another approach many golfers take. They constantly try to prove themselves. Proving yourself is a great motivation, but never a key to the ultimacy. Proving yourself pushes you to achieve what you think you can, without knowing the reasons why you can’t. You work on the belief, instead of the technique; you build up the confidence, founded on top of pile of artificial intelligence. In the end, you have to get over proving yourself, then you still have to train yourself to control the shots, after that you need to learn how to consistently reproducing the same shots, all of these before you could discover the joy and fun in the process.... Following this pattern, it is a long way to go.... before the joy and fun could bring you to the next level of clarity and performance.

Let the fun lead you to the ultimacy. You will be a better skilled golfer; You can prove yourself all that you want then.

Science to maximum drive

…the author of The Physics of Golf, calculated that 32 pounds of muscle needs to be generated for a typical professional golfer’s swing to deliver two horsepower of energy…

…Using the example of a boxer striking an object, they find that striking through the object to a point further in allows them to achieve the highest momentum and energy to accomplish their action. One reason amateur golfers have vastly different collision dynamics is that they may not have developed the skill to strike through the ball…

…Most golfers are under the impression that the weight shift occurs from the left foot to the right foot during the backswing and returns from the right foot to the left foot in the downswing. This actually is a misnomer…

…Basketball players play with the ball bouncing and rotating in their fingers before shooting a free throw to sharpen the sensitivity in their fingertip nerve endings… Professional golfers roll their hands around the grip before settling on the final hold in order to activate their sensory…

Excellent read:

-- Copyright © 2004 - 2007 Taras V. Kochno, M.D.
http://www.drkochno.com/science_&_golf.htm

MOI Matched Follow-up

It seems quite repelling to many purist to accept the concept of progressive swing weighting or MOI matching. Ironically, the concept of MOI matching is to achieve the goal that all clubs require to swing with the same force, it is SW matching that requires progressive higher force to swing clubs.

from lower numbered Iron to higher numbered Iron:

• MOI Matching = progressive higher Swing Weight = same force
• SW Matching = progressive lower force = same Swing Weight

Brought the MOI matched iron set to the golf course last weekend. Sometime ago, I started to believe that the first hit on course will determine if the newly adjusted golf club is a good fit or just a legendary theory. After a good drive on the 1^st tee, left me with approximately 185 yards to the green, I chose a 5 iron. Currently at D0.5, 419g and 37.75 inch long, it is one of the MOI matched club at around 423. I swung, and caught the ball clean, the response was good and I was delighted for a second, not to realize later that I was 1 club short in distance and also pushed to the right by 20 feet in direction. This was alarmingly disapproving according to my superstition. Considering the air temperature at 40F and wearing 3 layers of clothing, I suspected I was blocking myself, sending the ball right. It was not until later, that I found out I was pushing the balls all day long.

Here is what is interesting: I pushed every iron from 3 to 8 irons, my distance was 1 club shorter. There was no fat or thin shot, there was no skull and shrank shot. Consistency wise, it was really rewarding, performance wise, it was not proportional to the consistency

I returned to the driving range two days later and determined that my swing path was what cause to the push. I regained the distance and direction again. So far, MOI matched set is still amazingly rewarding, only at the driving range where it is the birthplace of all swing flaws.

Personal Best

1. Best substitute to acetone for polishing ferrule: Nail Polish Remover
2. Best woods cleaner and polisher: Auto Paint Polish (Mcguire Scratch X)
3. Best irons cleaner and polisher: Alloy/Chrome wheel polish
4. Best solution to clean grips: few tablespoon of PineSol in a bucket of water, dry with tacky feel.
5. Best method to install ferrule: lubricate ferrule's inner wall with epoxy, push it down the shaft and ram it with club head.
6. Best way to reduce an oversize ferrule: use a large flat plier and clamp down the installed ferrule in rotating motion, creating a tight fit with the hosel, polish with nail polish remover
7. Best home cutter for steel or graphite shaft: Dremer tool
8. Best shaft puller: Golfsmith Shaft Extractor
9. Best way to clean club's hosel: Steel Wire Brush with hand dril
10. Best source for heat: Heat Gun, never use torch

MOI matched Nippon Shafts - drying ...

MOI Special Report

If swing weight measurement is to determine the weight of a golf club from its mass in respect to its balance point, then MOI measurement is to determine the centrifugal force in respect to its swing weight. Both of these when applying on a golf swing, it is simply reflected as a feeling of how much force does a club requires to be swung in respect to time within the swing motion.

How does this apply to golf swing?
In simple understanding, if I could match irons set according to MOI instead of SW, I could switch from iron to iron maintaining the same rhythm with the same swing force, where as in SW I have to adjust my rhythm accordingly.

MOI approach:
To accurate measure MOI in golf club, it requires expensive equipment like MOI machine
Yet, Dave Tutelman had done extensive research and provide the poor-man fitting method (reference 4) which I currently adopt. Below is where I begin the long struggle of clubs fitting process.

MOI Equation:

MOI = Lc2 * (H + S/3) + 10 * G			S is weight of the shaft	Lc is length of the club
			H weight of the head	G is grip weight

First attempt:
Used an ½ SW point per ½ inch method. Picked my favorite 7 iron, starting from C9.5 and progressively reduce ½ SW point to 3I and increase ½ SW point to PW.

Match 2: MP 32 + 1150GH + Golf Pride DD2
IRONS	T W	WH + WS	WH + WS + TW	W S (+Grip)	WS	L S	W H	W H + T W	MOI	MOI / 1000'S	Jeff's MOI	SW
3	6	400	406	162	112	38.75	238	244	422,940	423	141	C7.5
4	6	407	413	163	113	38.25	244	250	421,374	421	140	C8.0
5	5	413	418	163	113	37.75	250	255	417,568	418	139	C8.5
6	6	420	426	162	112	37.25	258	264	418,619	419	139	C9.0
7	4	428	432	163	113	36.75	265	269	414,673	415	138	C9.5
8	6	435	441	161	111	36.25	274	280	417,058	417	139	D0.0
9	6	444	450	163	113	35.75	281	287	415,444	415	138	D0.5
P	6	453	459	162	112	35.50	291	297	421,844	422	140	D1.0

Result: MOI is random

Second attempt:
Used more precise measurement: +/- ½ SW point and 1.35 SW point per inch (0.675 SW per ½ inch), progressively increasing SW from 3I to PW.

Match 4A: MP32 + 1150GH + Golf Pride DD2
IRONS	Actual TW	WH + WS	WH + WS + TW	W S (+Grip)	WS	L S	W H	W H + T W	MOI	MOI / 1000'S	Measured SW
3	4	400	404	162	112	38.75	238	242	419,936	420	7.5
4	5	407	412	163	113	38.25	244	249	419,911	420	8.0
5	7	413	420	163	113	37.75	250	257	420,418	420	9.0
6	7	420	427	162	112	37.25	258	265	420,006	420	9.5
7	6	428	434	162	112	36.75	266	272	418,274	418	10.5
8	8	435	443	161	111	36.25	274	282	419,686	420	10.5
9	9	443	452	162	112	35.75	281	290	418,852	419	11.0
P	8	453	461	162	112	35.50	291	299	424,364	424	11.5

Result: MOI is more uniformly distributed yet it is still unsatisfactory

Third attempt:
Manually adjust tip weight and computationally match MOI at 420 range

Match 4B: MP32 + 1150GH + Golf Pride DD2
IRONS	Round TW	WH + WS	WH + WS + TW	W S (+Grip)	WS	L S	W H	W H + T W	MOI	MOI / 1000'S	Ref Target SW	Actual SW	Adjusted SW
3	6	400	406	162	112	38.75	238	244	422,940	423	7.475	9.0	8.0
4	7	407	414	163	113	38.25	244	251	422,837	423	8.15	8.5	8.5
5	9	413	422	163	113	37.75	250	259	423,269	423	8.825	10.5	10.0
6	9	420	429	162	112	37.25	258	267	422,782	423	9.5	10.0	10.5
7	8	429	437	162	112	36.75	266	275	422,326	422	10.175	11.5	11.5
8	10	435	445	161	111	36.25	274	284	422,314	422	10.85	11.5	12.0
9	12	443	455	162	112	35.75	281	293	422,687	423	11.525	11.5	12.5
P	10	453	463	162	112	35.50	291	301	426,885	427	12.2	2.5	12.5

Result: MOI range is tighter while PW is specifically left with high MOI. I figure SW is more important for wedges due to partial and finesse swing for short game. Overall SW is bumped another 1 ~ 2 point from assembly.

Final assembled attempt:

Mizuno MP32 + Nippon Shaft 1150 GH + DD2
IRONS	Round TW	WH + WS + Grip	WH + WS + TW	W S (+Grip)	WS	L S	W H	W H + T W	MOI	MOI / 1000s	Ref Target SW	Actual SW	Adjusted SW	Raw SW
3	6	400	406	162	112	38.75	238	244	422,940	423	7.475	9.0	8.0	5.0
4	7	407	414	163	113	38.25	244	251	422,837	423	8.150	8.5	8.5	5.0
5	9	413	422	163	113	37.75	250	259	423,269	423	8.825	10.5	10.0	5.5
6	9	420	429	162	112	37.25	258	267	422,782	423	9.500	10.0	10.5	6.0
7	8	429	437	162	112	36.75	266	275	422,326	422	10.175	11.5	11.5	7.5
8	10	435	445	161	111	36.25	274	284	422,314	422	10.850	11.5	12.0	7.0
9	11	443	455	162	112	35.75	281	292	421,409	423	11.525	11.5	12.0	6.5
P	10	453	463	162	112	35.50	291	301	426,885	427	12.200	12.5	12.5	7.5

First Test Impression:

number of balls tested: 180 balls location: Lake Success Driving Range
Overall the “new” irons sets are lighter than my previous set by average of 8 grams in static weight. How much is 8g in static weight differs? Not much since my swing weight is kept at the same range. However, it is a lot easier for me to switch from club to another club, especially noticeable with 3I. I have tried on randomly chosen iron from one club to the other and I could not feel any difference in swinging force. Using the same rhythm to swing each club, the feel is tremendously rewarding, even though PW is felt much heavier than 3I in static weight, they are comparable similar in motion. There is virtually not much change in trajectory, height and distance, but I feel it is much easier to produce desired shot with each club under MOI matching. This set of iron is suddenly more forgiving than ever.

Equipment used:
Mizuno MP32 3I ~ PW + Nippon shaft 1150GH Tour stiff + Golf Pride DD2
Digital scale (Accuracy +/- 1g)
Golfsmith shaft puller + swing weight scale (Precision 0.5 SW point) + golf clubs making essentials
total cost: $126 for 9 Nippon Shafts + $4.56 DD2 grip each

References:

1. Tom Wishon on MOI:
http://www.wishongolf.com/moi.php

2. Definition of Moment of Inertia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_of_inertia

3. Why your golf club is obsolete:
http://www.calgolftech.com/whats_new/driver57.html

4. Dave T’s club design notes:
http://www.tutelman.com/golf/design/swingwt4.php?ref=#measure_moi