Exploring Golf Technology

I try to keep up with the latest developments in the golf industry. I could spend a lot of time reviewing the method I use to build custom fit clubs from the use of the Flexmaster for precisely measuring the bend strength in each club shaft to spine and ‘flo’ finding for consistent release. I could talk about frequency matching and step matching and flex point until we would both be confused. Then there is the whole field of club head design with different materials we could examine. Instead, I will briefly give you an example of the latest fitting method being explored as of January 2007. It is called MOI matching. It uses the Moment Of Inertia of your favorite club and matches the rest of your set to that club. The Swingweight method, which has been in use for 70 plus years, is being challenged it seems.

What is MOI you say? For our purposes and very simply put, it is the resistance to twisting as the club head swings through the ball. Picture a coat hanger hanging on a wire with two one pound weights threaded on the horizontal crossbar. If the weights were together in the middle of the crossbar the hanger would spin with the lightest touch to either end of the crossbar. If the two weights were spread apart as far as possible, it would take a firm push to make the coat hanger turn. Like a perimeter weighted iron, or a 460cc driver.
If you want a much more technical and precise explanation, go to http://www.tutelman.com.
If you are so inclined, you will be fascinated.

Here are two of the several myths he will expose; “The grooves on irons make the ball spin faster.”
“The harder the club-face, the farther the ball will go.”