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Frequency Matching: Frequency matching (in plain English) is the precise and accurate method to measure golf shaft flex (stiffness). Unfortunately in the golf industry, there currently is NO STANDARD for stiffness in golf shafts - one brand's "Regular" flex may be the same as another brand's "Stiff" flex, or another brand's "Ladies" flex. Without a measuring standard, it is VERY easy to end up with the wrong shaft for your tempo and swing speed because you really can't trust the flex letter that is stamped onto the shaft, I'll say that again..... You really can't trust the flex letter that is stamped onto the shaft. We have also seen some off-the-rack sets, all with their "Regular" flex shafts installed - where the actual shaft flex (as measured by the frequency analyzer) can be two full flexes different than what they are supposed to be. You could end up with a set of clubs that have some senior, lady, regular, stiff, and extra stiff shafts in them - all in the same set, all labeled as "Regular" flex - kinda like a fruit salad of flex. I don't imagine these would perform very consistently in anyone's hands. I recently re-shafted a set of irons for a customer - these were very nice forged irons that had a major brand name shaft installed in them. Before I removed the old shafts, I stuck them into my frequency analyzer to see exactly what they looked like. The shafts were marked "S" (denoting STIFF flex), in reality all of the shafts fell into what we would consider XX to XXX Stiff flex (that's Tiger+ stiffness). We're talking two to three flexes stiffer than what they were marked as!!!! See the highlighted text in the paragraph above - You really can't trust the flex letter that is stamped onto the shaft, it is virtually meaningless. Frequency matching measures the TRUE flex of any given shaft, measured in cycles per minute (CPM). A given freqency (CPM) will mean a specific stiffness, at a specific shaft length, with the weight of a certain club head on the shaft (all clubheads do not weigh the same - final frequency is measured with the proper clubhead dry-fitted on to its respective shaft) - precise and accurate, no guesswork. Through frequency matching, it is possible to have a set of clubs that ALL have the exact desired stiffness curve for you and your swing. What would you rather trust......someone's "A", "L", "R", "S", "X" (denoting shaft flex) stamped on a shaft, or an actual accurately measured CPM value telling you exactly what flex you have in your golf shafts? Frequency analyzing does not end with taking just one frequency measurement of each shaft. We take things a step further and do what is called frequency profiling of every shaft. A frequency reading at 5 inch intervals is taken along each shaft. This gives us an idea of how flexible the shaft is in all areas of the shaft (firmer or softer in the butt end, tip or med section) - this is very important in knowing how the shaft will react under load. Swing speed is NOT the only determining factor when deciding how stiff the shaft needs to be for your swing. You can have two different golfers that have identical swing speed with their driver, but they could require two completely different shafts (shaft profiles) in order to make their drives as long and as consistent as they can be. One golfer could have a more aggressive transition between backswing/downswing, quicker tempo, and a later release point - all of these factors will affect shaft requirements. By profiling each shaft, there is NO GUESSWORK as to which shaft should go into which club head. If you want the best possible golf clubs you can get, this must be done. No two shafts are identical - we have seen two shafts, one labeled "R" and one labeled "S" - on the frequency analyzer they only had ONE CPM difference (when a full flex in the custom club world is about 10 CPM) - so you can't always trust what the shaft label says. When it comes to shaft flex, you can't always believe what you see - the "R" or "S" could mean something VERY different than you think it might. Swing speed, swing tempo, and your "release point" in the swing are the main factors to consider in order to determine what shaft is correct for you and your swing. Here's a neat little shaft frequency study that was done on five different branded shafts - all shafts were factory marked as "R" (for regular) flex. If they all say "R" on them, they should all be the same..... right????? Have a peek: Shaft #1 - 318 cycles per minute (CPM) NOTE: All of the above "R" shafts were tested at the same beam length, with the same tip weight installed - conditions were equal for each test. Now, in the above iron shafts we see a difference of 23 CPM from the lowest to the highest value (that's HUGE by the way). In the retail store (off-the-rack sellers), all of these "R" shafts would be candidates for the same golfer because Mr. Golfer's swing requires a "Regular Flex" shaft, 'cuz he doesn't swing fast enough to handle a "Stiff" flex shaft. In the eyes of a good clubfitter, these shafts are completely different from each other - there would be more than a 20+ MPH difference in swing speed required from the lowest to the highest CPM shaft. To give you an idea of what a 20 MPH difference in swing speed can make, a 5-iron (with 27° of loft) swung at 70 MPH should carry approximately 157 yards. The same 5-iron (with 27° of loft) swung at 90 MPH should carry approximately 201 yards. Do you think that both of these swings should be using the same "R" flex shaft? Nobody on this planet will be able to give you a standard "accepted" definition of what exactly "R" or "S" flex means in the golf industry because there IS no standard among golf companies or shaft manufacturers on shaft flex. Measuring frequency and shaft bend profiles is a proven, consistent, repeatable, measurable way of determining exact shaft flex..... something the OEM's don't do. When your shafts are frequency matched, you will know exactly what you have, and they will be matched perfectly to your swing. The shaft plays an integral role in the performance of your golf club. If you get it right, it will promote consistency, proper distance (for your given swing speed), less shot dispersion, more consistent on-center hits, and more control, and better feel. If you get the wrong shaft in your golf club, it will be inconsistent, will rob you of distance and accuracy, can even promote more off-center hits, and can contribute to or amplify a push/pull, slice/hook, and it just won't feel right. Contrary to popular belief, the shaft is NOT the engine of the club - think of it more as the transmission, or driveshaft (in automotive terms) of the club. The golfer is the engine that produces the power - the power of the swing is transmitted from the golfer (engine) through the shaft (transmission) to the golf ball. The information in the above paragraphs is one of the reasons I require video footage of your swing when performing a long-distance fitting. I HAVE to see the swing from two desired viewpoints in order to help me see determine speed, tempo time, how aggressive the transition from backswing to downswing is, and see the release point of your hands during the downswing. All of these factors play a paramount role in determining not only the correct shaft, but also the correct frequency profile that YOUR swing requires. If you are a very early releaser of the club, you will require a softer tip section, if you have a very aggressive transition you will require a stiffer mid-section in the golf shaft - there are many questions that can be answered with the aid of video in fitting (the slow-motion/frame advance button is your friend) - things that are impossible for the naked eye to pick up at normal speed. Something else to keep in mind with regards to golf shafts - please do not get your head wrapped around the "need" for a certain shaft to be installed into your new driver or club. Several times I've heard "my buddy has one of these brand XYZ shafts in his driver, and he bombs it - I want one too". Just keep in mind that there's a very good chance what might be right for your buddy's swing, will more than likely NOT be right for your swing characteristics. Let us do the studying and analyzing, we'll give you a few options of shafts that will suit YOUR swing well. Every given swing (speed, tempo, transition, and release) has a desired shaft flex requirement (stiffness). The CPM values will not be identical for all clubs in the set that are custom made for you. The "desired" CPM should change as you go from the longer clubs to the shorter clubs. There is a desired CPM increment that we want to see from club to club for YOUR swing characteristics. When you get your clubs frequency matched, each and every club will have the exact proper frequency (flex) for the given length of club for YOUR SWING. Remember, good golf is consistent golf - this is just another fine-tuning tool we can use to help make your clubs as consistent as they can be, which will lead to more consistent golf (and better golf) for you. This process is so critical to the performance of golf club, that it is part of every club I build. Spine Aligning/FLO: What is "Spine Aligning" you ask? Almost all golf shafts are made from a flat material (steel, graphite, titanium). The material is rolled into a round shape to form a tube, the edges are bonded together along its length to create the shaft. This joined edge is referred to as the "spine". The spine has variances in bonding material and thickness along its length. Bending the shaft directly against the spine will produce inconsistencies leading to poor shots that golfers assume are their own fault, or a swing flaw. The position of the spine in relation to the club face is critical in order to achieve consistent flexing under load (IE the golf swing) - YES, the shaft actually flexes during the swing. Positioning the club head to the proper spine position during assembly of the club will result in consistent and repeatable flexing of the shaft, and will help you achieve more consistent, and accurate shots. In plain English - Each and every golf shaft WANTS to bend a certain way - if you install the shaft in a position (in relation to the clubhead) where it is NOT bending the "way it wants" under load, some funky things are going to happen, it will not repeat consistently swing after swing. If the shaft spine position is way out of whack, it is possible to make a perfect golf swing, and still mis-hit the ball.... yup, it's true!!!! The spine also has an effect on the frequency (flex stiffness) of the golf shaft - the really bad ones can be out as much as one full flex from its stiffest area to its weakest (all on the same shaft).... yup, it's true. I have yet to see a shaft without a spine. Some shafts have a more pronounced spine than others, but they all have a spine. According to the shaft manufacturers, it IS possible to produce a "spine-less" shaft, however the price of shafts would skyrocket. Shaft manufacturers do not mark the spine on their shafts, many of their customers (the big golf companies) do not check the spine of each and every shaft they handle either. The golf companies paint their graphics on the shaft, and line them up usually with the pretty graphics pointing straight up (for the best cosmetic appearance), or in some cases straight down. The unfortunate result is a "pretty" looking club that most likely will not perform as well or consistently as it could. I use high quality spine finding equipment to locate the spine on my customer's shafts, and ALL of the shafts used in my own clubs. You will notice on the clubs I have assembled for myself that the shaft graphics do not point straight up at address, this is because I would rather swing a club that will perform consistently (IE "Spined"), than a club that looks pretty. The next phase of the spine-align/FLO process is the FLO-ing. FLO stands for Flat Line Oscillation. The procedure involves placing a shaft into a holding device, fixing a laser pointer to the club shaft with a weight attached to the end of the shaft to simulate the weight of a clubhead. The shaft is then "twanged" - the laser pointer will make a pattern showing the directions that the shaft is oscillating. Ideally you want the oscillations to repeat and hold true in a flat line. Many shafts will oscillate inconsistently in all directions (circular and linear), and will be VERY unpredictable/inconsistent when attached to a clubhead. The FLO position of the shaft is directly related to the spine of the golf shaft. The spining process gets you into the ballpark, and the FLO-ing process is the fine tuning to help get the shaft into precisely the exact proper position in relation to the clubhead. See the pictures below of a laser pointer attached to a golf shaft to help you understand what Flat Line Oscillation is.
The picture on the left shows random oscillation. The picture on the right shows that FLO has been achieved. When the spine of the shaft, and the FLO alignment are determined, the shaft is installed precisely in the perfect position in relation to the club face. Under load the shaft will remain stable, consistent, and repeatable - which will result in more consistent ball contact, fewer off-center hits, and less shot dispersion. Look at the two pictures above - which one of these two shafts would you want in your club? A shaft that has not been spined/FLO'd does some pretty funky things on the downswing while the shaft is under load (flexing), and it will NOT flex consistently from swing to swing - just look at the "No FLO" picture above (left). When the shaft is outta whack, it is possible to make a perfect swing, and still end up with a mis-hit ball.....believe it or not. The picture of the shaft on the right is the one I want in my club, consistent and repeatable. To sum up, Spine-aligning / FLO'ing is a very important, critical process to help every shaft perform consistently, and yup I'm going to say it.... MORE BETTER. Numerous studies have been done whose results can prove the benefits of spining/FLO. This spine/FLO procedure is so critical to the performance of the golf club, that it is a part of every club I build. Have you ever made what you thought was a good swing, and mis-hit the ball. As you're walking to your ball for the next shot you're asking yourself "what did I do wrong on that swing????" ......... the answer could possibly be "NOTHING". Swing Weighting and MOI Matching? Should you get your new clubs swingweighted or MOI matched? The answer is yes (and it's part of every club I build). Just keep in mind that although each process is somewhat different, the purpose of having either procedure done is to establish a form of consistency from club to club in your new set. Swingweight matching is concerned more with the "feel" or "heft" of the clubs as you swing them. MOI matching deals more with the force required to put the club into motion. Please read in greater detail below on swingweight matching, and MOI matching. Swingweighting: What is swingweight anyway? Swingweight is essentially how heavy the club "FEELS" (or "HEFT") as you are swing it. For example, you can have two assembled clubs (let's say 5-irons) that both have the exact same static physical weight in grams (as measured on a digital weigh scale), but could have substantially different swingweights. If one of the two clubs has more of the weight distributed towards the clubhead, it will have a higher swingweight and will "FEEL" heavier when you are swinging it. The opposite holds true for the other club that has more of the weight distributed towards the grip end of the club, it will "FEEL" lighter as you are swinging it, and thus will have a lower swingweight value. Swingweight is expressed in a two-digit alphanumeric value (A0-A9, B0-B9, C0-C9, D0-D9, etc.), the higher the letter and number, the heavier the swingweight will be. The swingweight identification scale reads from the ultra-light "A" (the lightest swingweight) clubs [example A-4] , all the way up to "G" (the heaviest swingweight) clubs [example G-7]. Most ladies' clubs usually fall somewhere into the "C" category for swingweight, and most men's clubs usually fall somewhere into the "D" category for swingweight. A club with a D-4 swingweight will "FEEL" heavier than a C-7 swingweight - even if they have the same physical weight while sitting there quietly alone on a digital scale. I hope my description of swingweight makes sense to you. To give you an idea of how fine the swingweight measurement is - If we were to take an assembled club whose swingweight measures at "C-7" and fix (attach) a dime to the clubhead, the swingweight would now change to a value of C-8 (one swingweight point). The weight of a teeny little dime will alter the swingweight by about one point. Most players will not be able to feel one or two swingweight points, however many better players can feel a difference of two or three swingweight points. MOI Matching: What is MOI Matching? MOI matching is quickly becoming the popular (and many users say superior) replacement for swingweighting. Its popularity is growing at an astounding rate. Unlike swingweighting, MOI matching is based on science which identifies the actual force required by the golfer to swing the club. Once the "ideal" MOI is determined, all clubs are matched to have the same force requirement to swing. The MOI of any object is a measurement of its resistance to being placed in motion around a defined axis of rotation. Related to golf clubs, if each club in a set requires a different amount of force to swing the club (set the club in motion to rotate around our body), it stands to reason that the golfer cannot be as consistent swinging each different club in the set. In most simple form, this is what sets MOI matching apart from matching clubs to the same swingweight. MOI matching makes the FORCE required to swing each club exactly the same. Swingweight matching makes the "feel" or "heft" of each club the same. Although they sound similar, they are NOT the same thing. A set of golf clubs that has been MOI matched, will not have the same swingweight values for every club in the set (each club will be different). Swingweight matching does not make each club the same in terms of the amount of force required by the golfer to swing each club and hit the shot - MOI matching does. However, because golfers can be quite different in their strength, tempo and swing mechanics, the right MOI must be identified and fit for each golfer to allow the concept to properly work. How is the right MOI determined for each golfer? The preferred method (for in-person fittings only) is to use a test club in the fitting process. By manipulating the head weight of the test club with lead tape, it can be possible to find a headweight to “rest of the club” ratio that will result in a higher percentage of on center hits. Once done, the test club is measured for its MOI, and the entire set can be assembled to match the same desired MOI. Swingweighting or MOI matching is another way to fine tune your clubs, where either the "heft" or "feel" can be matched from club to club, or the force required to swing each club is matched. Whether it be swingweight match, or MOI match - some form of weight balance to swing characteristics MUST be done. Either method offers a way to help make each club in your golf bag consistent. It's hard to to swing consistently when your clubs are not matched in some way. Every set of clubs I build will be matched (either swingweight, or MOI) - the result will be more consistent, solid, and on-center ball contact for you. Loft & Lie: Unfortunately, loft and lie are far too often overlooked (pretty much forgotten) when it comes to golf clubs. Loft and lie angles should be checked/adjusted every year - they will change after numerous "encounters" with Mother Earth. The LOFT of a golf club has much to do with how high and how far the ball travels. The more loft you have, the ball will go higher and not as far. The less loft you have, the ball will go lower and farther (when struck properly). A 5-iron travels lower and farther than a pitching wedge. Ideally, in a set of golf clubs, you want enough difference in the loft (and proper length) of each golf club to produce a 10-15 yard differential in how far each club hits the ball with a good swing. See the pics below to see what loft is.
Lofts can change over time from repeated impacts with the turf. Occasionally, even when clubheads are new, they can be off by a degree or two. The LIE of a golf club is very important to how the club will perform - and that ain't no lie - yup, it's true (pardon the pun). The proper lie angle for each golfer is NOT the same (the lie angle does change from club to club). Proper lie angle depends on many factors - your height, your stature, how upright you stand when you're addressing the ball, how close your arms are to your body during your swing, or how flat or upright your swing plane is. If the lie angle of a golf club is too upright for you and your swing - the ball will have a tendency to either pull or pull/hook. If the lie angle of a golf club is too flat for you and your swing - the ball will tend to push or push/slice. If the lie angle is correct, assuming you made a good swing, the ball should go straight. With incorrect golf club lie, it is possible to make a perfect swing and have the ball wander from your target line. See pic below to better understand lie angle.
Having your loft & lies checked/adjusted is another piece to the puzzle when it comes to making a good set of golf clubs, and maintaining a good set of golf clubs. It is just another method of "fine tuning" we can do with our golf clubs to ensure they are made to fit YOU and YOUR particular swing. Most club heads are made to a "standard" lie. If someone can define what or who a "standard" golfer is, please let me know and we can get rich together. The better we can make the clubs to fit YOU, the better and more consistent you will play. Even on your existing clubs, it's a good idea to get loft and lie checked every season to make sure they are correct - YES, they can change after repeated hits on the ground. NOTE REGARDING LOFT/LIE ADJUSTMENTS - In order to adjust the loft or lie of a golf club, the club is placed into a special machine and the hosel is actually BENT to make the adjustment. I WILL NOT adjust loft/lie of a cast golf club by more than 2 degrees (if you bend them too far, they can actually break, although 1-2° is safe), forged clubs can go 3-4°. Another point to consider with loft/lie adjustments - it is possible when either loft or lie is adjusted that the sole and hosel of the club can get slightly "marked" from the holding/bending equipment - if it does get marked, it will NOT hurt performance in any way, the blemish is strictly cosmetic only, and in many cases VERY hard to see. Just checking loft/lie will not blemish the clubheads, it is during the adjustment procedure that the blemish can happen. I CAN NOT guarantee that during a loft/lie adjustment, your clubhead sole or hosel won't get a blemish on it. I try to be as careful as I can, but a blemish can happen - please be aware of that. If you want me to adjust the loft & lie of your existing clubs for you, keep in mind that some materials cannot be adjusted - Zinc heads (Irons identified as metallic colored and non- magnetic), Graphite or graphite crown heads (Visually identifiable), Most Titanium heads, Aluminum Hybrid heads. Every set of clubs I build will have the loft and lie angles checked/adjusted at time of assembly. Your loft & lie angles can be checked/adjusted free of charge for a period of one year from date of purchase. Copyright © 2010 Gooder Custom Golf Clubs. All rights reserved! |
An example of a
higher-lofted club (PW), the ball will go high and not very far.
An
example of a lower-lofted club (5-iron), the ball will go lower than a wedge,
and farther.
You can see what
the ball wants to do with each lie angle in the picture.