Buying Custom Golf Clubs III

I do get some occasional questions about what the correct loft and lie for custom golf clubs should be.

Everyone has their thoughts so here is my thinking on this.

Loft adjustments basically change the natural trajectory of the golf club by putting the club into a machine and bending the club.

For my money, this produces way too much stress on the club and would have a tendency to weaken the overall structure of the metal itself.

Besides, that’s why we carry everything from different wedges all the way through a one iron. If the loft of your five iron, for example, is too weak then hit your four iron… and vise versa.

Basically for the same reason that it involves bending your club, I would not recommend any type of lie adjustment either.

The bottom line is because golf clubs are cast or forged from a variety of metals.

Clubs may be cast from stainless steel known by their composition names like 431, 17-4 or 15-5. These numbers refer to the hardness of each metal, whereas forged clubs are produced from a softer metal known as carbon steel. Clubs may also even be made from more exotic metals such as beryllium copper, nickel or similar types of material.

Each individual club may have its own unique properties even though it will be cast from one of the above materials. Because of this, when a golf club is altered for loft and/or lie, there is a chance that the head could actually break. And this could happen regardless of the type of machine being used or the experience of the person doing the bending.

At the end of the day if you feel that getting your golf club(s) loft and/or lie adjusted is necessary, I would suggest that before you do, be sure to fully understand what the person doing the loft and lie adjusting will hold them self responsible for. If they guarantee their work against breaking or cracking the head you may feel covered. If not, well … either way it’s your call.

Where can I buy custom golf clubs?

Pinemeadow Golf has always been one of the top 50 custom golf club manufacturers in the world. They sell a complete line of custom golf clubs. They also have an automated Custom Fitting Wizard to tailor the clubs for your frame.

And if you are perhaps thinking about introducing a junior golfer to the game the Pinemeadow Nitrix Junior Golf Set for Ages 10-14 set is perfect for players between the ages of 10-14. The woods and irons are built with custom matched Pinemeadow NRG graphite shafts that are lightweight yet durable enough for junior golfers. All the clubs are built and designed with easy to hit characteristics making it simple for the new player to pick up the game.

Buying Custom Golf Clubs II

Knowing a bit about the length of the club that best fits you along with the degree of stiffness that accompanies the shaft will help you toward getting the best fit of your custom golf clubs.

Length is simply a measurement taken from the tip of the grip down the backside of the club to the when the club would rest on the ground. The natural physics are simply that a longer club will produce a bigger swing arc and result in more distance.

However, keep in mind that this length also increases the degree of difficulty in controlling the swing and the club.

Of course the ‘sexy’ answer is longer is better and believe it or not many golfers go too long at the expense of their control. So, you want to get a length that will provide good distance but not by requiring more exertion. Also, not that depending upon your age when you decide to go with a custom built set of golf clubs that the older you get the increased length will not necessarily be a good thing.

Having said all this, the standard length of a steel shafted driver is 43 inches. Graphite shafted golf clubs are 1 inch longer because the graphite is lighter so you can gain some additional shaft length and keep the same swing weight of the golf club. Or, conversely, as you get older you can keep a standard length and reduce a bit of the swing weight. Again as mentioned in the previous article on custom golf clubs the proper fit for a club length is a combination of your height and the distance from your hands to the floor.

When discussing the flex of the golf club shaft, you should know that the flex of the shaft is pretty self explanatory. In other words, it is the inherent ‘stiffness’ of the shaft. Stiffer shafts are generally preferred by stronger hitting golfers. Some common flexes are men’s regular, stiff, extra stiff, senior, and ladies. I don’t know why, but graphite flex terminology is firm and extra firm.

So, what do you need to know about your custom golf club’s shaft flexibility?

Well, much like the length of the club, your strength and playing ability tend to dictate the grade of flexibility you’ll want in your club shaft. Keeping the physics thing in mind, shaft flexibility comes into play much more with your metal woods and long irons as these clubs carry the longer shafts.

Where can I buy custom golf clubs?

Pinemeadow Golf has always been one of the top 50 custom golf club manufacturers in the world. They sell a complete line of custom golf clubs. They also have an automated Custom Fitting Wizard to tailor the clubs for your frame.

And if you are perhaps thinking about introducing a junior golfer to the game the Pinemeadow Nitrix Junior Golf Set for Ages 10-14 set is perfect for players between the ages of 10-14. The woods and irons are built with custom matched Pinemeadow NRG graphite shafts that are lightweight yet durable enough for junior golfers. All the clubs are built and designed with easy to hit characteristics making it simple for the new player to pick up the game.

Next, let’s talk briefly about the loft and lie of the custom golf clubs.

Buying Custom Golf Clubs

If you’re considering getting yourself (or someone else for that matter) a set of custom fitted golf clubs, there just a few bits of information you need to know about yourself and your game.

There are many different methods people will use to determine the criteria needed in order to build the custom golf clubs for you.

However, most all eventually base the input off of the same basic information.

To custom fit your golf clubs you will need to know just a couple of measurements along with some basic personal information.

• Your height (no shoes on).
• The distance from your knuckles to the floor while standing upright (again no shoes on).

This is basically the math part.

The person building your custom golf clubs  will need to know the overall make up of the total inches of your body.

For instance one person who is 6ft tall may have their height in their legs putting their hands higher off the ground while someone who has their height in their torso would have their hands closer to the ground. Same height different club shaft length requirements. Although the vast majority of golfers will be very close to if not standard length, the difference in proper shaft length for the golf clubs could vary by a few inches and make a big difference.

Other factors influencing the building of custom golf clubs include:

• Your gender (because there is different ‘standard’ lengths between male and female).
• Your Age.
• Handicap.
• Your average club head speed.
• Knowing the distance you hit you mid irons (5 iron more specifically) is helpful.

The reason for the age, club head speed, or distance you hit your mid irons is because these factors will come into play when determining the flex of the shaft of the golf club that best fits your game.

Where can I buy custom golf clubs?

Pinemeadow Golf has always been one of the top 50 custom golf club manufacturers in the world.  They sell a complete line of custom golf clubs.  They also have an automated Custom Fitting Wizard to tailor the clubs for your frame.And if you are perhaps thinking about introducing a junior golfer to the game the Pinemeadow Nitrix Junior Golf Set for Ages 10-14 set is perfect for players between the ages of 10-14. The woods and irons are built with custom matched Pinemeadow NRG graphite shafts that are lightweight yet durable enough for junior golfers. All the clubs are built and designed with easy to hit characteristics making it simple for the new player to pick up the game.

Up next let’s take a look at length and the degree of flex in the shaft and the role they play in the building of your custom fitted golf clubs.

Golf Wedges-How To Buy

Golf wedges over the past several years have become quite the tool for the golf bag.

New and creative designs and lofts have been the focus of many a golfer looking for that precision golf club to attack the flag.

Many players are riding their bags of the longer more difficult to hit irons in favor of a more specialty situation golf wedge.

And golf club manufacturers have obliged with an array of wedge designs tailored to fit just about any scenario within striking distance of the green.

Essentially wedges come in some basic flavors known as the pitching wedge, gap wedges, sand wedges, and lob wedges.

The more familiar are the pitching and sand wedges, the other types mentioned are sometimes referred to by their loft rather than by a specific name. For example, a lob wedge is often referred to a 60 degree wedge.

Let’s take a look at some of the characteristics and make up of the wedges to give you a bit more familiarity with them.

Before we do this however, I would suggest that if you are just taking up the game don’t worry much about acquiring specialty wedges outside of your pitching wedge, and a sand wedge. Generally when you buy a set of golf irons the package will include a pitching wedge.

A term that you may run across as you look at buying a golf wedge is the ‘bounce’ or the ‘bounce angle’ of the wedge. To give you an idea of this you will need to hold the wedge’s head up to eye level and note how the trailing edge of the club is lower than the leading edge of the blade. The angle formed by these as they relate to the ground or a flat surface is known as the bounce angle. This may seem insignificant to you, but it is this angle that allows the wedge to ‘bounce’ out of the sand or the heavy rough without having the blade dig into the surface.

Golf Wedge Characteristics

The basic Pitching Wedge will come with a loft of 45 to 49 degrees. The pitching wedge is used for ‘pitch’ shots around the green as well as a bit longer approach shots out to just over some 100yds. Of course, the maximum distance is only a general estimate.

The Gap Wedge gets its name as it fills the gap between a full pitching wedge shot and a full sand wedge shot. The loft of the gap wedge (49 to 54 degrees) gives the golfer the ability to hit a ‘full’ shot at a distance too long for the sand wedge and inside the distance of a full pitching wedge. This full shot capability at this distance gives the golfer the ability to put a good backspin on the ball and stop it cold near the flag with excellent accuracy.

The sand wedge normally has around 55 to 57 degrees of loft. The sand wedge is heavily weighted along the lower portion of the blade to help it maintain its forward momentum as it enters the sand. With a high bounce angle design the sand wedge is perfectly suited to slip through the sand and under the ball without the face digging into sand.

The lob wedge or the 60 degree wedge is a specialty golf club that has become quite popular. Although a higher loft, the lob wedge doesn’t have as large of flange as the sand wedge so it is not as suited for sand play.

The lob wedge with its’ 60 degree loft is well suited for those shot one must produce quick altitude over trouble with not much green to work with on the other side of the trouble. A quick lift off with a short soft landing is the lob wedge’s claim to fame.

The key to (and the difficult part) of the mastery of a lob shot is to take a near full swing at the ball all the while trusting the lob wedge to do its job. Most people run into problems with the lob shot by decelerating the club at the last second due to insecurity with the shot.

As your game progresses you will no doubt want to experiment with and learn many of the different shots you can produce to assault the flag stick with different golf wedges.

Remember though as you become more confident with your golf wedges… there is a 14 club limit to your bag!

The good folks over at Austad’s golf have a great selection (and great prices and sales) on wedges. You should take a minute to stop by and see what they’ve got and if they have a sale going on. Here’s a quick link to their golf wedges selection.

« Previous Page — Next Page »