From Counter-weighting to Optimal-weighting!

A little counter-weighting history Golfsmith conducted a test in 2004: Over 30 testers, a mix of teaching pros and students Age range about 40 to 80 years Handicap range scratch to high mid-handicappers Two test drivers used: Both 10.5 degree loft with a FLOed, 65 gram graphite “R” flex shaft at 45 inch length Clubs were identical except one had a 65g butt weight Swing weights were D2 and B3 respectively

The results were a surprise! Butt weighted average club swing speed 2 mph higher, launch angle 1 degree higher, and carry distance was 9 yards more Over 70% hit counter-weighted club farther Average distance gain was 14 yards 15 of 23 testers gained more than 5 yards Directional accuracy was improved

Why are the counter-weighted clubs better? Player can now feel the club. Modern clubs are lighter versus the heavier golf clubs of the past that the player could feel Butt-weighted shafts were tried but limited because it was one weight fits all Different counter-weights in the butt give the fitter different weight options. Bottom line is that more club weight from butt weights restored feel and control without any swing speed reduction

Types of golfers that benefit Aggressive Transition move: Club total weight increase results in more feel and control of the golf club Very Quick Tempo’s: creates a “smoother” tempo resulting in better control and accuracy Early to Midway Release: swing speed increase, club center contact, swing path and face angle improvement often noticed.

Types of golfers that benefit (continued) Outside-To-Inside Swing Path: More weight in the hands helps the golfer “drop the club into the slot”. Keith says many golfers he fits change from dreaded slice to controlled fade. After testing for Length those Golfers whose on-center hits are very close but just not quite on-center.

The Test Process Counter-weighting (butt-weighting) works either in a golfers existing clubs or custom fitted clubs Test the driver and 6 or 7 iron Conduct ball striking tests: - 4 strikes each weight, from no weight to 40g or maybe 60g in 10g increments. The data will tell which weight is best

Counter-weighiting Conclusions Certain golfers see improvement in ball striking: Swing speed, ball speed and distance increase Better swing path, contact quality, distance control, direction and feel 30% increase distance 70% direction and distance control Counter-weighting changes swing weight, but not MOI OEMs cant do it: too much time and money

Beyond Counter-Weighting and into Optimal weighting Why Optimal weighting? Works for almost all players resulting in more distance, better directional accuracy and more consistency What is Optimal Weighting? The change of total weight and balance point of a golf club to create the best swing path and face angle for the golfer As with butt weighting applicable to existing and custom-fitted clubs

Custom-fitted clubs For a driver we fit for: Best length: use various length test clubs observing swing speed and center contact Best loft: measure swing speed and launch angle with known driver loft and analyze with TWGT Trajectory software. Loft defined! Best Shaft flex: Use Jerry H.’s BMT; define shaft flex profile using swing speed, tempo and release We also want best Path and Face angle

How do we get best path and face angle? For path improvement we vary total club weight with shaft weight and maybe grip weight For face angle improvement we change head weight using lead tape on the head Roy shows the affect of this in the next chart

Total club weight affects path while head weight face angle

Best path and face angle using Optimal Weighting Use lighter shaft weights and add in-shaft movable weights and butt weights? By varying the magnitude of in-shaft weights we can vary the total club weight By controlling the movable shaft weight we can change the head weight Benefits: (1) reduction of fitting shaft inventory; (2) finite vs infinite options (3) Potential swing speed increase

So the Optimization Process is: Finding the best golf-club total weight and balance for a golfer which will give the golfer a swing path and face angle at impact to create down the target line ball strikes

Optimal-weighting test: Full swing clubs Over 80% of our driver optimizations use a 20g Opti-Vibe power weight and a 12g butt weight We use a Zelocity Pure Launch or Pure Contact: 4 ball strikes with no weight, 20g O-V @ 8 inches, 12 inches, 4 inches all with 12g butt wt. Data will suggest where to go in between the above with the 20g O-V weight. 4 ball strikes each moving the O-V in one inch increments. The data will tell you when you are at optimum Remember the depth of the O-V affects release (face angle) which will indicate to you whether to go deeper or less deep

Optimal Weighting Test: Putters Use a 75g, 100g or 150g Opti-Vibe weight for this optimization The eventual optimized depth will be some where between 4 and 10 inches deep The depth of the O-V affects release in the putting stroke therefore affects direction. Start at 7 inches deep and go on either side as in full swing clubs It will be obvious when you start to get close and then it is a matter of tweaking

A recent driver example using a Zelocity Radar and pad of paper 9/15/09 Driver Opt Weight/strike Carry Dist Ball Speed Direction None/#1 213 129 Straight #2 215 130 Straight #3 219 132 Straight #4 221 132 Straight 20g, 7”DN+12g/#1 211 128 Straight #2 233 138 Straight/Draw #3 231 137 Push #4 204 125 Push #5 209 127 Pull 20g, 8”DN+12/#1 221 132 Straight #2 221 132 Straight #3 219 132 Slightt left #4 225 134 Straight

Another driver example using Zelocity Pure Launch

That was a home run! Notice the Optimized driver had over 12 yards more carry distance. The next day he shot his age for the first time He had three more clubs:2 FW and 1 HYB done Then called and scheduled Optimization to be done on his wife’s clubs

Another Driver notice 7 yards more carry!

This is a big deal cuz 3 hours of attempts using Bal Cert with inventor, no gain Notice more than 5 more yards carry!

Tour Lock RT4 Special Pricing

Optimal Weight Technology Optimizing static weight and balance point of drivers and full swing golf clubs as well as putters to match individual golfers swing This creates swing path and face angles that cause down the target line ball strikes from club face centers Lets go do some!

Summary Best total weight: to get and best swing path maintaining swing speed: Typical approach is to vary shaft weight during fitting observing path and swing speed Vary head weight to get best face angle at impact: Typical approach use a light shaft which creates a lighter swing weight and add lead tape to the head. This is in conflict with swing path issue above. What if a heavier shaft needed to optimize swing path?