Today I was finishing building a set of irons for a client. This comes after spending some time last week putting my new Flightscope X1 Launch Monitor through its initial testing. There is no question the Flightscope will provide WAY more information for fitting that I had available in the past. But it struck me today that getting this data and finding the right specs for a set of clubs is maybe only 50% of the total package. To get Great Results for clients, you need to be able to produce the clubs that you identify are best for players.
Producing the final clubs is all about lots of skills including….
1. Being able to build clubs to lengths within a tolerance of 1/6th of an inch;
2. Being able to set lofts and lies of clubs to the specific specs that fit the player, within 1/4th of a degree of accuracy;
3. When building iron sets using parallel tip shafts, building to frequency and MOI parameters so that accuracy in frequency is 1 cpm or less and accuracy in MOI is 10 MOI points or less (this MOI accuracy is usually in the range of 0.5% of the final club MOI value.
4. For irons "using the right shaft in the right club." Many of us are fortunate to have learned the 'BMT iron shaft building" approach from Keith Chatham (AGCP Master Fitter) and this system – for parallel tip iron shafts. Using this approach allows a builder to take a set of raw shafts and determine which of these should be used in which iron clubs. It is not simply a matter of picking any shaft and using it for a particular iron.
5. FLOing shafts so that they vibrate in a stable manner in the club face plane.
6. Installing grips properly so that all grips in a set are the same size and the right size for the player.
When you do the Clubmaking Steps noted above, you end up with a set of clubs that produces Accuracy, Distance, Consistency, and Feel – what ANY golfer wants!
Merry Christmas!
The Fit Is IT!!
Tony