[Mental Game] 클럽의 길이
짧은 클럽을 권장합니다.
아래는 제가 공부할 때 report 숙제로 제출했던 원문 그대로입니다.
내용을 보시면 아시겠지만, 클럽의 길이는 스윙에 막대한 영향을 끼칩니다.
길이, 로프트각도, lie 각도, 무게, 스윙웨이트 모두가 골퍼에게 미치는 영향이 있고 조정에 따른 trade-off가 있습니다. 하지만, 그중에 저는 클럽에 가장 큰 영향을 미치는 요인 중 하나가 길이라고 생각합니다.
저는 짧은 클럽을 추천합니다. 길이가 길어서 멀리 나가는 것보다는, 또 열 번 중 9번 OB 나다가 어쩌다 한번 잘 맞아 멀리 나가는 클럽보다는, 짧은 클럽으로 공을 sweetspot에 정확히 맞혀 일관성 있고 정확한 타구를 하는 것이 훨씬 정신건강에 좋다고 생각하기 때문입니다.
클럽은 골프 경기 내내 제게 확신을 주고, 또 제가 가장 신뢰해야 할 도구라고 말씀드렸습니다.
다른 fitter들은 어떤 철학으로 fitting을 하시는지 모르지만, 저의 클럽 fitting의 제1철학은 'FEELING'입니다.
그래서 대부분의 클럽과 관련한 내용은 전에도 말씀드렸지만 mental game 의 분류에 속합니다.
영어로 되어있어 모두 읽기 어려우시다면, 아래 Fitter가 club을 fitting할 때 DO/DO NOT 부분만이라도 읽어보시기를 권합니다.
Course Title : (MK227) Golf Club Fitting
Instructor : Brian Smith, PGA
Length of the club
July 31, 2012
SEONGSOO KIM
I. Intro
The loft, lie, and lengths of your clubs all interact with one another and your swing speed to give you the direction, distance, and trajectory of your ball flight. In terms of accuracy, the most important of these three is club length, followed by lie and loft.
Think about it. If I put a clubhead at the end of 10-inch shaft and ask you hit a golf ball straight down the fairway it would be a pretty easy task. Now, let’s say I switch you from a 10-inch to a 10-feets club and ask you to do the same thing. What do you think is going to happen?
The length of a golfclub, be it a wood, an iron or a putter, has a directly quantifiable effect on ‘distance’and ‘accuracy.’
Now I would like to talk about how the length of the clubs affects the swing.
II. Main
1. Definition of Length
There have been many ways to define the playing length of a golf club. The true definition is – with the center of the clubhead sole touching the ground line, the length of the club is the Distance from the ground line to the edge of the grip cap.
2. Effect on the shotmaking performance factors :
1). Length is a MAJOR factor of DISTANCE.
The longer the club, the greater the swing arcand thus, the greater the potential for achieving higher clubhead speed with the same swing effort. The greater the clubhead speed, the greater the Distance of the shot, providing the shot is hit in line with the CG of the clubhead.
Increases in Distance due to length changes are more predictable in the middle and short irons than in the long irons and woods, mainly because the golfer’s physical ability to adjust and properly time the swing of a shorter club is better than with a longer club, such as the driver. Golfers who are more physically coordinated have a greater chance of experiencing a swing speed increase froman increase in length in the long irons and woods than golfers who are not as athletic.
Therefore, as length is increased, it is MAJOR factor of distance for all players in the middle and short irons but is only a MAJOR factor for the more athletic players in the long irons and woods. To contrast, when length is decreased, it becomes a MAJOR factor of Distance for all players, but usually with different result. At shorter lengths, golfers with better athletic skills normally will experience a decrease in clubhead speed and usually a decrease in Distance. On the other hand, with a decrease in length, golfers of lesser athletic ability can often experience an increase in Distance because the shorter length allows them to hit the ball more on the CG of the clubhead. Hitting the ball on the CG has a greater effect of achieving maximum Distance than whatever a length change can do to increase the clubhead speed. More simply, average to high handicap golfers who do not hit the ball very solid with longer woods can normally increase Distance by switching to a slightly shorter set of woods because they have a much better chance of hitting the ballon the CG of the clubhead.
2). Length is a MAJOR factor of Accuracy.
The longer the club, the harder it is to hit the ball solidly and on the CG of the clubhead. The more the ball is hit off center toward the toe or heel, the more side spin is imparted on the ball and the more off-line the ball can curve. For less athletically inclined golfers, this tendency occurs because it is much more of an athletic endeavor to swing a longer club with repeated consistency, especially if the club has a high total weight as a result of being made with a steel shaft or a heavier graphite shaft (over 90g).
Longer clubs, particularly the woods and long irons, become much more difficult for aless athletically inclined golfer to swing because the increased length places the head mass much farther from the body. As a result, the swingweight becomes too high for the length. In addition, with the total weight being greater than 12.5oz, the club becomes “cumbersome” and actually begins to destroy swing tempo and timing, resulting in mis-hitsand problems coordinating the weight shift during the swing. Through field studies, it has been determined that the lighter the total weight, the easier the less skilled golfer has adjusting his/her swing timing to the increased wood length, even if the swingweight is a little higher than what was considered normal.
Field studies with real golfers have proven repeatedly that many times a decrease in the length of the woods, particularly the driver, can actually increase Distance for the single reason that the golfer is able to time his/her swingand hit the ball more solidly, achieving the maximum Distance his/her physical skills will allow.
As aresult, length is a MAJOR factor of Accuracy. Not because of imagined automatic increases in swing speed that it isperceived to generate, but because of the fact that the correct length for thegolfer will result in the greatest conservation of energy transfer from club toball.
3). Length is a MAJOR factor in the Feel of a golf club.
The longer the club, the more “head heavy” the club can feel (unless the headweight is reduced as length increases) and the more “cumbersome,” or uncomfortable the club can be to swing for a less athletic golfer. This is because with the longer the club, the farther the clubhead mass is from the hands, giving the club more of a “headheavy” type of Feel. To a certain point, a “head heavy” Feel in a golf club can be a tremendous benefit to swing rhythm and timing, particularly among golfers with a naturally fast tempo or a quick transition from the end of the backswing to the beginning of the downswing.
3. Fitting
Do’s
1). Do : Fit for the specifications of length and lie together as they directly influence one another.
2). Do : Know that as a club is made longer, it effectively becomes more upright, at the rate of @1 degree per 1/2”
3). Do : Keep in mind that as a club’s length increases, it becomes heavier; as it is shortened, it becomes lighter
4). Do : Realize that shaft flex changes as a club is lengthened or shortened
5). Do : Observe that a longer club’s shaft will bow downward more during the swing than will a shorterclub’s shaft
6). Do : Consider that better players may be candidates for longer clubs due to their ability to return the club to the same position at impact consistently
7). Do : Communicate that a longer club may offer the potential for more distance, but at a possible sacrifice of accuracy and consistency
8). Do : When fitting juniors, make the clubs a bit over length so the junior may grow into them as he or she ages
9). Do : Determine what lengths are your standards and label demo clubs accordingly
Don’t’s
1). Don’t : Fit a player for length without concurrently looking at the required lie
2). Don’t : Assume that a tall player requires longer clubs or that a shorter player will best hit shorter clubs
3). Don’t : Fail to consider that length impacts other fitting parameters, such as shaft performance and weight, in addition to lie
4). Don’t : Overlook the effect of club length on a player’s consistency
5). Don’t : Assume all companies and fitters utilize the same length standards; always be certain of the club’s actual length rather than a so-called “standard”
III. Closing
What happens if the length of the golf club is too long for the player? It could cause the golfer to hit the ball more off the center of the club face, thus decreasing Distance and Accuracy.
And It could allow the golfer to hit the ball farther, but only if the ball is hit on center.
Longer club also make the shaft Feel more flexible to the player and the club Feel heavier and more cumbersome. In the effect on the player’s swing, the longer the club, the flatter the swing plane could become.
What happens if the length of the golf club is too short for the player? It could allow the golfer to hit the ball more on center, thus increasing Distance and Accuracy (only if the player was hitting the ball off center a high percentage of the time with the previous longer club). And it cause the golfer to hit the ball shorter, but only if the player’s previous club was longer and the player was able to hit this longer club solidly and on-center. Shorter club make the shaft feel more stiff and slightly lighter also.
In conclusion, as I summarized above, every club fitter should make fitting for customer based on the details related with any single change of the club’s specification.
IV. References
1. The Search for the Perfect Golf Club, Tom Wishon with Tom Grundner,2005
2. The Golfsmith Practical Club fitting program, Tom Wishon, Golfsmith International, Inc. 1996
3. Total Club Fitting in the 21st Century, Hireko TradingCompany, Inc
4. The Complete Book of Golf club fitting & Performance, RalphMaltby, The GolfWorks, 2011
5. http://www.theworldofgolf.com/clubfitting.asp
6. http://www.pinemeadowgolf.com/golf-clubs-101/3_custom-fitting.html
