Sorry, but this is a face palm moment that I had to share with you. You see, I recently was emailed an advertisement for a well known online golf shop – which I will leave nameless for this post – that claimed to be able to get any golfer an extra 10 yards off the tee, no matter what! The email than had photos of the latest offerings from Taylor Made, Callaway, and many others right below the headline that is so tempting to so many that may read it. I instantaneously had a flashback to my days in golf equipment sales and dreaded what they were going to say next. The infomercials, As Seen On TV, and other horrible products that would make everyone play like a pro started reeling through my mind. Still, 10 yards, that' can’t be all that hard to guarantee can it? If so, shouldn’t I check this out? How much will it end up costing me to find that elusive 10 yards? As I glanced through the $500 selection of clubs, I thought of something, just how far will that extra 10 yards go towards improving my golf game?
With a very strong 250 yard drive and average dispersion distance of 40 yards (5° open to 5° closed) the average golfer will never see that full 10 yard increase on the course. When looking at the numbers, a 5° closed face-to-path swing will result in a loss of 3 yards of distance on a straight 250 yard shot. The same could be said of the open face as well. Again, these are theoretical numbers as far more depends on where the ball lands, how it rolls, etc…, but you get the idea from the ‘raw’ numbers and geometry involved. When I go in and get fitted for my new $500 driver and my distance increases to 260 yards, my 5° hits will gain about 7 yards in distance, not the 10 that a prime hit gains. Loosely put, for my game, 7 yards is about 1/2 a club difference into the green.
While I love the long ball more than anyone else, spending what could be an entire summer of golf (10 rounds at $50 a round) on one club that will get me about half a club better on approaches seems a bit insane to say the least. Doing so from an online retailer that hasn’t fit the club to my needs is even more crazy. Seeing testing results online from people like Rick Shiels, where he takes a 20 year old club and a current model and throws them up, side by side, only to produce a 5-10 yard gain really points out that it is far more about the swing than it is about the club. Recently, Mark Crossfield did a test pinning the newest Taylor Made offering against a 5 year old SLDR and an even older model. The SLDR won with both people using it for that round. The M3 is $499.99 retail and the SLDR is available for about $130 used in like new condition. Just doing some legwork and paying $40-100 for a fitting will do far more good than buying a new-new club.
Personally, I’m more tempted to see what stats would do if I trimmed the shaft of my driver a half inch down, or maybe even a full inch down. While this may cost 5 yards a drive in distance, if the dispersion rate drops, I will have more drives around the 275 mark that find the fairway and less at 270 that land in the rough. Positioning is far more important in the game of golf than 5 or 10 yards will ever be. If you are able to consistently hit your driver where you want it, your scores will come down, and the cost of lost balls will as well. In fact, this is exactly why I started carrying my 17° hybrid this winter, controlled distance off the tee, not just raw “let’s see where this goes” stuff anymore. My scores are the better for it as well.
So, before you fall for that new club smell, do some homework and watch some testing videos. If you can find a used, or last year’s model club for 20-40% of the price of this year’s that will go just as far for you, aren’t you better off in the long run? Comments are always welcome or you can email me with any question or comments you don’t want to post.
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