The “Off the Rack” mass produced manufactures really fall short in
this aspect of a club.
One of the most important factors in fitting a golf club is shaft stiffness or
Frequency. The shaft is the only moving part of the golf club. When a golfer
swings the club, on the forward swing, the golf club initially is bending in
a toe-up position because the club is upside down and the heavy part of the club,
the club head, lags behind as the golfer starts pulling the club downward and
forward. Just like a tree branch, once you bend the branch and let it go, the
branch goes back past center and continues moving back and forth until it stops.
The shaft of the golf club does the same thing. This oscillation can be measured
using a frequency analyzer that determines the CPM (cycles per minute) of oscillation.
In general, for a certain length of shaft, the higher the number of CPM's the
stiffer the shaft.
Depending upon the load and acceleration of the golfers swing,
the shaft will either load too much and unload too early
(shaft is too soft) or not load enough and unload too late (shaft
is too stiff) during the golfer's swing. Shafts that are too soft
create very erratic shot patterns but usually the shots
are high and left of target for right handed golfers. Shafts that
are too stiff create two obvious shot patterns: low, left pull
shots and high right fade shots. CFC Golf custom builds each club
to the exact frequency that matches the golfers SFI.
Grip Size
The grip is one of the most important components in
golf and the only part of the club that you actually
touch. You can buy “$500.00 “Off the Rack” Drivers
all day. If the grip is wrong, it’s a waste of money.
Grips are made of materials that age and wear as a function of time and use.
Ozone, heat, dirt and oils from your hands all age your grips and cause the natural
deterioration of the grip. The traction that a fresh grip provides lets you hold
the club lightly without the subconscious fear of losing the club during your
swing. This relaxed state promotes proper swing mechanics and wrist action. While
a worn grip causes you to grasp the club tighter, causing arm and wrist tension
that inhibits proper swing mechanics and leads to a loss of power and control.
Our CFC Certified club fitters fit each customer
with a grip specifically for your hand size and swing.
We also have special grips for golfers that have
arthritis or are missing fingers.
Putter grips are the most touched, most used, and
most overlooked piece of equipment in the bag. Because
putter grips are used once, twice, and unfortunately
sometimes three or four times per green, they deserve
far more attention and care than they typically get.
Putting is the key to scoring, and good putting requires
confidence. That's why you need to select a putter
size, shape, and material that perform best for you.
And once you've made your selection, you need to
clean the putter grip just as you do all other grips
in the bag, to maintain that original tacky feel.
Driver Loft
At least 90 percent of all golfers are not playing
with enough loft on their driver to fully maximize their distance
off the tee, and with the fairway woods off the fairway as well.
If your driver swing speed is 90 mph or lower, 90 percent of
you are going to need a driver loft of 12, 13 or 14 degrees
to be able to achieve the launch angle that will keep the ball
in the air long enough to carry the ball to exactly match your
swing speed.
And since at last check, 10.5 degrees is the highest
loft the majority of the standard clubmaking companies even
offer for men and 13.5 is the ceiling for women, that's a pretty
good indication that to get more distance off the tee, you need
to be custom fit for the loft of your driver. See the accompanying
chart for a very general recommendation of driver loft vs. swing
speed.
The “Off the Rack” manufactures are constantly promoting
low loft drivers with shafts that are to long, that only the
Tour Pro’s can hit.
Optimal Loft
CFC Certified club fitters use data about your swing speed,
distance, problem shots and - just plain ole common sense for
a perfect fitted driver. It is safe to say that for a given
swing speed there is some optimal loft which
will allow us to carry the ball the maximum distance
The idea is to have more loft the slower you swing
to maximize distance. Fast swingers can experiment with lower
lofts. The following table is intuitive and illustrates what
may likely be the optimum lofts for a 'driver' for a given club
length and swing speed.
Ball trajectory is the primary influence of loft. This is true
in both woods and irons. The correct amount of loft will produce
the optimum launch trajectory, spin rate with maximum carry and
roll.
