Steve Atherton (@AthertonPGA)— GolfTEC VP of Research and Development and PGA Master Professional in Instruction — responds to the last poll on 2010 improvement.
There were some interesting results from our poll on which part of your game needs the most work in 2010. Exactly 2/3 of you felt that your driver or your irons need to be the focal point of your improvement for 2010. I believe most golfers feel like they need work on their swing more than any other part of their game. Even though we’ve all heard the old golf axiom, “drive for show, putt for dough” – I feel that those of you who voted woods or irons may be more in tune with your game than you think!
On a tour player level, there is no doubt that the short game separates really good players from great players. However, most of you out there probably have enough duffs, shanks, tee shots in the woods, and penalty strokes, that having Tiger Woods’ short game would allow you to get up and down for 6! Where’s the fun in that?
I do believe that the average golfer would enjoy playing more if they hit better shots and reduced mis-hits and penalty strokes. In addition, the National Golf Foundation has proven that the number one reason why people play more golf is the quality of their ball-striking and hitting good shots!
One thing I would strongly suggest is that you begin tracking your game closely so that you can accurately determine which part of your game truly needs work. If you were to track fairways hit, greens in regulation, putts per round, up and down percentage, and penalty strokes per round for a few rounds, you would easily be able to identify your problem areas and prioritize your practice time! Ask your GolfTEC Coach about our Performance Chart, which allows you to compare your stats to those needed to reach your target score!
What do you think about the poll results? Any questions or comments? Leave them below.
I read recently that most golfers would hit a 4-wood farther than a 3-wood. I’d appreciate clarification. For example, does this mean in general that a well struck 4W goes farther than a well struck 3W or just that the AVERAGE 4W shot goes farther because it’s easier to hit the 4W? What if the 4W has a 3W-length shaft? I assume part of the discussion is that with today’s less-spinning balls the 3W doesn’t keep the ball in the air long enough. Thanks for any insights.
Howard,
I believe what you read is a general statement about most amateurs that tends to hold true because most golfers do not have enough club speed or the proper attack angle into the golf ball to effectively utilize the loft of a 3-wood (or most drivers for that matter). Therefore, because the 4-wood has more loft, most amateurs would tend to hit it a bit farther.
Certainly for tour players, or robotic testing at high speeds, a 3-wood will go farther than a 4-wood, and a driver farther than the 3-wood, etc. However, if the club speed drops low enough, there will be a crossover point where the higher-lofted clubs will start to go farther. This would typically happen below 80 mph. Below that, the driver and 3 wood have such little loft, that carry distance will be compromised and the ball will take off low and simply fall to the ground quickly. Your thoughts on spin are correct, and simply add to the problem. So if you swing above 80 mph, and you have the correct loft for the 3-wood and proper technique – you should hit the 3-wood farther than the 4-wood.
Steve, thanks for the clarification! I’m still struck, though, by the Golf Digest piece in the Feb. 2010 issue that seems to show that even 85+ swing speeds would benefit, distance-wise, by replacing a 3-wood with a 4-wood. Based on your comments both above and in the Golf Digest piece, I’ll assume that the magazine included mishits in the distance tabulations. And, while I’d like, say, an extra 10-15 yards from a fairway wood, I realize my score really comes down to short irons and putter. Thanks, again.
Howard, I am quite sure you are correct that they are including mis-hits, etc. I also believe they are probably correct that for the average golfer they’ve tested the 4-wood will go farther. I say this because, unfortunately, the average golfer out there does not have good enough technique and typically not quite enough speed to hit a 3-wood or driver really well.
Unfortunately, the manufacturers don’t build many clubs that are truly designed to help the average golfer, because the average golfer doesn’t usually want what’s best for them – they want what the tour players play. I would bet you my house that if the average driver was built to 14 degrees the average 95 shooter would hit it MUCH better than whatever they are playing now.
I could not agree with you any more. If I were to look at my average OB/Hazard penalty strokes of my last 10 rounds I see that by eliminating those shots, I improve my scores by almost 5.5 strokes per round. It also correlates positively that my lowest rounds have the fewest shots lost to hazards and OB. Hitting the fairway is not as important but staying in play is a key for me, and a big one!
There’s a lot of room for improvement in my game, but improving my game from tee-to-green will go a long way in my enjoyment of the game and then will give me new opportunities to for other areas of improvement–like putting.
Steve, Wonderful article in Golf Magazine! I have a question. Does your driver setup apply to fairway woods and irons? If not how does it change? Thanks for your article and your help.
John, the setup for your fairway woods will be almost exactly the same as the driver. In fact all clubs have a very similar setup, except the ball position gradually moves slightly farther back in the stance until it’s just about in the middle for your pitching wedge. Your stance will get slightly more narrow with each club (approximately 1/2″ more narrow per club dropping from driver to PW) and your weight distribution will move from 60% or so on the back foot with the driver to about 55% on the front foot with the PW. The weight distribution changes are accomplished by the changing width in stance, and moving your head slightly more toward the target as the club gets shorter.
I will say that because your weight is slightly more on the front foot with the wedges and shorter irons, you do not need to have your hips tilted to the right as much as it mentions in the article, and you don’t need to extend your arms away from your body as much with your other clubs as it says for the driver. Those are the only differences in the setup with different clubs.
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