CUSTOM FITTING FOR BALL TRAJECTORY - Ensuring you get the correct and most suited ball trajectory for your customer is a major factor in improving shot performance and score. Too low a ball flight will in most conditions, not achieve optimum distance, cause problems in getting out of the rough and give very little backspin, which creates a loss of control when playing in to the green. When ball trajectory is too high, again distance is lost due to a ballooned flight that lacks penetration, control in the wind becomes a problem and often a slice ball flight is a resulting factor.

Now most of the above can be improved or corrected by making changes to the players swing, but swing changes are difficult to implement, especially with swings that are set in their method due to years of poor practice. So this is where clever and creative custom fitting can play a big part in helping your customer.

A Low Ball Trajectory is usually more common with higher handicap players. At the root of a low-ball trajectory problem you will usually find a lack of clubhead speed is an issue, as faster swing speeds create more ball spin and a higher launch angle. Whilst this can be improved through adjustments in swing technique, it is much easier to investigate the following golf clubhead and shaft components for an improved trajectory.

Firstly the loft on the clubface must be measured and a simple loft protractor will do this perfectly. Driver lofts are usually stamped somewhere on the sole plate and an increase of 2 plus degrees is needed to make a significant difference to a slow swingers trajectory. Next check iron lofts, there are no standards in golf club lofts and up to 5 degrees variance can be found between companies manufactured lofts. Loft can be added to most iron heads, 2 degrees is usually the maximum and again this will improve ball height and distance. Don’t be afraid to experiment with high loft drivers of 12.5 degrees and upward as this is a major way to get a quick fix.

The design and style of the clubhead is also a major way to gain a higher ball trajectory. Modern oversize clubheads come with a low centre of gravity, which give an immediate increase in trajectory. This applies to irons as well as woods so again experiment with different head designs to find the best fit. Offset head design will also give a small improvement in ball height and whilst only around 1 degree it should not be overlooked.

Finally the shaft! Shaft weight is a medium issue here as generally a lighter shaft will enable a slower swinger to create more clubhead speed and this in turn improves ball spin and velocity. However, shaft bend point is a major factor in increasing trajectory and time should be spent checking out this and fitting a shaft more suited to your customer. The lower the bend point on a shaft, the higher the ball flight, also look at playing graphite shafts as they are lighter and tend to have the lower bend point that increases ball trajectory.

If you take the benefit from all these factors you can without a swing change add 5 or 6 degrees improvement to your customer’s trajectory. Not bad without a swing change and add to this to the fact that most more seasoned golfers have not got used to using the longer tee with their deeper faced drivers, so this is the final addition to improved trajectory.

Moving on to the hit it “too high brigade”. In truth maybe you cannot hit the ball too high and the issue here is the shape of the launch trajectory. A penetrating ever-rising ball flight is distance giving, exciting to watch and usually is fairly consistent. The excessive trajectory we will deal with is a ballooned flight that just fails to give the ball a penetrating trajectory. Again swing issues exist here but that’s for the golf coach to deal with not the custom club-fitter.

Clubface loft is the first place to look for an overall improvement, as it is obvious that the ball initially reacts to clubface loft. Again using a protractor, check the driver loft to see if it matches what is stated on the sole plate. Remember 2 degrees less is needed here to make an improvement so start by changing the driver by at less this amount. Beware that if you go to below 9.5 degrees, swing speed needs to be checked and in the region of 95 mph otherwise the benefit of extra loft may be lost. After checking the set of irons for loft a decision can be made on the most suitable loft adjustment. Most irons can be set-up in a loft and lie machine and 2/3 degrees reduction is usually possible. Just beware not to take so much loft off that the leading edge of the iron loses it bounce as this could result in heavy and deep divots.

Clubhead design is a major factor here and deep offset clubhead design with a low centre of gravity will aggravate an over lofted ball flight. So a blade style iron could be the answer especially if you can get the set graded with the 5 iron loft at 25 degree’s.

On to the shaft and again here there are some major factors to checkout. Bend-point is the first area to look for an improvement and a higher bend-point is the target, as this will assist a lower ball flight. Major shaft manufacturers produce a complete range of shafts all with different specifications and designed to fit every level of golfer so check-out their brochures for shaft details. Focus firstly on using steel shafts as they are generally heavier and have less torque than graphite, also as a general rule graphite has a lower bend point due to its construction and this will damage our plan for less height on our trajectory.

So again here through custom fitting we have achieved a possible reduction in ball trajectory in the region of 5 or 6 degrees, which will be visible and make a significant difference to the performance of your customer.

Custom fitted clubs do make a difference and by being focused on major factors golfers can improve performance and handicap without a swing change.