"With quality clubs, a player of any skill level can improve their game" - Ben Hogan

Major Golf Company Marketing Strategy

The major golf companies such as Ping, Taylor Made, Nike, Titleist, Callaway, etc all have new and improved models hitting the market each and every year, sometimes twice a year.  These companies spend millions a year in advertising revenues and millions more in professional player endorsement contracts to promote the latest technological break through!  They effectively convince the golfing public these new innovations in design are a must have.  In actuality these technology innovations are little more than slight cosmetic design differences that offer no more in the way of technology than the last model which was introduced the previous year.  There are many reasons to question these yearly "Technology Breakthoughs".

Professional Scoring Averages

When you take the time to analyze the scores of professional golfers over the last 50 years, there has been little to no improvement in the average score per round.   The same is true for amateur players.

What Are These Technology Innovations?

Let's analyze most of the "true" technology break throughs which have occurred in the last 90 years or so.

  • Hickory Shaft to Steel Shaft:  In the 1920"s the steel shaft was developed and began replacing the standard hickory wooden shafts.  This was a huge breakthrough in shaft technology.  Shafts could be now manufactured with more consistency with respect to weight tolerances and flex and golf clubs could be better matched within a set.

  • Cavity Back Irons:  In the late 1960's golf club designers began experimenting with the golf iron.  Up until this time golf club irons were basically "muscle back" or "blade" designs.  The new concept was to hollow the backs of the irons and redistribute the weight to different areas of the club head which could effectively change the center of gravity of the club head itself.  This led to the game improvement features of making the iron easier to hit, easier to get the ball airborne due to a lower center of gravity which was also further back from the club face itself, producing a much more forgiving golf club on less than perfect "on center contact".

  • Graphite Shafts:   In the late 1970's/early 1980's graphite shafts seriously burst upon the scene.  The first graphite shafts very inconsistent, especially with respect to very high torque ratings when compared to steel.  The inconsistencies caused very erratic shot patterns, particularly with higher swing speeds.  As the technology developed companies discovered new and better ways of developing graphite and other composite materials for golf shafts.  The technology continues to evolve.  This is one area where the technology has potential for even more advances in the future.

  • Steel and Titanium "Wood" Heads:  Companies began developing stainless steel "wood" club heads in the 1980's as a replacement for persimmon wooden heads.  Titanium was then introduced and made an immediate impact on club design.  The titanium alloy was both lighter and stronger than stainless steel alloys.  Titanium was also more elastic than steel.  This allowed the size of driver heads to increase to sizes never before envisioned and the faces to become thinner.  Drivers became easier to hit and because the material was lighter than steel, driver swing speed increased slightly for most players.  The USGA saw this as a threat to the "traditions" of the game and stepped in to impose limits to driver head size and elasticity (COR). This was without a doubt a huge technological advance; so much so that the powers that be thought it necessary to impose limitations for the first time in recent memory!  The USGA also found it necessary to impose limits on the length of a golf club.  While it's true that increased length can slightly increase swing speed, it is also a fact that any increase in length is at the expense of solid contact.  Maximum distance is achieved through maximum swing speed AND "center of the club face" contact.  Any increase in length reduces the ability to make consistent on center contact.  I am a huge proponent of "shorter" drivers, not longer drivers.

  • Hybrid or Rescue Clubs:  In this section I'll present another "marketing ploy" the major golf companies employed over the past few decades.  For example, in 1970 the "6" iron was 36º.  In the 1980's most companies decreased the 6 iron loft to 34º.  These companies began to steadily decrease the loft of golf clubs over the years.  Now the standard 6 iron loft is anywhere from 29º to 31º!  Why did they do this?  The answer is simple, they wanted you to hit their golf clubs further than the competitions.  As the "competition" followed suit, it became necessary to decrease the loft "once again" in order to make the claim of more distance.  The result was the 2 iron became so hard to hit consistently that it was completely eliminated from the set.  The other long irons were also very difficult to hit with the decreased lofts.    For those of you who don't know, degree separation from one club to the next is 4º.  So the 2 iron is eliminated from the set and another club is required to fill the "gap" now created by the lowered lofts of the Pitching Wedge @ 48º and the Sand Wedge @ 56º.   Hence the 56º "gap wedge" was born.

    Fortunately, the hybrid club or rescue club was developed as a replacement for long irons (usually considered the 2, 3,  4  and 5 irons).  This club resembles a small fairway wood, usually with the club lengths and lofts of the impossible to hit long irons.  These utility clubs are easier to hit because the center of gravity can be manipulated through design to be lower and further back from the face; just like cavity back irons versus muscle back irons.  Another true innovation, but one which was completely unnecessary.  It became necessary through less than honest marketing practices!

These technological advances should raise some questions with respect to technology advancement capabilities of the future.  If the size of the driver head AND the COR of the driver head are limited to specific values, where is there room for technological gains?  But each and every year, sometimes more than once a year, the major companies change the cosmetics of their golf club designs and market them to the public under the guise of new technology.

Technology Gains Are Really Only Available Through Custom Fitting

There is a vast selection of club heads, in Drivers, Fairway Metals, Hybrids, Irons, Wedges and Putters, which have been meticulously designed with custom fitting in mind.  Various game improvement options are available and the golf club heads have been manufactured to allow any weight adjustment to be evenly distributed to meet exacting specifications for swing weight, frequency or Moment of Inertia matching.

Additionally these clubs can be assembled with any option with respect to shaft manufacturer and profile.  Grips can be adjusted to fit your hand.  Dynamic lie testing can be performed in order to adjust the lie angle to precisely suit you individual swing characteristics.  Loft angles adjusted for perfect club to club separation. Assembled lengths and total weight to fit you, not the average golfer!