The 2012 AGCP Roundtable - Lessons for Your Game
The 7th Annual Association of Golf Clubfitting Professionals (AGCP) Roundtable was held in Columbus, GA on October 17-20. This is the 4th Roundtable I have attended, as usual it was a great clubfitting educational experience for all attendees. Here is a link to the AGCP web site if you want to learn more about the AGCP:
AGCP Web Site
There were a number of new topics covered in this year's Roundtable. Here is some information from the Roundtable that you might use to improve your game:
Putting. There was an increased emphasis on putting this year. Bob Uebelhor - an AGCP Master Fitter and putting expert - did testing at the Demo Day with putters with different types of putter face balancing. He also discussed how some golfers may prefer different types of putter face balancing depending on their strokes.
I made a presentation on my experiences in using the Edel Putter Fitting System. During the presentation we talked about using Round Putter Grips instead of the conventional types of putter grips (flat portion on top). A number of fitters suggested they have had good results with round putter grips. Some said they often install conventional putter grips "upside down" so the round portion is on top.
During my presentation we did a number of Putter Aim Tests and also Putter Speed Control Tests. Attendees who were tested with different Opti Vibe weights in the shaft of their putters experienced how this can help their putting stroke.
The Value of FLO. FLO is "Flat Line Oscillation" - orienting a golf shaft in the direction of the FLO plane can help the consistency of golf shots. Jerry Hoefling - AGCP Master Club Fitter - showed results of testing he did that confirmed the value of orienting shafts to the FLO plane. He also did tests at the Roundtable with attendees that confirmed these results.
Swing Mechanics and Club Fitting. Eric Hogge - Head Professional at the PGA Center for Learning and Education - made an excellent presentation on this topic. He noted his belief that the 3 most important clubs in a golfer's bag are his driver, wedges, and putter. As he discussed last year, he said that your golf clubs are "The Most Powerful & Transforming Training Aids You Will Own In Your Career."
He showed a chart of PGA Tour Averages for things like (for men):
Driver club speed - 112 mph;
Driver smash factor - 1.49
Driver launch angle - 11.2 degrees;
Driver spin - 2685.
An interesting part of this chart was data on the average maximum height of golf shots with different clubs. Surprise - close to the same for all clubs! For example, 28 meters - driver, 27 meters - 6 iron, 27 meters - PW.
Face to Path and Spin Loft. David Nel of Flightscope did a presentation on this topic. He provided a number of useful observations:
- David noted that hitting your drives on the top of the clubface results in less spin, and on the lower part of the clubface more spin.
- He said that Flightscope data indicates that the optimum driver descent angle - to promote roll out - is about 30-35 degrees. For iron shots, the optimum iron descent angle - to promote the ball holding on greens - is about 45-55 degrees.
- Some companies now make irons with less loft than "standard;" for example 6 irons with 27 degrees of loft rather than 30 or 31 degrees. While these might produce more distance, David indicated these will also result in less spin and less ability of these irons to hold greens. Something to think about if you are searching for more distance!
- Finally, he suggested a good rule of thumb for quality golf shots - that do not curve too much - is that your club face angle at impact should be between your club path and your target line.
Golf Fitness. Keith Chatham - AGCP Master Club Fitter - talked about his efforts at improving his fitness and how this has helped his golf game. He has, for a few years now, been doing supervised workouts using the TRX training system. He talked about the two parts of the body that golfers should focus on for golf fitness - the Core and Gluts - which he called the "King and Queen" for golf fitness.
He provided some YouTube links for golf warm-up routines that he said can be helpful to golfers. Keith reviewed more than 1,000 YouTube videos to find these links that he views as valuable.
NOTE - always be sure to not overextend yourself in doing any of the stretches noted in these videos! Keith suggests golfers look for 4 to 5 exercises that would work best for them from the ones in these videos:
Mike Peterson - Perform Better Golf
Ken Pierce - Golf Gym
Kathy Ekdath - Personal Best Personal Training
Dr. Peter Mackay, Chiropractor
Can't Wait Until Roundtable 8!
