vol. 4, number 1

In This Issue

Game Improvement Golf Newsletter

Information to improve your golf game (February 2014)

And So "Year Four" Begins!

Thanks for all of you who continue to read, and hopefully enjoy, my monthly newsletter. Year four starts with this issue, and I continue to commit to you that I will work to publish information that can help you play better golf and that is fun to read!

I always welcome any and all comments for suggestions for things to discuss in this newsletter. Now if the ugly weather will just break and we can play golf!
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While I was in Florida for the PGA Show, I spent a little time at a Barnes and Noble book store. There I found a gem of a book titled "Golf Science," edited by Mark F. Smith. It has something in it for everyone - fitness, swing mechanics, club fitting, putting, short game, sports psychology, nutrition - you name it. Well worth considering if you are looking for a great read on golf improvement:

Amazon.com Link to "Golf Science"
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It may be hard to believe that there can be new things to learn about golf club performance. A very interesting new finding was discovered by Dave Tutelman, and it comes from a perhaps unlikely source.

Many of you can remember the classic physics formula - F = ma. Force equals mass times acceleration. Well, by applying this formula to the impact of a golf club with a golf ball, Dave recently calculated - confirmed by video - that a golf club actually deflects downward at impact. Here is his writeup on this - maybe a lot of details, but hopefully you will at least enjoy the videos!

Dave Tutelman - "Newton and the Divot"

Learning from an Expert Teacher

At the 2014 PGA Show Christian Marquardt - the inventor of the SAM PuttLab - taught a 3 hour Putting Instruction "Level 2" Certification Course. Three hours of blissful learning, from someone who is an expert in helping teachers be more effective in their putting improvement instruction.

Much of what I learned is going to help me be more successful in how to teach golfers to improve their putting. For you, here are some small tidbits of information that you should consider when you are working to become a great putter!

Christian noted that - when he works with skilled golfers - he helps them to be very consistent in Shot Preparation. Many of us can benefit from also doing this - being consistent in ball position, how we aim, stance, and balance are some examples.

Christian said "you need to miss putts to learn putting." The point is that - if you are looking to improve - there is no Learning without Feedback. You need to look for feedback from your misses to become a better putter.

He suggests that before you putt you do 2 or 3 rehersals until you feel that you are about very confident in the stroke you are about to make. But after that, you need to make some type of conscious decision to GO and stroke the putt. You might even consider internally saying "YES" before you start your stroke.

He emphasized how important it is to play with a putter that is a good fit for you. In particular, he noted that a putter that is too long is likely to promote too much rotation in your stroke - and perhaps affect stroke consistency.

Why do many golfers have more problems with short putts than long ones? Christian noted that, for short putts, we over-focus on the results - we think we have to make all of them. For all putts we need to focus on process and not results to improve.

When you are working on the practice green to improve your putting, look for creating Variation in your practice. Varied Practice is much more effective than - for example - hitting 100 putts from the same location.

Finally, the world of Practice needs to be much different than the world of Play. When you Practice you focus on Learning, when you Play you Focus on Scoring.

I could write a LOT more bullet points, but I hope these are the highlights and can help you learn to putt better!

Hot Irons to the "COR!"

You may perhaps have heard of the term "Coefficient of Restitution" - or COR - in terms of the limit for how "hot" the face of a driver head can be - as defined by the USGA. There is very little discussion available, however, on how COR relates - if at all - to how "hot" iron heads can be. Hopefully you will find some of the information in this section interesting.

The COR is simply the measurement of the energy loss or retention when two objects collide. If we take, for example, a driver swing speed of 100 mph that impacts a golf ball, then there are two possible COR limits:

If the COR = 0, then the golf ball would come off the driver face with a velocity of 0 mph (not a very pleasing result!); and

If the COR = 1.0, then the golf ball would come off the driver face with a velocity of 100 mph.

In 2002, the USGA set a limit on the maximum COR for a driver face of COR = 0.830. This has been called the "Spring Face" rule. Tom Wishon wrote a brief post in 2012 on how "spring-face" golf clubs actually work:

Tom Wishon Article on COR and Your Golf Game

Early on, the USGA used what was called an "air cannon" test to measure driver face COR, but now they use what is called a "Characteristic Time" test to measure driver face COR. This link shows a picture of the equipment used for this COR measurement:

USGA "Characteristic Time" COR Measurement Equipment

You might ask, then - what about irons and other golf clubs? Actually, in 2006, the USGA decided that ALL clubheads will have to have a COR limit of 0.830. Interestingly the new "Characteristic Time" test used for drivers will not work with iron heads - so the USGA tests iron heads for conformity using the old "air cannon" methodology.

You can expect, then, that any new iron head that is promoted as being "hot" is going to have a COR that is as close as possible to the 0.830 limit. So then - how would you know if one iron is "hotter" than another?

Well - If two irons have a COR of 0.830, and they have the same loft, shaft, and weight distribution - they will hit the ball the same distance at a given swing speed. The ONLY way one of these irons can hit the ball farther is if it has less loft. There is a limit to Hot - but it's great that club manufacturers now have the capability to maximize the potential performance of iron heads!

It's Time YOU Improved Your Putting!

Publication of my Putting Improvement eBook is just around the corner. Here is the final version of the cover for the eBook...

It will be available as a free download from my web site - I anticipate in early March. A week before it is available there, I will send you a special email so that you can see it before anyone else. I hope you enjoy it!

Rooting For YOUR Golfing Success!!

Tony Wright

GAME IMPROVEMENT GOLF

Oak Ridge, TN

The PREMIER Short Game Fitting Center in East Tennessee!

tony@gameimprovementgolf.com