golf club

 

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Golf clubs are used in the sport of golf to hit a golf ball. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a clubhead. There are many specialized designs of club, falling into three general categories: woods, used for long-distance fairway shots; irons, the most versatile class used for a variety of shots, and putters, used mainly on the green to roll the ball into the cup.

An important variation in different clubs is loft, or the angle between the club's face and the vertical plane. It is loft that makes a golf ball leave the tee on an ascending trajectory, not the angle of swing; virtually all swings contact the ball with a horizontal motion. The impact of the club compresses the ball, while grooves on the clubface give the ball backspin (a clockwise spin when viewed from a parallel standpoint to the left of the ball). Together, the compression and backspin create lift. The majority of woods and irons are labelled with a number; higher numbers indicate shorter shafts and higher lofts, which give the ball a higher and shorter trajectory.

While the variation of clubs can differ greatly between golfers, a set used to play a round of golf must have no more than 14 clubs. A full set typically consists of a driver, two fairway woods, a set of irons from 3 to 9, a pitching and/or sand wedge, and a putter. Many players opt to avoid the 3- and 4-irons (which are more difficult to hit) in favor of "hybrid" clubs, higher-loft fairway woods and/or extra wedges. Another common variation is to use only odd-numbered irons, replacing the 4, 6 and 8-irons with other clubs.

Club Types

Woods

Woods are the longest and largest clubs in the bag and are mostly used for long shots. The head of a wood is roughly spherical in shape with a slightly bulging clubface and a flattened sole that slides over the ground without digging in during the swing. Originally "wood" clubheads were made of wood, hence the name — beech wood or ash prior to the twentieth century, and later persimmon or maple. Modern club heads are usually hollow steel, titanium or composite materials, and are sometimes called "metalwoods". The first metalwoods appeared in the late 1970s but did not begin to gain wide acceptance over traditional woods until the early 1990s, when more forgiving "oversized" heads were introduced.

The longest and lowest-loft wood, the 1 wood, is called the driver. It has the longest range of any club in a golfer's bag, and with its large head and deep face is designed to hit off the tee. Higher-number woods are generally known as fairway woods and feature a shallower face height which enables players to hit them off the turf. The driver can also be hit from the turf, although modern drivers require a high level of skill to execute such a shot correctly. The most common set of woods is a driver, 3 and 5 wood, though fairway woods of any number from 2 to 9 are produced and preferred by various players.

The typical loft for woods ranges from 7.5 to 31 degrees. The loft of any given club number varies between manufacturers and classifications; higher lofts are usually preferred by ladies and senior players, as they get the ball up in the air more easily at lower clubhead speeds. The shaft length in woods varies from about 40-48 inches (100-115 cm), with the current standard length for the driver being 45 inches, formerly 43.5 inches. Some players prefer shorter driver shafts (43.5"-44.5") because they are easier to use, though the shorter shaft slightly reduces distance. Graphite shafts are usually preferred for woods due to their light weight, which enables users to generate higher clubhead speeds and thus greater distance. The maximum legal length of a shaft by USGA and R&A rules is 48 inches, although some woods have been made with shaft lengths of up to 50 inches. These woods are mainly used in long drive contests.

Irons

Irons are generally used for shorter shots than woods. The set of irons has the widest range of uses of the clubs in any bag, and an iron in general is the most versatile club in terms of the variety of different shots that can be made with the same club. Irons range from numbers 1 (commonly called a "driving iron") to 9, and like woods, a lower number has less loft and a longer shaft. Irons with higher loft than a 9 are called wedges. The most common iron set consists of all numbered irons from 3 to 9 plus a pitching wedge and/or sand wedge, though many variations exist as with other clubs.

Irons are generally classified by their shaft length (which coincides with their range). The 1 to 4 irons are usually considered 'long irons', the 5 to 7 irons 'mid irons' and the 8-iron through the various wedges 'short irons'. This classification may differ from person to person, depending on skill level and preference. Longer irons are generally used for low, straight distance shots on long holes or from the rough, while shorter irons are used for approach and chip shots and sometimes even for putting.

The face of an iron is a flat wedge shape, slightly taller at the toe of the club than the heel. The design of the back of an iron varies widely, though they fall into two types, cavity-back irons and muscle-back irons. Muscle-back irons have a solid back with a thick base, while cavity back irons have a hollowed out back, a 'cavity'. The muscle back design is the older style. These designs are also called 'blades' for their low amounts of offset and thinner edge-on profile. This nickname has become synonymous with difficult-to-hit irons, though modern blade design has made them slightly easier to hit. It is often said that "if you can hit a blade, you can hit any kind of iron".

Cavity-back irons remove mass from the back of the club and move it lower and to the perimeter of the iron. This lowers the center of gravity and increases the moment of inertia (the resistance to turning due to mass distribution) of the clubhead, making irons more forgiving on off-center hits and launching the ball higher. This is not the same as an "enlarged sweet spot", which is technically the center of gravity, at which the force at contact is greatest. It merely gives less variation between a centered hit and an off-center hit, while increasing hangtime which generally increases distance. The tradeoff paid is greatly reduced "feel" of the club; because the clubhead resists twisting on an off-center hit, the player receives less feedback about his clubface's position at contact through the shaft. Mizuno's 'cut-muscle' design lies comewhere in between, neither fully muscle- nor cavity-backed.

The typical lofts for numbered irons range from 16 to 48 degrees. Modern day irons have lower lofts than their older counterparts, caused by the desire of the average golfer to hit the ball as far as the professionals. This is in reality a difference in skill, but the equipment manufacturers were happy to comply. Nowadays pitching wedges may have lofts up to 45 degrees (similar to a traditional 8-iron), though the difference in distance between the professionals and average golfers remains.

Shaft lengths typically range from 36 to 40 inches (90-100 cm) in length. Iron shafts are usually made from steel, though stiff graphite shafts for numbered irons are common, with steel shafts retained for wedges.

Hybrid woods

Traditionally, long irons are difficult to hit even with modern clubfaces, due to the low trajectory and very small face of the low-loft clubhead. Players have tended to avoid these clubs in favor of fairway woods, but such woods, having longer shafts, have a different swing mechanic that is sometimes difficult to master (and requires lots of room to swing).

A new type of club known as a "hybrid" solves both problems. A hybrid features a head with a volume, shape, loft and clubface very similar to a fairway wood, but with the lie and shaft length of an iron. Hybrids therefore give the player a more familiar and more compact swing for tough lies, but with the trajectory and distance of a fairway wood. A hybrid is often used for long shots from difficult rough and for nearly any shot where the golfer feels uncomfortable using a long iron. These clubs are also known as "rescue clubs" as they tend to get the player out of tricky situations, however that term is officially a trademark of TaylorMade Golf.

In a 2005 study by the Darrell Survey Company, nearly 19% of U.S. consumer golfers were using at least one hybrid club, up from only 7.5% in 2004. Over 50% of professional golfers now carry at least one hybrid club in their bags. Hybrids generally either supplement or replace long irons, with the latter being most common, but many manufacturers produce sets of "hybrid irons" that completely replace traditional irons with a hybrid-like design, touting increased range and forgiveness over even cavity-backed irons.

Wedges

Wedges are irons with a loft greater than that of a 9-iron (generally more than 44°). They give a very high, short trajectory with a lot of backspin, all of which cuts down on the rolling distance of a ball after its initial impact. They are thus used for a variety of high-accuracy "utility" shots, such as lofting or chipping the ball onto the green, out of a sand trap, or out from behind an obstruction. Wedges are seldom numbered, being identified instead by their loft (56°, 62°, etc.) or their function:

• Pitching wedges have a loft of 44-50 degrees and are rather similar in design and function to other short irons. In fact, in older sets the pitching wedge often had the designation of "10-iron".
• Sand wedges have specially designed undersides that provide "bounce" allowing the sole to skim over sand and avoid digging in, which combined with a loft of 54-58 degrees make them suitable for shots from bunkers or from the rough.
• Gap wedges have a loft somewhere between a pitching wedge and a sand wedge. Modern pitching wedges have lower lofts than previous generations, while sand wedges have generally remained the same. The "gap wedge" fills the gap between lofts, hence the name. This is the newest type of wedge and as such has little standardization of purpose or name; variations of this wedge with similar loft and varying amounts of bounce have been called "Approach", "Dual", "Utility", or "Attack" wedges and designed for a multitude of lies from sand to rough to fairway.
• Lob wedges have a very high loft (up to 68 degrees) and are used for approach shots, from sand, or difficult recovery shots requiring an extraordinarily high shot and short distance. The highest-loft wedges (64° and over) are sometimes called "Ultra Lob", "Flop" or "Final" wedges and are generally used for chipping out of deep bunkers or over the rough onto the green.

Given this wide array of choices, the traditional pair of pitching and sand wedges is starting to become less common as players can choose variations of gap wedges to fine-tune the spread of their wedges' lofts. A player may pick an "approach" wedge with low bounce but greater loft than a pitching wedge, say 50°, and a "dual" wedge with a similar bounce but less loft than a sand wedge (like 54°), then pick a 60-64° lob wedge and forgo both of the traditional wedges.

Putters

Putters have a very low loft and often a short shaft, designed to 'push' and roll the ball rather than hitting it up into the air. They are used to play the ball on the green, but may occasionally be useful for playing some approach shots on courses with tightly mown fringe and fairways. While no club in a player's bag is absolutely indispensable or required by strict rules, the putter comes closest; it is the best tool for the job and virtually no golfer is without one.

Putters vary widely in head, hosel and face design. A "mallet" putter has a large, rounded head. The weight is usually balanced throughout the club, providing golfers with a more consistent putting stroke. For this reason, it is preferred by higher handicappers. A "blade" is narrow and flat, in order to give a "feel" for the ball when putting. It is usually preferred by low handicappers. Either type of head may have perimeter weighting and/or inserts. A perimeter weighted putter provides a more forgiving stroke, as the weight is distributed around the edges, giving a larger sweet spot and stabilizes any slight miss-hits. Like the mallet design, this is preferred by high handicappers. An insert designed putter head has composite inserts made of a softer or bouncier material placed in the face of the putter, sharply defining the sweet spot. This provides a better feel on the putt and a smoother roll. This design is best for more experienced golfers. ^[1]

Though most putters have a 32-35" shaft (slightly smaller for ladies and juniors, longer for most men), putters are also made with longer shaft lengths, and are designed to reduce the "degrees of freedom" allowed a player when he putts. Simply, the more joints that can easily bend or twist during the putting motion, the more degrees of freedom a player has when putting, which gives more flexibility and feel but can result in more inconsistent putts. A belly putter is typically about 6-8 inches longer than a normal putter and is designed to be "anchored" against the stomach of the player. A long putter is even longer and is designed to be anchored from the chest or even the chin. This anchor point provides extra stability of the player's upper body and reduces inconsistency of hand position and club speed due to wrist movement. The disadvantages are decreased feel and control over putting power, especially with the long putter. Their use in professional tournaments is hotly contested; Pro player John O'Hara and others on the pro tours have begun using belly putters and seen a marked improvement of their short game, while players like Tiger Woods and officials like former USGA technical director Frank Thomas have condemned it as conferring an unfair advantage on users.^[2]

A variation of the putter, called the chipper, has a similar look, feel and general construction, but with a much higher loft, often 30-45 degrees. It is used to lift the ball over or out of the rough and onto the green with a motion similar to a putt. A putter used for this purpose would require a harder stroke and the rough or fringe could affect accuracy. A high-angle wedge would have similar accuracy issues and could also damage the turf on such a shot. However, the limited number of situations in which it is useful coupled with the availability of other clubs suited for the role make this a rare addition to a player's bag.

Construction

Shaft

The shaft is a tapered tube made of metal (usually steel) or carbon fiber composite (referred to as graphite). The shaft is roughly 1/2 inch in diameter (12 mm) near the grip and between 35 to 48 inches (89-115 cm) in length.

Prior to 1935, hickory was the dominant material for shaft manufacturing, but it proved difficult to master for most golfers, as well as being quite frail. Steel would become the ubiquitous choice for much of the second half of the twentieth century. Although heavier than hickory, it is much stronger, more durable, more uniform, and more consistent in its performance. Prior to steel, a player would need a slightly different swing for each shaft given the inherent inconsistencies in the hickory shafts. Graphite shafts gained widespread use in the mid 1990's and are now used on almost all woods and many irons. Steel, which generally has lower torque but less flex than graphite, is still widely preferred for wedges and putters as these clubs stress accuracy over distance.

Shafts are quantified in a number of different ways. The most common is the shaft flex. Simply, the shaft flex is the amount that the shaft will bend when placed under a load. A stiffer shaft will not flex as much, which requires more power to bend and "whip" through the ball (which results in higher club speed at impact for more distance), while a more flexible shaft will whip with less power required for better distance on the same swing, but may torque and over-flex causing the head not to be square, resulting in lower accuracy. Most shaft makers offer a variety of flexes. The most common are: L (Lady), A (Soft Regular, Intermediate or Senior), R (Regular), S (Stiff), and X (Tour Stiff, Extra Stiff or Strong). Some companies also offer a stiff-regular flex. A regular flex shaft is generally appropriate for those with an average head speed (80-94 mph), while an A-Flex (or senior shaft) is for players with a slower swing speed (70-79 mph), and the stiffer shafts, such as S-Flex and X-Flex (Stiff and Extra-Stiff shafts) are reserved only for those players with an above average swinging speed, usually above 100 mph.

On off-center hits, the clubhead twists as a result of a torque, reducing accuracy as the face of the club is not square to the player's stance at impact. In recent years, many manufacturers have produced and marketed many low-torque shafts aimed at reducing the twisting of the clubhead at impact. Most recently, many brands have introduced stiff-tip shafts. These shafts offer the same flex throughout most of the shaft, in order to attain the "whip" required to propel the ball properly, but also include a stiffer tip, which cuts back drastically on the lateral torque acting on the head.

Widely overlooked as a part of the club, the shaft is considered by many to be the engine of the modern clubhead. Current graphite shafts weigh considerably less than their steel counterparts, allowing for lighter clubs that can be swung at greater speed. Within the last ten years, performance shafts have been integrated into the club making process. Performance shafts are designed to address specific criteria, such as to launch the ball higher or lower. Whereas in the past each club could come with only one shaft, today's clubheads can be fit with dozens of different shafts, creating the potential for a much better fit for the average golfer.

Grip

The end of the shaft opposite the head is covered either with a rubber, synthetic leather, or rarely, a traditional leather grip for the player to hold. The traditional grip is a leather, rubber or cork ribbon wrapped around the shaft, but almost all modern grips are a one-piece rubber or synthetic design. "Cord" grips are also available, which are more suitable to wet weather as they do not slip as much as the plain rubber grips. The modern grip has also undergone a number of iterations and the vast variety of models makes it far easier for a discriminating golfer to find a model that is comfortable to him or her.

Though materials advances have resulted in more durable, longer-lasting soft grips, grips eventually dry out, harden or are damaged and must be replaced. Replacement grips sold as do-it-yourself kits are generally inexpensive and of high quality, though custom grips that are larger, softer and/or textured differently from the everyday "wrap"-style grip are generally bought and installed by a clubsmith. Regripping previously required toxic, flammable solvents to soften and activate the adhesive, and a vise to hold the club steady while the grip was forced on, but the newest replacement kits use double-sided tape with a water-activated adhesive that is slippery when first activated, allowing easier installation. Once the adhesive cures, it creates a very stong bond between grip and shaft and the grip is usually impossible to remove without cutting it off.

Hosel

The hosel is the portion of the clubhead to which the shaft attaches. Though largely ignored by players, hosel design is integral to the balance, feel and power of a club.

Traditional woods had a very thick hosel, often wrapped with thin cord, which provided a very secure join between shaft and head at the cost of a higher center of gravity. Modern metalwoods have largely done away with the hosel altogether, instead anchoring the shaft within the clubhead. This allows as much mass as possible to be contained in the clubhead, lowering the center of gravity.

For irons, the hosel is very noticeable, forming a barrel shape on the inside face of the club and the "heel" of the sole of the club. The irons' hosel can be an annoyance to golfers who hit a ball off the hosel, but many modern irons have a more offset hosel, integrated into the clubhead at a lower point and further from the hitting area of the club. This, combined with the perimeter weighting of modern irons, gives a club with the lowest possible center of gravity and the highest possible useable club face.

In putters and chippers, hosel design varies greatly according to the design of the putter. Traditional blade putters simply joined the shaft to the blade at the top center of the putter, a design still widely used. However, perimeter-weighted and mallet putters with differing balances raise and offset the hosel so the shaft, if continued through the hosel, would pass in front of the club and in line with its center of mass, giving a very balanced feel and a sense that the ball is struck more towards the center of the swing for a more natural feel.

Clubhead

Each head has one face which contacts the ball during the stroke. Clubs may have two striking faces, as long as they are identical and symmetrical (some putters and chippers are designed in this fashion, and may be used by left or righthanded players).

Older woods had largely wooden heads, except for occasionally a metal sole and/or faceplate. These wooden headed clubs were dense and heavy, and were generally much smaller than today's clubheads. Their smaller surface area also made consistent contact more difficult, as the sweet spot of these clubs was considerably smaller than today's models.

Gary Adams, founder of TaylorMade Golf, is considered the father of the modern metal wood. Adams began to market his club in the late 1970s, but it was nearly a decade until metal woods became more popular with most golfers. Many PGA Tour players still used persimmon woods into the 1990s. Callaway Golf is also largely responsible for the current design of metal woods; the original Big Bertha driver introduced players to the "oversize" driver, giving maximum club face, a deep center of gravity and a marked "trampoline effect", where the driver head flexed and restored itself for extra peak impulse (force per millisecond) on the ball.

Today, many metal wood clubheads (and most driver clubheads) are constructed out of titanium. Titanium has a higher strength to weight ratio than steel and has better corrosion resistance, so it is an ideal metal for golf club construction. Manufacturers can also make clubheads with greater volume, which increases the hitting area, and thinner faces, which reduces the weight. As a result of the rapidly-increasing size of driver heads in the late 1990s, the USGA has curbed the volumetric growth of drivers by instituting a size rule which states that no clubhead can measure greater than 460 cubic centimeters.

Traditionally, most iron heads were made by forging, which involves the careful shaping of the club head through hammering and pressing of heated steel. Today, most modern golf club heads of all types, not just irons, are cast through a process known as investment casting. This process allows manufacturers to redistribute the weight into the perimeter of the club, known as perimeter weighting, which helps to increase the accuracy of mishit shots. Casting, while allowing for a greater range of designs, produces a very inflexible head that can be difficult to adjust for a player's desired lie and loft. Forged heads, due to their manufacturing process, are much easier to adjust by several degrees in any direction, so much so that the lie and loft of the club can change during the course of normal play. Owners of forged clubs may have to periodically check and "re-calibrate" clubheads to their desired specs.

Regulations

The ruling authorities of golf, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A) and the United States Golf Association (USGA) reserve the right to define what shapes and physical characteristics of clubs are permissible in tournament play. Many recently developed woods have a marked "trampoline effect" (a large deformation of the face upon impact followed by a quick restoration to original dimensions, acting like a slingshot), resulting in very high ball speeds and great lengths of tee shots. Current USGA and R&A regulations differ with respect to acceptable limits of the trampoline effect. Therefore, a few club types may not be played in tournament or professional play under USGA jurisdiction, but are allowed elsewhere.

Other large scale USGA rulings involve a 1990 suit, and subsequent settlement, against Karsten Manufacturing, makers of the PING Brand, for their use of square, or U-grooves in their immensely popular Ping Eye2 iron models. The USGA argued that players who used the Eye2 had an unfair advantage in imparting spin on the ball, which helps to stop the ball on the putting greens. Ping ultimately changed the design of subsequent Eye2s, the older clubs were "grandfathered in" and allowed to remain in play as part of the settlement. Today square grooves are considered perfectly legal under the Rules of Golf.

Nicknames (pre-matched set equivalents)

Woods

• [1] Playclub/Driver
• [2] Brassie
• [3] Spoon
• [4] Baffy
• [5] Cleek

Irons

• [1] Driving Iron (deep-faced iron with a short head) or Cleek (longer-headed iron with shallow face)
• [2] Mid-Iron
• [3] Mid-Mashie
• [4] Mashie-Iron
• [5] Mashie
• [6] Spade Mashie
• [7] Mashie-Niblick
• [8] Pitching-Niblick
• [9] Niblick
• [Specialized chipping club] Jigger

Wedges

• [48°] Pitching Wedge (PW)
• [52°] Gap Wedge (GW), Approach Wedge (AW), Dual Wedge (D), Attack Wedge (AW) or Utility Wedge (UW)
• [56°] Sand Wedge (SW)
• [60°] Lob Wedge (LW)

See also

• Golf glossary
• Golf cart

References

1. ^ http://www.golfclubplace.com/howtochoosri.html
2. ^ http://www.worldgolf.com/golf-equipment/belly-putters-156.htm Belly Putters can win you over; USGA is iffy

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