Golf Club Technology : The Basics
Golf clubs are the tools we use to strike the golf ball
and a golf club comprises of three components; the Head,
the Shaft and the Grip. The rules of golf constrain golf
club designs and so the ultimate goal of clubmakers is to
create golf clubs, within the rules of golf, that maximize
the physics of the golfer's swing while allowing for a range
of swing error to provide an accurate, long, yet forgiving
shot.
A standard set of golf clubs consists of three woods, the
1-driver, 3, and 5, eight irons, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and
PW, and a putter twelve clubs. Although the rules of golf
allow you to carry up to fourteen clubs in your bag, which
allows many golfers add another iron or a specialty wood.
Woods
Woods are the clubs which are used to hit long shots.
If a golf hole is 450 yards from tee to green, most golfers
use a wood to hit off the tee.
The Driver, also called the 1 Wood, has the lowest loft
of any golf club. Loft is the angle of the club face that
controls trajectory and affects distance. A driver has
a loft between 7 and 12 degrees. Experienced golfers have
traditionally favored lower lofted drivers, typically
less than 10 degrees of loft, which requires much more
skill to hit than higher lofted drivers, but may give
you greater distance.
However, there has been a dramatic development has occurred
over the past several years. Professional golfers are
now throwing out their low lofted drivers and opting for
the larger-headed, higher-lofted 10 and 11 degree drivers.
Their argument is that the longest drives are achieved
by combining a high launch angle with lower spin. The
newer, higher-lofted designs for large-headed drivers
provide the higher launch angle combined with the new
solid core golf balls provide less spin on the golf ball.
Most PGA pros now carry drivers with lofts of 8.5 to
10 degrees or more. Non-pros should probably play drivers
with lifts 10 degrees or higher. So our recommendation
is follow the advice of the PGA pros and increase the
loft of your driver.
Most golfers also carry 3 and 5 Woods in their bag. A
3 wood typically has a loft between 15 and 18 degrees,
and a 5 wood has a loft between 20 and 22 degrees. The
higher the golf club number, the higher the loft. However,
the higher the golf club number, the shorter the club,
so a 3 wood is generally 1/2" shorter than a Driver
and so on with each successive club.
Why are woods called woods if they aren't made of wood?
They used to be, but since the 1980's woods have been
made of metal. Metal has many advantages over wood, with
the most important to the beginning golfer being the ability
to precisely mold metal to create a golf club that has
perimeter weighting and a low center of gravity. Both
of these designs result in golf clubs that are much more
forgiving than wooden woods. Perimeter weighting helps
create a larger sweet spot and a low center of gravity
creates mass at the right place, which increases the height
that the ball will launch off the club and reducing the
likelihood of miss-hits into the ground.
Irons
Irons are generally used when you are less than 200 yards
away from the green, and the closer you are to the green,
the higher the iron you will use. A standard set of irons
consists of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 irons and the Pitching
Wedge (PW). The 3 and 4 irons are harder to hit than the
higher number irons. As a result of this, many golfers,
especially ladies, seniors and higher handicap golfers,
are changing to a modified standard golf set that replaces
the 3 and 4 iron with higher lofted woods like the 7 and
9 woods.
Wedges
Wedges are basically specialty irons. The first wedge
is the Pitching Wedge (PW), which is usually about 48
degrees in loft. Wedges generally increase in 4 degree
loft amounts. So wedges commonly come in 48, 52, 56, 60
and 64 degree lofts. The PW is the highest lofted iron
in a standard set and lowest loft of the wedges. Following
the PW with higher lofts are the Approach Wedge (AW),
Sand Wedge (SW), the Lob Wedge (LW) and the High-Lob Wedge.
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