Counterfeit Golf Clubs

March 8, 2010 by totallydrivengolf

Recently at Totally Driven we had a customer come in for an iron fitting.  He had a full set of Mizuno  MP 52 iron heads that he wanted us to shaft up for him.  After going through the  full fitting and determining the correct shaft, length, flex, grip, swing-weight, etc. he brought in the clubheads.  They came in a box all neatly wrapped in plastic- brand new.  As we are unable to purchase club-heads only from Mizuno, we asked him where he was able to get the clubheads.  He said he had a friend that knew someone “on the inside” in Japan who was able to get these heads at a great price and that they were indeed real.

After our club-builder Jon Weedman put together the clubs including SST PURING the shafts we called the customer to set up an appointment to have us loft and lie the clubs.  We always loft/lie after the clubs are built and test multiple clubs on a lie board to make sure the set is done perfectly.  The process was going along fine other than the irons were more irregular than normal as far as loft/lie.   After bending the first two irons with no problem, I had something very unusual happen.  The third iron snapped apart in the loft/lie machine.  Now, I am very experienced at loft/lie of irons.  Not to say I have never broken one before but it is extremely rare.  But these were supposed to be forged Mizunos that should bend easily and smoothly.  Of course, I felt terrible and offered to replace this for the customer with a new one.  Of course, now I had to  finish the rest of the clubs, so I carefully started the next one.  To my surprise, even though I was very careful, the next club snapped also. 

Now our builder Jon and I remembered where the clubs had come from and were more than suspicious (as well as feeling awful).  As Jon looked at the clubs closer it was very apparent the workmanship was poor on the heads.  The bore on the  heads was irregular, leaving a very thin side and a thick side.  Of course the clubs had both broken along the thinner wall. 

Check out the thin wall on the right side of each club

Jon remembered that a friend of this customer had also brought in a set of Mizunos to loft and lie.  Jon remembered they did not bend like a normal forged club either.   We pulled out the loft/lie sheets we keep and found that the factory loft/lies were very irregular on that set also.  Next, we pulled out the loft/lie sheets for a set of Mizuno Irons we had recently ordered directly from Mizuno and altered for a University of  Minnesota player.  The loft/lie angles matched very closely with the Mizuno specs for the clubs although we had to alter them for the  player.

Loft Lie comparisons below:

Purchased from Mizuno      Customer A                 Customer B

 3 iron -21/60                          21/60.5                         21/61

4 iron  - 24/60                         24/62.5                        24/59.5

5 iron – 27/61                           29/62.5                        28/60.5

6 iron – 31/61.5                         31/63                          30.5/61.5

7 iron – 35/62                            36/63.5                          35/61

8 iron – 39/63                             42/61.5                          40/61

9 iron – 43/63                             44/62.5                          43.5/63.5

PW -       47/63.5                         48/65                              48/65

For those of you who aren’t familiar with loft and lie specs, the column on the left (purchased directly from Mizuno by Totally Driven) were quite close to factory specs – not perfect, but close.

The irons from customer A (two broken clubs) and customer B (his friend) were very both very irregular with lies angles not graduating upwards  consistently and lofts up to 3 degrees out of kilter.   Needless to  say it was very apparent to us (and the customer) that both of these sets were not Mizuno irons after all.  They were almost definitely counterfeits.  On closer inspection, even the paint fill color was not quite the same as a true Mizuno iron. 

Now, I’m not writing this to embarrass these customers.  In fact, we feel bad for them.  These are not the only counterfeits we have seen or suspected.  It is  becoming more common.  Player A not only decided to replace the two broken irons, but to have  us order a whole set from Mizuno.  He could not live with knowing that 6 other irons were not really Mizuno’s ( and probably not even forged irons based on how they broke).  The overall expense was considerable, but he said it was a good lesson learned.

So, for those of you who like to buy clubs  from EBay or other online sources, beware.   If the price is too good to be true, the clubs are probably not “real”.  Even if the price is  about what you would expect, I would just caution- buyer beware!

Andy Thompson

www.totallydriven.com

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Low and Slow Reduces Distance

February 28, 2010 by totallydrivengolf

Ever wonder why some players can swing with very little effort and hit the ball a mile?  Ernie Els and Fred Couples are a few pros that come to mind.  Many recreational players look like they are swinging with a lot of effort and have a hard time hitting it out of their shadow.  What gives?

Ernie Els - Slow Tempo- I think not!

You would be surprised to hear that Els and Couples actually have a much faster tempo than almost any of us.  If you’ve read the book “Tour Tempo”, you know what I’m talking about.   While their swings look silky smooth, PGA pros have a much quicker tempo than it looks. 

The effortless swing of top players comes from a few things.  First of all, these players usually don’t re-route the club in either direction, they stay in balance and they have perfect sequencing of the golf swing, utilizing their lower body to initiate the downswing.  All of these things add up to effortless looking swings that produce tons of distance.

Most of us have very slow backswings and then rush our downswings.  The reasons for this are many, not the least of which is advice to take the club back low and slow.  A long, slow backswing often creates an out of balance swing that results in re-routing and improper sequencing of the golf swing.  If you don’t sequence properly your swing will look fast, but your speed at the ball will be slow.

A properly sequenced golf swing is built from the ground up, with the hips pulling the shoulders and hands along for the ride.  This looks slower than it is because the speed in the hands is building gradually and doesn’t reach its highest rate until near impact.

Want to hit it further?  Improve your tempo!  We can help!!

www.totallydriven.com

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Forged vs. Cast Irons

February 28, 2010 by totallydrivengolf

Golfers often get confused as to the difference between forged and cast irons. The common misconception is that cast irons are large cavity back clubs made to benefit mid and high handicap golfers and that forged irons are strictly unforgiving blades that are made strictly for low handicappers and professionals.

You can actually find cast blades, forged cavity backs and even some very forgiving forged irons. The difference is really in the manufacturing process. Forging involves literally pounding or compressing a soft piece of carbon steel in its solid form, from which the head is made into the designed shape, after which a number of other machining steps are necessary to complete the process. Casting involves turning the metal into its molten, liquid state, after which it is poured into a mold to form the head design. From there the cast irons also go through some additional steps to finish them.

It ends out that forged clubs are more easily adjustable for loft and lie (which is helpful if your swing is undergoing changes), but also are softer and wear a bit faster. Cast clubs are more difficult to adjust, but may wear a bit longer particularly in the grooves.

If you have a cast iron and forged iron with exactly the same shape and specs in the two heads, and the heads are both shafted to the same exact specs (including shaft alignment), hitting the same ball, the shots will fly identical distances and many players would never know the difference. Some however can distinguish, and like the “softer feel” of a forged club. It really becomes more of what looks and feels best for the individual and then practicality. Most golfers know deep down when their game is not up to playing a blade or tiny cavity back iron (whether forged or cast).

Ultimately, getting the irons properly fit with the correct grip size, length, lie- angle, swing-weight as well as shaft weight, flex and bend point needs to be done regardless of the head chosen. Then depending on your ability, angle of attack, ball flight, thin or fat tendencies a club-head that meets your needs should be selected that meets your eye as well.

This is where Totally Driven’s  professional club-fitting expertise will greatly enhance your decision making and help answer any additional questions you may have.

Andy Thompson

www.totallydriven.com

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Backswing- How Long?

February 17, 2010 by totallydrivengolf

During our Totally Driven Distance Improvement Assessments we often see players trying to create a longer swing than their body is capable of.  This often results in an over the top out to in swing path that actually reduces their distance.  This long swing usually results in the player coming out of posture, incorrect sequencing and many other swing flaws.

Why do so many golfers overswing?  Read any golf magazine and you will find tips on increasing shoulder turn to create more distance.  Golfers are just doing what they are told.   This is not a problem if the player is flexible enough to swing to parallel without coming out of posture and over- rotating the hips.

Here are some keys we have found to determine if you have limitations that would prohibit you from getting to parallel in your backswing (effectively).

1.  What is the flexiblity in your thumbs?  Can you do this?

Can you bend to 90 degrees or more?

If your thumb bends to less than 90 degrees you have limited flexibility in your thumb.  If you reach 90 degrees you have good flexibility and over 90 degrees is great.  If you can’t bend your thumb in this manner to 90 degrees or more this will limit the amount of backswing you are capable of.  Thumb flexibility is also a big advantage when trying to create lag in the golf swing.  Here are some exercises to improve thumb flexibility: http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/8114450/hand-stretches-hand-exercises-physioadvisor.htm

2.  Wrist flexibility.   If you can’t bend in this direction close to 90 degrees you have limited wrist flexibility. 

This is the direction the the wrist needs to cock during the golf swing and if you are limited you won’t be able to effectively get to parallel in the backswing.  Here are some exercises to help increase this flexibility.  http://www.physioadvisor.com.au/8113750/wrist-stretches-wrist-flexibility-exercises-ph.htm

Sergio Garcia- Flexible thumb and wrist= lots of lag!

3.  Hip flex flexibility.  Many players have limited hip flexibility thus making getting to parallel impossible unless you over-rotate your shoulders and take your hips along for the ride.  The problem here is that often the player is now out of position to make a good downswing. 

So if you have limited flexibility in these areas you have choices.   You can learn to shorten your swing (you will probably not lose distance as JB Holmes has shown us) or you can increase your flexibility through some hard work.  Or you can continue overswinging which creates inconsistency, poor mechanics and usually undesirable results.

As always, we’re here to help.

Andy Thompson

www.totallydriven.com

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7 Weeks – 30 More Yards

February 6, 2010 by totallydrivengolf

Today we retested one of our students on the launch monitor to see if his driving distance had improved after 7 weeks in our Power Improvement Program.

This particular player is a 2 handicap, but does this mainly by being a good iron player with a solid short game.   When he came in his distance off the tee was the biggest limiting factor for him.  Below are his before and after numbers on the launch monitor:

Ball Speed  Backspin  Launch Angle  Carry Dist  Total Distance   Side Spin

12/7/09

137.6        3089                 8.9 deg               207.0         235.4 yds         R680

2/6/10

145.8       2735                   10.9 deg             236.3         266.8 yds        R491

Obviously, the results after 7 weeks of work are outstanding.   He gained 8.2 MPH ball speed and over 30 yards in total distance while also reducing his sidespin.  So how did this happen?

Number one, we had a dedicated player who puts in the work necessary to improve his game.   Secondly, we determined where his power leaks were and created a plan of attack specific to his needs.

In this particular case when we did the evaluation a number of things stood out.  His major swing flaws were an over the top move with a pronounced slide during his downswing.   On the K-Vest his sequencing was not in the correct order.  Instead of hips leading thorax leading hands, his downswing started with thorax then hips then hands.   His X Factor was 39 and didn’t improve during the swing (we would like to see a higher X Factor that increases during the start of the downswing).  His power testing showed that he lacked power in his legs while his thorax and core strength was good.  He also failed a number of physical Titleist Performance tests that directly correlated with his golf swing flaws.

Titleist Performance Testing

We started this player on a Titleist Performance Institute workout that was specific to his needs.   He was not able to make an efficient swing because his body wouldn’t allow it.   Once his workouts were under way we started working on biomechanical feedback on the K-Vest.  He was in weekly with work in between sessions as we then moved to some drills to  increase speed and improve his swing.  

K-Vest Biomechanical Drills

The results speak for themselves, but the reality is we feel he still has more distance to be gained.  His slide is much improved, but not gone thus his attack angle is improving (as noted by his improved launch and spin numbers and pictures at impact).  Next week we will retest on the K-Vest as well as Power Test in order to further measure progress. 

Could this have been done by just giving this player golf lessons?   It’s doubtful that this much progress would have been made.  This player has worked with some top golf instructors in the past and distance has always been an issue.

The good news is we are only halfway through his program.  We fully believe this player will be hitting the ball consistently 280 yards by the golf season – a full 45 yards improvement!

Andy Thompson, www.totallydriven.com

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Jamie Sadlowski, the Distance King

February 5, 2010 by totallydrivengolf

In Totally Driven’s never ending search for learning about creating more distance/power for our players we recently had the opportunity to see Long Drive Champion Jamie Sadlowski and former champ Art Sellinger perform an exhibition in Orlando.

We were able to pick Jamie’s brain a bit and found some very interesting information.   First of all for those who don’t know, Jamie is only about 6′ tall and 170 pounds wringing wet.   No one would think he is the longest driver on the face of the earth by looking at him.   Also, Jamie is about as non-technical as you can get.  He doesn’t like to see his swing on video and doesn’t want to talk about positions of the golf swing.  

Jamie Sadlowski, not big but powerful

Being from Canada, Sadlowski was a hockey player before he was a golfer.  Interestingly he played hockey left handed and swings a golf club right handed.   It’s been my experience that generally the longest drivers of the golf ball who played hockey played both sports from the same side.   Jamie actually started playing golf cross-handed with his left hand low on the golf club.   He said he could hit it well over 300 yards this way.   Art Sellinger explained that Jamie has very flexible wrists that would allow him to be able to not only play cross-handed, but get to a John Daly like backswing position with his club well past parallel at the top of his swing now.  His workouts are focused on flexibility and developing speed more than strength.

We saw Jamie hitting a 30″ long driver 320 yards.   This is 4-5 inches shorter than the average putter.  His club-head speed with the driver is 150 mph and ball speed is 215 mph.  Art said Jamie has been hitting the ball 400 yards since he was 16 years old.   He also hits the ball pretty darn straight.  We never saw a huge slice or hook.

What did we learn about how to increase distance in the golf swing?  First of all, raw strength or size is not a prerequisite for hitting the golf ball far but focus on developing speed is important.  Secondly, a natural swing may create more power than a pleasing on plane, positionally taught golf swing.  Also, cross-training may be beneficial.

We’re striving to learn as much as possible so that we can help everyone we work with to hit it long and straight!

Andy Thompson, Totally Driven

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Power or Accuracy?

January 21, 2010 by totallydrivengolf

At Totally Driven we have recently assessed a number of golfers looking for more distance in their golf games.   It’s been a bit of a suprise to us that we rarely get asked about accuracy from the folks looking for distance. 

We firmly believe that as more distance is developed the player will develop more accuracy as well.   In our Power Improvement Programs we usually start with the basics first by looking at grip, set-up, swing plane etc.  We are finding that many of the players looking for distance are hitting fades or slices with an out to in swing path. 

It’s not just about swinging harder or faster.   We have to get the player swinging more from the inside if they are slicing.  We also need to have the clubface square at impact.   How do we accomplish this and increase distance for our players?   That’s the toughest part.  We need to evaluate where to start first and what the progression will be for each player.   Some need to develop more speed using Tour Tempo and then some of the swing flaws naturally go away.   Others we need to work with on fundamentals first. 

TPI Testing

Titleist Performance Testing

This is where our in depth analysis comes into play during our Distance/Power Assessments.   We look at the player’s equipment, power sources in their legs, core and thorax, physical issues regarding mobility, stability, balance as well as the golf swing.   With the golf swing we dig into sequencing, X-factor, weight shift, grip, swing plane, peak speeds and more.  I really believe we are breaking new ground here, although we have folks like Kelvin Miyahira, Titleist Performance Institute,  Jason Jaynes, K-Vest, John Novosel Sr and John Novosel Jr that are great sources of information for us.   We are doing alot more with players than would be received from typical golf lessons.   In fact, sometimes we partner with teaching professionals by focusing on strictly power elements with the player while leaving golf  instruction and fundamentals to their pro.

So far, everything we’ve experienced or researched has shown us that power and accuracy are not exclusive of each other.  

Andy Thompson/Lynn Anderson

Totally Driven

www.totallydriven.com

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Improve Your Tempo For More Distance

January 11, 2010 by totallydrivengolf

Totally Driven has researched every conceivable method to help players  hit the ball further.   One thing we look at with every player is the tempo of their golf swing.  We have  found that many players who don’t hit the ball as far as they would like don’t have very good timing or tempo. 

The best product we have seen to address this is the Tour Tempo Micro Player.   The highly acclaimed book “Tour Tempo” was written by John Novosel Sr and John Garritty.   Their research revealed something that nobody had ever considered.   Most PGA pros have a 3-1 ratio of timing in their full swing.  From the start of the backswing to the top of the swing takes almost exactly 3 times than  top of the swing to impact.   Now they don’t all swing at the same pace, but they all have the same ratio.  They also swing much faster than you would think.

http://www.tourtempo.com/microplayer.html

What we see is that most recreational golfers swing too slowly on the backswing which doesn’t allow for much speed to develop at the point of impact.  Take the club back slow and low has been a key swing thought for millions of players, but in order to hit the ball further you need to develop more club-head speed at impact.  You can’t do that if you take the club back too slowly.  In every case we have seen, better tempo equates to more speed at impact for players in our Distance Improvement Programs.   The Tour Tempo Micro Player emits 3 tones that can be set at multiple speeds.   You set it at the corrrect tempo for you, place the microplayer in your ear and then simply match the tones as you swing the golf  club.

The more startling thing we found is that if  you improve a player’s tempo some of their swing flaws get better or go away completely.   If  you swing the club in the  proper tempo (we help them determine this) it is easier to swing on plane, maintain better balance, improve the firing order or sequencing of your swing and more.  Well, guess what?  If you have better sequencing and balance and have a more efficient swing, you will hit the ball further (and straighter)!

Of course we use many techniques and training aids to help players develop more power, but the Micro Player is great!  We will be offering a discounted rate for Tour Tempo Microplayers and/or Tour Tempo books if you mention this blog.   Call us at 651-578-0501.

Andy Thompson

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The Secret is in the Dirt

December 31, 2009 by totallydrivengolf

I just read a very interesting e-book authored by Mike Maves.  The book is titled “The Secret Is In The Dirt”.   For those of you in the know this is the famous quote Ben Hogan used when referring to what made him so successful.   Known as one of the best ball strikers of all time Hogan has long been alleged to have had a secret to the golf swing that has not been given to anyone else.

Maves says that the secret has been there all along in Hogan’s seminal classic “Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf” written in 1957 and still the all-time best-selling instructional book.  While many articles, blogs, books and forums have been written concerning Hogan’s secret, this new book goes into great detail in not only explaining what the secret is, but why it was there for all to see since 1957.   While Hogan is a focal point there is much in the ebook about Moe Norman, Lee Trevino and others who have also shared some of Hogan’s moves.

The e-book is unique in that it includes many videos to support the text.  As well as being insightful the videos are humorous in their own way as they show the author explaining his theories while hitting balls into a lake.  His dog and the uninformed cameraman add to the story (if you have some patience).

You can find the ebook at this site:  http://www.secretinthedirt.com/ 

Included are two videos with PGA Tour Pro Steve Elkington and the author.  If you are follower of golfwrx forums you will recognize the author as sevam1 who has some enormous followings to his posts there.

Totally Driven has already started experimenting with the conclusions in the book (with positive results).  Next, we will further test the “secret” by using our Pure Balance Force Plate to measure the effects.  

Pure Balance Force Plate

 

(HINT: The secret has alot to do with footwork and how you use it to your best advantage).

Well worth the read and $25!!

Andy Thompson

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K-Vest Results-Tour Pro vs Average Player

December 18, 2009 by totallydrivengolf

Totally Driven has had the privledge of working with Justin Smith, a Nationwide Tour Professional.   Justin is mainly working on golf conditioning right now, but we took some time to gather some baseline results by putting him through our Power Assessment.

When comparing Justin to an average of the players who have gone through our Power Assessment we found some interesting differences.  First of all to get an understanding, Justin regularly hits the ball 300 yards and has Ball Speed of over 160 MPH on the launch monitor.  He is however working to improve his golf conditioning, mobility, stability and balance in order to improve on this and his swing in general.  Justin is very aware of his swing issues (we all have them) and what he needs to work on.

When measuring Justin’s power sources, he was fairly balanced between his legs, core and shoulders.   His numbers were just slightly below what we would consider PGA Tour level.   The average player who has been measured at Totally Driven is not balanced at all, meaning one or more of these power areas is deficient.   The players most lacking in distance/power were also quite low when we measured their power sources (up to 50% lower than Justin in some cases).

When we tested Justin on our K-Vest which gives us very detailed 3D information about his swing, more things came to the surface.  Justin’s swing sequenced perfectly with his hips leading the downswing, followed by his thorax and then his arms.  Sixty five % of others who have been tested at Totally Driven had poor sequencing (downswing not in the proper order).  

Kinetic Sequence Example on K-Vest

Poor Sequencing -Hands First

Justin had an “X” Factor of 31 degrees.   This measures the difference between the shoulder turn and the hip turn.   We want the shoulders to turn more than the hips.   The PGA Tour average is an X Factor of 50 degrees, so Justin has some work to do here.   Our average of the others tested was 30 degrees of X Factor.   What we have seen here is that most players are over-rotating the hips (as Justin is doing also) which creates a limited “rubber band effect” because there is less torque being applied.

A more important measurement is how much (if any) the X Factor increases from the top of the backswing during the downswing.   The PGA Tour average is a 13 degree increase.   Justin had a 7 degree increase.   The only players we have had with more than a 5 degree increase were all professionals.   44% of our players tested actually had a decrease in their X Factor during the initial start of the downswing.   These players were not starting their swing with the hips (which increases the rubber band effect).

We also found that Justin had some physical areas that needed improvement.   From Titleist Performance testing and power testing compared to the K-Vest we found that there was a direct correlation from the physical issue to the swing issue.   We found the same thing with virtually every player we tested.   In other words, for most players there is a reason you are swinging the way you swing.   The golf swing is often developed around what your body is capable of.

Justin shared with us after we were done.  “My swing hasn’t changed in the last ten years.  My swing flaws are still there and it’s difficult to make them go away.   I now realize that I need to work on my body first.  It’s too bad the general public doesn’t realize this.   The PGA Pros do.  I now know that the only way to improve my swing positions is to work on my body first.”

More to come..

Andy Thompson and Lynn Anderson

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