A clubhead has various characteristics, and a group of these feature rather prominently whenever you read a product specification or the sales blurb for a new club.
In coming weeks I’ll explain what these different characteristics are called, why they’re important and how they make a difference to the performance of a golf club.
In recent years, designers have manipulated all these properties to improve a club’s “forgiveness.”
This means they’re trying to reduce the number of mishits you have. They’re trying to make it easier for you to hit the ball where you want it to go, at the speed you want it to go.
The more “forgiving” a club, the more room for error there is in terms of the accuracy of your swing: the club tolerates your mistakes better.
Better clubhead design means if you hit your driver off-center, for example, you won’t get the best shot possible. But you’ll still get a good shot, maybe, where 10 years ago you’d have got a terrible shot.
Manufacturers have realized that the vast majority of golfers need clubs that are better suited to their less-skilled play. That’s why you’ll find talk of forgiveness in most new club launches these days.
This “forgiveness” is made possible by changes in the following key, interrelated clubhead characteristics…
Clubhead size and weight
Perimeter weighting
Center of Gravity
Moment of Inertia
Coefficient of Restitution
Loft
Stay tuned to look at each of those in detail.
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