Mark Smith Golf » golf clubs

Precision Golf – Pro Shop – by Mark Smith

Mark Smith — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:49:06 +0000

Situated in the heart of Hong Kong Island, Precision Golf Pro-Shop offers members and Visitors of the South China Athletic Association Golf Driving Range a full range of professional golf services including custom club fitting using the world renowned Nakashima Golf Studio fitting method, club repair and refurbishment as well as the sale of golf training aids and accessories and of course golf instruction. Precision Golf is putting the Pro back in the name Pro-Shop with the only solely owned Golf Professional Pro- Shop in Hong Kong.

Come and find out how we can help you to reach your golfing goals and take advantage of our Special Offer of free golf club evaluation and launch monitor assessment (HK$500 value) to find out if you are
getting the most out of your equipment and your game.

We’re open 4-11pm daily

Our Address:

Golf-Pro Shop
South China Athletic Association
88 Caroline Hill Rd
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 2882 6878

Email: mark@precisiongolf.hk

Website: www.precisiongolf.hk

Q – I’m interested in fitting my clubs but I’m not sure if my swing is consistent enough. How do I know if my swing is stable enough for club fitting?

Mark Smith — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:31:06 +0000

A – Club fitting is about engineering a set of clubs or a single club relative to your physique and individual swing. For newer golfers it is more about getting the correct club length and lie angle to allow you set up in an athletic stance and matching a shaft flex, and weight and a clubhead design and loft to aid getting the ball airborne. Further characteristics such as grip size will aid in improved control of the golf club. For intermediate or advanced golfers it’s more about dialing in on characteristics such as shaft deflection point and spin rates particularly in the woods and driver club to maximize carry distance and incremental difference in distance between clubs.

Most people believe that club fitting is for those low handicap players and professionals and hope that one day that they will be good enough for club fitting. Let me tell you once and for all that club fitting is for everybody regardless of age, gender or ability. Everyone can benefit from customizing their equipment. Whether it is as simple as customizing your grip size or setting the loft angle and shaft profile of your driver club to maximize your driving distance, club fitting has distinct advantages over buying clubs off the rack. Think of buying golf clubs off the rack as walking into a shoe shop and buying a pair of men’s or lady’s shoes. Let’s take an average and expect everybody to wear this size of shoe. For some it will fit and for most it will not. Let’s say the average is size 8 but your shoe size is a 5 then you can be assured that you will not enjoy walking let alone running in that shoe and expect blisters sore feet with muscle aches and pains. As much I hate to think about – this is how most people play golf when they play off the shelf equipment.

Your golf swing will inevitably change over time. Typically as your swing improves you should expect greater clubhead speed which will affect the deflection of the club shaft and the way the golf club lands on the ground at ball impact (lie angle). It is important that you see your club fitter periodically to check the way that your clubs are performing and make necessary changes. Typical changes include: increase or decrease in shaft flex and weight, swing weight and total weight, club lie and loft angle.

Q – If I want to study “Club fitting”, where to learn? Are there schools and courses? How long does it take? How to get a certificate as a professional club maker?

Mark Smith — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:31:40 +0000

A – Club fitting and club making are two separate skills. Most PGA organizations provide training to their members in these two fields. From my understanding and experience, to fit clubs accurately one must posses a complete understanding of the dynamic function of the club, a sound understanding of the golf swing and intensive knowledge of the components used to fit the clubs. The club builder must be meticulous and demand attention to details particularly in the incremental differences of lie, loft, shaft frequency, swing weight, total club weight and grip size.
Up until recently there was an organization called PCS (Professional Clubmakers’ Society) that offered training in the field of building clubs. This organization died however in the financial tsunami. Companies such as Golfsmith, Maltby, Golfworks and Mitchell Golf offer some kind of certificate course.
In terms of club fitting, most companies provide their own training program for individuals interested I fitting their clubs. Some companies require you to be of PGA standard before partaking in such training.
I know that the Hong Kong PGA training Program covers club fitting but as far as I understand there is no organization locally that offers a certification program for either fitting or building unless linked with a particular branded company.

Equipment paths the way for junior golfers

Mark Smith — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 03:59:10 +0000

Choosing the right clubs for your child to golf with is an important step towards their love or hate for the game. I see too many junior golfers in the driving range and at the course using clubs that are too long, too heavy, too upright in lie angle, and too stiff in the shaft.

Parents often buy clubs thinking that their son or daughter will grow into them just like buying clothes however, with golf, growing into your clubs is a very painful and unrewarding experience. Trust me – I’ve been through it.

It bothers me that many parents spend great time and money on their kid’s golf development like paying for instruction and taking out the course and often overlook the importance of their equipment.

What also bothers me is that many instructors do not understand the function of the golf club in playing the ball and the importance that the equipment plays in their student’s development.

Here are the factors you must consider for your child’s equipment.
- Are all clubs including the putter the correct length?
- Do the iron, utility and fairway metal clubs land flat on the ground at ball impact (= correct lie angle)?
- Does the shaft flex (amount of bend) match the strength and swing speed of your child?
- Are the clubs of optimum total weight and swing weight (balance between the head end and handle end of the shaft)?
- Do the grips of the clubs fit your child’s hand size and strength?
- Is there appropriate loft angle on each club to maximize control of shot distance?

Benefits:- Establishing the correct length and lie angle promoted good posture and balance in the swing resulting in increased athleticism and power.
- Having the clubs landing flat on the ground at impact ensure centre face or sweet spot contact resulting in increasing the distance that the ball can travel.
- Correct lie angle also increases control of shot direction. Simply think about what happens when you play the ball from a side hill lie. The ball flies of the right if the ball is below your feet and to the left if the ball is above your feet. Or think of what happens when an airplane turns on its side – the plane goes in a circle. This is exactly what happens to the ball if it is struck with a clubhead that is not landing with its sole flat on the ground at ball impact.

Remember that as your child grows his or her equipment must be adjusted for lie, length, grip size and shafts flex. This does not always mean new clubs. Clubheads made of stainless steel are adjustable for lie angle by 2 degree toe up or toe down and clubhead made of forged mild steel or soft cast stainless steel can be adjusted 6 degrees in either direction. Shafts can be extended by up to 2 inches without affecting the playability of the clubs too much although the head weight often becomes too heavy if lengthened too much as well as the shaft flex becoming softer.

In summary – if you are serious about your child’s development in golf strongly consider the importance of customized equipment. Constantly monitor their equipment with quarterly visits to your preferred club technician. A fifteen minute evaluation can make the world of difference to the development and confidence of your child.

Should you have any question please post below or contact me personally by phone or email.

Thank you for your attention and good golfing.

Mark Smith
Australian PGA
Hong Kong PGA
Nakashima Certified Master Club Fitter

Tel. 97750347
Email: mark@marksmithgolf.com