Lou Solarte - Chicago Golf Club Fitting

Club Fitting & Equipment Thoughts

Teaching and fitting go hand in hand, Club Dynamics, Swing technique and teaching principles are one in the same.

Ideal driver shaft fitting, start with a launch monitor but always end up on the course.

Loft is your friend - More loft in a driver typically the ball gets airborne easier, players make better motions(swings),with less sidespin, less dispersion, which lead to better tee shots.

Be aware of the shaft weight and the manner in which it effects the overall feel of the club, skilled players might lose feel if the driver is too light. "you have to feel where the driver is at, if you can't , you're going to have problems."  

Golfers who go lighter with a driver shaft can generally go stiffer as well.

Shaft weight and flex are more important than flex point, or kick point. "You have to get the weight and flex right before anything else"

For player with a drivers speed of roughly 95 mph or higher, the shaft needs less than 4 degrees of torque . Otherwise, the golfer will sacrifice control.

Driver shafts and 3 wood shafts are not the same. 

Jaime Pipes PGA

Bounce is your friend. It adds forgiveness and confidence in your short game because it prevents the leading edge from digging into the ground.

It is excessive spin, not loft, that is the real enemy of driving distance. The secret is increase launch angle while keeping spin rate low. In the old persimmon drivers, the center of gravity in the club head was much higher. A higher center of gravity in the club head  generates increased spin. Because of this many top players had to use less lofted drivers to keep the ball down of the tee. Because of the advances in ball and driver technologies the average loft on tour is now 9.5 or higher. The modern driver has evolved to maximize the performance characteristics of the modern golf ball.

Over the past few years, the length of the driver have gradually increased from 43 inches to 45 inches and, in some cases, 46 inches. The longer shaft naturally creates a more rounded, shallow attack into the ball at impact, leading to a higher launch angle and more distance.

Golfers tend to aim mallet-style putters to the right.

Golfers tend to aim offset putters to the left.

Aiming lines in general aim players to the left. The more lines, the further left most people aim.

Putters with longer shafts often promote aiming to the right.

Putters that are shorter often promote aiming left.

Golfers with slower putting strokes often require more flex in their shafts.

Golfers who aim left and block their putts to the right often need less loft, because they are effectively adding loft at impact.