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A Hands-on Report on MOI Matching

One of the very first Clubmakers to begin using MOI Matching as a replacement for swingweight matching of clubs was Richard Kempton from Kent, in the United Kingdom. Definitely no stranger to TWGT or to serious, professional custom clubmaking, Richard has been a custom clubmaker since the 1980s and is a past winner of the GCA International Clubmaker of the Year award.

When it comes to detail and a thorough approach to serious clubfitting, few can compare to Richard Kempton. During a recent discussion on MOI Matching of golf clubs on one of the internet’s many talk sites devoted to custom clubmaking, Richard took the time to share an extensive overview of the practical experiences he has had in using MOI Matching to fit golfers since 2003.

For Clubmakers who are unsure of their MOI Matching fitting procedures or who wish to know more about the real HOW TO of MOI Matching, Richard’s report is bound to clear a lot of smoke from the air. We at TWGT felt his report was so good for its explanations and hands-on details from numerous MOI fittings, that we asked and were thrilled to receive Richard’s permission to re-print his report.

Part 1:

I guess I’m probably one of the ‘MOI faithful’ you talk about, but that’s based on what I think is a reasonable amount of experience; it would appear that I’m pretty unique, though, because I HAVE abandoned swingweight as a way of matching clubs, in favour of MOI.

I’ve used both the original Period Counter system and the (newer) MOI Speedmatch unit, which I now use exclusively because it’s much faster - I find that it’s actually quicker to MOI match a set of clubs with the Speedmatch than swingweight match the set. I have kept the period counter as a backup unit, in case the Speedmatch goes down.

I did a rough count of the number of MOI records earlier today - I have about 500 sets of data. That’s 500 sets of woods, irons (including hybrids & wedges), a mixture of new clubs and existing clubs that I have ‘retro-MOIed’

I’ve never blindly accepted claims for any new club or clubmaking technology until both I’ve tried & tested it myself and had some customer feedback. My initial approach to MOI matching was no different - I guess I’d say I did it from a position of healthy scepticism (much the same approach as I had to spine alignment). The early testing I did suggested that TWGT were probably onto something worthwhile, so I started offering it to customers as an alternative to swingweight.

As far as MOI matching customer’s clubs is concerned, I have from the outset adopted a very simple policy. If a customer decides that he doesn’t like the feel or performance of the MOIed set, all he has to do is bring them back and I’ll re-make the clubs to whatever swingweight match he wants, free of charge.

So far, only one golfer - that’s just one data set out of the 500 or so sets I have on file - has taken up the offer. If I don’t hear from a customer within a month of him or her collecting their clubs, I call them to enquire how they are getting on, so it’s not a question of them just letting things slide because they can’t be bothered to pick up the phone. I KNOW if they’re happy or unhappy, because I ask them directly. Some of the comments I’ve had verge on the embarrassing (that’s embarrassingly positive, BTW)

For new sets, it’s open to suggestion that clubs just play better because of the other fitting recommendations I’ve done to the set-up, rather than the MOI match singly. That same suggestion cannot validly be made for sets that I’ve retrospectively MOIed and the ONLY adjustment I’ve made to the set is to the MOI (OK, if you want to be picky, the MOI match flattens the frequency slope a bit and the short irons end up playing slightly softer, but really that’s about it for any changes in the clubs which come from the MOI matching).

None - and I do mean NOT A SINGLE ONE - of those customers has wanted to revert to swingweight-matching and all report a noticeable improvement in ball striking and consistency. However, this isn’t always matched by a significant improvement in scores, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, scoring is not just a function of ball-striking (if it were, then course management would count for nought).

Secondly, as far as I can determine, the degree of improvement in ball-striking or scoring is directly related to how far adrift a golfer’s original clubs are from his/her ideal MOI setting. That’s no different to spine alignment - there will be little noticeable benefit from aligning (or realigning) any shaft that is close to spine-free, as opposed to a shaft with a severe spine ...

Thirdly, I’m pretty much convinced that Dave Pelz, the famous short game teacher, is right to suggest that most golfers have 80% of their problems in scoring from shots inside 80 yards (he seems to have a lot of data to back up that assertion) and that the key to lower scores for these golfers is to improve that area of their game, together with their putting, in most cases.

Of course, if a golfer really is wild off the tee and on longer fairway and approach shots, more consistency with the driver, fairway woods, hybrids and the middle irons will definitely help their scores, but if your short game and, in particular, your putting are crap, you’re still going to struggle to make SERIOUS inroads into your handicap.

So for me, at any rate, MOI-matching is here to stay, but I do not feel the need to go forth and convert any non-believers to the MOI ‘faith’ - it’s a free world, after all.

BTW, one thing I am reasonably convinced about since working with MOI is that golfers are rather more sensitive to, and react to, much smaller changes in ‘swinging balance’ than I thought when I used to build clubs to swingweight. For example, would you expect a headweight change of just under 2g to affect clubhead speed by 6 mph (with a #5i!!)? I didn’t, until I witnessed it myself in the course of a fitting session.

As both you and TWGT have suggested, MOI matching will never become mainstream - in the sense that the OEM’s will never embrace it because MOI matching is so custom and the OEMs make standard clubs to sell off the racks - and that’s fine by me, because it’s something that differentiates what I do from what they do.

I’d suggest that Clubmakers not try to define your ideal MOI with a range of #8 irons. Using clubs with less loft and a longer length than a short iron would probably be better (e.g. #5-iron), to magnify any differences in your ball striking that might be affected by MOI changes.

Part 2:

Thanks. Just to clarify something I said earlier: each of those 500 database records I have from my MOI matching work for golfers relates to one set of clubs, which could have been woods (drivers & fwys), hybrids+irons+wedges, hybrids+irons, irons+wedges, or in a few cases, wedges only, which might amount to fewer actual clubs than you may have thought.

I fit for MOI pretty much in the same way as I fit for swingweight, I just take more time fine tuning the final number I arrive at, because of what I’ve empirically observed about how sensitive SOME golfers can be to what I had previously thought were probably insignificant weight changes. They’re quite rare, but they do exist - and you shouldn’t assume that they only exist amongst the ranks of more skilled players.

You can get a few initial clues by asking questions & listening.

For example, does the golfer play or has he played other sports that involve using an implement to hit a ball or other object, for example, tennis, squash, racquetball, ice or field hockey, baseball, or (in the UK only), cricket. If so, does/did he develop a preference for a heavy or light racquets, stick, or bat. If he’s in a skilled manual job where he uses, for example, a hammer, does he wield a slightly lighter or a slightly heavier one than his workmates with a greater sense of control. If he’s a dentist, for example, he’ll generally have strong hands & wrists (or at least one strong hand & wrist). The same possibly applies to full-time clubmakers ...

Ask him about his playing problems. If he struggles a bit to maintain a good tempo or rhythm, if he has a noticeable tendency to hit balls fat or thin, he probably needs heavier clubs and/or a higher MOI/swingweight than currently. If he’s a decent player, and the impact wear on the faces of his short irons & wedges show that he generally hits them no more centrally than his long irons, in my experience that’s highly likely to be because the MOI of the shorter clubs has dropped well below the optimum level for that golfer (because shorter clubs should be easier to hit on-centre, but in any swingweight-matched set, the club MOIs will generally decrease with club length).

In a lot of swingweight matched sets, the #9i is likely to have the lowest MOI - it won’t always be the case, so I always check before I do the next step; if it’s not the #9i, it will probably be the #8i or the PW.

In order to check if he can consciously discern MOI differences, I ask him to make some smooth three-quarter swings with whatever is the longest iron they generally carry, concentrating on how the club feels as the wristcock un-hinges (when the hands get to a point just above waist level for most players, at or below waist level for better swingers). I also ask if he is aware of the clubhead at the top of the backswing.

I get him to repeat that with the #9i (assuming that to be the lowest-MOI club in the set) and ask him to tell me what, if any, difference he notices in the ‘swinging balance’ of the two clubs. The #9i should feel lighter, so if he says the #9i (or whatever) is heavier, then he’s likely homing in on the total weight of the club and if he says they feel the same, then he’s likely homing in on the swingweight. If he still can’t pick up on the MOI difference, switching back & forth between the two clubs a few times usually results in a ‘eureka’ moment, but if he tends to cast the club, it sometimes helps to get him to concentrate on how the two clubs feel at or just after transition.

I then ask him to hit some balls into my net with his own #5i and measure his clubhead speed, but I also apply some impact spray to check for consistency of strike (or lack of it). I then ask him to hit a few balls with his #9i and look for any discernible change in the tempo or transition, for example a tendency to get quicker with the #9i or ‘heave’ at the #5i and check the impact pattern he gets with that, compared to the #9i. I also look to see if the clubhead speed is more consistent with one club vs. the other.

Once I’ve determined what shaft & head specs the customer needs, I have him hit a test #5i that I initially set to whatever MOI I feel is appropriate, based on what I noted about his swing & impact patterns with his own #5i & #9i. For example, if he swung his #5i OK, but tended to quicken up or was more erratic with the #9i, I’ll initially set the MOI close to his own #5i. If he looked more comfortable or was more consistent with the #9i, I’ll set the initial MOI of the test #5i closer to that of his own #9i.

The final stage is to have him hit 5 balls with the club and check the impact pattern, swingspeed and tempo, then add 2g of lead tape to the head and hit another 5 balls. If the results with that extra 2g strip of tape are better in terms of impact pattern, and/or tempo and/or clubhead speed), add another 2g and re-test. Repeat this until the customer starts to sense that the club is feeling slightly too heavy, you notice any tendency for the swing to look a bit laboured, the impact pattern starts to deteriorate, or the clubhead speed starts to drop off. Once you get to that point, take off the last 2g strip (or the last two 2g strips, if you’ve added more than 3-4 strips), have the customer hit 5 more balls and re-assess impact pattern, tempo and clubhead speed (and ask him HOW the club feels).

If he says it now feels OK or maybe a bit light (some golfers ARE sensitive enough to feel that), apply one 1g (I repeat: 1g, NOT 2g) strip of tape and re-test, if necessary remove & replace that 1g strip several times and re-test to see if it makes any discernible difference to impact pattern etc., or whether the customer has a preference for the club with or without the last 1g strip. The choice of final MOI will depend on what happens with that extra 1g of tape. When you’ve settled that, measure the club MOI and assemble or adjust the other clubs to that MOI number.

If he says it feels OK, but you had taken off TWO of the original 2g strips, apply up to another 3g of tape (in 1g increments) and re-test at each weight increment (the object is to hit the optimum to +/- 1g). Once you and he are happy, measure the MOI of the club and assemble/match the other clubs to that.

I favour different MOI settings for the woods and the irons (and, in a few cases, the wedges), because that’s what seems to work best for most of the golfers I’ve seen. Inevitably, there will be golfers who buck that tendency, so I always treat the woods, hybrids/irons and wedges as sets within a set. As a rule of thumb, most end up with woods set anything between 50-120 kgcm² higher than their irons.

I’m not for a moment suggesting that the method described above is perfect, but it’s what I’ve found works best for me and my customers. If anyone can suggest any changes that might be easier or better, I’ll be pleased to give them a try.

BTW, in my earlier posting, I mentioned seeing a 2g difference in MOI changing clubhead speed by 6 mph with a #5i. Briefly, and for the record, here’s what happened:

This golfer was sent to me by his club Pro, with a view to switching from steel to graphite shafts. He was 64 years old at the time, with a handicap of 9. I tested his clubhead speed with his own #5i at a very consistent 72 mph (TT Release steel A flex). With the first graphite-shafted #5i I handed him, his clubhead speed was a consistent 78 mph (same length/lie). He liked it, but asked if he could try something slightly softer, so I handed him another graphite-shafted #5i (same length/lie).

Result: a consistent 72 mph - same clubhead speed as his own steel-shafted #5i!!! Switching back and forth between the three clubs gave the same very consistent clubhead speeds as before (own club = 72 mph +/-1 mph, graphite shaft #1 = 78 mph +/- 1 mph, graphite shaft #2 = 72 mph, +/- 1 mph). Scratch head, asked how the second club felt - he said it was “.. a bit light ..”. Checked MOIs and added just under 2g of lead tape to graphite-shafted club #2 to match MOI of graphite-shafted club #1.

Result - clubhead speed with graphite-shafted club #2 jumped to 78 mph. When I removed the tape, clubhead speed dropped back to a consistent 72 mph and when I re-applied it, clubhead speed jumped to a consistent 78 mph, which logic suggests must be down to the MOI change; I’ve had a few other similar cases, but that was the most dramatic I’ve seen.

– Richard Kempton

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Spreading the Message of Professional Fitting in Europe

In early October, TWGT’s Matt Mohi and Tom Wishon journeyed across the pond to spread the message of professional clubfitting to European Clubmakers and PGA professionals. The opportunity came as a result of Tom having been invited to be the keynote speaker for the 2007 European PGA’s Teaching and Coaching Conference in Malmo, Sweden. With the opportunity to be in Europe, clubmaker and German PGA professional Mike McFadden asked Tom and Matt to present a second seminar in Germany.

We at TWGT thought it would be interesting to offer a “travelogue” of Matt and Tom’s experiences in talking the tech of fitting with hundreds of people with a serious interest in the golf business in Europe.

However, tip number one for traveling from the little mountain town of Durango, Colorado to Europe: Be sure to get your dates correct well before you leave!

Yes indeed, our president and founder can definitely be a space cadet at times. Thanks to discovering just a week before the event he had the dates of the European PGA conference off by one day, the total journey from Durango to Malmo, Sweden for Tom and Matt ended up taking 40 hours with numerous long layovers in between legs of the journey!

To get to Malmo, Sweden’s most southern major city, the flight destination is Copenhagen, Denmark. Getting from Copenhagen to Malmo requires a 15 minute journey by train over a sliver of the North Sea on the incredible engineering feat known as the Oresund Bridge. (http://www.roadtraffic-technology.com/projects/oresund/) Cars on top, trains below, the double-deck bridge tunnels 3 miles under the sea and 7 miles over the sea to connect the European continent to Scandinavia.

Pulling into the Malmo central train station at 2PM on October 9, TWGT’s boys found themselves just 150 meters (can’t talk yards here, we’re in Europe!) from the headquarters hotel for the European PGA conference. Time to check in and take a little nap to take the edge off the jet-lag? Nope, there was a TWGT exhibition booth to unpack and set up for the small trade show which accompanied the conference.

With a quick shower and a change of clothes, it was off to the Malmo Massan convention center to set up TWGT’s show booth. However, thanks to a glitch in Swedish customs, TWGT’s booth materials did not show up until 8PM, perfectly coordinated with the onset of severe jet-lag! Thanks to the help of a number of very nice volunteers, everything in TWGT’s exhibition booth was spic and span by 10:30PM, just in time to head out for a late dinner with Conny Lindgren, co-owner of Tee View AB, one of the top custom clubmaking shops in Europe, located in the greater Stockholm area. Al fresco dining at 11PM in October in Sweden? Yes, the restaurant actually had blankets for all their late evening diners, and the TWGT boys definitely used them!

Bright and early at 8AM on October 10, the European PGA Teaching and Coaching Conference was off and running. Hosted by the PGA of Sweden, the conference drew an audience of more than 500 golf pros from 34 different countries. (http://www.pgae.com/Education.htm) The theme of this year’s conference was “Simplifying the game for golfers,” with each speaker being asked to present information for the pros to hear and use to help golfers improve without extra confusion. Among the line-up of speakers were a number of “top ten” swing teachers from the US and Europe as well as the head of R&D for Callaway Golf Company and the “hands on” executives in charge of the Titleist Performance Institute from Carlsbad, CA. (http://tccpga.dynamaster.se/extra/pod/?id=18&module_instance=1&action=pod_show&navid=18)

Nowhere was this theme more pinpointed for the European pros and their golfers than in Tom’s presentation of “Simplifying the Game Through Professional Custom Clubfitting.” In the talk, which was presented on the morning of Day 2 of the conference, Tom stressed the point to the pros of which most clubmakers are well aware; OEM brand name clubs are simply made to one set of average specifications, while golfers are far from being standard in their size, strength, athletic ability and swing mechanics. The pros then listened to Tom explain the key fitting elements for each segment of the bag from Driver to Fairway Woods to Hybrids, Irons, Wedges and the Putter. In addition, thanks to the help of Sports Media Group, publisher of TWGT’s Search and 12 Myths books, every pro at the conference was given a free copy of the 32-page booklet, 12 Myths That Could Wreck Your Golf Game.

From the end of the presentation through the end of Day 3 of the conference, to say TWGT’s booth was mobbed was an understatement. Several hundred pros bought copies of the books, The Search for the Perfect Golf Club and Common Sense Clubfitting, and many of the pros spent a good bit of time talking to Matt, Tom, Daren Treacy of TWGT’s UK distribution company, and US PGA professional Kelly Wolfe, who had come over to assist TWGT for the conference. The four TWGT people fielded tons of questions about equipment and how best to incorporate professional fitting as a part of the pros’ services to their golfers.

“We were literally blown away by the pros’ response to Tom’s talk,” said TWGT’s Matt Mohi. Tom is truly a dynamic speaker who can literally hold an audience in the palm of his hand, but more than that, I think we were reaching these pros at a time in their business lives when they are just beginning to realize selling golf clubs to their golfers has to be more about custom fitting than simply pointing them to yet another standard made club sitting on a rack.”

Another highlight for TWGT at the European PGA conference came during a special dinner for the officers of each individual country’s PGA organization. Hosted by the PGA of Sweden who in 2007 are celebrating their 75th anniversary, Tom Wishon was the recipient of a special award for “meritorious service” in recognition of his efforts to assist the Swedish PGA over the past eight years. “I was surprised and very honored to accept this award,” said Tom. “I first met the pros in Sweden when I was asked to do a full day presentation for a PGA of Sweden educational conference back in 1999. Since then, I have enjoyed staying in touch with many of the Swedish pros and PGA officers who got hooked on fitting and equipment technology and wanted to keep learning everything they could.”

Additional testament to the high regard in which TWGT’s technical information is held in Europe is the fact that the book, The Search for the Perfect Golf Club, is now presently, or is slated in 2008 to become a part of the required curriculum training for membership in the PGAs of Great Britain, Sweden, Belgium, France and Germany. In addition, while at the conference TWGT secured commitments for the 32-page booklet, 12 Myths That Could Wreck Your Golf Game to be translated and printed into Swedish and German. Already the 12 Myths booklet is available in French and before the end of 2007, will be available in Dutch as well.

The three days of the European PGA conference came to an end late afternoon on Saturday, October 12. No rest for the TWGT Boys however, as they had an early evening dinner meeting with ISG A/S, the Danish company that makes the TrackMan launch monitor that has become the undisputed number one swing and ball flight analysis system in the entire golf industry. After a frenzied booth tear-down, it was off to catch the Oresund Bridge train to Copenhagen to meet with ISG CEO Klaus Jorgensen and VP/CTO Fredrik Tuxen, the business and brains expertise behind TrackMan.

The informal meeting was held at Copenhagen’s Rundberg Golf Club, home of TrackMan’s R&D testing facility and ranked as the number one golf course in Denmark. During the meeting, TrackMan’s CEO and CTO shared their latest technical research with TWGT, and proposed a joint relationship between the two companies to develop, publish and present in-depth technical information on ball flight and clubfitting technology to the golf industry through on-going, joint TrackMan/TWGT releases.

“We’ve always respected TrackMan’s technology as well as their commitment to furthering the understanding of truly what does happen in the interaction of the clubhead and the ball at impact and in flight,” said TWGT’s Matt Mohi. “In return, we’ve shared a lot of our fitting research with TrackMan because they understand the importance of all golfers being properly analyzed and then accurately custom fit into the right equipment based on the analysis. We were honored that TrackMan wishes to form a co-technical relationship so we can jointly publish technical information that will be helpful to the golf industry.”

After yet another late-night dinner, it was up and off the next day to fly to Germany for TWGT’s second technical presentation at the beautiful Jakobsberg Golf Resort in the Rhine River Valley. Flying into the busy Frankfurt airport, Matt and Tom had to drive 120 km to Jakobsberg – which meant Matt piloting a car on the infamous German Autobahn! Can you say 200 km/hour, which in western terms equates to 124.274 mph, and still having Porsches, Audis and BMWs zip past you in the fast lane?!! And at night???!!! Tom tried to nod off in the passenger seat to avoid having to deal with it.

Upon arrival at the Jakobsberg resort at 10PM, it was not yet off to bed for our weary TWGT travelers as there was an active and lively group of the European Clubmakers and pros waiting to buy Tom and Matt a German brew and ‘talk tech’ in the hotel bar. A fascinating aside; our boys had the opportunity to meet the owner of the Jakobsberg resort, none other than the man who invented the famous “Gummi-Bear” candies, and who, at the age of 84, not only still runs the company he founded, but flies his own helicopter as well. . . which by the way does have colorful “Gummi-bears” painted on the fuselage!

Monday’s German seminar was attended by 65 European Clubmakers and golf professionals. While Tom did have two years of German in high school followed by four semesters in college, he did choose to present the seminar in English, much to the appreciation of the native Germans in attendance! The full-day Jakobsberg seminar was divided into morning and afternoon subjects; The Truth About MOI in Clubmaking was the morning topic, followed by The Principles of Modern Shaft Fitting in the afternoon.

Click on image to view pdf of Tom Wishon's slide presentation from the Jakobsberg seminar. (2.3 MB pdf)

“The day at Jakobsberg was one of the most enjoyable and fun presentations I have ever had the opportunity to do in my career,” said Tom. The group included a number of Clubmakers we’ve known and whose company we’ve enjoyed for a long time as well as PGA pros from Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy and the UK. We kept things very informal in the sense that people spoke up with questions and comments when they felt like it. The result was a truly international group with completely diverse backgrounds, all who were very friendly and share a passion for knowing as much as possible to provide golfers with the very best equipment.”

The success of this event for TWGT was directly attributed to the graciousness of Jakobsberg event hosts, Mike and Marion McFadden, who went out of their way to be make sure we were comfortable and well taken care of while in Germany.

Tom and Matt wish to extend their sincere and heartfelt thanks to everyone they met and everyone who took time from their schedules to meet with them and attend their presentations. We at TWGT are very excited about the future of professional clubmaking through the custom Clubmakers and golf professionals throughout Europe and we look forward to being able to return.

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TW Tapped for World Scientific Congress of Golf

TWGT’s Tom Wishon has been asked to present the keynote address for the Golf Equipment discipline of academic research for the Fifth World Scientific Congress of Golf, slated for March 24-28, 2008 in Phoenix, AZ. Wishon’s keynote presentation will be March 26 from 8:00-9:30AM to lead off the day’s peer review in golf equipment research and technology.

Meeting every 4 years since its inauguration, the World Scientific Congress of Golf (WSCG) is the forum recognized by the Golf Science Steering Group of the World Commission of Science and Sports for the presentation of formal technical research related to areas of interest in the game of golf. (http://golfscience.us/)

The idea for a golf science conference arose in the Department of Physical Education of the University of St. Andrews in 1988. At that time there had been sporadic publication of golf science in the scientific literature, and it was felt a forum for encouraging the presentation of original research in various areas related to the game would be beneficial. In 1996, a charitable trust was set up to protect the interests of the WSCG, with trustees representing the two governing bodies of golf–the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (R&A) and the USGA–and the University of St. Andrews. The World Scientific Congress of Golf Trust (WSCGT) was formed for the purpose of promoting and stimulating golf-related scientific research by staging a world scientific congress of golf every 4 years.

The four previous WSCG congresses produced peer-reviewed proceedings which in total have consisted of 311 research papers submitted across the 11 scientific disciplines recognized by WSCG. Additionally, scientific papers have been published in discipline-specific peer-reviewed journals, research has been sponsored by the two governing bodies of golf, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and the United States Golf Association, and confidential research is undertaken by commercial companies, especially equipment manufacturers.

The Fifth Congress will be held at the Crowne Plaza San Marcos Golf Resort in Chandler, Arizona. Additionally, the conference will run concurrently with the LPGA Safeway International held in the Phoenix area.

TWGT is very honored that Tom Wishon has been asked to deliver the presentation that will headline the Congress’ day for presentation of all research related to golf equipment. The invitation is a testimonial to Tom’s reputation as a true golf scientist and the respect he holds among the scientists of the game.

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Search and 12 Myths Books Garnering European PGA Support and Expanding Languages

The momentum for spreading the word about the true benefits of professional custom fitting through the pages and content of TWGT’s Search and 12 Myths books is growing.

In January 2007, the PGA of Great Britain announced that The Search for the Perfect Golf Club has been officially adopted as required curriculum study for all apprentice professionals working for full membership in the British PGA. During the recent European Teaching and Coaching Conference, the PGA of Sweden officially joined the British PGA to require their pros to read and study the Search book as part of their curriculum requirements for membership.

Based on other discussions before and at the European Teaching and Coaching Conference, in 2008 the PGA’s of Belgium, France and Germany are expected to follow suit to include the Search book as required curriculum study for membership in each of their countries.

On another note, The Search for the Perfect Golf Club has been translated and published in Chinese and more recently, in Japanese. Search Chinese and Japanese are available in bookstores in Asia and through selected Asian distributors to spread the word about the benefits of professional custom fitting over standard made clubs bought off the rack.

In addition, 12 Myths That Could Wreck Your Golf Game, is presently available in French and by summer 2008, it will be available in Dutch, Swedish and German. In all cases, the foreign language versions of 12 Myths are produced for use in each foreign country by Clubmakers to help educate golfers in each of these countries about the benefits of custom fitting. As each version of 12 Myths becomes available, TWGT will have a limited supply.

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New TWGT Counter Weights for Custom Fitting

TWGT is pleased to introduce a wide variety of new Counter Weights for Clubmakers to expand their custom fitting services.

The concept of adding weight to the very end of the grip is not new. Some Clubmakers have been experimenting with counter weights in woods, irons and putters over the past few years. Some golfers experience an increase in swing speed and on center hit percentage in the woods and irons, and many golfers find their putting stroke is more “calm” which results in more putting consistency.

During 2007, TWGT began to experiment and monitor the effects of counter weighting woods, irons and putters. From our work, we do feel that the opportunity for golfer improvement is enough to say that Clubmakers should begin to incorporate counter weighting for some to many of their golfers.

Which golfers?

While there is still much work to be done to clearly identify which golfers need counter weights in their woods and irons, as well as how heavy of a counterweight, we can offer these initial guidelines for Clubmakers to use in their custom fitting.

* Golfers who tend to unhinge the wrist-cock angle early to midway in the downswing have a better chance of increasing swing speed from counterweighting than golfers with a late to very late release.

* The weight of the Counter Weight should be a little heavier in the driver and woods than in the irons. For example, if the golfer shows a swing speed increase or on center hit improvement with a 30g weight in the driver and woods, the weight with which to start in the irons should be 12g to 20g.

* Among golfers with an early to midway release who are better candidates for wood and iron counter weighting, those who are physically stronger with a faster swing tempo will tend to need a little heavier counter weight than those with less physical strength and/or slightly less quick to slower swing tempo.

* TWGT is offering the following Counter Weights: 12g, 20g, 30g, 40g, 60g, 80g, 100g. The 60g, 80g and 100g are much more suited for use in the PUTTER, while the 12g, 20g, 30g and 40g weights are designed more for use in the Driver, Woods and Irons.

* Ideal candidates for counter weighting of the Putter are golfers who:

If buying weights individually, you must also have one of the Installation Tools and one of the hex wrenches to install the TWGT Counter Weights into the end of the grip.

Use the Installation Tool in your electric hand drill to cut the opening in the end of the grip. Drop the Counter Weight of choice and use the hex wrench to lock the weight inside the end of the shaft. Flanged head prevents the Counter Weights from ever falling inside the shaft. All Counter Weights can be removed by reversing the hex bolt in the end of the Counter Weight.

TWGT has a limited number of “fitting kits” which include all the weights, the hole cutting tool and hex key for a reduced price. If you are interested, act quickly.

In stock now for immediate shipment, see chart for ordering information.

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Shaft Bend Profile Software Report

One of the most exciting, and admittedly, most technical products TWGT has developed is the Shaft Bend Profile Software. Introduced in 2006, TWGT’s Shaft Bend Profile Software allows Clubmakers to display and compare graphs of the bend profile design of hundreds of wood, hybrid and iron shafts.

By comparing bend profile graphs it is possible to determine where and by how much the bend profile of any shafts are different or similar. From this, Clubmakers can better predict the performance and feel of shafts for different golfers.

Heading into 2008, TWGT is committed to making a stronger effort to add new shaft models into the Bend Profile Software’s extensive shaft database more frequently than in the past. We’re already working now on bringing the database up to date with as many of the shafts that have been introduced in the past year as we can.

We’re also working to make the necessary changes to allow the Shaft Bend Profile software to be fully compatible with the new VISTA operating system. Please understand that for giant software companies, making all the adjustments necessary to do this is routine; for companies like us that do not make a living from software, such upgrades are a little more difficult to complete in a timely manner. Currently, the Bend Profile Software is fully compatible with PC’s running on Windows 98, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 operating systems. Sorry, no Mac compatibility because unfortunately, the demand simply is not there to justify the expense and work.

In addition, we’re hard at work to add a new and exciting feature to the TWGT Bend Profile Software in 2008 to allow Clubmakers to input a golfer’s swing speed along with inputting the golfer’s downswing transition, tempo, release and strength ratings to result in actual shaft model recommendations.

While we know your next question is WHEN, we learned a long time ago it is best not to estimate a completion time until the task is actually done! Suffice to say, since TWGT originated the entire concept of shaft fitting by evaluating the swing speed + transition + tempo + release + strength of golfers, we are working to add this capability to the software as soon as we can into the 2008 season.

As with all TWGT Shaft Bend Profile Software improvements and updates, all upgrades will be easy to do through the links we will send by email to all present and future owners of the software.

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