Hello All,
I was informed of this thread by my friend Shawnsky.
I am a Professional Certified Golf Club Maker and Fitter.
www.foreyourgame.ca (still under some construction)
Anyway, I thought I would chime in on this conversation with my opinions. Now where to begin.
OEM Clubs (Callaway, Nike, etc): There is nothing wrong with these clubs. The heads are top quality. Sometimes the shafts are a little questionable, but they are using higher quality shafts all the time. One of the biggest thing about these is the mass production for what they see as the average golfer. They have been making their clubs longer and longer all the time. Yes this helps you hit a 7 iron further, but less consistantly. The other thing is their custom fitting process. When a 16 year old from GolfTown fits you for your $1000 set of Nike irons, what does he do. He looks at your swing speed and says Stiff or Regular based solely on that. They he tells you what length you should play. 1/2" over Std, 1/2" under standard etc. He bases this most often on your height and sometimes takes into account your finger to floor measurement. What standard is he basing this on? He doesn't know the difference in standard length between Nike and Callaway. And most likely their standard length is lots long enough for almost everyone. Then he measures lie angle. He probably does not take into account his length recommendation though which hugely affects the lie angle. Then he orders your clubs. X18 - 1/2" over length - Stiff Steel Shaft - 2 degrees upright - Midsize grip. Then the big question is what you get. Are all your lofts accurate? How about he flex. Is it consistent throughout the set. I can almost guarantee this is not consistent. (Callaway for instance only has one flex steel shaft. They think it should fit everyone) Is the lie angle exactly as requested on every club? I don't want to bash OEM, because for the most part, they do not claim to be perfect. And as I said, they are good quality components, but they are still just components until someone puts them together.
Now let's talk about Component Clubs. They are called this because someone like myself takes a head, shaft and grip and puts them all together. This is the same very basic process as OEMs. There are very different qualities of Component products. There are very low end "knock offs". They look like an OEM club, but are make of questionable material, and are not very consistent. These are very inexpensive. The next would be clubs that look like an OEM, but are made of top quality material and are very consistent. These are more expensive, but just as good quality as an OEM head. Then there are component heads that are not "knock offs" or look a likes. These are heads that have their own unique design and are made out of the absolute best quality materials. (ie. Wishon, SMT etc) These are more expensive than the other 2 options, but are at least as good as the OEM products. This is primarily the quality of product that I choose to build with.
How the shafts. Most OEM manufactures use shafts that are inexpensive for them.
The steel shafts are mostly the same as I'd use, but graphite shafts can be a different story. I am a UST Tour Shop. This means I have access to all models of UST shafts. The biggest thing to know is that when Titleist builds a driver, they plunk in a shaft that says "S" (stiff) on it. They don't measure it to make sure it is stiff. It very well may not be. There is no standard in the industry as to what stiff even is. Your stiff may be the same as your buddies Regular, or even you wife's Ladies shaft. You just never know, and neither does the OEM. The shaft is by far the most important part of every club. Ot is the engine and if it doesn't run properly, you are constantly trying to adjust your natural swing to accomodate.
Now comes the fitting. I have already touched on the questionable fitting you get at a retail location. A professional club fitter will take into account your swing speed and TEMPO when making a flex and torque recommendation. When recommending length, it is far more important to make consistent contact in the centre of the face than it is to match your finger tip to floor measurement. Total yards off the tee is not nearly as important as net yards. (Total yards - Deviation from target lone = Net Yards). Lie angle is next and probably most important. Most people don't know however that it is more important in your wedges than it is in your long irons. Then grip. There is a specific way to measure how big of a grip to use, but more importantly is feel and desired shot pattern. A smaller grip will promote a draw, where a bigger grip will promote a fade.
Finally the building process. A good Club Maker will custom make every club to your exact specifications. If it is determined that you need a five iron with 28 degree of loft - 58 degree lie - and flexes at 267 cpm, then that is EXACTLY what you get. Zero room for deviation. He builds all clubs based on his training and experience. For example, I am the only True Temper " Black Gold" Certified Club Maker in western Canada. I know exactly how to build these. Or I know from experience that UST shafts are generally stiffer than most other brands. O take this knowledge into account when building.
OK, I am very tired of writing this, so I will end with this.
Are component clubs the way to go. I say yes absolutely. Why does Tiger play Nike? Because they pay him a billion dollars, and he doesn't play with stuff off the rack. His clubs are professionally fitted and build the same as I would do. If you want to play OEM clubs because of the name, that is fine. There is nothing wrong with wanting that perceived stature, but call it what it is. Remember, the ball doesn't know that you are using Nike. If you do want OEM, you should spend a few bucks to get fit correctly and then order your clubs specifically.
Well that is more than my 2 cents. It is more like $2.12.
Anywho, hopefully my opinions help you.
Rod
