Article in GolfWorld this week. "Pros bend clubs to improve both performance and LOOK"
Although the drivers played on the PGA Tour look like the ones your and I play, fact is many of them aren't. They're drivers with a twist---literally.
That's because in the tour pro's quest to fine-tune equipment, many players (about 50%) bend their drivers for loft, face angle and/or lie angle. The tweaks can range from subtle (Retief Goosen has had his driver bent to the exact lof of 8.2º) to severe (John Daly turned a 10.5º driver into a 7.5º club so the face was more open, making a hook less likely).
Keith Sbarbaro, vice president of TaylorMake's tour operations, says bending is done for appearance as much as performance. Last year Mike Weir, for example, had a 10.5º club bent to 9º. Normally, a player would simply be fit into a 9º driver, but Weir felt his club looked too square and needed a more "open" look. Bending the higher-lofted club achieved that. Sbarbaro said most players prefer an open look, but there are exceptions. Darren Clarke, for one, prefers a slightly closed look.
Bending for lie angle is important, too. David Toms recently put a new driver in play that was bent 2º flatter to give him a shot shape that falls a bit to the right---his preferred ball flight.
In the days of persimmon, players shaved the heel or toe in an effort to close or open the face, respectively. Today options such as movable weights make things easier. Sbarbaro says he does half as much bending now because a ball-flight tweak can be done with weights. And when bending is required, he said it normally takes one try and then moving some weight to get it right. In years past it often took up to three bends before a player was satisfied.
Call it progress, with a twist. GW
Although the drivers played on the PGA Tour look like the ones your and I play, fact is many of them aren't. They're drivers with a twist---literally.
That's because in the tour pro's quest to fine-tune equipment, many players (about 50%) bend their drivers for loft, face angle and/or lie angle. The tweaks can range from subtle (Retief Goosen has had his driver bent to the exact lof of 8.2º) to severe (John Daly turned a 10.5º driver into a 7.5º club so the face was more open, making a hook less likely).
Keith Sbarbaro, vice president of TaylorMake's tour operations, says bending is done for appearance as much as performance. Last year Mike Weir, for example, had a 10.5º club bent to 9º. Normally, a player would simply be fit into a 9º driver, but Weir felt his club looked too square and needed a more "open" look. Bending the higher-lofted club achieved that. Sbarbaro said most players prefer an open look, but there are exceptions. Darren Clarke, for one, prefers a slightly closed look.
Bending for lie angle is important, too. David Toms recently put a new driver in play that was bent 2º flatter to give him a shot shape that falls a bit to the right---his preferred ball flight.
In the days of persimmon, players shaved the heel or toe in an effort to close or open the face, respectively. Today options such as movable weights make things easier. Sbarbaro says he does half as much bending now because a ball-flight tweak can be done with weights. And when bending is required, he said it normally takes one try and then moving some weight to get it right. In years past it often took up to three bends before a player was satisfied.
Call it progress, with a twist. GW