Lag And Your Club Shaft

Sat, 06/11/2011 - 15:33 -- Don Trahan

A couple of days ago I talked about the importance of lag in your swing. Well, that inspired Lynn '€œDoc'€ Griffin, our Director of Club Fitting, to go an important step further. He explains why you'€™ll never create the proper lag with the wrong shafts.

Golfers who can keep that 90 degree angle they create at the top of the backswing until just before impact need an entirely different shaft than golfer who can'€™t maintain that angle. As Lynn explains, professionals, better amateurs and strong amateurs create a tremendous amount of load on the shaft and need a stiffer tip.

Typically, if the shaft is too soft, the ball tends to go left. If the shaft is too stiff, the ball tends to go right. Getting the proper equipment for your swing produces immediate improvement and lower scores.

Visit your certified club fitter and keep it vertical,

The Surge!

If you can't view the YouTube video above try CLICKING HERE. You must allow popups from this site for the link to work.

Blog Tags: 

Comments

MikefromKy Go Bama. Go Irish's picture

Submitted by MikefromKy Go B... (not verified) on

Steve

Great rounds. Wish I could say the same. Played in a tournament today shot 53 LOL on the front 9 I would either have a bad tee shot and get into trouble or hit a great tee shot and a bad approach shot and get in to trouble. The back nine I shot a 40 with a boogie on 18. My brain keeps getting in the way keep reverting back to the rotational swing. Back side I got it figured out and back to the SS vertical swing. 

Craig63's picture

Submitted by Craig63 (not verified) on

Hi Robert, "if" DJ had played bogey free golf up to this point (end of the third round) he would be up with Robert Karlsson tied for the lead.   It reminds me of an important Surgism to keep focus on "fairways and greens".    It's good to see DJ playing good golf after his illness.

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

Interesting. I decided to do something I probably should have done 9 months ago and compared my old custom built clubs to my new off-the-rack Wilson/Staff Pi7 irons. Specifically, I pulled out the 7 irons. The W/S was a little over an inch longer than the old 7 iron, and lofted the same as my old 6 iron. The shafts are different flex, as well, since the old ones are Dynamic Gold S300Us and the new ones are TX-105 R flex. What's interesting to me is that, in theory, I should be hitting the new 7 iron the distance I hit the old 6 iron, but I'm not. Lesson learned, and it only cost me $280 (TGW Spring Club Sale last year).

Boogm's picture

Submitted by Boogm (not verified) on

Just sent you one, Doc and I apologize for it's length now, LOL.
I'm off to home and check that AC problem out, I 'll check my email as
soon as I'm able.

Doc Griffin's picture

Submitted by Doc Griffin (not verified) on

Here' the dilemma:  if you're hitting a hybrid out of the rough, which they are really good for, what channels the grass and debris away?  If there are no grooves there then the ball traps the grass between it and the face and you hit "flyers" or knuckle balls and have absolutely no control over ball flight.  Not a good thing in my book.  And, as we all know, grooves don't create spin, they allow spin.

Steve Smith's picture

Submitted by Steve Smith on

Hey Roger,
At least you straightened it out some on the back nine. We've all been there.

Robert Meade's picture

Submitted by Robert Meade (not verified) on

... BS indeed ladies and gentlemen. Just watch golf centeral and thought maybe just maybe, nah they are clueless. Thank God for shotracker on PGA.com 
Go Deej go. He's on track now.

Doc Griffin's picture

Submitted by Doc Griffin (not verified) on

Golf is very much a mental sport so any change can have a positive effect and thereby be a good change.

Bgmccormish's picture

Submitted by Bgmccormish (not verified) on

Doc. I have a Bobby Jones 21 & 30 degree hybrids for a while now & wonder if the shafts are correct foe an old guy like me? By the way, I shot 88 'tother day with my Doc irons &Doc driver you made for me, haven't done that In couple yrs. How do I check the shafts??? Yours golfically. Bud McCormish

Doc Griffin's picture

Submitted by Doc Griffin (not verified) on

They are truly awesome clip boards.  I spared no expense.  I went with the best Wal-Mart had to offer!  Well, not really.  They were the most reasonable.  LOL

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

With that swing, and that game, I think you'd clean up out here in Vegas. Let them see you on the range a little, and the suckers will want to give you a shot a hole thinking they're stealing your money. :)

I don't care how pretty a swing looks. If the person can repeat it consistently and know where the ball is going, they can play golf. If you add the ability to hit the ball a freaking mile like you do, it's phenomenal. Your hand speed through impact is what's generating that club head speed, I'm sure. Muscle doesn't help you swing a club faster if it's bulky and slow. Lean, long muscle and fast hands are much better.

As a complete aside, KMart had some great deals here on a golf mat and net, so I've set up a little practice area in my back yard (we're in a tightly packed, very old development, and the original owners of our house expanded the actual structure pretty close to the limit of what you could fit on the property, so I have a 14'x20' back yard). To try it all out I pulled out my 7-iron from my old set because my new clubs are in my trunk. I think I may decide to swap sets back to my old clubs for a while. They were built for me by a friend's father a couple decades ago, and I thought maybe I couldn't really move those X shafts the way I used to, but that 7 iron felt really, really good today. I'm thinking that until I can afford a real new fitting, my more recently purchased, off-the-rack Wilsons will stay in the garage and my old irons will come back out. The weight of them feels so much better in my hands, aside from anything else.

Robert Meade's picture

Submitted by Robert Meade (not verified) on

Amos the main thing is that we care and we follow any way we can.Karlson backed up, today too so a high finish is looking real good for DJ :)

Steve Smith's picture

Submitted by Steve Smith on

I guess I better put in a disclaimer on all of this joking around about me playing for money (at least I'm joking) LOL:

I wouldn't make much of a gambler because there is no way I would bet more than a few dollars on my ability to beat anyone at anything, especially golf. Ha ha! (I work way, way, way to hard for my money to gamble it away).

I've come down with a case of the sh$^&# too many times to believe in my ability more than the money that is already in my pocket.

If I ever DO bet anything it HAS to be a "sure bet". I'm not interested in a fair game when it's my money on the line. I figure me against about a 20 handicap straight up is sure enough but outside of that I leave the betting to other people. LOL

I went to Reno one time for a week and never gambled the first penny.

P.S. There wasn't a slot machine in the entire city that guaranteed that I would win. LOL

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

I wish my game was as bad as yours. ;-) (And I'm sure you understand I'm differentiating between swing and game here.)

Boogm's picture

Submitted by Boogm (not verified) on

LOL, Doc, good one ... I think I booked under Dennis Weaver or something.

Steve Smith's picture

Submitted by Steve Smith on

I've noticed that "clean up" game doesn't work as well as it used to work when my 7 iron was my 140 club.
It seems for some reason that watching a three iron flying over the 240 marker turns people off. Don't know why. I think now I probably lose more money because people think I am supposed to play like an "actual golfer" and THAT I am not. LOL

Hey I have Project X 6.0 rifle shafts in my irons and don't know anything about such things. Is that a pretty stiff shaft or more like a regular? They seem to work well.

Good luck with the new/old irons. Maybe with them you can get that swing down to "perfect". I think you were not holding your mouth just right in the last video.
(Ha ha ha ha ha!)

Edit: Hmmm. Might work. It would look like an awfully high "long iron" though. To be sure of winning I have to get at least 9 strokes from a "real" golfer and they usually know the difference between the look and sound of a short iron shot from a long iron one.

Roy Reed's picture

Submitted by Roy Reed (not verified) on

Doc Griffin:  Another great video !!   Thank you for taking time to explain the mechanics of the shaft vs lag.   I can personally testify that the correct shaft makes a hugh difference in the golf swing.  The driver and hybrids you built me are sooooo sweet !!  As I play them, I'm having to re-adjust my "distance chart", since they tend to go further each time I practice or play with them.  And, with my slower swing speed, going the hybrid route made great sense.  Again, thank you for the excellent, informative video.  And, YES, better golf is just a fit away !!  R2 

Steve Smith's picture

Submitted by Steve Smith on

Probably not many golfers know LESS about clubs than I do but the first set I had were designed to look like some of the Pings that my friends had. They were Bridges brand and came from West Georgia Golf Company.
The guy that gave them to me had just bought a new set.
I played a lot of golf with those clubs and sometimes when we were just playing around we would swap clubs and hit some balls and nobody (at least in our circle of players) could tell the difference between those Bridges and the Pings.

P.S. Do you feel like you have lost club speed as you have gotten older?
I wouldn't have thought you were anywhere near old enough to be losing club speed, at least due to age.
I don't have anything to gauge it against except how far a perfectly hit ball goes now with a driver as opposed to how far a perfectly hit ball went a few years ago but it seems the same distance.

Boogm's picture

Submitted by Boogm (not verified) on

I would have to concur with Robert, nice rounds & nines, no matter what the rating happens to be. Nice playing for the entire family, Steve, glad to see your driver is on fire. :)

Kevin McGarrahan's picture

Submitted by Kevin McGarrahan (not verified) on

Steve,

You are right about balls going just as far when one gets older, if all things are equal. Unfortunately, some of us do not maintain our physical condition or change clubs to something not as good as what we used to play. Like some others on here, I am considering pulling out my old clubs, getting them re-gripped, and playing with them.

Boogm's picture

Submitted by Boogm (not verified) on

Don't worry, Amos, I did the same thing a few weeks back, called the house Sunday morning and told someone to set the dvr to nbc ( i thought I had read they had the coverage on pga.com) and when I got home I got to watch a couple of hours of the Amateur tourney. :)

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

Yes, I tried to explain that to him but as with most people, he believed I was full of shhh...um...sugar. Yeah. Family board and all.

Amos's picture

Submitted by Amos (not verified) on

Robert F:

   Opps -- You are correct sir; Regardless, no mention of DJ

    Amos

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

Steve,

I think I had lost some club head speed when I really refocused on golf last year, as I had spent more than a decade being lucky to play more than twice a year. Last spring I decided I'd had enough of that and started focusing on practicing and playing again. I thought I'd lost power and distance until I found the Surge Swing and actually figured out most of it (even if I'm still trying to get my body to do it properly).

As for gambling, I was definitely joking as well. I've never bet more than who's buying lunch at the club house on a round of golf (and I rarely lose when a food bill is on the line). Of course, very few people want to gamble with a guy who carries a 1 iron in his bag.

shortgamewizard's picture

Submitted by shortgamewizard (not verified) on

Steve, have you tried choking down on the wedge. An inch to two inches will make a difference in how far the ball will fly. The only adjustment would to accordion enough more to get the proper swing radius.

Or you could do what I do when playing shorter courses, carry more wedges. My short course set up is 47*, 50*, 54*, 58* and 60*. For long courses I use the 47*, 50* and 58*.

Tim Y's picture

Submitted by Tim Y (not verified) on

Doc, I've got an appointment in July and I can hardly wait. . . they say that the Fitter knows the TRUTH and the TRUTH will always set us free!  I think my old Rifle Lites (5.5) are ready for E-Bay. . .but I'll let you be the JUDGE!  Great video!

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

You're not supposed to hit the long irons on the range when you're looking for action. Hit the short irons but don't let them SEE what you hit. They can assume it was a longer iron. :)

I was looking at my older clubs. The shafts in them have a label that says TrueTemper S300U. Maybe Doc can tell us how that compares to your Rifle 6.0 shafts.

EDIT: Hmmm. I did some research of my own and realized these are mid-stiff shafts, not the X stiff I had been led to believe 20 years ago. So they really are probably a good fit for me still. I know the heads on these older irons are Ping knock-offs (Tour Model Series 3).

Doc Griffin's picture

Submitted by Doc Griffin (not verified) on

I would like to speak to you about your appointment.  Please send me an email privately.
jgriffin@docgriffingolf.com

no problem, just need to discuss time

Steve Smith's picture

Submitted by Steve Smith on

A few years ago we had a company golf outing at Canyon Ridge and had several teams to play a scramble format.
Each team had a "captain" that was a pretty good golfer but the rest of each team were people that play once a year, and not very good at that.
The "team to beat" had a captain that works in the office and was 65 years old but everyone said he was the best golfer of any of us. (I hadn't seen him play).

We were waiting behind them on the first tee and ALL of his team hit the ball OB. I was thinking to myself "William is going to have to back off of this tee shot with his whole team OB and that's going to leave them with a looooong second shot".

He stepped up to the tee and hit one about 300 yards right down the middle.

I knew then 2 things:
1. We were in trouble.
2. A 65 year old office worker can sure hit the ball a loooong way, and straight, and under pressure. LOL

Bobtrumpet's picture

Submitted by Bobtrumpet (not verified) on

Doc,

Great video as always. I especially liked the clipboards. :-)

Amos's picture

Submitted by Amos (not verified) on

Steve Smith:

    Sounds like you had a great game - and a great time too.

    Wish I had some of your "bad scores"  LOL

     Amos

Robert Meade's picture

Submitted by Robert Meade (not verified) on

First and foremost I wanted to give big cheer for DJ. A 31 on his first 9 with two birds and an eagle. He was one of only 3 players today who had zero bogies. I'm really happy for him and his game the last two days. Still putting well with only 29 today.
    Lynn, another very good video today covering a very important subject concerning club bend points. I am looking forward with great anticipation for my new sticks that should be arriving within a week now. The shafts were a big aspect of what my fitter considered as he took note of my early release tendencies. As you know I ordered the swingrite from you and am anxious to work with it and temper those swing issues. Thanks again Lynn for all you do.

T Medley's picture

Submitted by T Medley (not verified) on

Janet, Hello to you as well. We have all missed your posts. Hurry back to the blog. It sounds like you're still in the honeymoon phase with your new driver. We hope to hear from you soon.

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

Good morning, Surge Nation. DJ hits the tees in about an hour paired with Jonathan Byrd. They should have a fun day and hopefully give the announcers reasons to show us some of DJ's golf today.

If you're making onto a course today, have a great round, keep it vertical and on the short grass.

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

Oh, for those of you who aren't on Facebook or didn't see the link in the box on the side, this http://www.cbssports.com/golf/... is a terrific article with a lot of stuff from the Surge about working with DJ (the article overall is about fathers who coach their PGA Tour pro sons).

Boogm's picture

Submitted by Boogm (not verified) on

Very good video, Doc, it has really got me excited about Friday week.I'm sure your diagnosis of my swing will greatly improve my game. Lately I have been hitting draws or hooks and thought maybe it was perhaps the offset of the clubs I've been using was to much but this shaft information could also be a cause. Yes, I know it could just be me & my swing as well.Regardless, I am really looking forward to my Doc appointment and the trip over to Columbia.

Steve Smith's picture

Submitted by Steve Smith on

Amos,
Make no mistake I never said those were "bad scores" at least not for me. LOL
Usually when I'm playing pretty well I shoot a 74 or 75 on that course. When playing close to my best I shoot 70, so a 69 is pretty good (for me). We all know how golf is and rarely do we have all aspects of the game at our best at the same time.;-)

I decided to go down this afternoon and get in the game at Desoto, which is a slightly harder course and shot a 74. Kind of lost my focus on the back nine because our team score was 8 strokes ahead of the other team in double low ball after 5 holes and when it's like that at Desoto you are just expected to hurry up and get done with the round and not even do little things like have somebody mark a ball that is in your way on a chip that you might have a chance for birdie on. (Aggravating but when you play with those guys that's just the way it is).
Ended up making 5 bogies and 3 birdies on the back for a 38.

Amos's picture

Submitted by Amos (not verified) on

Robert Meade:

   I agree -- it was an awesome day for DJ.  Moved up some 35 places on the leader board. And no mention from the NBC commentators!

   Amos

golfol's picture

Submitted by golfol (not verified) on

I was reading an article a few days ago about how switching clubs will have a positive effect on your game because you forget about all the swing thoughts, and are concentrating on how the club feels in your hands and how it looks different and how well the ball aligns on the face, etc. This is such a mental game, I was just wondering if you think this has any merit, or if it's just a bunch of hooey.

Amos's picture

Submitted by Amos (not verified) on

Bobtrumpet:

  Doc only uses Smart clipboard. I am sure they are IQ rated!! LOL

   Amos

Steve Smith's picture

Submitted by Steve Smith on

Hey SGW,
Choking down is one of the options I'm working on with just a little success. Sometimes it works fairly well and other times I hit the ball just as far choking down as I do without it. It's going to be one of those things that will not work itself out overnight or with any quick fix. I still have distances in my mind that I think each wedge should go and now, even though I know better, that voice in my head is telling me that I'm out of my mind to be hitting a gap wedge when other golfers who are younger, stronger and much better than I am are hitting pitching wedges or 9 irons. It's getting better with time and it also works both ways because all I have to do to get an opponent to pull the wrong club and come up short is to mention what club I hit on a par three.

I have a problem from time to time about being as good at taking something off of a club as I used to be with my old swing. It seems my new swing is much better suited for full swings or at least close to full. I used to be able to take almost any club and hit it almost any distance but not any more. I still feel like I'm better at that than any of the people I play with but just not as good as I used to be.

Everything is getting better with a few steps backwards every now and then. Blew a few holes this afternoon by decelerating on less than full shots with a sand wedge instead of trusting the lob wedge and just swinging it. :-(

I have been carrying 4 wedges lately and even though I mess up too much to suit me I am doing better with the shorter ones than I ever thought I would.

There really is a gap between my gap wedge and my pitching wedge though, and it would sure be nice if there weren't that gap.

Ed Stegman D.C.'s picture

Submitted by Ed Stegman D.C. (not verified) on

Doc, I'm referencing your video from about two weeks ago regarding shaft length. Do you measure up from the ground  or from the hozzel?(sp?).
Thanks.
Doc Ed

Doc Griffin's picture

Submitted by Doc Griffin (not verified) on

To all:

Janet says to tell the gang hi and she's still loving her "Doc" driver.  She played yesterday and hit 14 fairways.  I think that has more to do with skill on her part.  She has been very busy at work and then some personal issues to deal with.  She misses the "family".  Jackoz, she wanted to know if you're back.

Pages