Equipment

10 takeaways from Callaway’s club tinkering podcast

Published

8 years ago

Apr 30, 2016

In Callaway’s latest series of podcasts, the team talks with Gerritt Pon, Senior Club Performance Analyst, an industry veteran and fitting specialist who has personally built clubs for Phil Mickelson. The three audio files run roughly 50 minutes in length (total), so we extracted some of the more valuable/interesting pearls of wisdom from the Fitting Room podcast series. Want to hear the entire interview? You can find the full series on the Callaway Media Productions website.

The topics covered range from beginner to advanced. Here’s a selection of the quality information from the talk with Mr. Pon, which range from the most basic information to advanced topics.

Where tinkerers should begin

Pon says that loft and lie are the most important part of any sort of club tinkering for amateur golfers. Proper loft and lie can take a golfer from hitting shanks to striping it, which is more than can be said for almost all other adjustments.

Lie angle rules of thumb

Generally, if a player is consistently missing right, s/he ought to be playing clubs that are more upright. Likewise, if the golfer misses left, a flatter lie is necessary.

The first wood adjustment to make

Pon adjusting a driver at the Ely Callaway Performance Center (Photo courtesy of Callaway).

Callaway recommends that before making any adjustment to the moveable weights in their woods, golfers should dial in an optimal loft.

Swing weight basics

Every two grams of weight added to a club head adds one swing weight point, so shortening a shaft an inch changes swing weight by six points. Adding weight to a wood head can be done externally (using lead tape) or internally (with glue injected into the club head). Also, weight can be added to the grip end to reduce swing weight, but different rules apply. It takes five grams of weight to lighten the swing weight by one point.

Who tinkers?

Tinkering seems to be more correlated with personality type than handicap. For example, tour pros span the range from massive tinkerers to not really making many equipment adjustments.

Interesting fact about different-colored grips

Pon says he’s found different-colored models of the same grips can weigh different amounts.

Spin 101

With respect to spin, when a club spins too much, the ball will balloon. When it doesn’t spin enough, the ball will tend to fall out of the air.

So you want a 55-degree wedge?

In making a 55-degree wedge: Better to weaken 54 than strengthen 56 for most golfers, as the 54 would have more bounce. Weakening a club makes the leading edge look straighter. Strengthening adds more offset. Pros tinker most with their wedges ahead of major championships, particularly the Masters (where players prefer less bounce).

Phil Mickelson: club builder

Phil Mickelson ground his own lob wedge for the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. He wanted a 64-degree with zero degrees of bounce.

The Callaway OG wedge

Roger Cleveland has made a special OG “Office Grind” wedge for Callaway employees: 64 bent to 60, ground to zero bounce.

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8 Comments

sumsum

May 2, 2016 at 9:55 am

Callaway production team :

“Is your ball going left?! Just flatten the club!

Is your ball going right?! Just raise the lie up!

At Callaway we think the Shaft doesn’t matter, Head / offset don’t matter, grip doesn’t matter, hell your swing doesn’t even matter. Just adjust the lie and you are on your way to straight shots all day!!”

……morons

Reply Report comment
- Desmond
  
  May 3, 2016 at 1:12 pm
  
  Who’s the moron?
  
  You might look in the mirror.
  
  It states “where tinkerers should begin…”
  
  “Begin” is a key word.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Mad-Mex
    
    May 3, 2016 at 9:58 pm
    
    So sumsum, from your post it appears your knowledge of golf clubs would one were you have designed many clubs, so, what is your most successful design?
    Let me guess,,,,, NONE?
    
    Reply Report comment
JustTrying2BAwesome

May 1, 2016 at 4:35 pm

Haha OG wedge. I love it

Reply Report comment
B Clizzle

May 1, 2016 at 1:28 pm

Callaway should research better adhesive or how to glue the heads properly…
Clubs I bought last year have have the heads fall off
8 iron three times and the rest twice
Never gonna stray from ping again

Reply Report comment
- Ming Yeung
  
  May 1, 2016 at 6:07 pm
  
  funny thing you say that, i found the callaway and tm woods on the non adjustable heads were the most difficult to remove, took me at least twice as much heat and elbow grease to even break the dark expoxy. ping irons i found to be the easiest to remove. mizuno irons took the longest to remove
  
  Reply Report comment
  - B Clizzle
    
    May 1, 2016 at 7:08 pm
    
    Well I just know I see a little gap near the ferrule and head…then after one swing the head is twisted
    And I don’t leave them in my car
    They stay at the course
    
    Reply Report comment
Tex

May 1, 2016 at 1:20 pm

But what is Roger Cleveland’s feelings on the XE1 bent to 60?

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Whats in the Bag

Sam Burns WITB 2024 (April)

Published

13 hours ago

Apr 22, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Sam Burns’ what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage.

Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond S (9 degrees @10)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 TX

3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond T (15 degrees @16)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X

Check out more in-hand photos of Sam Burns’ WITB in the forums.

Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X

Irons: Callaway Apex TCB ’24 (4-AW)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (4-PW), True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 Tour Issue (AW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-14F @55), WedgeWorks Proto (60-T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue (56, 60)

Check out more in-hand photos of Sam Burns’ WITB in the forums.

Putter: Odyssey Ai-One #7S

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour X

Check out more in-hand photos of Sam Burns’ WITB in the forums.

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Whats in the Bag

Will Zalatoris WITB 2024 (April)

Published

14 hours ago

Apr 22, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Will Zalatoris’ what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage.

Driver: Titleist TSR2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X (44.5 inches)

3-wood: Titleist TSi2 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X

See more photos of Will Zalatoris’ WITB in the forums.

Irons: Titleist T350 (3), Titleist T150 (4-PW)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Prototype G.O.S.T. 10 ST X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (50-08F, 54-10S @55, 60-04T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

See more photos of Will Zalatoris’ WITB in the forums.

Putter: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max

Grips: Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord

See more photos of Will Zalatoris’ WITB in the forums.

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Equipment

New Level launches new 480-DB irons, blending performance and forgiveness

Published

16 hours ago

Apr 22, 2024

Brian Knudson

New Level has been making some really good golf equipment since the company started up in 2018. Offering irons that are more geared towards the better player, precision has been a fundamental philosophy for New Level in creating irons and wedges.

The 480 line of irons has been the flagship of the brand, and the newest member of that team is the 480-DB iron that is now open to pre-orders. A new cavity design is what the whole 480 line is about, and the 480-DB takes advantage of that with added ball speed and a larger sweet spot.

For players who require their irons to offer the best feel, rest assured the DB is a fully forged (from 1020 carbon steel) one-piece golf club. No multi-piece, hollow design with this iron.

While the 480-DB is the next generation of the popular 902-OS, New Level didn’t follow the current trend in golf by chasing distance with the new iron. They actually weakened the lofts on the 480-DB with the spec sheet showing a 33-degree 7-iron and 45-degree pitching wedge. These lofts allow the DB to have less offset while still offering consistent distance off the face.

A traditional design was also at the forefront of the new irons to make sure that golfers with an eye for detail can look down at them with confidence that they will perform under any condition.

A weight low in the back cavity will allow their master club builders to dial in the perfect weight for the golfer, no matter the length or shaft being used. New Level believes that the new 480-DB is one of the most forgiving one-piece forged irons on the market today. A pre-worn leading edge on the sole should get through the turf quickly and with reduced digging for better turf interaction.

You can pre-order the New Level 480-DB right now on the New Level website.