Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2022 - 15

Adjustable weights certainly affect driving distance, but club makers haven't forgotten
accuracy. According to Bobka, engineers have been moving the COG (center of gravity)
of the driver farther behind the shaft for resistance to club head twisting.
" The COG weight always wants to chase that shaft, " Bobka says. " When it's chasing that
shaft, it wants to square up faster. The Ping G425 Max is the first driver that's ever been
over an inch behind the shaft. That's why that driver is as straight as it is. "
But is this all too much tech?
" Say you take some lessons and the instructor works on your golf swing, " Bobka says.
" Now your spin rate and launch angle goes down. You don't have to buy a new driver to
match your new golf swing; you can just adjust it. "
That's golf in the 21st
century. Although, often what's old can be new again, and
adjustability is an idea from the past.
" The guys with the persimmon drivers and steel shafts, if they had a little too much
loft, would be bending the shaft right above the whipping and take a little bit of loft
off, " Bobka says. " If the ball was flying a little too far left, they're back in the trailer grabbing
some lead tape for the toe. Adjustability has been there for a long time. It's just in
a cleaner package now. "
Larry Bobka is a master clubfitter at 2nd Swing in Minnetonka. He has 44 years of experience
as a clubmaker, clubfitter and short game instructor for pros including Tim Herron
and Tiger Woods.
Getting the Shaft
While titanium club heads got bigger,
graphite shafts became lighter over
time, increasing club speed and
distance. They also grew, before the
USGA hit the brakes on length (Jan.
1, 2022)-much to the chagrin of
golfers who like to " hit bombs. "
" This is PATHETIC, " Phil Mickelson
tweeted last August. " 1st it promotes
a shorter more violent swing (injury
prone), doesn't allow for length of arc
to create speed, and during our 1st
golf boom in 40 years, our amateur
gov body keeps trying to make it
less fun. "
This new local rule allows tours
and tournaments to cap driver length
at 46 inches, but Larry Bobka questions
the impact.
" It's not really going to cause
Larry's List
any major effects, " Bobka says.
" You've got a few players like
Bryson DeChambeau and Phil who
have played longer drivers. But
the world isn't going to jump into
47-inch drivers. "
Callaway Epic Speed
" A distance driver designed
a little bit lighter to help
players hit it. "
TaylorMade SIM2
" A strong-flighted driver geared
toward better players. "
Ping G425 Max
" The straightest
driver on the planet. "
Titleist TSi3
" A lower-launching, lower-spinning
driver that hits bullets. "
Bobka agrees that taller golfers
will be affected by the ruling (he
reports having a 6'10 " customer in
his shop recently), but the problem
has more to do with disparate methods
for measuring driver length.
" The USGA has come out with
this length [measuring] method but
everybody measures a bit differently, "
he says. " Depending upon where your
contact point is on the sole, you are
going to measure differently. "
Last summer, Bobka reached
out to two friends in the industry
(at Callaway and Titleist) for their
stance on shaft length and received
responses of " can't comment " and
" no comment, " respectively.
Expect the discussion to last a
bit longer.
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Directory 2022 MINNESOTAGOLFER
15

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