Club Repair Seminar shows golfers the importance of “checking the specs.”

The Mitchell Golf Performance Studio and Patrick Gallagher, PGA recently hosted a club repair seminar on March 11^th.  During this informal and informative setting, Patrick explained how to use Mitchell Golf equipment to adjust and repair golf clubs: Which lead to some very enlightening results.  Patrick went through the differences in the angle machines and how they work https://www.mitchellgolf.com/product-category/loft-lie/.  He also showed how the putter bending machines operate.

Is your putter going soft?

So many of today’s putters are such soft metal, which provides the golfer with a great feel.  The one negative is that the putter can easily change loft and lie angle over time.  Think about all the times you see a golfer leaning on their putter while waiting for their turn to putt!  Mitchell Golf bending machines are number one on the tour worldwide, and they can quickly and accurately measure any USGA approved putter and adjust almost all of them!  (Please see Patrick’s recommendations for when to spec your clubs below).
Equipment used for the club repair seminar:

• Club Length utilizing the Mitchell Golf Club Length Ruler Kit  https://www.mitchellgolf.com/shop/repair-tools/clublength-ruler-measuring-tool-kit/
• Swing Weight using the Mitchell Golf TourGauge Swing Weight Scale https://www.mitchellgolf.com/shop/repair-tools/tourgauge-swing-weight-scale-tgsws/
• Shaft Frequency – https://www.mitchellgolf.com/shop/re-shafting/digiflex-2-0-frequency-meter-w-portable-base-plate/
• Loft and Lie with varies Mitchell Golf Angle Machines – https://www.mitchellgolf.com/product-category/loft-lie/

“We had a great turnout, and we had a lot of fun while learning,” explained Patrick.  “We were able to spec out one of the PGA professionals set of clubs after I went through how to use the equipment properly.  It was a great hands-on experience for everyone.”

Lessons learned.

Everyone did a great job checking the specs of the set.  They were able to find some clubs that were not consistent with the rest of the set.  The lie angles of the irons were originally 2 degrees flat of the manufacturer’s standard.  They were surprised to find that the 8 iron was 4 degrees upright, a 6-degree variance!  Patrick wanted to show the PGA professionals attending the seminar what the lie angle variance would do to the ball flight, so they headed to the Mitchell Golf simulator.  The PGA Professional whose club has this large variance had the opportunity to hit shots with both his 7 (to spec) and his incorrect 8 iron in the Mitchell Golf simulator.  The difference in ball flight was very evident! He was consistently hitting his 7 iron straight with a slight draw and was hitting pull hooks with the 8 iron.  They were then able to take the 8 iron to the Mitchell Golf Angle Machine and make the correct adjustment to the club.  After going back to the launch monitor with the correct specs, the PGA professional was now hitting the 8 iron as good as the 7 iron.

When and how often should you check your specs?

The previous example shows the importance of check your club’s specs, but this raises the question of how often should you do it?  According to Patrick, there really isn’t a black and white answer, but he does offer some valuable recommendations:

• Spring in the northern part of the country is a great time, especially if the golfer has used a mat during the winter season.
• The southern part of the country often experiences firmer playing conditions, depending on how much the golfer is practicing and playing you may want to spec them as often as bi-weekly
• After a lesson or series of lessons – if your instructor has implemented swing changes, chances are your equipment also needs to be assessed to make sure the face attitude is correct at impact.
• Putters – Very often!

Following up on the success of this first seminar, Patrick plans to host another one-day workshop in the fall at the Mitchell Golf Performance Studio that will focus on ball flight, equipment, and what happens to the clubface position when altering a swing during a lesson. For more information on either this upcoming class or our monthly 4-day workshops, please email Patrick at patrick@mitchellgolf.com. You can also get the latest Mitchell Golf news by following us on Facebook.