Classic Matches: Auric Goldfinger vs. James Bond

Not exactly a lesson in fair play, but still a classic scene:

To celebrate the Ian Fleming Centenary in 2008, Penfold Golf brought back the golf ball played by 007 in his match against arch enemy, Auric Goldfinger.

Strange Backswings

Much has been written about the backswing; it’s a topic that instructors love to talk about. You don’t hit the ball on the backswing, and there are many touring pro’s who hit the ball very good with a non-standard backswing. An instructor that teaches static positions will explain this by saying something along the lines of: “This player is so talented that he can make split second adjustments so he will still come through the ball in a proper manner despite his awkward backswing..”.

I disagree with this. Teaching someone the proper positions is no guarantee for proper movements. In my opinion the backswing is merely a move that allows you and your club to find the right ‘slot’, from which you can swing the club through the ball in a dynamic and efficient motion.

Here is an example: Lee Trevino; one of the greatest ball strikers of all time. He uses a figure of 8 model:

Of course there are things you should and shouldn’t do but a basic truth is this: Eliminate any unnecessary movement; remove as many variables as you can and you’ll be left with a simpler, more efficient motion. A simpler move is also easier to repeat and you have less stuff to think about. If looping the club outside on the backswing makes it easier for you to come from the inside on the downswing then it’s a perfectly valid move. You just need to make sure that you can repeat it.

Jim Furyk is a good example of a very successful player with a very strange swing. Notice the 'helicopter move' at the top of the swing.

And here's a compilation of strangely effective swings:

Enjoy!

Restoring Irons

Here are the links to my posts about restoring vintage irons:

Part 1 - Materials and tools

Part 2 - Shaft Removal

Part 3 - Shaft Preparation

Part 4 - Head Preparation

Part 5 - Ferrules

Part 6 - Assembly

Part 7 - Grip Installation

Part 8 – Lie Adjustments

Enjoy!

Geoff Mangum’s work with Jin Jeong

Amateur player Jin Jeong has finished T14th at this year’s Open Championship at St. Andrews. The strongest part of his game is his putting he says; if you don’t believe him just watch this video:

He ended his last round at St.Andrews by holing a long eagle putt.
His success with the flat stick is a direct result his work with puttingzone founder Geoff Mangum. Mangum has a lot of free content for you to check out. If you like his approach you can buy his ebook together with 2.5 GB of content with instruction in various formats for less than 20 USD. I intend to buy this and will do a review in the future.

Here is an interview with Jin Jeong:

iseekgolf.com: Jin Jeong - Making his Mark from iseekgolf on Vimeo.

Restoring Irons – 7: Grip Installation

As stated before I decided to put Griptec EZ-grips on my clubs. Since these aren't standard grips, I will also add links with information on installing other kinds of grips.

EZ-Grips

Some grips are easier to install than others. For this project I chose Griptec EZgrips because they are cheap and very easy to install. The look and feel is similar to Golf Pride Tour Wraps. To install them all you need to do is open the package and slide the grip on the shaft! In the beginning they will be much too wide for the shaft but within 24 hours the grips will shrink to fit. It beats me how it works exactly, all I know is that it’s some sort of chemical treatment and that it works great. The grips will feel very soft at first but after a few days they will firm up and feel like Tour Wraps. Tip: Remember to line up the text on the butt square to the clubface so they will look the same throughout the set.

Normal grips

To install grips you need to:

1. Measure the grip length.
   
2. Wind double-sided tape around the shaft and peel off the backing.
   
3. Place the grip in a vice so you can work with your hands free.
   
4. Cover the vent hole with a finger and pour grip solvent (or petrol) in the grip.
   
5. Cover the top, shake and then pour the solvent over the double-sided tape.
   
6. Install the grip as fast as you can (before tape gets sticky again.)
   
7. Straighten the grip and squeeze it a few times.
   
8. Set the club away to dry.

Here you can download some vids that show the entire process in detail. Courtesy of Golfsmith.com: Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Step 4

Next up: Adjusting the lie angles. Enjoy!

Restoring Irons – 6: Assembly

Now that all preparation is complete we are ready to glue the shafts and the heads together.

Assumptions

• You have shafts with abraded tips.
• The ferrules are installed in the correct position.
• The heads are bored out to fit the shafts.

Preparation

First of all you should reserve a space where the clubs can be set upright (e.g. against a wall) to let the epoxy cure. Put some newspapers on the floor in case of epoxy spilling. After that, I suggest you prepare a workbench where you'll have all shafts and heads available, and sorted. You don't want to have to search for a certain shaft while you are applying the epoxy.Make sure that the shafts and the heads are clean and free of dust.As a surface to mix the epoxy on you can use a piece of plastic or alternatively just tape some pieces of duct tape (or masking tape) to the workbench.You also need a small stick with which you will apply the epoxy, and some tissues or cloth to wipe off excess epoxy from the club after installation. I like to put some tape on the hosels so the epoxy can’t ooze out of the pin holes. You can see this in the last picture.

Left: Epoxy hardener and resin.  Mid: The 2 parts before mixing.          Right: The parts mixed together.

Assembly

First we will be mixing the epoxy. Pour two equal parts onto the surface. Try not to use too much; you'll be surprised how little you need for a single club. Then mix the two parts with the stick until it's one solid color. Let the epoxy sit for a couple of minutes before applying it; this makes for a stronger bond later on.

1. Starting with the longest club, take the head and use the stick to cover the inside of the hosel with epoxy.
   
2. Take the shaft and cover the abraded portion of the tip with epoxy.
   
3. Gently work the shaft into the hosel using a rotating motion.
   
4. Remove any excess epoxy coming out of the hosel with the cloth/tissues.
   
5. With the head in your hand, tap the butt end of the shaft against the floor to make sure that the shaft is inserted all the way down.
   
6. Finally, in case the shafts are spine marked, rotate the shaft so that the spine is set at three o'clock. (At least make sure that the spine is in the same position for all the clubs.)
   
7. Set the club aside with the head on the floor and the shaft upright so the epoxy can cure.
   

The next installment is about grips.

Restoring Irons – 5: Ferrules

Assumptions

I'm assuming you won't be reusing the old ferrules. Most of the times they are damaged and new ones are very cheap. The best thing to do is to replace them with new ones. If you are rebuilding vintage clubs you can buy great looking replica's of various well known models.

Ferrules (taken from eBay listing)

 

Preparation

Before sliding the ferrules up the shafts you must fit them to the width of the hosel. The ferrules are usually made too wide in order to accommodate the varying widths of the different hosels. The ‘professional’ way is to use a ‘buffing’ wheel, but since my French isn’t that good I like to just cut away the part that is too wide with a razor knife. If necessary I’ll grind it straight (by hand).
Alternatively you could just skip the cutting and grind it all the way. I'd advise against using a motorized sander for this as the generated heat could melt the ferrule. Just hold down a piece of sanding paper and move the ferrule back and forth by hand .

 

Installation

Now that you are ready to slide the ferrules up the shafts you should decide on using epoxy or not. From my experience the ferrules will stay in place without epoxy so you should only use it if they slide up the shafts too easily.
First start by measuring how far the ferrule should go up the shaft. You can do this by measuring hosel depth and adding this to ferrule length. Put some tape on the shaft at the calculated position so you know exactly how far to push the ferrule. This is important, because if you push it too far up the shaft it's very difficult to push it back down without damaging the ferrule... Then you’ll be left with an ugly gap between hosel and ferrule.
Push the ferrule up the tip of the shaft by hand until this starts to become difficult. Because we are not using epoxy, we need to get creative. Take a marker and color the part of the shaft between the ferrule and the tape. The ink serves as a kind of lubricant which allows the ferrules to slide up the shaft a little easier.

You can use a block of wood with a hole in it or a metal plate (above) to hammer the ferrules in place.

There are a couple of ways to hammer the ferrule the rest of the way; see the pictures for some examples. The proper way to do it is probably to drill a hole in a block of wood and hammer the ferrules down using the block to protect the ferrule from damaging.
If you want to make absolutely sure that there won't be a gap between the head and the ferrule, you should probably not hammer the ferrule all the way. You should instead place the butt end of the shaft on the floor, slide the head over the tip and hammer the ferrule in position using the weight and momentum of the head. This is a good way to ensure a tight fit between hosel and ferrule.
In the next post I’ll show you how to join the head to the shaft.

Restoring Irons – 4: Head preparation

Assumptions

You have sufficiently abraded the shaft tips.

Cleaning

You should clean the inside of the hosel with sanding paper. Wrap a piece of paper around a screwdriver or something else that fits easily into the hosel and make both back and forth and rotary movements. You want to do this to get rid of any epoxy residue before trying to fit the shaft. Take a good look inside the hosel to see if there are any irregularities that may prevent the shaft from sliding in. Blow out any remaining dust and gently try to insert the new shaft into the hosel. Depending on how far you can push or screw the shaft in you may want to try to use a bit more force to see if that helps. The fit is meant to be very tight so don't expect it to slide in without any effort! In case you trimmed the tip you probably won't be able to push the shaft all the way down.

Note

Should the shaft get stuck in the hosel during fitting then you can get it loose by securing the head in a vice and turn it loose. If you can't get a grip on the shafts with bare hands, try putting on plastic gloves (the ones you used to do the dishes with...) and give it another go.

Boring out the hosel

If you feel the shaft is not going to fit, not even by applying a moderate amount of force, you know it's time to bore out the hosel. There are a couple of ways to do this:

• Use a reamer. This is probably the safest option but since we are only taking away a small amount of steel it may be overkill.
  
• Use sanding paper, spiraled around a drill bit. There are specialized drill bits available for this purpose but a normal bit may work as well.
  
• Use a metal drill bit that is the exact diameter of the wanted size. The danger with this approach is that you can drill out too much if your aim is slightly off. If you go this route you should definitely use a drill press and some sort of vice to hold the head in place.
  
• It's probably safer to start out with a slightly smaller drill bit to see if you can get there by hand drilling using an up and down motion while turning the head by hand. This worked for me.

In the end you'll probably end up using a combination of sanding paper and hand drilling. Remember to recheck the fit after each turn.

In the next installment we'll be discussing ferrules.

From Field Hockey to Golf

Over at the Advanced Ball Striking forum there is this great topic, started by bomgolf222. It has all kinds of pictures from other sports that have similar movements (or positions) to golf. It’s also about how, in order to find the most efficient motion possible, we should learn what we can from other sports.

The golf swing is generally thought of as a very unnatural motion but I think that looking at the similarities in different sports can aid our understanding significantly.

Here are a few examples:


   

Hockey

I had been playing field hockey as a kid before taking up golf recently. Field hockey is the 10th most popular sport where I live and obviously there are many players that make the transition to golf later on in life.

If a former hockey player starts taking lessons from a local teaching pro, the pro will typically shake his head in disbelief when he sees the player hit a ball. You can almost hear him thinking: ‘Oh no, another hockey player! It’s going to take lots of lessons to turn this hitter into a swinger…’ The average pro sees the hit as something bad, probably because they themselves have been taught a pure swinging protocol.

Consider the two pictures below; the golfer being Ben Hogan and the Hockeyer is Theun de Nooijer. They are both considered to be the best players of their generations and as you can see there are lots of similarities in their movements. Hogan is a classic hitter with a very flat, pivot driven swing. Hockeyers typically swing very flat as well.



I think it would be far better for the player to embrace his hitting instincts and use them to his advantage. Hogan has clearly shown us that a hit with the hands (not arms) that is properly supported by the body can be a very effective move through the ball.

It's a shame that pro’s don’t recognize this because they could be having much better results with these players.

Restoring Irons – 3: Shaft Preparation

Shaft Trimming

There are several ways to cut shafts but the cheap and easy way is this: Go to your local hardware store and get yourself a pipe cutter. It won’t cost more than 10 bucks and will last a lifetime. This device has a sharp wheel and adjustable jaw grips for use on pipes varying in thickness. You rotate it around the shaft and repeatedly tighten it until it cuts all of the way through. Faster and easier than a hacksaw and it also produces a cleaner cut.
WARNING: Overdoing the tightening will damage both the wheel and your shaft (longitudinal cracking may occur!) so take your time, be patient and make plenty of rotations around the shaft.

Once the shaft is cut, file away any rough or sharp edges. Especially at the butt end because if you don’t you may end up with damage to your grips (and hands) later on.
Now that you know how to cut the shaft, you need to decide what side(s) you need to cut from, and how much to take off. Butt trimming on taper tip shafts is done to achieve the proper playing length and tip trimming is done to increase stiffness. (The shorter the tip, the stiffer). (note: Parallel tip shafts all have one raw length and are tip trimmed (for playing length), so more trimming is needed as playing lengths become shorter.)
Should you decide to tip trim your shafts, take note that the hosel will need to be rebored. Usually hosels that are meant to receive taper tip shafts are tailor-made to fit uncut shafts as they are thinner due to the tapering… Another way to achieve stiffer flex is hard stepping. Hard stepping is putting a 3 iron shaft in a 2 iron head. (note: Soft stepping is the opposite).

Taper tip shafts with a 1” tip trimmed 7 iron shaft. Note the tip length increasing as the clubs get longer.

 

Abrading

The shiny layer on the chrome finish on the shafts needs to be removed a bit to allow for the epoxy to ‘take’. The fastest way of doing this is by using a belt sander. The alternative is sanding by hand but that takes a lot more time and effort. Measure the depth of the hosel for the shaft you are sanding and mark the the shaft with tape so you know how far up the tip you need to sand. The trick is to slowly and evenly rotate the shaft with your hand as you are sanding. If you don’t do this you might shave off too much on one side which could weaken the shaft. Sand until the shiny layer is gone and you’re left with a rough surface.
 
Next up: Preparing the Heads

Restoring Irons – 2: Shaft Removal

Shaft removal is not a difficult process if you know what to do. 
For instance, most of the older Hogan heads are secured with both epoxy and shaft pins. You can clearly see these pin-holes in the pics below. If the heads have pins, you must get rid of those before you start breaking the epoxy bond. 

 

Pin Removal

To remove the pins, first have a look at the width of the pins on both sides of the hosel. If they don't look exactly similar in width, you probably have a set with one way pins. This means they can only be punched out from the thinner end. Make sure that you hold the punch securely so as not to scratch the chrome near the pin hole during punching. 
Some pins can be a real pain to punch out and may have to be drilled out. The other option is to cut off the shafts half an inch above the hosel and take a screwdriver and hammer the screwdriver down the hosel to break the pin. Once the pin is broken in two, it's usually easier to punch the remains out.
 
Punching out a (one way) shaft pin.

Shaft Removal

Put the shaft in the clamp and put the shaft clamp in a vice. Now take a blow torch and heat the hosel for a couple of minutes. Put on an oven mitt or a heat resistant glove and twist of the head. If it will not come loose, just go ahead and heat up the head some more. Tip: When you start hearing a hissing sound you know the epoxy bond is breaking. You should now have the head and shaft separated.
Put the head in a heat resistant and dust free place so it can cool down.
Put the shaft tip-down against a wall with the tip resting on a piece of newspaper. If there is any epoxy left in the shaft it will have a chance to drip on to the newspaper.

Heating the hosel until the epoxy bond breaks and then the head can be twisted of by hand. (Don’t forget to wear an oven mitt!!)

EDIT: There is a different way of doing this in case heat doesn't help, go here to read all about it.
Next up: Shaft Preparation

Restoring Irons – 1: Materials and Tools

Introduction

This is part one in a series of post in which I will show you how to (re)build a set of irons to your personal specs:
I'll try to describe as best as I can all the steps involved in putting together a set of clubs that are set up just the way you want them.
For about 50% of what you'd normally spend on a new set of 'quality' clubs you can be gaming the set of your dreams! That is including all the tools you'll need along the way.

 

Old Clubs

First thing to do is to find a set of clubs you will be restoring. If possible, try to find a set that has shafts with the same flex you will be putting in later. This is important because of potential differences in weight (and weight distribution) in the heads. If you don't do this you might just end up with swing weight or trajectory problems when you put in the new shafts.

You can find great deals on eBay. With most of the older Hogan sets you simply can't go wrong. The forgings are among the best. Most of the Wilson and MacGregor heads are great as well. I got this set of 1965 Hogan PC5's (2-9 iron) for 25 USD! Shipping and customs costs may add to the expenses but all in all still a great deal for a quality set of blades. 
This set is in average condition, showing some wear and minor rust spots. Still very playable and they still have at least a couple of years of play left in them. 
Of course, if I really like the heads I can have them rechromed by the ironfactory and still come out cheaper than what you would have paid for a new set of blades. 
In case you have bought an incomplete set and wish to complete it ironfinder have very reliable service, fast shipping and lots of choice.

 

- Important -

Make sure you buy a set that fits .355 taper tip shafts. I think the best shafts are taper tipped shafts, but should you want to put in parallel tip shafts you at least have the option of boring out the hosel to fit the wider tip. NEVER buy a set that has aluminium shafts because these clubs typically have light-weight head to compensate for the light-weight shaft. Also, the hosel size (inside diameter) will be bigger due to the wider tip size of the aluminium shafts. 

 

New Shafts

There is so much to say about shafts and shaft technology but that's something for another series of articles.
I'll be mentioning steel shafts only since these are widely regarded as being the shafts that provide the most precise feedback and consistency in irons.
Of course there's shaft flex to consider and shaft type is probably just as important.
In general there are two kinds of shafts: .370 parallel tip shafts and .355 taper tip shafts. The smaller tapered tips are stiffer in the tips and less susceptible to torque or play due to the smaller diameter. This is turn improves shot dispersion and birdie frequency. :)
Something else to take into consideration is shaft weight. For the TrueTemper Dynamic Gold Iron shafts nowadays you can choose between four weight classes (100, 200, 300, 400) e.g. DGIS300 means 'Dynamic Gold Iron Stiff-flex 300', in which 300 is heavier than 200.

DGIX 2-iron shaft above and below that the 3-4-5-6-iron DGIXL shafts which have longer butt ends.

 

Grips

When it comes to grips you have a few options: 

• Rubber/Synthetic grips (Slip-on)
  Most grips these days fall into this category.
  
• Rubber/Synthetic/Compound grips with Cord inlaid (Slip-on)
  These grips usually have a firmer feel to them. Some players like the direct connection to the club.
  
• Leather grips (Wrap-on)
  Leather grips are rare these days and usually quite expensive. John Daly and Retief Goosen are examples of modern day players that use leather. Leather feels very nice and soft but gets very tacky in the rain, providing grip whereas some other grips have a tendency to get slippery when wet.

Grip choice really is a matter of personal preference, availability and price. Some grips are easier to install than others so doing your homework can save you lots of time. For this project I chose Griptec EZgrips because they are cheap and very easy to install. The look and feel is similar to Golf Pride Tour Wraps.

 

Tools

The next part will be about shaft removal.

Extensor Action

What is it?
Extensor action is a preferred way of achieving a straight left arm in the golfswing.

Why would you want to have a straight left arm in the first place?
For starters it provides some consistency because the distance between left shoulder socket and hand stays the same this way.

Why can't you just use the muscles of your left arm to straighten it?
You could do this, but doing it this way builds up a lot of tension in the arm (and potentially the shoulder and back). This tension hinders the ability to freely move, turn or hinge your forearm and wrist.

What does it do exactly:
Extensor action pulls the left thumb away from the left shoulder socket.

How do you apply extensor action?
Grip a club with your left hand. Your left thumb should be riding on top of the shaft, somewhere between 12 or 1 o'clock. Now add the right hand. The lifeline of the right palm should now be covering the left thumb.
Apply pressure (push) to the #1 pressure point (the area where the back of the right thumb starts) with the right palm/heel. You can do this by actively straightening the right arm at the elbow joint throughout the swing.

Ben Hogan Clips - Part 1

The best way to kick off the blog is probably to show a few clips of the late, great Ben Hogan. 

For once, let's not talk about his alleged 'secret' but just watch and learn:

This is a clip in which he is hitting balls in front of a small crowd.

Ben Hogan Swing 1953

In this shorter one you can clearly see the ball take off 'under the radar'.

Fairway wood swing

Another clip, I really like that you can see him hit from 2 sides here.

Hogan on the grid

Enjoy!