Equipment Check

Over the weekend, snow fell for the first time this winter, but yesterday was sunny and in the low 50s, so of course I hit the range. I tried the baseball grip again, but I think it only works when it’s in the 30s and my fingers are kind of numb. I went back to my usual overlapping grip, starting my 6 iron and working up. On driver, I aimed at the 168-yard target flag on a mound in the distance, and came up just short, at around 160 to 165. Not bad. For me, anyway.

I also ran into Seri (not her real name), one of the Korean women I met a few weeks ago at the range. She is more petite than me, but drives the ball just as far. After she watched my swing, she said, “Good. But you swing slow, like a ballerina.” I told her I make an effort to swing slow on the takeaway. And my swing speed is about 70 mph, according to the monitor at the golf store. Pretty average for amateur women.

“70!” she said, surprised. “Mine is 110!”

“Really!” I said. “Most pro golfers swing only about 100 mph.”

Seri put her hand over her mouth and giggled. “Oh, maybe it’s kilometers.”

I laughed. “Then we’re about the same swing speed after all.”

As I watched her swing, she explained how she keeps all her weight on the left foot throughout the swing so her spine and head can remain straight without moving to the right.

“So you use the stack and tilt method,” I said.  

“Actually,” she said. “I didn’t know it had a name when I started using this kind of swing.”

She showed me in detail how to do it, and I tried it with my driver. The ball flew low and to the left. It felt weird.

“Hmmm, not sure this would be good for my back,” I said.

We went on to discuss equipment. I play with Ping G2s, and Seri wanted to try some of my clubs. In turn, I looked into her bag and saw a variety of pastel-colored shafts and white vinyl clubhead covers with embroidered flowers on them. She said her clubs were imported from Japan. They were made to fit Asian women, with small grips and feather-light shafts. She said they cost $4000. The driver alone cost a grand.

I always wondered if better equipment really translated to better results. I tried her driver, which was about an inch longer than mine and had a 420cc head (mine is only 400cc). It definitely felt easier to swing, but I couldn’t tell if I got much more distance out of it. Definitely not a thousand dollars’ worth of more distance.

Truth be told, if I really wanted a piece of equipment that would shoot the ball far and hit all my targets, it would probably look more like a shotgun than a golf club. But that wouldn’t be any fun, now would it?