The Terrible Twos Syndrome of Golf Club Fitting: Part Nine

There is a point I want to make through stating just one of a multitude of details (I will reveal much more later) about Moment of Insanity (MOI) golf club matching.  Even if you are familiar with some of my other work that exposes the golf club specification of swingweight as being somewhat obsolete in its present form and you are perhaps aware that your fulcrum point position might operationally be in a different location than that of standard swingweighting, you are still likely to learn far more from the elementary (and more advanced) testing that follows through the application of the infinitely basic concept of golf club swingweighting just as it exists now rather than something like the irrational concept of MOI club matching about the butt ends of clubs.  This should in essence be the case even if the MOI value(s) (if applied instead) of test clubs used are deemed to be perfectly fit to a golfer whereas the swingweight value(s) are not.  This is because those that sanction the use of Moment of Insanity golf club matching commonly possess an inadequate understanding of athletic performance qualifications overall and golf swing and clubfitting performance more specifically.  And this results in passing on unsound information when explaining various golfing topics through their personal perspective(s).

Especially enlightening is how utterly out of touch the golf industry at large is concerning the lack of correct correlations between golf and other very common activities regarding similarities versus differences and easiness versus difficulty, making the golf clubfitting trade as one example look quite ignorant overall.  Another sad reincarnation of MOI golf club matching starting about a decade ago (a form of the specification was actually used before swingweighting was even invented) is just one of many issues that proves the continuing lack of comprehension I write of.  There is absolutely no place for such an inappropriate and amateurish golf club specification in a professional clubfitting process, and using Moment of Insanity golf club matching will preclude the proper understanding (and feasibly the development) of both effective golf swing and clubfitting performance.

For the remainder of this testing sequence unless otherwise noted, swingweighting should be considered the best golf club matching specification developed to date, widely proven for about eighty years now.  Swingweight should also be assumed to be an adequate fit for any given golfer unless otherwise discussed.  Perhaps you will be comforted to know that standard swingweighting works extremely well for me (even if still not complete perfection) and that I know how to apply it effectively.  Accordingly, the results of the following testing can be considered dependably correct.  Furthermore, the relationships that will be learned within this post sequence can be considered universal in nature in that such relationships would apply in the same manner even if a golf club balance point location exists for a golfer but ultimately needs to be changed to a different location.

Now having articulated these points, let me add some additional insight with respect to golf club matching methods in general.  Consider for a moment dealing with just a single golf club (such as a driver) or a group of clubs such as the test clubs being set up in the manner set forth in this post sequence, where all of the clubs will have the same shaft, length, and share other identical characteristics as well.  For idealized purposes in this one instance only, consider minor grip size/weight differences that will be applied on these test clubs to be non-existent.  In these cases, any golf club matching concept used will basically amount to a different means of accomplishing the same thing, which is to measure and determine the clubhead weight(s) of the single club or group of identical clubs.  There are no other applicable benefits (or drawbacks) of any golf club matching concept over any other matching concept one might choose under such circumstances.  Accordingly, it is not necessary to be familiar with the details of any specific golf club matching methods such as swingweighting at the outset of this testing.  This can actually work to one’s advantage, as to this day most (even so-called professional clubfitters) have been taught wrong and remain clueless about what swingweighting truly is, and it will presumably be more difficult for them to now relearn it correctly.

The concept of golf club matching does not really come into play until starting to deal with components and/or club specifications that vary among different golf clubs within a golfer’s totality of playing clubs, such as differences in individual golf club lengths, total weights, shaft flexes, and more.  And the more expansive these changes are, the more the golf club matching concept that is chosen really takes front and center stage regarding its potential (universal) effectiveness (or deterrent) toward helping the golfer play his or her best golf.  To that end, and since the primary test clubs in this post title sequence will be identical in most every way, little if any difference in test results might be noted between using swingweighting or MOI club matching for the most elementary testing performed.  But make no mistake should you be foolish enough to start this journey using MOI, for you will then learn the hard way as I progress why MOI golf club matching should be better known as Moment of Insanity through either golf swing or clubfitting analysis.

Based on swingweight balance readings and common men’s golf club preferences, the test clubs being constructed here should all begin at an approximate swingweight value of C5 (with golf grips installed).  Based on general accumulated data throughout the history of swingweighting, women’s test clubs should begin at least five points lighter (C0) and perhaps even somewhat lighter than that.  There are a few different options for predicting (approximately) what golf clubs’ gripped swingweight values will be before any grips are actually installed.  One way is through plain old experience.  In this case, the grip design used for testing will include a weight of about fifty grams, and history has shown that for clubs with the shaft that is being used and at the anticipated lengths and total weights the test clubs will be at, the swingweights of the test clubs will be reduced by approximately nine swingweight points (give or take a point or so) after being gripped relative to their ungripped (bare-shaft) swingweight values.  If deciding to simply apply this figure, then the swingweights of the test clubs in their ungripped states should be in the neighborhood of no more than D4 for men’s clubs and C9 or even less for women’s clubs.