club fitting terminology

Understand what we are talking about

During a fitting we often discuss various aspects of the design or performance of the shafts or heads used during the fitting. Some or all of these terms can be included in your detailed specification.

We encourage our customers to ask questions and we will endeavour to answer any questions you may have.

Trackman Launch Monitor

At Cool Clubs we only use Trackman launch monitors setup to give the most accurate recording of all the club and ball flight parameters. This information is augmented with real ball flight observation as we are on a range rather than indoors where most numbers are calculated and ball flight is unknown.

golf club Loft

Loft is the angle of the club face in relation to the shaft. The loft of your club determines how high you will hit the ball – the higher the loft of the club the higher the ball flight.

golf club Lie

The angle created by the shaft and sole of the golf club. Basically, how the club sits on the ground. It is determined by swing plane not the golfers height or arm length.

The best lie angle for you is one that allows the club to impact squarely on its sole when you strike the ball.

Proper lie angle will help you keep the club face square at impact and produce more accurate golf shots.

Shaft Flex or shaft Stiffness

This is a rating of a golf club shaft’s ability to bend during the golf swing.

All shafts, no matter how stiff, exhibit flex under the forces of the golf swing. Flex is generally rated as – extra stiff, stiff, regular, senior and ladies.

Cool Clubs uses a much finer measure of flex called Frequency which measures the Cycles Per Minute (CPM).

shaft Frequency

A precise method of measuring shaft flex. Cool Clubs determines frequency based on the length of the club and the units of frequency measurement known as Cycles Per Minute (CPM).

A shaft with a higher frequency (more CPMs) is stiffer than one with a lower frequency (fewer CPMs). A shaft with a frequency of 8.0 is very stiff and a shaft with 1.0 frequency is very soft.

Golf Club Swing weight

This applies to how the club feels during a swing. Swing-weight represents the weight distribution between the head and grip of the golf club. Length of the club, head weight, grip weight and graphite versus steel shaft are determinants of swing-weight.

Shaft Kick Point or Bend

This is the point along a shaft’s length at which it exhibits the greatest amount of bend when the tip is pulled down. The ball flight is affected by the location of the kick-point.

Lower kick-points result in higher ball flight while higher kick-points result in lower more boring ball flights

Club Head Speed

The speed that the club head exhibits at impact of the ball. The faster the club head speed the longer the shot.

Golf Ball Spin Rate

This is measured in revolutions per minute (RPM), it is how many times the ball rotates in a given time and directly affects ball flight. Spin generates lift, thus a shot’s spin rate directly influences how high the ball flies and how quickly it stops after landing.

Golf Ball Speed

This is measured in kilometres per hour – it is how fast the ball is going after it has been struck. Faster ball speed leads to greater distance.

club head Bounce

Bounce is measured in degrees. It is the angel from the front edge of a club’s sole to the point that actually rests on the ground at address.

Bounce is basically how easily the golf club digs or cuts into the ground. The lower the bounce, the more knife-like a wedge is. The higher the bounce of a wedge the more it will resist digging and be more apt to actually bounce off the ground.

golf ball Launch Angle

Launch angle is the initial elevation angle of the ball (in relation to the ground) immediately after impact with the club head.

SST Pure®

SST PURE® is a patented process of shaft alignment that analyzes a golf shaft to find its most stable orientation. Using proprietary patent-pending computer software and sensitive data-acquisition sensors, the SST PURE Shaft Alignment System quickly locates the “neutral” plane in each shaft.

By assembling the club with the shaft in this SST PUREd position, off-line twisting and bending during the golf swing and at impact are greatly minimized. SST PURE locates the most stable plane of orientation in any shaft; graphite or steel.

Independent testing on players of all skill levels has established up to a 51% improvement on repeatability of centre club face impact opposed to randomly installed shafts.

golf Club Length

There is no direct correlation between height of player and shaft length.

Shaft length should be based on how you naturally strike the middle of the club the most consistently (whilst not drastically diminishing club speed). This happens in golf posture, with your body under load meaning a simple height or wrist to floor measure will not suffice.

The knock on effects of a shortening a shaft (in stiffness and weight) need to be controlled to make sure the club is still in balance.

As "standard" is almost a dead term (because everyone does something different). No one can give you an answer on what is the right shaft length for you without testing.

Testing and then having the club built and balanced is the only way to get the best all round result.

Smash Factor

Ball speed divided by club speed. An efficiency rating of how much energy you are transferring from your swing into the golf ball.

The higher the ball speed the further it can travel.

Lots of parameters effect this measurement, such as strike position on the face, loft of the club, direction the club moves in (club path and angle of attack) and how hot the face of your club is.

The legal limit for a driver is 1.52

golf club Gear Effect

Gear effect is the force applied to a ball when it is hit off centre. The effect imparts a a draw or hook on the ball when hit towards the toe and a fade or slice when hit towards the heel.

Gear effect is the reason all drivers, fairways and hybrids are built with a curvature across the face is to minimise the gear effect on the flight of the ball.

A very important term for most golfers. Relating to where the ball is struck on the face of the club and how the ball and club face interact with each other. This interaction has an effect on spin rate, smash factor and launch directions both vertical and horizontal.

Having a good knowledge of trackman numbers will allow you to calculate where in the face the ball has been struck without using impact tape. The best golfers in the world will strike the ball in line with the centre of gravity of the club more often than not allowing them to transfer maximum energy and shape the ball with more precision.

Golf Club Path

Club path is a measure (right or left) of the path of the club relative to the target. For a right hander negative number denotes a right to left (Out to In) and a positive number denotes a left to right (In to Out) path.

This measurement has a correlation to angle of attack.  A minus number is left and a positive number is right. The most efficient way to hit straight golf shots is to get this number close to zero and control the face of the golf club with a centred strike.

There is no right or wrong club path it just depends on the shot shape you want to produce.

Putter Path Rotation

Measured in 1 degree increments the amount of rotation the centre line of the putter has through the stroke, the measure can be taken at any point through the distance of your stroke.

Face rotation
Measured in 1degree increments the amount the face opens and closes throughout the stroke and can be measured in real time at any point during the stroke.

Static, address & dynamic loft measurements
Using our digital loft and lie machine we accurately determine the loft you putter has statically. One we record your stroke on our proprietary 1000fps, 8 camera Cool Clubs putting studio, we can measure the loft you apply to the putter at address and dynamically through impact. This measurement is accurate to 1 degree and we can make it relevant to the surfaces you find yourself putting on the most.

Eye Dominance

This has a direct effect on your ability to aim your putter face at address. Possibly the most important aspect of putting. If you can aim your putter where you intend you have a much greater chance of starting your ball on that line.

This is measured at the start of each putter fitting and can have dramatic results on your putting almost immediately once given a putter style that suits your personal dominance.

golf ball Land Angle

An important measurement to allow for long drives and accurate irons shots.

Angles can vary dependent on where you play your golf, the shots you like to play and the conditions you play in. There numbers can be optimized during a fitting by adjusting the equipment you are using.

It is the angle measured from the angle the ball is landing at relative to the carry point on flat ground.

Golf Ball Angle of Attack

If the centre of gravity of the golf club is descending or ascending through impact relative to the horizon.

A positive number means you caught the golf ball on the “upswing” a minus number means you caught the ball on the “downswing”. This can have a huge impact on how effectively you can control your ball flight with woods and irons.