By Ricardo de Miguel (Head Pro)

Every player has a different constitution, height, weight, flexibility, rhythm, hand size, etc., so their golf clubs need to be just right for them. It’s what is known as fitted or tailor-made clubs.
There are several important points I can advise you on to make sure that your clubs suit your characteristics:

– Lie
– Loft
– Shaft flexibility
– Grip

The lie varies according to the player’s height and posture.

When the club hits the floor with the heel first on striking the ball, the ball’s flight-path will be to the left (too upright). If on the other hand the first thing that touches the ground is the tip of the club, the ball’s flight-path will be to the right (too flat), so it is very important that all or at least the centre of the club’s head should graze the turf at the moment of impact.

To summarise, the lie directly affects the accuracy of your shot on leaving the club.
To check the lie of your club, place a small piece of insulating tape on the base of the club and hit several balls on a hard rubber mat to see if part of the base grazes the floor and to check if your club is too upright, flat or correct.
The loft is directly related to the height of the ball.

There should be a difference of four degrees between each club in your set of irons, which in practice reflects a difference of between eight and ten metres in height.
When searching for a clear drive, all of us would like a long straight shot (including me) and we need to know what the ideal trajectory is. If it is too high or too low, the ball will fall short.

There are two kinds of spin that always affect the ball whilst it is in flight: backspin and sidespin.
The lower the angle of your club, the more likely it is that your ball will veer off to the side. Over the years the angle of irons has been reduced to increase range, but this led to a problem with wedges. The difference in the angle between a pw and a sw was too great, so another club had to be added to our golf bag: the fairway wedge, with an angle of between 52 and 53 degrees.

Golf course maintenance has also changed and now there are different cutting heights 17 and differences in the length of the grass on green surrounds. Depending on the course and, of course, the player, we now have the option of choosing a new club: the lob wedge that tends to vary between 60 and 64 degrees. The range of choice is very wide but, as everyone knows, only 14 clubs can be carried in a golf bag. Choices therefore have to be made according to our requirements.

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