Not to bemoan the subject, but I’ve been in somewhat of a slump lately, and that provided the inspiration for this week’s post.

My slump is a peculiar one, in that I’m driving the ball as well as ever, hitting lots of fairways and getting my fair share of distance. But my iron play – usually a strength of my game – has gone sour. So bad, that one of my regular playing buddies offered his suggestion that maybe it was time to ditch my old Ben Hogan FT. Worth 15 blades for a more forgiving set of irons.

I didn’t choose to get into this explanation with him, but thought it was well worth some time invested in this week’s post. If you are thinking about purchasing any new clubs – whether driver, fairways, hybrids, irons or wedges (I’ll leave putters for a separate conversation) – I believe you should start the process by accurately and honestly defining exactly what it is that you are seeking to “fix” with this new purchase.

I see some golf club advertising in the wedge category, for example, that claims this certain product can lead to “no more chunks or skulls.” The fact is . . . that is impossible. With the possible exception of the putter category, the mere changing of a golf club head design has absolutely ZERO effect on the quality of impact with the ball.

All golf clubhead technology for the past 60-plus years has been focused on two essential goals – to make the ball leave the club faster and/or higher, and to mitigate the loss of impact efficiency as ball contact is made other than on the ideal “sweet spot”.

On that subject, every golf club has a single pin-point spot on the face where energy transfer will be optimized. And no matter whether it is a driver, hybrid, iron or wedge, ball impact elsewhere on the face will result in a reduced smash factor, or transfer of clubhead speed to ball speed. In most club categories, the engineers are always focused on how to minimize that loss of smash factor, so that your “less than perfect” shots can be more acceptable and playable.

But here’s the kicker.

The ball can only react to how that clubface is delivered at impact – clubhead speed, path and face angle, and the point of impact on the face – and the golf club designer can only do so much within those parameters.

For example, a face that is open at impact will cause the ball to fly to the right and probably higher (for a right-hand player), and one that is hooded and/or closing through impact will make it go left and lower. All the technology in the world won’t change that. Likewise, for those shots hit fat or “in the forehead”, it really doesn’t matter what the clubhead design is like.

But a shot hit with a square clubface, approaching the ball on a solid path, but slightly missing the sweet spot, can certainly be helped by improved clubhead technology.
However, my observation of thousands of golf shots of my own and hit by my golf buddies over the many years in this game reveals this simple fact of our crazy game.

The vast majority of bad golf shots cannot be helped by golf club technology, as they are the result of bad swing mechanics, not inferior clubhead design. Those mechanics are mostly influenced by the golfer’s grip on the club and his or her pathway through impact. And for those of us who have hit thousands of golf shots over many years, it quite often boils down to poor mental work leading up to the swing.

This sounds like a crazy “reveal” by someone who has made a living for forty years designing and marketing golf clubs, doesn’t it? Yes, I have spent the better part of four decades working to make golf clubs work better, whether it was the hundred-plus putters I’ve designed, two sets of irons or the dozens of wedges I’ve created. I’m very proud of that body of work, as I’ve always been able to improve each generation of design.

That all said, however, I’m convinced most poor golf shots are pre-ordained before the club is ever taken into the backswing, and no amount of golf club technology will ever change that. The pathway to better and more consistent golf will always begin with improving your fundamentals, starting with your grip and posture at address . . . developing sound swing mechanics . . . supported by a healthy, positive mental approach to each shot . . . and then having the right tools in your bag.

Oh, and back to my own slump? I’m recalling sage advice from my father, given to me so many, many years ago . . .

“There’s nothing wrong with your game, son, that another thousand practice balls won’t fix.”