Jeev Milkha Singh?s Callaway Driver is an extraordinary-looking club: at least when you hold it at address. Looking down, it seems almost loft-less?at six degrees, it has to be one of the lowest-lofted drivers put in play by any modern professional?and the face seems extraordinarily open. It is twisted open by three degrees, which to the average golfer used to tonnes of offset?which all cavity-back irons these days come with?seems even more bizarre. But let me not get ahead of myself here. The whole point of this column is to demystify terms like ?offset?, which better players throw about nonchalantly in conversation.
Coming back to Singh?s driver: to be fair, this exceptional-looking club has to service a very exceptional golf swing and, therefore, it should be no surprise that it looks as irregular as it does. For those who?ve not had the pleasure of seeing Singh take the club back on an impossibly flat plane, pause for a second at the top, then magically re-route the club on an inside plane on the downswing and deliver it to the ball with telling effect, there?s nothing quite like it in Indian golf. Sure, a lot of players can hit the ball a mile: Gaganjeet Bhullar, with his wonderfully drowsy upright action, can stripe it to oblivion as can Mandeo Singh Pathania or, for that matter, Rashid Khan, who, in spite of his spry frame, can launch a 290-yard draw with consummate ease. But these boys have copybook golf swings and just the sheer disconnect between the way Singh?s golf swing looks and the way the ball flies off the clubface defies convention. But the whole point of this entire digression is this: Singh has an unconventional swing and he discovered early on that he tends to loft and close the clubface on his downswing. So what did he do about that? Unlike a typical amateur golfer who would try and futilely change a grooved action to try and correct the fault, Singh decided his swing works for him and that he would just fit the club to suit his swing and not the other way round.
Don?t be misled by popular notion that club-fitting is only beneficial for pros like Singh. Truth of the matter is that professionals with their superior control over clubface and understanding of golf swing, can, in fact, alter their action to play with ill-fitting clubs. And even they choose not to do anything of the sort, so there?s just no rationale for a weekend golfer to try something that counter-productive. So, before you embark on a club-shopping spree or, inspired by Tiger Woods, decide to ?rebuild? your swing, ask yourself if your action is one that is already programmed into your muscle memory. If you?ve been playing for a few years, then it probably is. In which case, there?s a pretty good case for seeing a fitter one and trying to make your clubs work better with your swing. Here?s a gist of what all you can do:
Grip: Golfers with shorter fingers need thinner grips, while those with long, slender fingers need thicker ones. Thickness of the grip affects cohesiveness of the grip and fluidity of hand action. If you?ve got short fingers and are using grips that are too thick, then that?s not going to allow you to release the club fluidly and that could well be the reason that you habitually slice the golf ball. If you?re constantly hooking, then it?s possible your grips are too thin.
Shaft: The height and length of arms determine the length of the shaft, while your swing speed will be a factor in deciding whether you need to go for a senior, regular, stiff or extra-stiff shaft. The flex of the shaft is imperative for your swing timing and to square the clubface. Importantly, the length of shaft is not cast in stone: if you find it difficult to control your driver and are able to hit the 3-Wood well, it?s possible you?re just finding it difficult to control the length of the club. Shortening the shaft a touch of the driver will make it much easier to hit.
Lie and loft: Lie adjustments synchronise the lie of the club with your natural address position. Tall players tend to be upright, while those with a shorter stature tend to lay the club flatter behind the ball. The clubs you buy off the shelves are configured around ?averages?. If you?re taller, or shorter than average, then you can be reasonably certain that your clubs will need adjustment. Trying to alter your address to make sure the club sits flat on the ground is a terrible mistake, which can destroy your posture and your swing even before you?ve begun your golf swing. Much like Singh, many players alter the loft of the club because of the way they bring the club into impact. That can change the ball-flight considerably.
Offset: Most modern clubs, with the exception of players? irons, or pure blades, come with some degree of offset. Simply put, offset is the amount that the clubface is closed at the hosel. This is done to give the player more time to square the clubhead on the downswing. If you?re a perennial slicer, then you will benefit if you change to clubs with more offset.
At the end of the day, your swing is yours?for better or for worse?and trying to play with ill-fitting clubs is just sadistic; golf is hard enough, as it is. Just one word of caution: beware of anyone who offers to fit your clubs without taking you to a range, and spending a couple of hours analysing and understanding your swing?you can?t fit a club effectively based on stats. But once you?ve been through this exercise, you?ll be surprised at how much of a difference it will make to your ball striking and your scores. You might not become scratch overnight, but at least you?ll definitely have an upper hand at your weekend Nassau.
A golfer, Meraj Shah also writes about the game