Phone: (403) 860-3401
- Balanced Certified & Balancing
- Club Repairs & Reshafting
- Computerized Fitting
- Wedges & Custom Hand Grinds
- Equipment Evaluation & Fitting
- Golf Grip Regripping
- Launch Monitor Fitting
- Loft & Lie Adjustments
- M.O.I Matching & Fitting
- Putter Fitting & Analysis
Frequently Asked Questions
Are components better than O.E.M. golf clubs?
What are hybrid golf clubs and should I be using them?
I hit the ball pretty good. Why should I be fitted for golf clubs?
I'm a beginner golfer or a high handicap golfer. Why should I be playing with fitted golf clubs?
Why should I be fitted by you, when I can go to a pro shop or off course golf store to get fitted for golf clubs?
What is neutralizing a golf shaft?
Can cast clubs be bent?
Can today's metal woods be bent?
Are there standards for loft and lie angles?
How does bending influence bounce?
Can you be sure that a club will not break during bending?
Are all bending machines accurate in their readings?
How much can a club be bent?
Are components better than O.E.M. (Original Equipment Manufacturers) golf clubs?
First let's define components. There is such a thing as O.E.M. components, which is what we use. They are original designs exclusive to professional clubmakers. Then there are clone or "knock off" components. They use low-grade materials and the specifications are usually very inconsistent.
O.E.M. components, which we use, are equal to or better than O.E.M. golf clubs.
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What are hybrid golf clubs and should I be using them?
Hybrids are a cross between a fairway wood and a long iron. They have the shape of a smaller wood head and the length of a long iron. They are good for people who struggle with their fairway woods because of the longer length, and they are more forgiving than long irons. Also they launch the ball higher which enables you to hold the green better with long approach shots.
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I hit the ball pretty good. Why should I be fitted for golf clubs?
Tour pros hit the ball very good and they all play with fitted golf clubs.
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I'm a beginner golfer or a high handicap golfer. Why should I be playing with fitted golf clubs?
There are (2) main components to golf. (1) the swing, (2) the golf equipment. It is hard enough trying to hit the ball, let alone hitting it with poorly fitted equipment. We can eliminate the equipment mistakes, which allows you to concentrate more on your golf swing.
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Why should I be fitted by you, when I can go to a pro shop or off course golf store to get fitted for golf clubs?
There is a big difference between being "sized" for golf clubs and being "professionally fitted". At off course stores and pro shops you are being sized for golf clubs. They usually cover only 2 or 3 variables. Length, flex and sometimes lie. When professionally fitted by a Certified Professional Clubfitter like Rey Erickson at Erickson's Custom Clubs we take into consideration over 35 equipment and swing variables.
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What is neutralizing a golf shaft?
Contrary to popular belief, all golf shafts are not straight or round. We locate the inherent irregularities to that one shaft. We then locate the dynamic plane property of the shaft and align to the clubhead. The shaft irregularities are "Neutralized" and golf club performance is optimized.
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Can cast clubs be bent?
Most irons can be bent, but the question of being able to bend cast clubs is still asked. The simple answer to that question is "yes". 17-4 stainless steel cast irons will be more difficult to bend since they are harder (C34-38 on the Rockwell Scale) than 431 (HRC18-25) or carbon steel (high B's on the scale) heads. Keep in mind that we are assuming the iron has the proper heat treatment and annealing that will permit bending. Annealing ensures a more consistent grain structure in the metal. Heat treatment makes the head hard enough to withstand constant golf ball impacts. Also, the club must have a hosel design that will allow bending. Special bars may be required for certain hosel designs such as those with a shorter hosel. With proper equipment nearly all hosel designs can be bent accurately and consistently ensuring properly fitted clubs for your golfers.
There is also a misconception that clubs that have been bent have "memory" that makes them naturally return to the original specification. This is simply not true. Once a club is bent to a given specification it will stay there until changed by an outside force of either bending again or striking a hard object. Loft and lie changes are more or less permanent.
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Can today's metal woods be bent?
Even though a lot of people will immediately say no, the correct answer is "yes" with certain requirements. While there are limitations, many of today's metal woods are indeed bendable, especially stainless steel heads. Forged titanium models are bendable as well. Their softer titanium structure allows bending. Provided the hosel of the wood is long enough to allow the bending bar to fit over its length, metal woods can be bent to custom fit a player. This applies to both face angle and lie.
What about bending the loft of a metal wood? When you bend the hosel toward or away from the face plane you open or close the club's face angle. This will change the playing loft of the club by changing the trajectory of the ball but it will potentially cause misdirected shots. Don't be misled that tour professionals de-loft their drivers and get more distance.
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Are there standards for loft and lie angles?
One of the most overused words in the golf industry is "Standard." Instead of the word standard, perhaps the word average should be used. Or maybe no word should be used.
A quick look on the internet at specifications for the best selling #5 irons from four major manufacturers shows lie angles of 60.5, 60.8, 61 & 61.3 degrees. Not surprisingly there is no stated tolerance on any site, making one wonder just how close that 61.3-degree specification is. A look at standard lofts of #5 irons from these same manufacturers shows that two use 27 degrees while one is at 28 and one at 29.
As an industry professional you should use the manufacturer's specifications as a reference only. When adjusting loft ask the player if they have any distance gaps between clubs that a loft change of a degree or two will correct.
The word standard really doesn't come into play with club performance fitting. Each player should be matched to his or her own individual specifications. If you want to call those specifications standard for that player, fine. But make sure you record the details for future reference, thereby setting their "standard" for improved individual performance.
It is vital to know the exact specification of the club's angles when checking for a proper fit using a lie board test. The lie board test could show the need for the club to be more upright or flatter. The performance is the key element during the lie test, which determines a specific angle in degrees. The test club must be measured and adjusted to the new angle. Remember the set is not necessarily progressively consistent and therefore each club should be bent to a predetermined angle in relation to the test club. Do not bend every club in the set by the proverbial "2 degrees up or flat" thinking you adjusted the entire set consistently.
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How does bending influence bounce?
Any change in a club's loft will correspondingly change the club's bounce. The relationship is one-to-one. As you decrease the loft of a club by one degree, you reduce its bounce a degree at the same time. The bounce angle increases equal to the amount of any loft increase. A one or two degree change in loft will not cause a bounce or dig sole with today's clubs. But if you are changing lofts on older more flatter-soled irons, bounce should be taken into account.
If you do change the loft more than two degrees on a club, sole grinding may be necessary to restore the sole angle to a more playable position. Changes in lie do not affect the bounce of a club in any manner.
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Can you be sure that a club will not break during bending?
Even the most skilled repair professionals can occasionally break a club. Generally breakage is a result of some type of inconsistency in the metallurgy of the club. Cast clubs may have voids in their internal structure. These voids are effectively weak spots that when subjected to pressure from bending will often cause hosel breakage. In addition the club may not have been heat-treated properly and can be very brittle. The hosel of the iron may have been bored off-center resulting in inconsistent hosel wall thicknesses. Breakage can occur when bending pressure is applied to the thinner hosel area. None of these manufacturing inconsistencies can be identified prior to bending.
A properly manufactured club may be bent many times without breaking. There is no worry about bending a club that was bent last year or last week. It can be re-bent without any negative effect on it.
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Are all bending machines accurate in their readings?
No, in fact all machines with fixed measuring gauges will not be accurate when measuring clubs with offset, progressive offset or face progression hosel positions. Machines that adjust for all hosel positions, such as MitchellŽ Angle Machines are accurate regardless of the offset or hosel design of the golf club. MitchellŽ machines are capable of bending and measuring clubs simultaneously.
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How much can a club be bent?
The common industry answer is "2 degrees." This limit is only recommended when changing the lofts on irons due to the potential effect such bends will have on the sole angle of the club. If the hosel design and manufacturing processes allow, the lie of an iron can be bent 3-4 degrees or more with no compromise to the integrity of the head. This is especially true of clubs made with long hosels.
Practice on a few old irons in order to become comfortable in bending lie more than 2 degrees. It is easy to do in a machine that securely holds the club. Machines without adjustable sole clamps will often allow the iron to slip during bending, making the repair professional think the club bent when it didn't.
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