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In 2004, TaylorMade released their r7 driver.  The driver was very unique because it was the first to feature movable/adjustable weights that golfers could configure to fit or enhance their swings.  Would something like that make sense for the average joe weekend player?  The answer to that question is 37.65% yes, and 62.35% no.  And yes, I spent hours* of exhausting research, testing and polling to come up with that precise number.

Since the introduction of the r7 and its subsequent variants, TaylorMade has been the #1 driver on tour for what seems to be an eternity, but if you stop and think about it, it makes sense as to why.  The r7, particularly the r7 Quad, is highly adjustable with 4 different weights that can be interchanged to alter ball flight.  More weight towards the heel promotes a draw, more towards the toe promotes a fade, and equal weighting means a relatively straight ball flight.  Since there are 4 slots for weights, you can also adjust the weighting for high fades, low draws, low fades, high draws...you get the picture.  A repeatable swing will allow you to fully take advantage of these adjustments...hence the 37.65% "yes", where "yes" represents touring pros, club professionals and so on.  The rest of us hackers (62.35%) can use it to correct our consistent slices and hooks, adjusting the weights just once and leaving it that way, or losing the wrench, whichever comes first.

Callaway's first adjustable weight offering wasn't even adjustable.  In 2005 they launched their FT-3 driver which came in 3 different flavors - Draw, Neutral and Fade.  Because the head of the FT-3 was mostly carbon-composite material, a total of about 45 grams of discretionary weight was then  internally reconfigured at the factory depending on what you wanted the ball to do.  The Draw model had more weight placed towards the heel and the Fade model had more towards the toe.  That eliminated the need for a wrench and extra weights. 

In 2006 Callaway introduced the Opti-Fit system, a brilliant way to interchange almost two dozen shafts with all the various driver heads, creating a huge combination of options for golfers that wanted to be professionally fitted and matched to the clubhead and shaft that gave them the best possible combination of launch angle, distance and roll.  With the introduction of the FT-5 and FT-i drivers, the Opti-Fit system looks like a science laboratory.  Lots of options for everyone. 

The Callaway Opti-Fit system is shown above.

The USGA approved a proposal to make a rule that adjustments to clubs during rounds would now be possible.  That change was approved and was effective for Jan 1, 2008.  This meant that club heads and shafts could be interchanged between rounds.   Now, I'm not quite sure how this might benefit even professionals, because I assume that all of their clubs are tweaked out to what works best for them and what fits the course, but we'll see how much they'll use these interchangeable components as the season progresses.  These interchangeable parts are not just for the professionals, either.

Enter Callaway i-Mix, Callaway's venture into the latest in club adjustability that will be available to the public.  If you want the benefits of this kind of adjustability, you'll need at least multiple heads or multiple shafts, plus the tool necessary to lock everything into place.  While it might not make a big splash with the public due to the increase in costs, the option to make these kinds of changes now exists.  To some club tinkerers this is truly a dream.  Nickent has also introduced it's own system of interchangeable components as well and I imagine that TaylorMade and other manufacturers will be quick to follow this trend if they haven't already. 

Golf technology continues to evolve and push existing limits.  It'll be interesting to see what these companies can introduce in the future - first came adjustable weighting, and then club geometry (see Nike's SuMo or Callaway's FT-i).  Now comes club component adjustability.  I don't know what is left to do, but something tells me that even club FACES will soon be interchangeable.  Call me crazy, but it's the next logical thing.

* (a few seconds)

Callaway's i-Mix system is shown above.

Nickent's adjustable Evolver driver.

Posted by vaca22 at 01:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

How long does it take you to play 9 holes, in general?  Like an hour and 45 minutes, something like that, right?  A friend of mine (we'll call him Bean) met up one evening after work to squeeze in 9 holes with a cart.  There was a bit of a wait, so Bean and I teed off around 6:20 or something like that...there must have been a solid 2 hours of daylight left to play.  The first hole played fine - no waiting, no lost balls, all good.  We teed off on 2, and once we got to the fairway the problems started.  The group in front of us decided it would be cool to take 6 practice swings and then barely get the ball in the air.  Now, everyone has to start somewhere, and I have plenty of patience for that.  Everyone has bad days too, so I can understand that as well.  When the groups became so backed up that we were able to watch them tee off from the tee box itself, frustration set in.  These hotshots were teeing off from the tips.  Great.  Nothing like playing from the hardest tees and barely advancing the ball.  Needless to say we drove off after 6 holes because at that point we had already been out there for close to 2 hours and there was no way we could finish without the aid of some spotlights or a couple of lighthouses or something.

Now imagine playing a 7-hour round, and imagine you're a touring pro.  Would you want to pull your hair out, or hit the bottle at the clubhouse?  Welcome to the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, where celebrities get to act like asses all day and the pace of play is as slow as molasses.  In the winter.  Uphill.

Sure, there are celebrities that take the game seriously and try to put on a good show, make some putts and maybe sign an autograph or two.  Kevin Costner, Don Cheadle and Andy Garcia come to mind.  But then you have clowns like Bill Murray.  Yeah we get it, you were in Caddyshack.  Yeah, you love  golf.  But is it really necessary to prance around on every green or throw chocolates into the crowd or even TALK to the crowd that much on each hole?  And then there's Danny Gans, the Vegas showman who is a permanent performer at The Mirage.  I love it when I'm watching coverage on TV and Danny Gans feels the need to always be within 3 feet of the camera.  I also love it when he feels the need to do every single one of his impersonations between each of his shots.  I don't even know how many impersonations he does, but it's more than 2 and that's enough for me.  It's completely unbearable after 5 minutes, so imagine being the pro in his group and having to deal with the constant chatter and B.S. 

7-hour rounds?  You gotta be nuts, even if it IS Pebble Beach.  Rory Sabbatini can't possibly be at this event, he might just murder someone.  If I were in this tournament because of the venue I would just come back later in the year and avoid the hooplah.   But if I were playing I might be inclined to say, "Hey...just shut the hell up and play already."

Posted by vaca22 at 03:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)