This is a re-post of an excellent article by glenmcd on the process he used to choose which clubs to carry in his bag. As always, it is very thorough and analytical, and provides information that is critical to competing with the best in the game. I use the same exact club setup as glenmcd (and many of the top players do as well) based on the same principles he discovered through his study of each club and their cooresponding distances and loft adjustments. I suggest you read through his results and compare this to your current club setup!
I’ve taken the scientific approach, and actually fully measured the
distance not only from each club, but each club and each loft
adjustment. Each club has seven “clicks” of loft adjustment in each
direction. Increasing loft decreases distance on every club bar none.
Decreasing loft increases distance for HLW to PW pitch and full shots,
while decreasing loft for 9I and up decreases distance, but generally
not as much as the same amount that increasing loft on the same club
produces.
There is no reason I can see for having anything but maximum power on
pretty much every club. TW10 is not the same as TW09. In TW09, there
really was a compromise here. Not in TW10. With a driver, the “default”
distance is 344 yards for my 8.5 degree, but with a flat fairway no wind
real distance of 352 yards.
Following is my current “in the bag” selection and club tunings:
All wedges. Power=max,Workability=min, remainder=default
HLW plus max per shot loft adjustment = 8.2 yards
HLW minus max per shot loft adjustment = 13.6 yards
LW plus max per shot loft adjustment = 11.3 yards
LW minus max per shot loft adjustment = 18.2 yards
So as you can see, there is no gap between these clubs when using pitch
shots. For full shots:
HLW plus max per shot loft adjustment = 61 yards
HLW minus max per shot loft adjustment = 83 yards
LW plus max per shot loft adjustment = 77 yards
LW minus max per shot loft adjustment = 101 yards
Again, no gaps, in fact there is substantial overlap. The same story
goes for the remainder of the wedges. My PW with minimum per shot loft (meaning you adjust it down as far as it can go) gives you a distance of 166 yards. This is very important, when deciding which irons go in the bag. Following is my irons tuning:
Power=max
Workability=min
draw/fade=default
loft=max
spin=default
Although the PW is a wedge (pitching wedge), it is grouped into the
irons for club tuning purposes. The tuning of wedges and irons as above,
provides an overlap (AW to PW) with the pitch shot of slightly less than
one yard, and a full shot overlap (again AW to PW) of 7 yards.
So far, so good. We have all distances from 8.2 yards to 166 yards
covered with HLW to PW, pitch and full shots. Which club do we add to the bag now? 9I? 8I? Experimentation shows that with above club tuning, the 9I and 8I are not needed at all! We can cover from 166 yards up with a 7I. A 7I with max per shot loft adjustment, gives us 165 yards distance. Perfect! One yard of overlap.
Working out way up through the irons, to avoid having any gaps, we need
7I,5I and 3I. For distances above this, I am currently using 7W and 3W.
I am toying with the idea of adding a 1 iron, taking away the 3 wood,
and adding power to the woods. Currently though, my fairway woods club
tuning goes like this:
Power=28 clicks less than max
Workability=min
Draw/Fade=default
Loft=max
Spin=min
With above tunings, the 3 iron with default per shot loft gives us 249
yards. The 7 wood with maximum per shot loft gives us 250 yards. Again,
perfect! No gaps. Of course, if you are one that can reliably choose a
swing percentage and actually get it, then you could probably make do
with about 5 clubs in your bag. But for this mere mortal, I always try
for the 100% swing whenever and wherever possible.
Moving up in distance from 250 yards, our 7 wood maxes out at default
per shot loft at 274 yards. It would be really nice if the 3 wood with
maximum per shot loft went about 274 yards. Well how about that, it
does!! So we’re now up to the longest fairway wood, and we have covered
every single distance to the yard, from 8.2 to 298, which is what my 3
wood achieves with default loft on a flat fairway and no wind.
When it comes to driver, getting maximum distance is a far greater goal
than avoiding gaps between the driver at maximum loft and the maximum
distance from the club below it. My driver at default per shot loft goes
352 yards, and 332 yards with maximum per shot loft. It’s not actually a
big range at all. But it does assist you on many par 4s, especially if
you have a decent tailwind pushing the ball along. Is it possible to
extend this range downward, while maintaining 100% swing, by using
minimum per shot loft on a driver “punch” shot. With my driver, this
achieves around 302 yards. Not bad, only 4 yards further than a 3 wood
full shot at default per shot loft.
Following is my driver tuning for 344 “official” yards, 352 real yards:
Power=max
Workability=min
Draw/Fade=default
Loft=5 clicks above default
Spin=min
This is the first time that I have looked so closely at what distances
clubs actually achieve, including when per shot adjustments have been
made to loft. Before, I dared not take away my 9I, as I simply assumed
that it was a necessary thing. Maybe in TW09 it was necessary – I don’t
know, and I don’t need to know any more. By removing this from my bag, I
fill in what used to be huge gaps between the longest iron and the 7
wood, and between the 7 wood and the driver, with a 3 wood. Now, I have
just one gap and it’s 4 yards in size. This can easily be filled in by
using topspin on the 3 wood, or backspin on the punched driver shot.
This “in the bag” club selection is only appropriate for the above club
tunings. For other club tunings, you’ll face different challenges to
cover gaps in the critically important short to medium distance shots.
It is also important to mention my skills, as this will also affect
distances:
Power=11
Accuracy=11
Ball Striking=11
Approach=11
Spin=11
Putting=10.6
Recovery=11
Luck=11
In the bag:
Driver: 8.5 degree
3 wood
7 wood
3 iron
5 iron
7 iron
PW
AW
GW
SW
LBW
LW
HLW
Putter
Tags: basics, club selection, general discussion, general strategy
