Golf Club Specifications

Some of you may be wondering what makes up a golf club. What distinguishes one from the other? In the next few days I will create a series of posts to help those seeking to understand more about the "golf club", especially irons. Today, we will start with the "head".

In comparison to the design of a sports car, the head of a golf club performs the same purpose as the body of the vehicle. It gives it character, and identity from an aesthetic point of view, while it works in conjunction with the engine to make the vehicle perform at its desired level. The head of a golf club (in this case an iron),has different parts which I will begin to discuss in detail.

1. The face: this is the part of the club that comes in contact with the ball upon impact.

2. The hosel: This is that part of the club in which the shaft is inserted. We will discuss the shaft in tomorrow's entry.

3. The loft angle: This is the angle at which the club rests with the shaft in its desired upright position. Longer clubs have lower lofts than shorter ones. For example, a two iron may have a loft of 17 degrees, while a wedge may have a loft of 48 degrees. The higher the loft, the easier it is to hit the ball.

4. The bounce angle: The bounce angle is the angle between the leading edge of the club, and the point at which the club first touches the ground. Bounce is very important when choosing wedges. Too little bounce can cause the club to stick in the grass or sand, and too much bounce will result in sculled shots and other problems. Wedge bounces range from as little as 1 degree to about 14 degrees. Ask you PGA professional or club retailer what wedge bounce works for the conditions you play in.

5. Offset: The distance from the center line of the hosel to the leading edge of the club. The more offset a club has, the easier it is to hit. Most golf swings have a tempo between 1 and 1.6 seconds, meaning it takes the player that much time to take the club back from the point of address, to the point of impact. As you can tell, a fraction of an inch in the offset of a club will make all the difference is getting the club squared up.

6. The lie angle: The angle formed between the shaft and the ground when the bottom of the club head is on the ground. Lie is very important in fitting. Too flat a lie can lead to shots missed right. If the club is too upright, the club tends to turn over too fast and result is pulled or hooked shots. Most irons can be bent to the desires lie. Forged clubs are especially easy to adjust because they are softer and more malleable than most cast clubs.

There are other properties such as materials used, and process by which these materials are made into club heads but that's a whole new chapter we can discuss another time.

That concludes our look at the club head, the body of the club. Our next entry will discuss the shaft, the engine of the club.