Customer Story: How custom clubs can help with a health issue

Roger had a hip operation then his handicap went from 8 to 11. We explain the cause and effect it had on his game and how correctly custom fitted clubs would allow him adapt to the change.

Name: Roger
Age: 63
Cause: Health Issue – Hip Operation
Effect:  Handicap increased, Lost Distance

 

” About three years ago I started to develop a crippling problem with my right hip, despite this I continued to play decent golf at about a handicap of eight or nine until 18 months ago when I had a hip replacement operation.

Unfortunately whilst enjoying the pleasure of being out on a golf course and being totally pain-free, my golf was terrible, it feels like I’m playing with somebody else the swing.

My distance control is erratic and I’m definitely hitting the ball consistently about 12% shorter. I was forced to consider whether the ageing process it started to catch up on me and perhaps I need to change the golf equipment “

 

A fit 63 year old, fairly strong swinger but Roger had been battling with a bad hip for some time. He had a set of clubs that he played well with, in fact he was playing off an 8 handicap with them.

He struggled to walk with his left hip and obviously load his weight onto it. As he became restricted with his weight shift, his swing shortened as well. His clubs would never really get him into trouble as his swing was only a shoulder rotation with very little turn. A short swing meant he didn’t hit it far enough to get into trouble and his game was short but straight and he scored fairly well.

But this wasn’t Roger swinging the club and as he said it was “some guy with a bad hip who couldn’t really swing the club.”

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But then, Roger had a full hip replacement. He went through the rehabilitation and hit the golf course. His swing was now wider and longer.

He felt great, was pain free with no restrictions but he hit it shorter – in fact miles shorter and went from 8 handicap to 11. 

 

• Previously, when the swing was shorter, there was less power in the hit and the ball flew fairly straight..

• However after the operation, when Roger got stronger and hit the ball harder the ball went straight up into the air and due to a much higher spin went shorter or at least a lot shorter than he was expecting.
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• We also observed that he was a little reserved in hitting the ball as he felt that the old clubs were not as “solid” as he wanted or expected them to be.
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• This meant he was very erratic with his shots and they were dispersed.
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• He also had a sub-conscious tendency to “protect” the new hip like he used to before he had it fixed and was afraid to swing hard even though he could.
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• He stood a lot taller and topped and thinned most shots with his Titleist AP-2 standard irons.
• So his game got worse when his health got better ?

 

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• We lengthened the clubs to help him hit the ball higher up in the face. He stopped thinning the shot as soon as we went 1/2” longer in length in the shaft. He also hit the ball much more consistently and longer as he was standing taller and turning better through the ball.

• We used a lighter weight stiffer shaft so he could swing freer at the ball. The firmer shaft created more consistency now that he was able to hit it harder so the ball went straighter.

• We used a Nippon steel shaft in the irons as it has a soft feel tip that not only helped with better feel but it helped to hit the ball higher but with great stability and it regulated his distances between clubs.

• Roger had a great feel for the short game so we made him two new wedges that were built to suit his feel and we picked the lofts to suit the distances HE wanted to hit the ball rather than just putting up with his old lofts and distances.

• He had two Cobra clubs, a19* one and a 24* one. One that he hit well and one he did not. We measured the two clubs and found the one he did not like was a different shaft flex and also a different build so we reshafted the one he did not like and made it like the one he did.

• A simple thing like the right size and feel to the grip made him grip it with less tension and so the strike felt smooth and soft. We used a CP2 Pro grip for Roger which fit his hand size better and gave him more confidence that the club would not slip.

 

• It was very apparent that the Irons and Wedges would be the best thing to build now and then, we would review the Woods and Driver once we got the hybrids working.>

• Then we had a chance to see how Rogers power would improve as his hip got even better and he began to “trust” himself to hit the ball the way he could now rather than the way he used to.
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• The Irons are being built now and then we will arrange another session to work on the Woods.

 

With added stability with the irons and a longer shaft length Roger will hit the ball with more consistency and longer thanks to a better control of the spin and trajectory.

He will start to see how the golf club has been built to suit the NEW speed and swing Roger has since he had his hip replaced and will be back to 8 handicap and maybe lower in no time.
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We’re going to give an update to Roger’s story in the coming weeks
to be continued …

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Tags: Cause and Effect Customer Story Standard vs Custom