Your Favorite Frequency

By: Michael W. Daughtry

Most people have one club in their bag that is deemed their ‘favorite club’. They know with that club that they are going to hit the ball well for some reason. Have you ever wondered why? Nobody knows with absolute certainty but I have a theory as to why that might be the case. In golf everyone swings the club differently. The speed and movements of the swings vary greatly. The club shafts themselves, especially steel shafts, change over time and take on different swing characteristics as the components of the clubs age. For example, have you ever heard of shaft frequency? When you swing the golf club to the top of your backswing and begin your downswing there is a moment of shaft flex during the change of direction. The amount the shaft flexes during that movement is called the “frequency” of that shaft. If you look around you will see ads for stiff shafts, super flex shafts etc, which indirectly references the frequencies of the respective shafts. Every swing in golf has a perfect “frequency” that matches their particular tempo and rhythm. The usual rule of thumb is if your swing speed is very fast then a stiff shaft, or lower frequency, shaft works well. If you swing is fairly slow then a more flexible, higher frequency, shaft seems to work best.
Earlier I mentioned the fact that shafts then to age and change dynamics over time. What happens to the frequency of those clubs? Well, the frequency also changes as they are used but not at the same rate. The clubs frequency changes per club and at different rates so not any one club will match the other over time. So what happens in this case is that as your swing changes and the frequency of the clubs change you begin to find a favorite and least favorite club. The favorite club is the one that has the frequency that best matches your current rhythm and tempo. The least favorite usually is the one that is the farthest away from that swing match.
So what do you do about this? There are not a lot of people who can afford, or want, to buy a new set of clubs every couple of years. There is a method called “Frequency Matching” where a technician takes your favorite club and determines what the frequency is for that club and then matches the rest of your clubs to that frequency. For example, my favorite club was the 7 iron for a long time. I knew whenever I hit my 7 iron that I was going to hit it well. I have since had my clubs frequency matched to my 7 iron frequency now all of my clubs feel like my 7 iron and therefore easier to hit.
If you are looking to improve your game, but are not looking to buy a brand new set of clubs, then this method might be for you. You can contact your local professional or golf shop and have your clubs tested for their frequency range and see if this might be a possibility for you.

Article Source: http://www.bettergolfarticles.com

I teach a style of golf I like to call "Fundamentally Comfortable" Everyone has a unique swing in golf. When the pressure is on in golf, or anything you do, most of the time people revert to what they are most comfortable doing. That may not always be the best thing depending on the level of training. I like to take the fundamentals of the golf swing and introduce them into "their" swing in order to help maintain the comfort level while also improving their confidence and consistency.

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