In a word: Yes.
The big talking point over the last few months when it comes to golf equipment, specifically drivers, is a more forgiving golf club. So is it all marketing spiel or does the new teach actually make a difference? As a full time club fitter I’ll try to shed some light based off of my experiences with the new woods this year.
Moment of Inertia (otherwise known as MOI) is a term that you will have heard if you’ve done any reading on this year’s new releases and we can use it to put some quantifiable waypoints on how easy a club is to use. MOI is measured by grams per centimetres squared and in really simple terms, the higher the measurement, the less a club will twist if the ball makes contact with the club away from the centre of gravity. This is where the 10,000 number has come from on TaylorMade and Ping’s new clubs, which is a high for MOI readings to this point.
So practically what does this influence? Is there any actual use to this on the course? Well there are some things physics can’t beat, if you mishit a golf club we’re always scrabbling to make it work reather than looking at a guaranteed optimised ball flight, however these concepts allow use to mitigate these points more effectively. A higher MOI club will generally lose less ball speed and have less launch and spin fluctuation than a lower MOI club and I have anedotally seen this happen this year. Regularly I will now see a heel strike go straight with a good spin rate, where a similar strike historically could have veered right while the spin makes the ball take off into the stratosphere (this has taken some getting used to!). These factors obviously keep the ball starighter where it can, but the distance drop offs are now far less pronounced as well, this is due to better management of ball speed, launch and spin, so you can still duff one out there a decent distance!
Now bear in mind that a well fitted club is the key to consistency and the club can help with a dodgy shot only to a certain point. However, having used this equipment for the last few months, it’s never been easier to find the fairway and keep your distance up!
Jim Mitchell
Lead Custom Fitter
