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Club fitting for the Senior Golfer – “I’d just like a little more distance off the tee” is a request

frequently heard from the golfer who is becoming a little longer in the tooth! Further questioning normally reveals that the longer Irons (and I include the 5-Iron as one of these), are also becoming more difficult to hit. So what can be done ? Well, the first thing that comes immediately to mind is “more loft”. In the driver this will definitely mean a 12 or 13 degree driver, most certainly not the “standard, off the shelf” 10.5 degree version. As has often been repeated, modern golf balls are designed to fly higher and stay up longer and please do forget the boring, low drive into the wind you might have hit once in a golfing lifetime ! My own driver has increased from the “macho” 9.5 degrees to now 12 degrees and each time more distance has resulted, even into the wind. The other advantage of a higher lofted driver is more “user friendly backspin” and less harmful “ending up in the rough” sidespin. Successful golf is all about playing the percentages and this you will achieve with such a driver (it goes without saying that the shaft “speed” should be matched to your club head speed).

Now to the Fairway Woods. You will achieve better percentage results if you switch from a 3-Wood (often now with a loft of 14 degrees) to a 4-Wood with a loft of around 16 degrees – again this will help you get the ball “up and flying” with much greater ease. The next stage requires a little detective work on your behalf because your next fairway wood should have about 5 degrees more loft than your 4-Wood – i.e about 21 degrees. This is around the average loft of a 7-Wood but please do check or better still go to a competent club fitter/maker and get him to make one for you. The rationale behind this thinking is that the average club golfer fares much better with a 5-degree difference between fairway woods rather than the often encountered 3 degree difference. Now if you play woods better than irons or Rescue clubs then you should consider 9, 11 and 13 Woods with perhaps 8, 9 Irons and wedges for use closer to the green. If you like Rescue clubs (not everyone does) then after the 7 Wood you might like to consider a 25-degree rescue/hybrid which is the equivalent of a 5-Iron but much, much easier to hit and with more consistent results. After this the normal Irons “kick in” with the 6-Iron upwards.

It goes without saying that the shafts in your Woods/Rescue clubs will be of carbon fibre/graphite. When it come to Irons for those who prefer steel there are now some excellent steel/alloy shafts available, Nippon and True Temper GS-75 to name two. These shafts when trimmed and built as a club weigh only a few grams more than a similar graphite shafted club.

There is, of course, another way of squeezing more distance out of your clubs and that is by learning to draw the golf ball. On landing, a golf ball with draw spin will run a considerable way on a firm fairway whereas the ball with fade spin stops almost immediately.

Finally in your quest for distance/consistency do remember nutrition and hydration. Dried fruit or a cereal bar every few holes together with regular swigs from a sports drink will often work wonders.