PDA

View Full Version : High-technology below par for hackers



markTHEblake
23rd December 2004, 03:25 PM
This article has appeared in a number of Newspapers this week. Seems that they are talking about our beloved Ho's.


High-technology below par for hackers
Date: 21/12/04
By John Coomber
http://seven.com.au/news/topstories/146825

When Australia's 1.3 million golfers step up to the tee each weekend they do so wielding technology that grew out of international weapons programs.

They swing space-age clubs with gigantic titanium heads at balls that contain more science than the average family car.

They happily splash out $300 million a year on their equipment, upgrading each time a new wonder club comes along.

And here's the rub.

They don't get any better.

According to a detailed survey of golf in Australia conducted by Ernst & Young, the average handicap is not improving.

"One would think that we all must now play better golf - we do not," was the conclusion of survey authors Jeff Blunden and Alistair Boyd.

"Handicaps remain largely unchanged."

Like most things in golf, there is no simple explanation.

Nearly all golfers are obsessed with getting better, but the problem with obsessives is that they tend to behave irrationally.

The main mistake, according to former touring pro Brett Ogle, is that people use equipment that doesn't suit them.

"You can buy a $1,000 driver but it's not necessarily going to make you hit the ball any further," said Ogle, now a club professional at Bonnie Doon in Sydney.

"Too many people just buy on the spur of the moment in America or Thailand and the handicap goes from 14 to 17 and they're wondering why.

"They've bought the best equipment, but it's not necessarily going to make their game any better."

When they do buy new clubs they must have them fitted to suit the individual.


More info about the Ernst and Young Survey
http://www.ey.com/GLOBAL/content.nsf/Australia/News_release-Whats_driving_Australian_golfers

Jarro
23rd December 2004, 05:46 PM
trust you to latch onto this Blakey :x

.. what would Brett Ogle know anyway .... he can't even talk properly :roll:

gazgolf1
23rd December 2004, 05:48 PM
After reading that article I'm cured...no more hoing for me,thanks Blakey. :roll:

markTHEblake
23rd December 2004, 05:55 PM
trust you to latch onto this Blakey :x



what makes you think i was referring to you?

Jarro
23rd December 2004, 06:56 PM
trust you to latch onto this Blakey :x



what makes you think i was referring to you?

i wasn't implying that you were referring to me at all :?

all i know is that it's damn easier hitting a driver made in the year 2004 than one made in 1980

Ona
23rd December 2004, 07:41 PM
and yet the average golfer scores no better for it :?

davidp
23rd December 2004, 07:59 PM
Yes, it's easier to hit a 2004 driver & hit it further. But further where? Further right? Further left? Not many hackers are hitting it consistently further straight.

A bad swing is a bad swing. No matter what you have in your hand.

Jarro
23rd December 2004, 08:07 PM
A bad swing is a bad swing. No matter what you have in your hand.

true.

.. but if you had a bad swing back in the 80's, you'd have never shot under 100 .... EVER :!:

todays clubs do make a difference for the hacker.

3oneday
23rd December 2004, 08:30 PM
All surveys and statistics can be made to say what you want to portray, OK so golfers aren't improving, is that relative to the 50,000 that were playing 20 years ago or the 500,000 that are playing today ?? bring more numbers into the equation and your odds blow, any weekend punter can tell you that.

Did they follow the same group of golfers around for 20 years ?? methinks not. All this latest survey does is highlight the desire of all media outlets to focus on negative outcomes.

What is the saying, there are lies, then there are statistics ??

I now climbeth off thine soapbox.

davidp
23rd December 2004, 08:48 PM
A bad swing is a bad swing. No matter what you have in your hand.

true.

.. but if you had a bad swing back in the 80's, you'd have never shot under 100 .... EVER :!:

todays clubs do make a difference for the hacker.

jarro = 1, davidp = 1, statistics = 0

McMw
23rd December 2004, 11:48 PM
having had the opp to play on the same course I started playing when I was a kid, and when I was using persimmon woods, I can pretty much say that the improvement in the past 14 years hasn't been that great...

with my original laminated ping driver, off the first hole, I was able to smack it to abt 130 yards away from the green...
nowadays, I can do the same (more often, but not all the time) with my 400cc driver and better ball...

on the 2nd par3...I was regularly using a 7 iron to get it to the middle of the green from 3/4s back of the tee...
today, I hit the same iron the same distance...but can do it one one club less if I'm using a "longer" ball...

on the 5th par4...I once carried the right bunker guarding the green with a wilson persimmon wood with steel shaft...
nowadays...my 13degree graphite shaft will get me to the green (increase of abt 10yards more)...

on and on and on....in the 14 years, and with technology exploding as it did, I sometimes wonder why I'm not hitting it further and taking wedges in all the time...

the ball has defn been the biggest improvement...distance and spin combined into many of this mid-range hybrids (as I like to call them)...

where technology has improved for me is the EASE at which I'm able to hit the ball BETTER...
mishits on the drivers will still see me carry the same distance...iron heads are bigger, better designed to launch the ball higher and quicker etc...

yes...a bad swing will always result in the crapper...but it's "easier" now to hit the shot better...and that's where I've seen the impact that technology has had on my game... :wink:

AndyP
24th December 2004, 05:08 PM
No handicap improvement from me since I got the new driver, 3wood and hybrid. :wink:

Roc
24th December 2004, 08:28 PM
Hi all,
I believe and have seen time after time that clubs just cannot be bought off the rack, when there is quality time spent gaining info on the persons swing and the clubs are built for that person, then you see improvement, and yes there has to be a reasonable swing as a foundation to work with, ifyou are a 27 hcp or scratch, on the day if you hit well with the custom clubs you will gain. Ive gone through the hole prosess, Just because a shaft says Reg or Stiff does not mean it is and your whole set can be all over the place as well as the lofts and lies.
Have a great Christmas and a safe New year, all the best :D :D
Yours
Mark