Edel Golf Podcast

Dispelling the Myth of Indoor Fittings

Today we’re going to dispel a long-held myth that we can’t fit for wedges indoors.  Such is not the case. The process starts with having the proper mat so that we can analyze turf interaction.  Just any old concrete, worn out mat won’t do the trick.  In actuality, the right mat can be just as good as hitting shots of proper turf.  Nonetheless, having the right mat is imperative. If you listened to our previous podcast, you know that we’ve launched our new SMS line of wedges.  When fitting indoors for these wedges, the process starts with one of four grinds.  Each grind is designed for a specific type of player based on swing and body type.Next, we put the weight in the center of the golf club, then adjust it based on what we find. One of the most common questions we get during the fitting process is, how do we determine the correct bounce?  It starts with looking at launch angle and subtracting it from the true loft of the wedge.  This is determined with the use of a launch monitor.  While it might sound complicated, it’s rather simple in practice. The final step is determining the right shaft.  We have 18 to choose from. Normally, we determine shaft weight by looking at spin rate and length of backswing.  If you have a shorter backswing, a lighter shaft is going to be better.  By comparison, the longer your backswing, the heavier shaft you’ll need. Determining shaft flex is a function of how hard you hit the golf ball. The best part is that this entire process is that it's simple. We’ve always prided ourselves in our wedge fitting – being the best in the business at what we do. The system we’ve created with SMS line is our best yet. For a lot of folks, doing a fitting outdoors this time of year is a challenge due to the weather.  The good news is that an Edel Fitter near you can accomplish the task inside.  Head over to EdelGolf.com and a fitter near you.Thanks for listening!

Why the Swing Match Weighting System Matters

We're back! It’s good to be back and I wanted to kick off by talking about our SMS wedge that we launched last year. It incorporates the Swing Match Weighting System, which utilizes three weight ports in the back of the wedge.  Two dummy weights are light and one is heavy.  Our fitting system allows us to optimize these weights based on every person’s swing type. This system is centered upon the leverage we put on the club as we swing. It took some experimentation to come up with it, but what we eventually found was that there’s a dramatic difference in both ball flight and how a club feels when we move weight from the toe toward the heel. By putting weight in different aspects of the golf club, you can customize the variables in your swing that match what you’re intending to do.  That’s exactly what SMS allows us to accomplish. Mike Duffey, a leading biomechanist from Penn State, led the way in crunching our research as we studied golfers of all different body and swing types using our prototype wedges.  What we found was that there was a 44% improvement in downrange ballistics (peak height, total distance, left and right deviations) and a 10% increase in spin when the weight was put in the correct place for the specific player.  Even more, only 24% of people needed weight in the middle of the golf club. Why the Swing Match Weighting System matters is so you have the weight properly oriented in the club and allows golfers of all types to optimize their motion to achieve desired results. Make sure to check out our SMS wedges at Edelgolf.com.  

Heath Slocum: Surprising Wedge and Putter Fitting Insights from the Tour

Heath is a four-time PGA Tour winner and getting ready to start competing again after a hiatus.  He recently went through our putter fitting process and said it was “it was very eye-opening… It opened my mind to what I was missing for such a long time… I’ve got a putter and wedges in my bag I know I can count on.”  For Heath, “Understanding is knowledge, and knowledge is power.”Here at Edel, we’re about to release our new wedge line which has variable weighting.  Heath says this new line of wedges “blew my mind… in terms of weighting, feel, and flight.”  For him to make these changes is pretty remarkable.  He’s a guy that doesn’t like to change equipment much.  His irons are four or five years old. When I asked Heath what he would tell his younger self, he says it would be “to learn more.  To educate myself on the little things I know now… You can get to the end result quicker, with less effort.” He also had some interesting things to say about how things have changed now, compared to when he first got out on Tour.  Today he “sees a lot of speed.  The power game is there... short games have improved too.” As hard as it might be to believe, putter fitting hardly exists on Tour according to Heath.  More often than not, players are putting with something that’s being pushed by a manufacturer, not necessarily the right club for them.  Heath stresses how important getting this part of the equation right is.At Edel, we’ve also started using BioMech technology in our putter fitting process.  There’s nothing on the market quite like it in terms of the information it provides real time.  Heath’s using this technology as well and has nothing but good things to say.  The best part is, it’s affordable for almost anybody. The key to all of this is matching proper aim and speed, with biomechanics.  Once you put these three pieces of the puzzle together, it’s pretty hard to make a bad stroke.We can’t thank Heath enough for taking time out of his busy schedule to join for a conversation.  His insights are unique and useful for any golfer that wants to get better.  We have no doubt that he’ll find success in the coming years as he resurrects his game.

Mike Adams: Outliers Don't Exist in Golf

Welcome back to another edition of the Edel Podcast.  Today, we have the pleasure of sitting down with my longtime friend, Mike Adams.  To this day, Mike continues to mentor both students and teachers.  He’s a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and has worked with the majority of the Top 100 Teachers.I ask Mike what biomechanics means to him.  He says it’s “It’s the study of human movement and how people move in time and space.”Mike got started in the biomechanics sphere when his wife retained a ski injury.  The doctor that performed her surgery, Dr. Steadman, worked alongside Dr. Chuck Dillman who was the biomechanist for the U.S. Olympic Ski Team.  “Dr. Dillman and I became friends and started working on projects together.”  Through a lot of time and toil, the pair came up with different body types and how they relate to the motion of swinging a golf club.As time wore on, the pair, with the help of Dr. Ned Armstrong, developed a “testing system to find out what students could and could not do.”  This revolutionary process screens players for six things: wingspan vs. height, middle knuckle to elbow, elbow to shoulder socket, right hand grip, external shoulder rotation, and lower body pivoting.  The screens “give teachers a blueprint to move forward with their students.”When Mike describes the Ultimate Golf Lesson, he recounts the first one he did last year with Terry Rowles.  The event also featured some of the leading authorities in biomechanics and how their research and findings relate to golf.  He used force plates, video, launch monitors, and three-dimensional technology.  The premise was that “it’s better to test than guess.”Mike and I both maintain that it’s vitally important for the teachers of today to take these measurements and properly apply them to their students.  Where teachers get into trouble is trying to fit all their students to a single methodology.  That’s why these scientifically backed screenings are so valuable.In order for teachers to continue to improve their craft, and in turn get results for their students, they have to be continually learning instead of repackaging information that already exists.Mike and his partner Terry Rowles are about to release a new book.  It’s based on the two Ultimate Golf Lessons.  Their goal is to write the “the most extensive golf instruction book ever written, backed by science.”  If you want to become a better instructor, this book is a must read.Terry and Mike are also hosting a webinar that starts in February.  In the webinar, the industry’s best biomechanists and instructors are going to explore all the quantitative information they’ve realized.  It’s not meant just for instructors, however.  The information is accessible for players of all levels that have a desire to improve their game.I ask Mike what he wants his legacy to be.  His response is that “I contributed to helping people get better.”  Pretty simple and modest for one of the game’s greatest teachers.This podcast is chalked full of game-changing information so be sure to set aside a few minutes and give it a listen.As always, thanks for taking the time to sit down with us at the workbench on the Edel Podcast.  We’ll see you next time.

Terry Rowles: Does Biomechanics Matter for YOUR Golf Swing?

Welcome back to the Edel Podcast.  On this week’s installment, we have the pleasure of sitting down with Terry Rowles.  Terry is a Top 100 Instructor who works with a host of PGA and LPGA Tour players.  When I asked Terry who some of the other people he’s been influenced by, he said “technology has been a good friend… and before that I worked with David Ledbetter in the late 90’s and early 2000’s which stimulated me to think about a holistic approach to golf…” Terry points to the importance of teachers understanding how the body works as it relates to the golf swing.  It’s absolutely critical.He says there’s two pieces to being a great teacher.  “First is having an understanding of the game… we’ve got to look at a golfer and see what the skills they need to score better are… Second you have to be good at listening… Who is this human being in front of you and what are they asking for?”When we talk about biomechanics as it pertains to golf, Terry thinks “it’s quantifying movement… to enhance performance or reduce injury.” Biomechanics gives us “the framework to understand where we are on a map and how to move forward.” For modern teachers, Terry stresses that understanding biomechanics and how to properly apply them is a long process.  Unfortunately, not enough teachers make the necessary investment to go through the process.  In order to be an industry leader, these skills have to be mastered.Through the process of quantifying the movements of the best players in the world, Mike and Terry have learned two things.  First, that what players are working on usually coincides with their biomechanics.  Second is that these players are so good, “they don’t usually need to make big changes.” The key is determining what the right things to work on are in a biomechanic sense.According to Terry, the ultimate golf lesson involves biomechanical tests that determine what a player needs to do with their golf swing in order to improve.  Keep an eye out for his upcoming book. What’s so great about Terry and Mike is that “they aren’t just teachers, they’re teachers of teachers.” To that end, their ideas have proven tremendously beneficial in helping other instructors learn and therefore, allow their students to see real, tangible benefits.As it pertains to fitting, Terry thinks the key is  “matching up all the pieces so that you can go after it hard… it’s a matter of matching up the offense and defense.” If there’s a single pinch pin where the golf swing goes wrong, Terry says  “Average is the enemy… if Matt Kuchar and Dustin swung ‘in the middle,’ they wouldn’t be the players they are… We need to fit the golf swing (and therefore equipment) to the way a person’s body is supposed to move.” We’re all too thankful for Terry taking the time to sit down at the workbench with us today.  If you’d like to learn more about his ideas and teaching philosophies, head over to his website and tune into the full podcast above.As always, thanks for hanging out with us here on the Edel Podcast.  We look forward to being with you again on our next episode.