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Associate editor Al Petersen is working with Tustin Ranch director of instruction Erik Horve on reworking his swing. Actually, they’re starting from scratch — or starting over — since a lot of bad habits need to be corrected. We’re monitoring their progress. I’m tall, and while I’d love for the words dark and handsome to follow, I can only stretch the truth so far. At 6-5 and 230ish pounds, I’m built more like an undersized, slow-footed forward in basketball. While there are successful tall golfers out there, Ernie Els I’m not. And while there are a multitude of golf club options, one size doesn’t fit all. Not even close. “You have to take the club into consideration when you talk about the golf swing, and you have to work on both,” said Erik Horve, director of golf instruction at Tustin Ranch. “Teaching and fitting, in my opinion, go hand-in-hand. If I’m not addressing your golf equipment during a lesson, I’m not giving you a full-service lesson.” Finding the right clubs was a relatively simple process involving a plexiglass board, tape and a launch monitor, which basically is a high-speed camera that determines clubhead speed, spin rate, launch angle, carry distance, total distance and other data Horve gathered on his computer. The tale of the tape showed that I’m a work in progress regarding my over-the-top motion, and I also have trouble maintaining my posture throughout the swing. Tape on the bottom of the club and on the face revealed contact on the toe in both locations. A few tweaks and experiments had me making center contact ... most of the time. Regarding woods, Horve set up the launch monitor and monitored his laptop while I flailed away. The driver is a difficult club for me to hit, so my numbers were all over the board. “The launch monitor helps me determine the ideal launch conditions for your swing, which enables me to put together a club you should be able to hit farther and straighter,” Horve said. “You have a tendency to come up out of your swing and throw your hands at the ball to compensate, so a more upright club should help you maintain your spine angle throughout impact.” To spare myself from embarrassment and not bore you with the numbers Horve had to work with, the bottom line is that I had an efficiency ratio of 69 on a scale of 1-100. Callaway to the rescue. Horve fit me with Callaway X-18 irons (5-SW) with steel shafts an inch longer than standard and bent upright three degrees. For woods, I was fitted with a 10-degree X460 driver, a 15-degree X 3-wood and two Heavenwoods — a 3H at 20 degrees and a 4H at 23 degrees. All of the shafts had firm flexes and the grips had an extra four wraps because of my large hands, which I hope translates into a better game at my fingertips. “Combining the right swing with the right clubs is essential,” Horve said. “It’s fun watching the reactions of students when it all comes together.” SG Erik Horve can be reached at (714) 734-2104. |
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