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 Dang Nguyen has made great strides in his ability to make a repeating golf swing. Now the focus shifts to his equipment. Players of all skill levels need to find the right combination of grip, shaft and clubhead to get the most out of their game. Like many novice golfers, Nguyen’s equipment wasn’t up to par, said his instructor, Jason Taylor. Month 3 assessment: “Getting the right equipment in a player’s hands is so important,” Taylor said. “The game is hard enough. I’ve actually had to tell players that I won’t teach them because their equipment is so bad that there is nothing I can do to make them consistently better with their existing equipment.” Taylor decided that the longest iron Nguyen needed in his bag was a 5-iron, and that three wedges were in order. “A 3- and 4-iron are great, but they don’t do you any good if you can’t hit them, and Dang isn’t a strong enough player yet to have them in his bag,” Taylor said. “We had him try a few of the hybrid irons but his greatest success came with the fairway woods. For his driver we fit him into a high-lofted driver with a regular graphite shaft.” When getting fitted for clubs, Taylor said working outdoors on a range is best. “It gives the player a chance to see the improvement in how the ball reacts,” he said. “It also eliminates any doubt the player might feel that they are being forced into a club that is not giving better results. I call it the $700 rule. When you’re hitting the shots, you should feel like you’re hitting the ball $700 better than you were with the old clubs.” Nguyen’s reaction: “I knew it was going to make a difference and I felt it immediately,” he said of the clubfitting procedure. “I knew from playing other sports that you need the right equipment. I knew that the clubs I started with were there just to get me started. I was so excited about the new clubs because I could feel the difference as soon as I hit them. My misses felt better. The weight felt right. The ball jumped off the club better at impact. I was hitting a lot of good shots with what felt like very little effort. I was surprising myself.” Breakthrough of the month: The rains in February and early March sidelined Nguyen’s game for a long time, and he noticed after the layoff that he had regressed into some bad habits. He said his swing felt the same, but the results were awful. He went to Taylor for a quick tune-up and, after a few swings, was striking the ball more crisply. An important key to playing better golf is knowing where to turn when your game goes sideways. Nguyen went back to his instructor and cleaned up his fundamentals and was quickly back on track. n Jason Taylor can be reached at Jurupa Hills Country Club at (951) 685-7214. |
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