Old vs New Golf Clubs: How We Gained 30 Yards Instantly

⛳ Upgrading to modern golf clubs can add nearly 30 yards of distance without changing your swing technique.

🛠️ Worn grooves on older wedges reduce backspin, causing the ball to roll much farther after landing.

📊 Launch angle and spin rate are the two most important numbers to monitor during a wedge fitting.

🚀 Newer club technology allows manufacturers to strengthen lofts while maintaining ideal launch windows.

🎯 Getting fit for clubs ensures you maximize stopping power and accuracy, especially on short shots.

🔄 Even with similar swing and technique, club technology alone can dramatically impact performance.

👨‍🔬 Regular club fitting is crucial for golfers still using equipment from the early 2000s, as new tech offers significant advantages.

00:00:00Fantastic outfit choices. >> Oh, you as well. >> Yeah. Like we definitely didn't coordinate this, but like we've been trying to do this for a long time. So, this this worked out really well. This will make this big this big day. So, we've got two clubs here. What we're going to do is we're going to test some stuff out. So, I've got some old irons. This is an X18 from Callaway and a Mazuno wedge. The the iron's from like 2005. The wedge is from 2011, 2012ish.

00:00:22So, these are super old. So, what we're going to do is I'm going to have you hit these and then we're going to take your current clubs that you were actually fit for and just compare the two between each other. Okay. So, we'll start with the wedge. We'll hit some wedge shots. Then we'll move to the 7 iron and we'll talk about the data and just the differences that exist and why fitting is so important. >> Sounds good. Let's do it.

00:00:44[Music] >> Wedge testing time. >> Oh, yeah. So, we have this Mazuno from what I think I said it was like 2011ish, 2012, somewhere in there. So, this this is obviously been around for a long time. Um, but what we're going to have you do is we're going to have you hit four shots of about 40 yards. So, I want you to try to carry this. I've got a green up here. Got a flag at exactly 40 yards. You're going to hit four shots. Basically, whatever you would do normally for a 40 yard. We'll get the

00:01:09data. Then, we'll have you hit your wedge, which is also a 56°ree. And we'll do the comp of just the differences and similarities. >> Cool. Cool. So, 40 yard shot. Okay. Yeah, I changed. >> That's probably too hard.

00:01:27>> Nope. That's perfect. >> Nice. >> So, landed at 36. All I'm looking for is the carry distance to be around 40. >> Okay. >> Doesn't have to be exactly 40, but that's where the plus or minus is going to come in.

00:01:43>> Okay. So, Lexi, you now have your brand new Callaway Opus SP wedge, which stands for super powerful. >> Um, I actually don't know what spin pocket. >> Spin pocket. There you go. So, see, you taught me something. >> Oh, yeah. >> Um, so now we're going to hit do the exact same thing. So, I want you to hit some 40 yard shots. Okay. Um, and we're going to comp the launch, the spin, >> and we'll compare that to what the Mazuno wedge does. >> Sounds good. >> But now you can add some speed to it.

00:02:22That was good.

00:02:28So, here we are. Let's compare the data. So, you've got your Mazuno wedge on the top, your Callaway on the bottom. Okay, you actually had the exact same carry distance on average, which is super helpful for this comparison. But, this is pretty common. This is why doing a wedge fitting is super important. What you obviously probably sticks out to you is just the backspin number. >> Yeah. >> Right. So you're right around 4500 with the Mizuno. Obviously when you have

00:02:48older worn grooves on a wedge, what tends to happen is the ball rides up the face and doesn't spin as much. So what you'll generally see with older wedges is the ball will typically launch a little higher and spin a little less. Your launch was a little bit lower with the Mazuno. Again, it's why you go through a fitting. But the back spin number was almost uh like 1,200 RPMs different. So you were at 4530 there. You were at 5670 there. So call it,00 and some change. So that's a pretty big jump

00:03:15>> just with a new wedge. >> Okay, that's really what you're going to see with a lot of these wedges when you go through a fitting is your stopping power, right? Um the two numbers that that we talk to coaches about and that I worry about in a wedge fitting are the launch angle and the spin rate. Okay. Typically, I'm looking for a launch somewhere under 32. So you were under in both of them. You were 31 and 27 there. So that number is great. And then a backspin number close to 6,000. Okay. um

00:03:39you had 5670 versus 4530. So big difference there. That's why doing a wedge fitting is super important because when you're hitting these 40 50 60 yard shots, you want the ball to land and stop basically where you're hitting it. Yeah. >> Okay. With the old wedge, if you were using that Mazuno wedge in your bag, you basically have to plan for call it 10 to 15 yards of roll. That's really hard to to do when you're not playing a ton or when you don't practice a ton, right?

00:04:04Then you have to bring in all of the different factors that go into the green, like what are the slopes doing? What's the read? Like that just makes it much harder versus if you can hit a wedge like this where it carries about 40 yards and stops at call it 42 or 43. Now you're not really having to worry about all that. >> Yeah. >> Seem okay there. >> Yeah. Very cool. Why so why is it that you look for a launch angle under 32? >> So with sim similar to what I was

00:04:27talking about with worn grooves, right? Typically, when you have wedges that have uh grooves that are older or that are less uh like that are less new, what the ball will do is if you imagine my hand is like the face of the wedge, the ball will hit and then just roll up the face. So, as the ball rolls higher on the face, it's going to then launch higher. Okay? >> Makes sense? Versus if you've got fresh grooves, that ball is going to grab a lot quicker, launch a lot lower with a

00:04:50lot more spin, which is why you see the best players in the world hitting a lot of those lower kind of pitch shots that take those two or three bounces and then stop. >> Okay. Very interesting. >> So, those two numbers are the big ones to pay attention to, but really, really cool to see with the new wedge, just the difference that it can make. >> Super cool. Lot of offset in this club. >> Lot of offset. It's probably pretty heavy. I think there's some jumbo grips

00:05:11on there. So, this is definitely not fit for for Lexi, which is totally fine. Uh, but it does serve the purpose for what we're trying to do today. So, let's hit a few shots with this. Uh, like I said, we'll get some baseline numbers. We'll take a look at the fitting software, and we'll just see where you're at. Whoa. Oo. >> So, pretty straight. >> Wow. >> Maybe I do like this club.

00:05:35>> Okay. So, Lexi, you now have your 7iron. This is what you were fit for. Okay. So, we've got the baseline numbers for the X18 that you were hitting. Y. Now, I want you to hit your Mazuno 925 hot metal. Okay. Okay. And then we'll go over to the screen over here and we'll do a comparison. >> Awesome. Sounds good.

00:05:597ir moment of truth, right? We had the Callaway X18 versus your JPX 925. So, >> what is really interesting here, your backspin numbers are pretty close. You've got about, call it 150, 200 RPMs of difference between the old one and the new one. Yep. >> Okay. Um, offline pretty similar. You hit them both pretty straight. Descent angles pretty similar. You're within a degree. Okay. Uh, what's really cool here is the ball speed. Obviously, that's the newer technology, right? You

00:06:25have a club that was built in the early 2000s up here. Um, gonna have some differences obviously in the shaft that's in there, the loft of the club, obviously the tech in the head versus your new one. So, ball speed in the X8 X18s was 94 mph. In your Mazunos, it's 108. >> That's crazy. >> That's why you saw the golf ball go basically 27 y further. >> Yeah. >> As far as carry distance. Okay. So, uh, that coupled with the launch angle being a little lower. You were at 185 here

00:06:56versus basically 23 with the Callaway. So, some of that has to do with the lofts of the clubs, right? The X18 is the standard loft there in a 7iron was 33°. I think your Mazuno is like 28 or 29 now. So, uh, big 4° difference there and just the loft of the club just statically. The big reason for that is obviously is club manufacturers are building new clubs with new technology. If they kept the lofts the same, your launch angles would get super super high and it would be like you're hitting a

00:07:25eight iron, nine iron pitching wedge or something. So, it's why a lot of the lofts have gotten stronger. It's because of the tech that they're using in the heads to achieve the ideal launch windows. That's what they've needed to do. Okay. But what's really cool is basically all of your numbers stayed exactly the same, but you hit it, >> call it 27 almost 30 yards further >> because of the new tech. So you still have the stopping power like your descent angle still close like your back

00:07:49spin's still pretty similar. Obviously would I like to see those maybe a touch higher for you? Sure. But you can see just on the gauges like all this stuff looks fairly similar other than the launch angle and then obviously the distance piece as well. >> Yeah. Wow. So cool. It's crazy to see the difference. >> So I mean again this is an extreme example, right? I'm hoping nobody out there's playing clubs from 2005. You might be. I don't know. Uh, but if you are, this should be a pretty big eye

00:08:14opener for you to like go get fit because this can make a big difference in your game. Like if you came in hitting these clubs and were complaining to me about not hitting the ball far enough, I could put something in your hands that gives you almost 30 yards. Like you didn't have to change anything technique-wise. It's not like we talked about your takeaway or your grip or how you hit the ball. It's literally just here's a new club. Try this. >> Can make a huge difference.

00:08:35>> Yeah. And that's almost 30 yards from a seven iron, which is the craziest part, >> right? So now when you have a 130 yard shot into a green, you're hitting a probably a 9 iron. >> Yeah. >> In this set >> versus you'd be hitting a 7 iron in the red set. So that can make a huge difference when it comes to score. I don't care how good you are with your seven iron. If I gave you a 9 iron, you're probably going to hit it closer. Yeah. >> Okay. It's just statistics. It's just

00:08:55math. That's how it works. So being closer to the hole, hitting the ball further just makes the game that much easier. >> Yeah, definitely. >> So if you haven't, this is your this is your opportunity here. You need to go get fit. This is like the shameless plug here. you got to go do this. Like, this is super important. This really helps you with your game. This is going to make a big difference throughout your bag. Go find somebody who knows what they're doing. Go get fit because you

00:09:17could see changes like this if you're playing some old technology.

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