Hudson Golf Academy Newsletter

Winter 2011

What’s your Smash Factor?

The smash factor is the ratio between ball speed and clubhead speed. Technically, the smash factor says a lot about the centeredness of impact and the solidity of your shots. In other word, there is a strong correlation between the degree of centeredness at impact and the obtained smash factor. Most amateurs are trying to achieve a high clubhead speed but don’t obtain a solid, centered impact, resulting in a relatively low smash factor. For a driver with a premium golf ball, as an amateur, your smash factor should be above 1.42 and you have elite ambitions, you should not be below 1.47. Tour Pros aim for nothing less than 1.48 as a minimum ...

Alain Théberge
Clubmaker Class A, PCS
AGCP, GCA Member

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Fall 2010

Are you looking for hybrids ?

Now that’s a smart decision. I believe the clubhead design of most hybrids would help every golfer regardless of their handicap. Hybrids are no gimmick. They do work. Why?

Moment Of Inertia (there’s that word again !)
Center of Gravity

By increasing the MOI of the clubhead , you increase the stability of the head on your miss-hits

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Second, by bringing back and lowering the C of G of the clubhead, the ball will jump off the face with a higher trajectory and that my friend, is a good thing ...

There is however, a secret for choosing the right hybrid clubs for your game. If you decide, let’s say, to replace your 3 and 4 irons in your set, make sure you bring them with you to the store or your favorite Clubmaker.

Why? Because you need to replace them with hybrids that are the same length and the same loft (of course you also need to verify the total weight, shaft flex and grip size) of those clubs. The idea is to get hybrids that will give you the same distance but are easier to hit.

In today’s market, be careful of hybrids that are really just fairway woods in disguise with their strong lofts and over-length shafts. The last thing you need is a huge distance gap between your new clubs and your irons.

Alain Théberge
Clubmaker Class A, PCS
AGCP, GCA Member