Customer Reviews

The Search for the Perfect Golf Club

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an extremely well-written book on golf equipment technology for the everyday golfer. Too many ill-informed golfers are constantly buying the "latest and greatest" golf equipment without knowing the real facts that will help them to improve their game.

Amateur golfers DO NOT have a swing like Tiger, Phil, or Vijay. So then, why do so many rush out to buy clubs that are too stiff, with too low of a loft, and driver shafts that are too long?

Here are just a few things that I learned from this book.

FACT: Most amateur golfers need a driver with AT LEAST 11 degrees of loft - and perhaps even 13 to 15 degrees. How do you know which loft will provide maximum distance for your swing? In this book are some very interesting charts that explain how to figure this out based on your swing speed (which you can have checked at a clubfitter or pro shop).

FACT: The average driver length on the PGA tour is 44.5". Most "off the rack" drivers are 45" or even 46". If the pro's can't control a driver this long, can you? There is some eye-opening data regarding shorter length drivers that can provide much better control with no loss of distance.

FACT: If you don't have a very high swing speed and a very consistent swing, you have no business with a three or four iron. This book discusses some very interesting alternatives to long irons - explaining the pros and cons of each type of club.


In addition to the extremely useful information described above, there is also a neat compilation of stories that are a result of Tom Wishon's experiences working with Payne Stewart, Tom Kite, Harvey Penick, and various other PGA legends. I highly recommend this book to ALL golfers. Think about it this way, the pros have every club in their bag completely custom fit for their swing. With the information from this book, you can have the information to have your bag custom fit for YOUR game - just like them.

Mr. Wishon knows more about club design and function than just about anyone in the world, and it shows in this book. But what could be an arid, dense subject is treated here with humor, clarity and above all, independence. There are no hidden agendas here. His ONLY objective is for the reader to learn how he or she can obtain the maximum benefit of having the right type of clubs that are made to fit adequately, considering size, ability, swing speed, type of swing, etc.
We who love the game of golf, are always on the lookout for something that will help us play just a little better than before. Reading this book, and applying its wisdom, can do that.

It necessarily has charts and some technical stuff, but I assure you, a book with this subject matter cannot be written more clearly than this one.
If you're even remotely interested in this subject matter, do yourself a favor with this book!

I highly recommend this book to everyone who plays golf. Inside the covers of this book you will have more information about golf clubs and fitting guidelines than the BIG 5 "OEM's"i.e., Titliest, Taylor Made, Ping, Calloway, etc., do not want you to know. The real reason that they spend so much of the profits "off of you" when you buy their band name clubs "Off The Rack" is; their big advertising dollars are intended to brainwash and keep you in the dark, when it comes to golf club specifications and how they are made. The standard "Off the Rack" clubs certainly are not a correct fitting that will help every individual, and your unique swinging of a golf club. The selction on golf club shaft selection is well worth the money by itself. If you are interested in improving your golf game, do yourself a big favor and not only buy, but also read this book.

Buying clubs the pros use is not always the best strategy for amateurs. Pros get to practice hours daily to groove their swings and can hit clubs weekend golfers should shy away from.

In this book, Wishon takes you through each club in the bag, from driver to putter, and tells you what to look for to fit you and your game. He cautions that people who work in golf shops may not always know how to help you find clubs that work for you. He also gives advice on how to find a good club fitter.

I recently purchased a new driver and was glad I read Tom's book before buying. Several "hot" clubhead/shaft combinations turned out not to be right for me, and I was able to use Tom's concepts to rule those out and find one that works best for me. Before reading Tom's book, I would have bought a more popular but inevitably wrong driver, thinking that I could eventually play my way into hitting it well.

Investing in Tom's book can save you a lot of money down the road by helping you buy the right club the first time.

For those that love golf, the search for equipment that can best complement our game, at any level, is akin to the search for the holy grail. A multi-billion dollar industry has grown around the mystique of finding the magic club(s) that will take your quest to the next level. In the midst of all the hype, techno-babble and sometimes just plain old fashioned snake oil, Tom Wishon has written the definitve "owners manual" for golf equipment.

His mission is simple: to explain for the average golfer how and why golf clubs work the way they do. In a breezy but easy to read technical prose, Wishon provides a very practical and timely guidebook that debunks many myths of modern golf marketing--especially the notion that off-the-rack clubs can help ANY golfers game.

The advice here is timely, and tailored to golfers of all abilities, including a special section on fitting golfers with disabilites (which we all have to some degree playing the game we love).

Highly recommended, especially for aspiring clubfitters, equipment geeks and players whose passion for the game demands the best equipment available.

If you read just one chapter of this book, read Chapter 12- Ten Things You Can Do For Your Equipment For Under $25, which will more than pay for itself if you implement half the advice given here.

Every golfer should know who Tom Wishon is, they've played the technology he's developed. When it comes to finding someone who could definitively describe what to look for in a golf club listening to Tom Wishon is like asking Mario Andretti what to look for in a high performance car. His knowledge of the technologies of golf clubs and how golfers swing that club puts him in the category of the few who "REALLY KNOW" what works and what doesn't. His previous book on Practical Club Fitting is still the standard that top notch professional fitters use today. As a consumer you owe it to yourself to become knowledgable in the products you buy and what will work for you.

Too many golfers play with clubs that simply aren't right for them and wonder why their game suffers from no improvement. Wishon takes you through step by step of the things that characterize your game and what will and will not work for you. No marketing hype, just straight forward simple analysis. No explainations that require a Ph. D. to understand either. If you swing a club you owe it to yourself to read this book, that is unless you're satisfied that the clubs in your bag are the best clubs you can obtain to fit your game.

I personally do not like to read, but I could not put this book down. I constantly found the reasoning why I liked some clubs in my bag, and the reasoning I disliked some clubs. My HC dropped 6 stokes after changes to my clubs directly suggested in this book. This is the one book the OEM golf companies don't want you to read with Tom Wishon explaining the "Vanishing loft Syndrome" that is the norm for OEM companies. This book is not written by a fly by night author who has a view in left field; it is written by a veteran club designer that gives a nice lesson in golf club history and current trends. A must read even for the Pros among us down the beginners. I have read this book twice now, it just simple makes since.

I'll keep it short. This book is full of the most common sense approaches to thinking that I've ever seen associated with golf equipment.

It not only corrects misconceptions for the everyday golfer (read: not as good as s/he wants to believe) with sound advice about more loft, shorted shafts, etc., but also delves into worlds not considered by most: fitting handicapped golfers, fitting women properly, and fitting seniors and super seniors.

A must read, and it is very readable. Chapters can be skipped around or ignored entirely, depending on your needs. Anyone needing a quick way to get educated on the ins and outs of equipment should be all over this book.

This book is one no golfer should miss. Tom Wishon's insight and experience is conveyed in an easy to read and understandable manner that will both amuse and inform you about what's really important in a golf club and what is just hype.
Don't pass this one up.

If you are a golfer you owe it to yourself to read this book! Tom Wishon is THE guru of golf club design with over 40 design firsts in the industry and he lays out the FACTS regarding golf clubs and fitting in an easy to read and understand manner.

The typical golfer has little knowledge of how golf clubs REALLY work, but more importantly they have little knowledge about how clubs can be PROPERLY FITTED to their unique swing or properly SELECTED for their set of clubs.

This book answers those questions and more. You will discover that off-the-shelf, or even so called "fitted", clubs from the major manufacturers in most cases are NOT what your game needs. Tom Wishon lays out the FACTS that golfers need to consider. This is done in a even-handed way, no marketing smoke here. For instance, if a certain golfer needs particular characteristics in a club Wishon recommends it, even if his company does NOT make that type club.

There are special sections on fitting clubs for women, seniors, and the disabled that REALLY show how ill-suited off-the-shelf clubs are. The book closes with some stories from Wishon's career that are quite enjoyable in their own right. They include his dealings with Arnold Palmer, Payne Stewart, and Harvey Penick among others.

I cannot recommend this book more highly. There has never been a book like this before and it is something that has been needed for quite some time. Don't limit your golf club education to Golf Channel infomercials. You MUST read this book if you are considering the purchase of a new club or you are unhappy with your current set.