This Is Why Gurbaaz Mann Is The World’s Best Club-Fitter

JW: Hello, Baaz. Thank you for taking time to talk today. In our opening interview, you told us a bit about your background. But, today I want to talk about club-fitting and your particular set of skills.

GM: Sounds good.

JW: O.K., then. My first question is meant to draw a line between what we are told and what you know. Therefore, let me first ask, what differentiates your methods from others?

GM: My method works on contact (club head and ball relationship with respect to components) -backward to the player, rather than player and body toward the contact. Let me explain, in detail.

Current certified teaching methods worldwide follow the – Grip, Posture, Stance, Alignment, Aim, and Plane – format (not necessarily in that order).
         
My method, of Positive Correlation, follows a priority list from beginning to end. Lie of Ball is first. Then, I consider the club face at address, lie and length of club (dictated by hand position of player), shaft dynamics (weight, material, flex etc), grip of the club (size, texture,etc.), dynamic weight of the club, grip of the player, posture, stance, alignment, aim, and plane.

Why these preliminary steps? Assume a 13 year old with a hand postion of 24 inches from the ground wants to play a 3-wood at the men’s market standard (43.5 now! @ D2-D6 swing weight) instead of a junior set. Here is what is going to go wrong assuming the current certified methods:

1) Their grip will become strong because they adopt a much higher hand position (31 inches) with the assumed “need to see 2 knuckles”.

2) Posture is compromised by positioning their arms well outside the shoulder line and decreasing their spine angle at address. They will produce even more straightening at impact with arms, possibly, much higher.

3) Their stance will become too wide with straightened knees.

4) Alignment, needless to say, starts going right for right-handlers. It produces disconnections between their shoulders, hips, and feet due to lie angle, flatter arm plane, and right to left ball flight.

5) Their aim becomes skewed with different lofts, lengths/lie. Generally, aim is to the right for a right-handed golfer and to the left for a left-handed golfer.

6) Their swing plane is adversely affected, too. Because their club is too heavy and too upright, they adopt a strong grip and high takeaway, which lead to an inside-out, downswing re-route.

Furthermore, kids always adapt with an over-swing or have a backswing that is well past parallel. Their leading foot is invariably off the ground through impact – leading to their head dropping to the right with insufficient balance to finish well. But, HERE IS THE REAL ISSUE….

The player, after repetition and practice, has found a way of compensating to make the club work. We must understand that the COMPENSATIONS are INVOLUNTARY MOTION. Single or multiple COMPENSATIONS are making the player COMPETENT with the club in their hands.

JW: Absolutely right. That’s the recipe for disaster.

GM: Here are the problems their coach/teacher will battle:

1) Video analysis will force a grip change to little success.

2) The shaft defines the plane. And, the length of the shaft, which is their real problem, makes it impossible to deliver the clubhead relatively more ‘on plane’. In fact, the certified methods that instructors will use actually makes the player INCOMPETENT compared to their COMPENSATED swing. Teachers hit a road block, as a result, and are not able to fix certain issues. According to me, ‘the golf swing is a combined result of what has been learned as IDEAL VOLUNTARY MOTION (learned either through body-movement self-awareness or instruction), compensations to equipment, and turf conditions.’

3) Teachers are teaching better GOLF SWINGS, but not necessarily better GOLF SHOTS. The former is merely a promise of the latter. But, scoring results are clearly a consequence of better golf shots. Golf swings are the responsibility of the player. Better golf shots require the player and the equipment to cooperate. Our entire industry is based on teaching the GOLF SWING and yet no two players in the world swing it the same through the bag.   

My Method centres around the GOLF SHOT, which means I concentrate on:

1) Contact – centeredness, divot pattern, and compression (smash, spin)

2) Ball flight – high, low, mid, draw, fade etc., and

3) Control – shot shaping, spin control, and club face orientation/awareness 

In my experience- IF THE CLUB WON’T ALLOW IT THE SWING CANNOT ACHIEVE IT. 

JW: That is a very complete thought, Gurbaaz. Thank you for expanding your answers, by the way. My second question is, whose clubfitting or scientific work inspires your own? 

GM: Lloyd E. Hackman (Inventor of the Fitchip), Dr. Ajit Chaudhry, OHIO STATE, and Katsuhiro Miura

JW: I recognize Miura. His club’s have sort of set the standard for upscale, custom-fitting. I think he just made Tiger’s new iron sets. I’ll look into Hackman and Chaudhry and report back. For now, however, let me ask an industry question. I’m interested in getting your opinion on whether or not, under current rules, manufacturers have any more technology on the horizon?

GM: There are only so many materials on the planet earth. And, cost-effective production must conform to R&A and USGA legal guidelines. Therefore, our club heads aren’t any better than they were ten years ago. The forging process of iron heads moved to CNC production that changes the aesthetics of the back of the club with every new model. But, the basic club face, design dimensions are practically the same. Different grades of metal give us little-to-marginal improvement, and sometimes less. Our club head is pretty much static. Our shaft, however, is bending and torquing, which changes the orientation of our club face in relation to our hands and grip.

The shaft industry will eventually control the game of golf. As soon as they know exactly how to match a persons unique acceleration signature through the bag with multiple shot shapes, we will move forward. For example, the technology for measuring the added kick of our shaft as a part of club-head speed has not yet been implemented. However, when developed, it will make the shaft industry more important than the club head industry. I dare say I have a good idea of how this can be done.

At that point, club heads will be reduced to the prices of common tools. It’s just metal in the end. However, in the mean time, my advice to golfers is when you find a club that you are completely satisfied with, don’t change just because the manufacturer has promised better technology.       

JW: Speaking of developing methods to further subdivide component performance, do you think manufacturers are trying to distract us? Do you have any opinion on how marketing is used to sell golf clubs and services? 

GM: Golf clubs are meant to perform better with each new model. But, my experience tells me that the honeymoon period is exactly a week of concentrated golf before seven out of ten players miss their previous clubs. The reason is because our learned response with the previous clubs doesn’t match our new ones, and our timing has been thrown off completely.

For example, top tennis players use the same rackets with the same tension and grip size throughout their careers. How come they don’t change every year to newer technology?!

JW: (Eyebrow raise)

GM: There – I’ve just hit a chord, haven’t I? We see the same dynamic with craftsmen and their tools, surgeons and their scalpels, or musicians and their favourite instruments.

Marketing is done by advertising the newer Driver faces to launch our ball faster for longer ball-flight. SHOULDN’T THIS CALL FOR A LAW SUIT?! The parameters have already been set. So if a ball were to fly longer with every model by a yard then, in ten years, you are longer by ten yards. And I’m sure that would interest the R&A and USGA. Our rules experts would have to investigate the legality of golf balls. Therefore, the marketing may be ILLEGAL.

The same goes for club heads. Some people have actually gained distance. But, that happened over several years due to better shaft timing and better shaft construction. With every passing year, the high-modulus graphite is making it possible to achieve lighter weight, lower torque, and relatively higher stiffness with less material.

I can prove that a legal titanium club made in the late 90’s and early 2000’s will go equally long or longer at 380 – 400 cc than the 460 heads today – purely by installing the right shafts. And, yet, nobody advertises the shaft to be 10-15 miles faster with the same effort. The CLUB HEAD hype is absolutely UNTRUE and FALSE MARKETING TO SELL!  

JW: O.K. Then. Since we are moving into clever marketing versus complete manufacturing honesty, I’ll ask a question that may make a material difference to the golfing public. What is the most material thing, in your opinion, that the club-fitting industry is keeping from the public?

GM: COST of PRODUCTION and actual margins of profit are a complete mismatch. SHOCKING DISPARITY. There are some better final-product, assembly processes available in manufacturing, but they are bypassed due to expense.

JW: Before we stop, would you comment about industry-standard club set-up, swing weight, and measurements?

GM: Sure. The average club is made for a golfer with a hand position, at setup, that is 30-31 inches off the ground. But, only 20-30 percent of players fall in this zone. The swing weight scale is obsolete due to change in shaft weights. And, the club heads are still manufactured at 7 gms apart for every half an inch based on swing weight and yet no two sets fall at a desired weight when bought.  

JW: Ladies and Gentlemen – Gurbaaz Mann.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy