About
Profile
| About | About Golf Gear Lab (Score 72) |
|---|---|
| Title | Golf gear research nerd |
| Research | Studying how golf clubs are made (head materials and construction, weight placement, shafts, assembly) |
| Scoring average | 72 |
| Best score | 68 |
| Rounds per year | 150 |
| My measured distances | 7-iron 160 yards / Driver 270 yards |
| Contact | Contact form |
| Advertising | Advertising and sponsored articles (in Japanese) |
I love poring over spec sheets
I'm a nerd who studies golf gear. Every time a new model comes out, I pore over the official spec sheet and technical materials.
To a nerd's eye, catalog numbers are numbers for individual parts: head weight, shaft weight, grip weight. The total weight and swing weight of the finished club change with how the length is set and which grip is chosen.
So on this site, I translate official numbers into “once it's built, what happens to the person hitting it?” Even with the same “S” label, weight and stiffness aren't the same across makers. I compare numbers, not names.
Why I built this site
When I look at numbers, there's one thing I care about most: not mistaking the lucky end of the spread for real ability.
Reading golf gear reviews, I see this mistake everywhere. Most “I switched and gained 5 yards” stories are memories of one or two balls. Hit 10 balls with the same club and they easily vary by 20 yards or more. Pick the best one out of those, and you can call any club “long.”
That's why I built a site that lines up official manufacturer numbers and compares clubs by how they're made. For products I have hit or used, I put the numbers and my impressions from that range in the article. Products I have not hit or used (ones I only handled in a shop, or ones not yet on sale) are written up separately and labeled as such.
Policy for publishing measurements
- The launch monitor and location are stated in each article with measurements (articles that used TrackMan or similar give the date, place and conditions)
- When comparing, I hit on the same day with the same ball and the same club, alternating A→B→A→B (to cancel out the effect of warming up).
- The raw data I used, all 10 balls, goes in the article.
What I can't do. I'm not a coach. I don't give swing lessons or promise lower scores. What I can write about is the official numbers and how to read them.
Editorial policy
I print numbers I could read in official materials from the makers, plus numbers I measured myself (labeled as such). What I hit or used, I write as hit or used; what I did not hit or use (handled only in a shop, or not yet on sale) I write up separately. When I find a mistake, I fix it and move the article's updated date forward. Whether a link pays me or not has no effect on the numbers or the order.
The logging tool I use
To record and total my measurements, I use my own Shot Dispersion Notebook. It's free to use, so you can follow the same steps.