Other companies offer "Custom Fitted" clubs..... Why is MTM Golf any different?

 

Prior to 1920 golf clubs were all handmade for the individual concerned. After 1920 and the invention of the steel golf shaft, golf clubs began to be mass produced and sold off the shelf. At this point in time a "standard length" golf club was born. What criteria, statistical data or scientific evidence were used to define this standard is not known! This standard is still in use today with minimal length differences between different manufacturers. During the nineteen seventies Karsten Solheim founder of the "Ping golf company" introduced "custom Fitting" to the golf market. There have been some small adjustments and elaborations but the same "custom Fitting" methods are today's accepted norm for personalising the length of golf clubs.

The whole concept of standard golf clubs and the custom fitting methods derived from this standard are fundamentally flawed for the following reasons;

1: As mentioned there is no solid foundation for the "standard length" and no explanation for its existence, i.e. what criteria, statistical data or scientific evidence were used to define it. This would not be accepted in a scientific debate.

2: Since 1920 there has been a dramatic increase in the average height of human beings. This increase has been completely ignored by the golf industry. If the standard length golf club had increased proportionally to the increase in average height, then the standard length today would be around 3 inches 7,62cm longer.   The maximum increase in golf club length when using a "custom fitting" method is only 2 inches 5,08cm. Setup Engineering and MTM Golf can produce a golf club up to 7½ inches 19,05cm above the traditional standard.

3: MTM Golf has concrete evidence that golf clubs prior to 1920 were often longer than today's standard and/or clubs derived from custom fitting methods, despite the golfers being considerably smaller.

4: The simple mathematics contained in MTM's "Setup Engineering" measuring system shows conclusively that present custom fitting methods are inadequate. Custom fitting forces golfers of varying heights into different starting positions; in the majority of cases a correct starting position is impossible. This creates problems within the golf swing which result in loss of efficiency and power.

5:  Setup Engineering defines a biomechanically correct starting position, the golfers individual anatomical measurements are processed using trigonometry and computer software, which calculates the optimum golf club length. From this calculation, handmade, "Made To Measure" (MTM) Golf clubs are produced ensuring an optimal starting position for every golfer, increasing efficiency and power and reducing the possibility of injuries.

 

 

In golf, hitting a perfect golf stroke is the primary objective. The outcome of the shot will be determined by the golfer's body and the interaction with their golf club.

 

The science of biomechanics confirms that there is an optimal starting position for each person. This starting position is referred to in golf as the address position or the Setup position.

From the origins of golf the average height of a north European male has increased by around 20cm over 7 ½ inches. Golf club lengths have remained unchanged. As a result the majority of golfers are forced into an unnaturally bent Setup position. This creates difficulties with the body rotation which affects both the performance and health of the golfer. It is an obvious fact that club length affects the Setup position.

Setup Engineering the patented measuring system from MTM Golf analyses the individual anatomical proportions of each golfer, this information is then processes using the pre determined angles of a perfect setup position and trigonometry. Our online software can calculate your perfect golf club specifications.

MTM Golf can produce golf clubs with much greater variation in golf club length to accommodate for the diversity of human height. All of our golf clubs conform to the rules of golf as set forth by the "Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews."

MTM Golf has 4 different club head weights which means that we can maintain the balance or swingweight of the golf club whatever its length.

In traditional custom fitting methods the lie angle of the golf club is often made more upright for taller players. Setup Engineering is designed that an optimum angle exists between the golf club shaft and the players hands which promotes a correct grip or hold on the club. In such a position the efficiency of the wrist joint is enhanced. If a golf club is made more upright then the optimum angle will become distorted and the wrist movement will be restricted, there comes a point where the correct grip is destroyed. Therefore in Setup Engineering we do not alter the lie angle as there is no necessity to do so.

The methods of MTM Golf and Setup Engineering are based on scientific evidence.

 

 

That is not correct, there are lots of companies offering "custom fitting" where the clubs are made for my body!

Setup Engineering defines a biomechanically correct starting position, your individual anatomical measurements are processed using trigonometry to produce an MTM Golf club which ensures an optimal starting position.  No other company can offer you this! 

 "Custom Fitting" forces golfers of varying heights into different starting positions in the majority of cases a correct starting position is not possible.

 

Other companies make clubs longer for taller players, I'm 6 feet 3 and my clubs are 1 inch longer than standard!

In "Custom Fitting" minimal adjustments are made in golf club lengths for taller players, to a maximum of 1½ or 2 inches over standard. Each company offering custom fitting has a different standard length and a different fitting method regarding the length of club, which one are we to assume is correct? "Custom fitting" is based on the "standard" length, We at MTM Golf have tried to find an explanation about how this standard length was determined, what criteria, statistical data or scientific evidence were used to define it. We found nothing! We have asked the same questions regarding "Custom Fitting" and we also found no answers! Regarding the golfer of 6 feet 3, in a nutshell the club is too small!

 

Tiger Woods, the most successful player of our time, is 6 feet 1 inches tall and plays with "custom fitted" clubs, his clubs must be correct or he would not play so well.

In 1920 the average height of males in north Europe was around 5 feet 7 inches, today the younger generation are over 6 feet tall, like Tiger Woods. If standard golf clubs fitted average height golfers in 1920, then by definition they cannot fit the average of today.  Tiger Woods and other tour pros have played golf from childhood, they are sportsmen who train both their technique and physical fitness to attain better performance and can endure more bodily stress than the average golfer.  If you wanted to sweep a courtyard, then you would be happier with a broom which was the correct comfortable length for your body size. A healthy and fit person could sweep the courtyard and get it very clean with a broom which was clearly too small. But why would you? If you have the choice the correct length broom is obviously the better option. At the point of writing this text Tiger Woods is out of the game due to a recurring knee injury, why?

 

If a golf club is 20 cm longer than normal it will become more difficult to control!

Thanks to Setup Engineering the golfer is brought into his or her optimal biomechanical starting position. This has a very positive effect on the body movement which improves technique and performance. In a very short time armatures have won their club championships playing MTM Golf clubs in a number of different countries, Austria, Canada and Germany, golf Professionals have also won professional tournaments.

 

If the MTM Golf System is so great then surely the larger companies would have developed something similar much sooner.

Necessity is the mother of invention and the larger companies had no necessity.  Of course golf clubs have changed particularly in new materials and technology, however large companies use tour pros as a test bed for their equipment and "Iron Byron" (a machine that hits golf balls). This ignores the individual needs of the amateur golfer. As PGA Golf professionals with collectively over 50 years experience of teaching amateur golfers, seeing hobby golfers time after time struggle to make an efficient and dynamic movement from a stooped and restricting setup position which had been created by the equipment, this was the seed of necessity.