Interchangeable Equipment : Awful

[pjsnyc]

Agreed. But I was thinking more along the lines of being able to buy a new clubhead without the expense of a new shaft. Of course, each of the OEMs use a different connection method.

I see your point...but I guess I'd also be a bit weary knowing that I snapped the head into place as opposed to having it attached via epoxy, etc...Just a mental thing I guess

[kfowler]

It's so stupid, this interchangeable concept on clubs. It just gives in to the let's have everything come easy in life and not work at anything attitude that this country is promoting to the rest of the world.

The early golfers probably thought the same way when different lofted clubs were introduced. I can hear them now. "A real man only needs one club to play golf!"

Whether interchangeable parts is a gimmick or not, only time will tell. I have no issue with them trying it. Golf is so mental anyway. If it makes you more confident when standing over the ball that you "think" you have the right shaft for the day then go for it.

[iacas]

What do you suppose the next iteration of driver heads will look like? A triangle?

We've already had triangles. Tour Burner, 907D1...

Maxing out the MOI is one thing. Getting the best all-around performance is another.

[JimmyDoesGolf]

Heres 1 vote for Hexagons as the next driver head shape.

[rudygu]

Is Phil really using interchangeable/configurable clubs? I find that hard to believe (I may have seen a commercial, but that doesn't count).

I don't know if he uses the i-mix clubs or not, but he uses different head/shaft conigurations for different course conditions. I'm sure there are plenty of PGA Tour players that do this, but I think Phil switches a lot more often than most...as in he'll use different drivers on different days in the same tournament, etc.

[Klean]

I don't think the touring pros need the interchangable head/shafts. Most golf companies have tour vans at every event. So they have access to every possible club combination/spec of their choice.

[JYB]

lol none of their stuff is "interchangeable".

Look, from playing guitar for the past 10 years i know this to be a fact : the more parts there are in the way to get your guitar into your amp, the more your sound is going to be effected.

It's the same way in golf. The more you put in the way of getting your club to meet the goddamned ball, the more your swing is going to be effected.

Keep the game simple. Take a club. Swing and the club hits the ball. The Ball goes towards the hole. Put the ball in the hole.

Yes, getting your equipment fitted HELPS in getting that ball in the hole but having some interchangeable moving parts on the head or shaft of your club is not the way to make that happen. Keep things simple, keep them SOLID.

[iacas]

lol none of their stuff is "interchangeable".

Not quite.They change the screws in the r7 425 type drivers fairly frequently to tweak ballflight, sometimes for wind, sometimes for courses or other conditions, etc.

[pjsnyc]

...Maxing out the MOI is one thing. Getting the best all-around performance is another.

True that...how did the powers that be decide on the highest MOI allowed anyway? Why not just let the manufacturers create whatever they feel (keeping it at a max of 460 cc)? Why have two maxes?

[iacas]

True that...how did the powers that be decide on the highest MOI allowed anyway? Why not just let the manufacturers create whatever they feel (keeping it at a max of 460 cc)? Why have two maxes?

I think having limits makes sense, especially given perhaps undiscovered materials or ways of creating clubs. We could for example discover some new type of Titanium or another kind of metal altogether, or a carbon process, that lets you create drivers with otherworldly MOI, and you could swing the thing as fast as possible and the ball would still go straight when mis-hit badly... and then where would we be?

They decided on the highest MOI by taking the current high-MOI drivers, adding a bit of padding to that to leave a little room for innovation (if manufacturers chose) to go beyond, and set the number there.

[Stacey_E]

Interchangeable clubs are an awesome idea - for the club companies. They are perfect for tech junkies who want to blame their equiptment for everything wrong with their scores. I admit interchangeable clubs are quite efficient during a fitting session. I think this is how they started and should have stayed. We're reaching a point of diminishing returns in club design and the companies have to find new ways to fleece the golfers who don't realize that sometimes it's the archer and not the bow.

[CPHoya]

We're reaching a point of diminishing returns in club design and the companies have to find new ways to fleece the golfers who don't realize that sometimes it's the archer and not the bow.

That's surely part of it, but for a lot of golfers it's also the "innocent fun" of shopping that makes them impulse buy new stuff. I'm pretty sure most golfers recognize that the archer comes before the bow, while at the same time there

are times when new stuff does bring immediate improvement (like a fitting, or someone replacing a driver from '97, etc.). I really think the golf ball advertising stresses the immediate improvement more than the club advertising. That's the part that cracks me up - finding Pro V1s all over the course always cracks me up, because there just cannot be that many golfers capable of compressing the ball adequately to get much advantage out of that ball, and it's the best selling ball in the world! The shaft thing just seems like a horrible idea. If you're a tinkerer I can understand wanting to try it, but that has to be a pretty small market. You have to lug shafts to the course, tinker with your trajectory, interchange them . . . what a pain in the ass.

[golf_junkie27]

The shaft thing just seems like a horrible idea. If you're a tinkerer I can understand wanting to try it, but that has to be a pretty small market. You have to lug shafts to the course, tinker with your trajectory, interchange them . . . what a pain in the ass.

This would only be true if you did not get fitted for both of those shafts. If you did, don't you think having two high end shafts, which Callaway is making available, combined with the right head, ideal?

If I were in the market for a new driver and had $500 to spend, it would be a steal. It would be two drivers with high end shafts for the price of one.