Isn't there a way to quantify forgiveness of clubs?

[lionking]

i mean there's the club types- SGI/GI/Players as well as metrics- MOI, CoG, etc.- to categorize golf clubs. then there's the maltby ratins which make absolutely no sense to me...

couldn't club mfrs. provide something that's a bit more meaningful, like shot dispersion based on swing path/club face, toe/heel hits, etc. For example, for a driver, they could provide shot dispersions for:

- 95 mph swing, out to in path (include degrees), open club face (include degrees), 0.5" towards toe: 215 yd carry, 25 yd right of target.
- include all sorts of path angle, club face angle, contact on face: carry/dispersion.

they could do these for all types of clubs. shouldn't be a big deal to do a bunch of swings on the iron byron and come up with some type of scale.

[Stretch]

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Sorry, didn't see you already looked at the Maltby ratings.

[WUTiger]

i mean there's the club types- SGI/GI/Players as well as metrics- MOI, CoG, etc.- to categorize golf clubs. then there's the maltby ratins which make absolutely no sense to me...

The Maltby Playability Factor - the original - has six categories: Player's Classic (most difficult), Classic, Conventional, Game Improvement, Super Game Improvement, and Ultra Game Improvement (easiest to hit/get airborne)

SGI/GI/Player's is a category system used by Golf Digest: It combines Maltby's top two and bottom three.

...

Dispersion will vary according to clubhead and shaft, golf ball used, and the characteristics of your swing. You get this information by going onto a launch monitor. Average dispersion patterns wouldn't give you much individual information.

Also, Iron Byron is not a simulated human being. It's simply a robot which hits golf balls to test balls and equipment for consistency. Also, Bryon is only about 5 feet tall. How tall are you?

[leo3]

Way too many variables to even begin to rate a clubs forgiveness level with any amount of accuracy for a given individual. The OEM's have forgiveness guidelines, but ultimately the only way to judge a clubs performance for your swing is by hitting balls.

[lionking]

Way too many variables to even begin to rate a clubs forgiveness level with any amount of accuracy for a given individual. The OEM's have forgiveness guidelines, but ultimately the only way to judge a clubs performance for your swing is by hitting balls.

yes, if you wanted to measure an absolute measure of forgivness there are too many variables. however, there are only a few major variables that really matter: swing speed, swing path (both laterally and vertically), club face angle at impace, impact position (center/toe/heel/high/low). take drivers from all in stock shaft/settings (similar loft) and program the iron byron to hit the ball with all drivers using the same swing and record results (distance, dispersion). change the swing settings and record results. you would have a table that would resemeble something like:

Club | Swing Speed | Path | Club face | Impact Position | Distance | Avg. Dispersion Nike DYMO2 | 95 mph | 3 deg out to in| 3 deg open| 0.5" toe | 215 | 25 yds right Ping G15 | 95 mph | 3 deg out to in| 3 deg open| 0.5" toe | 212 | 18 yds right and so on... i'd imagine that with a bunch of data points like this will be very useful to identify the most forgiving drivers for all types of swings, drivers that offer the best combination of distance/dispersion, as well as finding the right driver for a person's game/swing.