How to Put New Clubs Into Play

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Rory McIlroy put a bag full of new clubs into play this week in Abu Dhabi, and the results were not what he or anyone else expected. You can learn a lot about putting new equipment in play from Rory's week in the desert.

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Jon Tattersall

PGA.com

Problem Area: Fundamentals
Series: Lesson Learned

There were two big stories this past week. The first was Rory McIlroy putting a bag full of new equipment into play. And the second was the fact that he missed the cut in Abu Dhabi - by quite a margin.

You can’t blame the arrow for the aim of the archer. Rory had a week of bad timing and two-sided misses, but it certainly didn’t help that he didn’t have a go-to club in his arsenal, one that he could fall back on; one he had plenty of good memories of hitting.

That is the biggest lesson you can learn from Rory’s experience last week. When putting new equipment into play, work your way into the process. Start by replacing one club and then two, and then a few more. You can certainly replace the entire bag at once – manufacturers would certainly love it if you do – but you can expect there to be a transition period. The new clubs might be perfect for you, but until you get reps under your belt, you probably won’t feel as comfortable with your new set as you did with your old one.

Here are some other things to consider when putting new equipment into play:

1. Get some baseline numbers with your old stuff. Launch monitors are cheap and readily available, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find your ball speed, launch angle, spin ratios, angle of attack, and smash factor.

2. When testing new equipment, make sure the ball speed increases and that your spin and launch angle match up. A PGA professional can help you in analyzing your speed, spin and launch.

3. If you find a new driver that you launch higher with less spin and greater ball speed, put it in play immediately and enjoy your new game. But a club’s look, sound, and feel are important elements in those numbers remaining consistent. Make sure you are as comfortable with how a club looks and sounds as you are with the numbers it produces.

4. If you’re putting new irons in the bag, make sure the bounce fits your angle of attack. Anybody can fit you for loft and lie, but how the club passes through the turf where you make contact is crucial when making a change.

5. Know your gaps – the gap in distance between your shortest hybrid and your longest iron and the distance gap between your wedges are things you will want to know and consider when assembling a set. It’s not crucial that you have a club for every distance, but it is important that you have a shot for every condition. When testing new equipment, hit a lot of less-than-full shots with every club.

No matter how much testing you do, understand that, just like Rory, you'll never know everything about your new clubs until you test them in a stressful situation. So lower your expectations. Nobody is looking for you to set a course record your first trip out. Even if you're the world's No. 1 ranked player. 

Ravens Getting Bigger At Running Back A Possibility

Posted Jan 13, 2014

Garrett DowningBaltimoreRavens.com Staff Writer@Ravens All Garrett Downing Articles



The NFL playoffs have shown that power running games can still get the job done in the NFL.


Maybe power running games aren’t out of style after all.

For all of the attention paid to the NFL’s shift to a pass-driven league, the weekend of playoff football showed that a strong running game can still get the job done in January. Every team that advanced to the conference championships – New England, Denver, Seattle and San Francisco – relied on a strong running game in their wins over the weekend.

Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount rumbled for 166 yards and four touchdowns. New England had 234 total rushing yards on 46 carries, compared to just 25 passing attempts for future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady.

Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns in a win over the Saints. The 49ers and Broncos both topped 100 total rushing yards in their victories.

Neither Brady nor Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw any touchdowns.

The hard-nosed running style on display was something that Baltimore lacked throughout the season, and the Ravens could add a big-bodied running back to the mix as they work to rebuild the running game this offseason.

“Yes, I think we need to diversify as much as we can what guys can do,” Head Coach John Harbaugh said when asked at his season-ending press conference about signing a bigger back .

“I’ve had a lot of conversations with Ozzie [Newsome] and with Eric [DeCosta] and our different scouts about that, and our coaches, too. Yes, we want to have as many weapons as we can at our disposal. Big backs, fast backs, quick backs, route-running backs that you see around the league – we want to chase all those guys.”

The Ravens had a variety of issues in the running game this season, as the offensive line struggled and running backs Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce both dealt with injuries. Adding a big back to the rotation would give the Ravens a different look coming out of the backfield.

Rice (5-foot-8, 212 pounds), is known as an elusive playmaker and Pierce (6-0, 218) is a one-cut runner who likes to get outside the tackles. A big back like Blount (6-0, 250) would provide a change-of-pace and could help power through holes in short yardage situations.

The Ravens haven’t used a big running back since Ricky Williams (5-10, 230) was on the team in 2011, but they have featured big backs in the past. Fullback Le’Ron McClain (6-0, 260) was a featured back during Harbaugh’s first season in 2008, carrying 232 times for 902 yards. The Ravens also had Willis McGahee (6-0, 230) from 2007-2010.

The Ravens are looking at a variety of options to improve the running game after finishing the year with 83 rushing yards per game to rank 30th in the league. Harbaugh stressed after the season that he wants to have a hard-nosed team that can overpower opponents, and bringing in a powerful running back could be part of that equation.

“We philosophically believe – in being a rough, tough, physical offense that can run the football,” Harbaugh.

“That’s the way we started, and that hasn’t changed. No matter where you go with the passing game, that has got to be a staple of what we’re going to do. And, it wasn’t this year."