Golf club fitting: Kick point and tipping

From time to time Aussie Golfer will be featuring a number of guest posts from Daniel Marsh at Callaway Golf explaining the technical details associated with the golf swing and correct club fitting.

In my previous couple of articles (that I hope you have all read and retweeted the link) I have written about shaft flex and torque. Today I am going to tackle 2 terms that are often referenced by major golf companies, club pros or your regular Saturday playing partner and are often misunderstood. So let’s tackle kick point and shaft tipping.

Kick Point
In my opinion kick point is an outdated term as most club fitters now refer to a shafts launch properties simply as launch. Kick point or launch is the shafts flexibility in the lower third of the shaft.

If a shaft is stiffer in the lower third of the shaft it will launch lower and spin less.

Shaft with the a lower launch characteristics or a high kick point it will also aid a player who has quick hands thought he ball as it will slow the head down helping the ball not to have excessive launch and spin.

On the other hand the opposite will apply if a shaft has a softer tip and lower kick point the ball should launch higher and spin more.

Shafts with high launch:
Diamana I’lima
Grafalloy ProLauch Speedcoat Blue

Shafts with low launch:
Matrix Black Tie
Diamana Ahina

Tipping
Shaft tipping is a way to dial-in the shaft to an individual’s needs. Really customising and fine tuning that shaft. If you tip a shaft it will play a little stiffer helping to modify the launch conditions but without majorly altering the overall performance.

So why do we do it?

Firstly we need to understand how a driver shaft is normally fitted to a club. The shaft normally comes in 47 inches and then can be trimmed from the butt or handle end to a desired length. The shaft will then taper down from the widest diameter point to a constant tip section. It is in this section of the shaft, that we can tip and slightly change the shafts performance.

Club fitters often do this when a player is right in between swing speeds of 2 shafts. For example, a player who swings the driver at 90 mph but launches the ball a little high with a regular flex shaft.

Club fitters can then tip the shaft ¾ of an inch to make the shaft play more like a stiff/regular shaft. Optimising the launch and spin will increase distance and decrease dispersion.

For more information please contact your local Callaway Authorised Retailer or call 1800 217 77 quoting aussiegolfer.net to book your club fit at one of Callaway’s Performance Centre’s and get that ball flying longer and straighter.