I have decided to give Natural golf a trial. I understand that the lie is more upright and the shafts are longer. Can any one give me an idea what the changes are? How much longer? How much upright? I have grips and a local clubmaker will bend the heads. Help please.
I have been a Natural Golfer for a year and a half. I have taken 12 strokes off my score with NG, am hitting longer, and it's easier on my body. It's so much simpler too. I'll never go back. I did take a lesson and it helped get me started.
There is a lot of confusion about the equipment. The company wants you to buy their "special" clubs, which are indeed longer and more upright. I tested theirs in a range session against mine and mine were better. :) But I'm a clubmaker so I did not intend to buy theirs anyway.
Longer is not better, so forget that idea right off the top. They can give you their pet theories. They're just BS. Longer clubs are harder to control, no matter what kind of swing you have. Moe Norman hit hundreds of balls a day. He had Popeye forearms and had the swing to hit long clubs. You and I don't. They need to get away from that.
Just get fitted for regular clubs! Or use the ones you have. The lie angle will probably end up a degree or two upright from whatever you were before, unless you already are properly fitted by upright clubs. When the lie angles are right, you will actually see the club soled square on the ground (not toe up) at address, or pretty close. That's not the test, that's just something I've seen. I would think head droop would come into play during the swing but whatever, they sit flat at address and hit the center of the sole on the impact board for me.
I see you already bought grips. Well, that's a personal thing. I prefer conventional grips but with 4 wraps of buildup tape under the lower hand. If you use heavier non tapered grips, don't have the clubmaker add weight to "bring the swingweight back up". That becomes a double whammy because you are then adding weight at both ends, making a heavier club. If you use the heavier grips, just let the swingweight get lighter. It's only a couple of swingweight points anyway, because I have tried the NG all-weather grips. I have one on my 9 iron right now, giving it an extended trial. The new ST grips are pretty close in weight to regular grips, so those are a non factor. You might have the clubmaker put 4 or 5 wraps under the lower hand of a regular grip on one club, just to see if you like that better than the NG grips. For future reference, Golfworks sells a grip that is a virtual clone of the NG all-weather grip as far as size and weight, for the price of a normal grip.
In summary, use regular clubs, get the lies adjusted as needed, use whatever grip you want, and don't add weight to offset the grip weight.
I'll be glad to follow up if you need anything.
-Don M
