Keeping Your Equipment In Shape Pays Off

By Jack Moorehouse

If you want to play your best, your equipment must be in the best shape possible. Playing with equipment that's old, banged up, or in generally poor condition hurts your game and your golf handicap. It also retards progress when taking golf lessons or practicing on the range. With the off-season fast approaching now's the best time to examine your equipment and look for ways to maintain or improve it.

A visit with a professional club-fitter can help refurbish equipment. However, not all of us can do that. In lieu of visiting a club-fitter, we've provided 10 tips to "refresh" your equipment. So take a break from your daily schedule, examine your equipment, and make the changes necessary to help you attack your golf handicap, whether that's this week or after the first thaw.

* The most common place for a club to break is in the shaft, just above the clubhead. Protect this area. Buy head covers long enough to cover this critical area on graphite shafts.

* When a ferrule on a graphite shaft comes loose it's distracting, both to the eyes and ears. To fix a loose ferrule, heat it with a hair dryer. Heat expands the plastic and firms it up on the shaft.

* A favorite club is one in which you have great confidence. You hit it well most of the time. The MOI (moment of inertia) of that club matches the golfer's strength, tempo, and swing mechanics better than the MOI of the other clubs. Find your favorite club and have a club-fitter or manufacturer measure it for MOI. Then match the MOI of other clubs to that one.

* The off-season is great for re-gripping clubs. Pay attention to materials, patterns, and textures used. Make sure what's used is right for you. In addition, grips come in two distinct shapes round and "reminder." The less common reminder features a slight bulge on the handle's backside that guides your fingers in the proper position around the club's center.

* How many times have you reached into your bag for your golf glove only to find a bundled wad of hard leather? Your sweat and built up dirt stiffens the leather and makes it stick. Extend your leather glove's life by adding it to your clothes pile in the washer. Use a soft detergent and the cold wash cycle. This removes dirt and oil build-up. Hang dry to prevent shrinkage.

* Many players have a combination of wedges, drivers, and irons bought off the rack. This eclectic approach sometimes adds up to length discrepancies throughout your bag. Ideally, there should be a half-inch gap between club lengths all the way down to the lob wedge, as well as between each of your fairway woods. Line your clubs up against a wall. You'll quickly see any length gaps.

* Golf shoes can have an impact on your feet during a round of golf. Buy a pair of premium golf shoes and treat them well. Store them in a dry environment, clean and polish them regularly, and insert shoetrees. If you care for your shoes, they'll last for several seasons. Also, check the spikes on your shoes and replace them. Spikes wear out long before golf shoes do.

* Whether you lost your trusty sand wedge somewhere on the 13th hole last week or are just interested in purchasing vintage clubs, you can find what you need online. Try www.ironfinder.com to replace your lost clubs.

* Many golfers go south in the winter to play in warmer climates. Air travel is brutal on clubs, even if you house them in a state of the art travel bag. Wrap a heavy towel over your club heads for extra protection. Also, consider a neat travel bag accessory, the Stiff Arm, from Club Glove (www.clubglove.com) to provide additional protection.

While you can't always go to a club-fitter, you can take better care of your equipment. Equipment that's banged-up hurts your game and your golf handicap. Take time in the off-season, or whenever you can, to examine your equipment. Make a commitment to getting it in better shape and keeping it that way. Doing so will improve your game and our scores.

Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.