From: "James F. Tims" <p00168@psilink.com>
Subject: Re: The Feel of Forged (was: high end iron selection)
Organization: Semper Excelsior
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 17:03:28 GMT
X-Mailer: PSILink (3.2)

>DATE:   5 Nov 92 02:40:37 GMT
>FROM:   Michael Zimmers <mzimmers@netcom.com>
>
>In article <JEFFK.92Nov4104836@dosXX.med.utah.edu> jeffk@dosXX.med.utah.edu (Jeff Knell) writes:
>
>>I've hit forged clubs a few times, but never enough, 
>>nor well enough, to determine what "the feel" is.
>>
>>Would you forged fans care to describe it?
>
>I'm not a forged fan, but I'll take a hack:
>
>"Feel" is the club's feedback to the golfer on the nature and success of
>the shot.  The more feel that a club imparts, the less the golfer needs
>to look up and watch the shot to know what kind of shot it was.
>
>Back when I was an almost-decent golfer and played McGregor Muirfields
>(man does that seem like a century ago), I could generally tell from
>the biotactile feedback where on the clubface I struck the ball, and
>from this, I knew whether the shot was thick or thin, toe'd or heel'd, 
>and a push or a slice.  Only a perfect contact would result in the
>sensation of hitting nothing at all; any imperfection was easy to "feel".
>
>The really good golfers can use this feel to produce subconscious
>changes to their swing over the course of a round.  Many claim that
>they can't do this with CB clubs.
>

Well said, as far as I'm concerned.

>>Specifically, how does it differ from a good
>>cast CB (e.g., Pings, Pinseekers, 845s, Links)?
>>
>>Also, does a forged CB feel anything like a
>>blade?
>
>I'd say that forged vs. cast is a minor factor.  Forged, high-carbon
>steel has more give than cast stainless steel, and as such imparts
>more backspin, but isn't nearly as significant in terms of feel as
>the clubhead design itself.

Perhaps it's only my imagination, but my Powerbuilt TPSs seem to grab
a lot harder than my Hogan Apex IIs, and I think it's the grooves.  When
they were new, the TPSs actually stripped the covers into little shreds
(Titleist DT).  The TPSs are a little duller now, but the Hogan grooves are
all but gone in the hitting area.  (The Hogan short irons
even have perceptible concavities in the center where the metal has
been not only etched away, but deformed by the pounding of eight years.)
I could be wrong, but I would bet that cast irons give more backspin.

>
>Until recently, "cast" and "game-improvement" were virtually synonymous,
>as one could only forge a traditional style (for reasons beyond me).
>Modern metallurgy has apparently resulted in improvements to such
>techniques, and clubs like the Hogan Edge, and McGregor JNP exist as
>a result.
>
>-- 
>Michael Zimmers                                    |  Home:  408 996 1984
>SoftHelp                                           |  Work:  408 996 1965
>Software Solutions for Open Systems                |  Data:  408 996 1974

I would like to add another consideration beyond the gradual erosion
of a one's ball striking technique, and that is the "scatter" factor.
Cast give a higher tragectory (I think greater backspin contributes to
the height) and longer carry, but they have a greater dispursion factor
for good hits.  You get better shots with bad hits, but worse shots with
good hits.  Shots hit perfectly with forged clubs go straighter at the
hole than shots hit perfectly with cast.  Though cast also fly further
than forged by 5-10 yards, they also have correspondingly less 
consistency in distance for perfect hits than forged.  You get closer
to the pin with cast when you hit lousy shouts, and you get closer
to the pin with forged when you hit good ones.  Take your pick.

I'm not a physicist, but I would hypothesize that the softer forged
surface "averages" or "smooths" the distortion of the ball better 
than the more brittle cast surface, causing the dimples and other 
ball irregularities to have a greater influence on the rebound angle.


-- 
jim tims 
"And if you're a miner, when you're too tired and old and sick and stupid
to do your job properly, you have to go, whereas just the opposite applies
with the judges."  Beyond the Fringe