Kirkland’s next club drop, Scottie Scheffler’s putter dilemma | Fully Equipped Ep. 229

On this week’s episode of Fully Equipped, GOLF’s Jonathan Wall and Ryan Barath are joined by Gene Parente of Golf Laboratories and True Spec Golf’s Kris McCormack to talk Hideki Matsuyama’s winning bag set up at Riviera, Kirkland’s newest golf release and Scottie Scheffler’s putter dilemma. The episode then concludes with another edition of the Fully Equipped Hotline where the guys answer pressing gear questions from the listeners.
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And welcome back to fully equipped jwalk you know I just wish that people could hear the [ __ ] that goes on before we hit record the hilarity that ensues um anyway we at some point guys we do need to we do need to release the footage of what transpired last week that was

Arguably my favorite moment of all time since we started recording this podcast 229 episodes to be exact um anyway how we doing boys well technology is great when it works I that’s all I’m saying that’s all I’m saying I was the brunt of that joke and without anybody knowing exactly what

Happened I apologized to coach and to my my fellow pod hosts for uh that lapse in uh technological assistance you didn’t need to apologize man it’s one of the few times in my adult life I woke up from sleeping laughing remembering it I mean that was like I was giggling like a

Baby when I woke up thinking about that so I I am very thankful for that very rarely does a middle-aged man get that kind of Joy reflecting on something we should prob stay tun to the social channels we are going to release this clip at this point we we talked too

Much about it we got we got to do it long story short part is I look like the only adult in the room trying to figure the whole thing out soas you definitely were the parent that’s for sure yeah yeah long story short on that coach was trying to offer

Up a take on Phoenix and the crowds it was he was he was trying to he was trying to to clear up some inaccuracies that were out there and Chris for whatever reason couldn’t hear any of us he he just heard coach initially and like about every 30

Seconds or so Chris would say voice of God I mean I I I heard coach but it was just it was so and he was de just dead panning and everybody thought he was just just screwing with Coach coach eventually got pretty pissed and

Wondered if it was a bit it was a great moment great moment in po history we’ll release it because it is hilarious um anyway uh well what do we got Mexico this week out on tour not a lot going on last week was a big week at

Riv why don’t we kick things off with the Dei and and not for the reasons that you think I guess I did post pictures of his putter it is it is a it’s not in the realm of like the tiger Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS but it is it is a pretty

Special putter but I don’t want to talk about Putters I don’t want to talk about heis clubs I I want to talk about one piece of gear in particular and that would be the shafts rbu did a story on on Hideki setup but you focused in on

His shaft setup this is guys this is a weird one for me because typically you see you see pros and they might if they’re playing xflex in the woods they’re usually playing xflex through through most of the bag maybe until you get into the wedges and

You see them step down into like a an S400 shaft but RB as as you penned in this article that’s not the case with the Dei he he has a pretty weird setup it is it is unique and the you know what’s interesting about this as

Well is if we go back the week before it’s actually a very similar setup to Nick Taylor and if we look back in history it’s another similar setup to uh JB Holmes who is not considered a short hitter by by any means um and that is

That Hideki goes um he has some graphic design shafts in his in his driver fairywood and fairwoods 8x in his driver it’s like 9x in his three-wood 10x in his fivewood which is just like a monster um but then of all things he goes to S400 shafts in his irons and

Again same thing Nick Taylor used s400s the week before at waste management and a lot of people ask about this because the question I get all the time one is about like my own speed training but also just in general is like why do certain players play certain shafts and

The human element which we talk so much about is that feel plays such an important role now I’ve done videos before in the past asked um with the company that I used to work for it’s a great video and I still send it to people when they ask this question and

That is do shafts make a huge difference on performance if they’re in the same category and if you look at just just the numbers and one player hitting the hitting shots in most cases you’re not going to see a huge variation in spin from shafts from the same category what

You will notice is a golfer’s perception of the feel of that Gall shaft being hugely different and and look I’m not I’m not picking on certain shafts but there are shafts that are known to be very very stiff because of their profile one example would be like a c taper from

KBS or even like a traditional standard project a which is like what Rory uses then you get into like an S400 which is designed to feel a little bit softer or even in some cases an X100 some people will find that it feels softer because

Of the profile of the shaft and this is where delivery is actually the most important element because what the player is doing is they are getting into their like load pattern or transition or whatever you want to call it and and Chris will probably use some better

Terminology than I will but the way that they load the shaft that they feel that it loads and unloads to them in that vernacular is important to how they deliver the club because the shaft does not spin the golf ball the Dynamics of impact spin the golf ball and the shaft

Will change a player’s Dynamics into the golf ball which changes spin so when someone says oh well if I put this shaft in my irons they’re just going to spin more it’s like that could actually be the opposite because you might be delivering it differently and a perfect

Example of this Martin bomgardner World Long Drive guy massive human being if you’ve ever stood next to I saw him at the PGA show he’s wearing his little shorts that go halfway between his knees and his waist he is a monster of a human being and he’s walking around there and

He’s like he must have done some Fitness thing before he was on this presentation or whatever it was and you have to remember he uses like some llex shaft in his long drive driver so don’t tell me out there you folks oh I just picked up

A ton of speed and I need to be like I need to up to this I need to up to this it’s like well if it loads properly and un like the way it should for you then you could basically use whatever shaft you want I’m think at autoflex and Adam

Scott last year he tried it his dispersion went to crap I’ve tried it before I don’t like that shaft cuz it’s just the way I load the golf club but Becky is this great example of one size of flex doesn’t fit all through your set so make sure that as you’re going

Through this process don’t just randomly pick shafts and say it’s this Flex it should work because your perception of feel is so important and I can bet Chris you’ve probably seen some examples where you give a shot to a player and based on their Tempo they’re like this thing feels like

Junk oh absolutely I mean essentially if you’re looking at the shaft as a component on its own it it it basically comes down to head is going to be predominantly responsible for the majority of launch conditions start Direction speed Spin and shaft we look at more or less is a timing mechanism

That complements how it is that the player moves and the angles that they create in the load pattern and release pattern so if you’re looking uh at a shaft as handle stiffness mid stiffness tip stiffness and you’re trying to to partner those components of the shaft up

With what it is the player’s trying to achieve at the end of the day the shaft allows the player to be conscious and aware of where the head is in time and space during the swing find the center of the face at impact and return the

Face to Square during the swing so nuts and bolts shaft fitting is complementing Bend profile to player profile now Flex manufacturer weight if I’m prioritizing anything in shaft fitting it’s going to be weight more than Flex since we’ve talked about before there is no industry standard for

Flex I’ll tell I’ll tell you one thing that’s kind of interesting and I’ve done a lot of shaft testing and I 100% agree with Chris uh length and weight are the two key factors and normally length you know is regulated I’m guessing you know you’re not adding an inch or something

Like that to to a player but um what’s really wild and we we still see it and when I first saw it I thought it was an anomaly but I’ve seen it multiple times the problem is I can’t quantify what the cause is but I know it exists is I have

Tested two shafts to RB’s point in the same category same Flex same overall weight but different Bend profiles they will have the same launch condition and this is where my head hurts but 2 to 300 RPMs different in spin so you’ve got the same head same launch so you would think theoretically

The head’s being delivered the same and yet the spin is different and the only thing that I can kind of um my pothesis is that it there is a delivery that’s causing the launch to be the same but there’s a slight difference in how that club is is approaching as it comes in

And in doing so the CG location of the head is slightly different causing difference in spin I never would have believed that until but I’ve seen it probably 20 30 times to the point where I know it exists now but my my theory prior to this was okay if a shaft was uh

Let’s just say higher launching it would be higher spinning if a shaft was lower launched it would be lower spinning it’s not always the case there is some Dynamics and a player can definitely create it where you get slight differences but still especially if you’re over 100 miles an hour two to 300

RPM can be quantifiable distance differences without a doubt you know from a from an overall um performance standpoint I think a part of that is like when we talk as you exactly your point like the deflection of the shaft and I can think of examples where I’ve given players a stiffer shaft and

Because they they they can’t feel it loading they are putting more effort or they’re they’re trying harder bad I don’t know any other way to use it they’re literally trying harder to load the shaft it messes up their timing they early release they add Loft the next

Thing you know they’re spinning it more and they’re looking at the numbers on the in the simulator or the on the on the launch monitor and they’re fitting and they go this this is a low launch low shaft What’s happen happening I’m like well it’s you it’s not the it’s not the shaft

The shaft’s not doing anything the shaft is an inanimate object it’s how you’re delivering into the golf ball because of your reaction to what you are feeling and so I think that is the one thing when we talk going back like to the main point of like Hideki is like he’s he you

See his driver he gets out there he’s not quite Cameron young where he like gets to the top and there’s like it feels like there’s a pause and he like he’s Frozen like your your YouTube video is pause for a second he’s like then he snaps through but he has like this pause

Which he has CH he actually if you look back at older videos it was longer but that load pattern is very different than someone who would like get back and fire through very quickly so for him that’s just how he feels the shaft it’s how he

Delivers it properly and at the end of the day it’s the same shaft that he uses all the way through his wedges and when people ask like what’s the difference between like tour product and like like regular person product all I can say is that I know for a and there’s no

Difference it’s not like he hard steps or soft Steps From what I understand talking to the True Temper guys in the past there’s no difference there but with the decky stuff there’s tour you know like the tour issue label well guess what there’s the there’s the secret Hideki label and

Every shaft is measured to the tenth of a gram so those are the Hideki shafts in the true tour truck if they’re going to build them a new set because uh gets a little picky and you know what when you’re as good as s De you can be as as

Damn picky as you want see here you guys and this is a really fascinating conversation because shafts to me like even now after having been in the industry for a while shafts to me just scare the ever living crap out of me because you you think you have it

Figured out and you’re like oh yeah this is this is my this is my you know flex and weight and and profiles that I like and everything is good and then you see somebody like Ki that sort of breaks the the conventional mold of how you would

Expect the shaft profile it to to go throughout the bag and I think more than anything these types of conversations reinforce the importance of getting fit like if if you’re going if you’re going out and buying uh you know let’s just say that there’s a really hot shaft out on tour

And you’re fascinated by it and you go spend three or 400 bucks on this particular shaft and get it built up and test it and it doesn’t work I mean that’s a unless you have a lot of disposable income that that’s that’s a pretty good chunk of money to just spend

On on a whim you a shot in the dark and again it really does highlight the importance of like everybody delivers the golf club differently I I continue to go back to when when we went and tested all the the fujikura the ventti TR stuff in Scottdale and RB went

Through it and you know if we were betting money on on what shaft you would end up in I would have given I would have like set the highest odds on the red based on like how RB delivers the golf club oh and it was the best one and

So it just again sha like shafts that we’ve talked about in the past like start with the head fine tune with the shaft I think is I think is a really great way to do it because you can do a lot of great things with the right golf

Shaft inside the a head that is optimized to your game but again don’t just assume that what you have right now is the best like get with a good fitter have them like walk you through like establish a a baseline for where you’re at and then have them f figure out if

There’s something else is better for you but don’t don’t don’t try and do it alone that’s uh that’s my that’s my uh Sage piece of gear advice for today and the the reason this comes up and the reason I I wanted to write this piece

Was because um I have I have a friend who uh recently went for a lesson and I kind of know the the the obviously my friend and the person I I recommended and great like he’s a good coach he’s a knowledgeable swing instructor but he messes me cuz I obviously like fit in

Bill he’s like oh man your budd’s great he’s got a ton of speed but he really needs to like move into this Gall shaft and I said no he doesn’t like he he recommended something that was stiffer and like heavy and I’m like first of all

I that’s fine but let me explain why not first of all you’re talking to someone who has like potent like has at some point talked about lower back problems you probably didn’t discuss that like when you think about Club fitting so he needs something that might be a touch

Lighter than like something that is Mega stiff and Mega Heavy secondly like he’s going to deliver the golf club almost the same that’s why he’s talking to you the lower is launch and lower is spin like let’s not focus on like you need to do this right away because I’m going to

Do this because I get questions all the time I obviously I put myself out there when I I I let people ask questions it’s like what you asking to lower launch and lower spin for me and I’m like none of them like it you might find a slight

Variation or a difference but like go change your driver Loft on your adapter first go do this first and all of those things together are going to be the the the factor that goes into creating better launch conditions just randomly saying I have a 10 and 1 half degree

Driver and I I launch it high and I need to low launch shaft well guess what you’re still playing a 10 and 1 half degree freaking driver like you know it’s that’s the whole thing and that’s why I just I wanted to highlight this because I’m not I’m not getting upset at

These people I’m just trying to help them understand that like don’t go waste your money which is exactly the point you just made I’m not going to tell you to go buy something just to go buy something unless you just want to go spend money on something that’s fine

Like that’s cool like by all means I don’t care but you know think about all the factors well and and and that’s a really good point um and to your point so I was at the PGA show and uh I was in the foresight Booth with my robot and

Next to us was a hitting Bay and that was the indoor uh test center and all these long drive guys kept coming up every day and hitting and I and I kept talking to them about their shafts and most of them were in you know industry

Parlament a flexes and weak RS and you know these guys are bringing 200 210 um ball speed and it was um it was amazing to see and I know working with Bryson that uh his his Flex is an our Flex you know for 190 miles an hour ball

Speed the point being uh and Chris I’d love your take on this because these guys have you know I i’ throw the long drive guys out because accuracy is not as important as just pure distance but a guy like Bryson is um you know he’s making his money with the with the weak

R and it it kind of leads me back to that old adage that you should play the shaft that is uh the lightest and most flexible that you can handle would would you agree with that you know kind of old adage and obviously it you know but it it these

Guys have kind of upended the Norms of you know as RB was saying the faster you get the more stiff you need so I I’d love to hear your take on that that’s actually a question that uh gets asked a lot and also is is part of

My training protocol for our new Fitters that come through is understanding shaft fitting player objectives and essentially cause an effect when you’re pulling levers in a fitting environment so I mean the going back to Hideki and looking at the S400 in his iron uh I mean you look at that particular

Instrument and you go okay how often is a player like Hideki going 100% full Bard with an iron swing now that same iron also has to feel good and respond when he’s hitting a knockdown shot when he’s trying to shape shots when he’s hitting anything less than a full shot

And if you’re playing something that’s so heavy and so stiff it’s extremely difficult to get a consistent feel and reaction out of that particular Golf Club so at Jee to your point like when you’re conducting a a player interview I’m asking are we focusing on distance are we focusing on control and

Dispersion as I can accomplish both of those things with making adjustments in shaft so I can get you more ball speed and the ball goes further or I can give you more control and add more spin which one do you want to see and so it just kind of depends

On objectively what you’re looking for but general rule of thumb with irons the softest shaft that you can get away with that still gives you a good amount of control is the right shaft before we we switch to the next topic I I do want to ask you guys a question

Because this is one that I feel like we all have received a handful of times which is golfer C Pros using shafts and some are are kind of what I call stepping down in in weight so they’ll start with in HC he’s perfect example he’s you know

8X in the driver 9x in the 3-wood 10x in in the fivewood and then you see some players um I think of like like a Sergio Garcia who is is a constant weight so he might be playing a 7x in the driver but then he uses that same 7x throughout the all

Of his woods and the question is always well which is the best option for me what are the differences there what’s what’s your explanation for why some guys prefer to to step uh up and weight down weight I guess however you want to explain it versus having a constant weight

Throughout the throughout the woods I would say that like I it just comes down to player like total weight total weight that’s that factor that total weight factor is like the thing that I think is the biggest one because some players want that descending or ascending I guess weight into their

Shorter Club so they want to be a little bit heavier as they go through and some players don’t really notice a big difference they’re more they’re more focused or they’re more uh sensitive to swing weight and that to me is there there’s that balance of the two um and

It it doesn’t mean that a good player a bad like a beginner player is sensitive to one or the other that everyone is very very different in how they perceive weight and mass so I think keki is probably someone who fits into the the total weight category which is why he

Uses those s400s and uses that the shaft that gets quite progressively heavier and starts with a heavier driver as well right I mean he’s no he’s no short knocker and he’s using an 8X which is probably one of the heaviest shafts that you can get on on

Tour at least one of the heaviest shafts guys are using on someone’s using on tour so I think that’s just where the the the breakdown comes from but for anyone looking for Speed in most cases you’d want to stay as light as possible through the through the bag but again it

It comes down to that field preference which I think is really highly important all right we could continue to keep going on in the weeds but I want to I want to keep things moving and and spent a little bit of time talking about another Kirkland product big surprise

There um yeah so just here in the last I mean I don’t know last day or so some spy photos have leaked of a new Kirkland Signature ks2 Mallet and this is a winged Mallet although I got to say Costco in in tailor made are already

In a legal battle over the over the irons and and how closely at least allegedly that’s that’s what that’s what Taylor M’s claiming how how closely they they mirror the popular p790s if you look at this ks2 putter what what’s the first putter that comes

To mind when you when you see this this overall look what’s it what’s the f is it the Fang putter from Odyssey what’s that called the seven or something yeah I mean it it is it’s it’s like number seven popular it was it’s I mean that’s a popular shape and we’ve seen everybody

To me it has a little bit of the the spider GT Max Vibe going on like the overall profile the day like little more squared off M little yeah a little little squared off little angular there at the at the ends at the end of the fangs kind of a thicky putter not

Not you know super not a super thin version it doesn’t have the the adjustable weights going up and down each each one of the each one of the uh the fangs but when I saw it I’m like oh cool maybe there’s another lawsuit coming uh I if

We get into the details I think it almost looks like um I’m just trying to figure out it’s like there’s a ping putter I can’t think of the name of it though which is the which is the problem it’s like the I think it’s the th which

Has that similar yeah Cameron Champ uses one that’s called the the prime time yeah so like I mean not I mean you could it’s kind of one of those weird it’s like you know you get the the the putter nerds who talk about I’m not picking on them but like you know

They’re the putter nerds um who are like you know this is a ping answer but this is you know this is like the difference in the this type of answer putter or whatever and there are there are there are slight slight details and bumper width and angles and all of those things

So you could you could pick and choose on all kinds of stuff when it comes to this but um yeah I mean like what is it SE winged Mallet seven a yeah Prime the prime time like there’s just a lot of ways you call but you know it’s it’s a

Wing M it’s a popular design um the funny thing to me is and I had I I had someone on Instagram was probably close to a year ago he actually just reached out again Le a couple days ago he sent me a box or a picture of a bunch of

Putter covers on a table and obviously like it was from a manufacturing Place overseas somewhere that’s as much details I’m going to give and uh there was a mallet cover that said ks2 on it and he goes I wonder what this means and that was like 12 months

Ago so you know the fact that maybe you’re saying these photos aren’t new uh I’m saying that the the putter could be new the putter Co I only got a picture of the putter cover like and it was one picture so um I think it is

Interesting to look at it and be like you know you see so much in advance of like what’s going on but like the consumer is getting something six it’s like you know you go it’s like one of those weird things now like I always think about it because of like working I

Used to work at a Costco a long long time ago and uh like thinking of logistics and all that stuff it’s like all the stuff that Costco gets for Christmas time that comes in like October that had to get ordered eight months ago which mean or even like a

Year ago based on forecast from before and now they’re like it was manufactured then it was put on a slowboat then it got over here then it went to their distri Distribution Center then it ended up in their warehouses so like you start doing the math on this stuff where you

Go to a dollar store and right now you got like Val well no Valentine’s Day is over now but like St Patrick’s Day is coming up all the say Patrick’s Day junk that was made overseas was made a year ago then it got in a slowboat and it

Finally came its way here and so when like end of February hits they could throw all the green crap on the wall so like that that to me is where like it’s it’s so fascinating that like you know this took this was probably been in production or been in like an idea for

Well over a year it’s just now someone got a hold of it someone took a picture of it and uh which means to me with all the branding and everything that was that was in those pictures we’re probably not far off from one of these things hitting the shells

Again oh my gosh well I I think it just further confirms that that Costco is this is not just like they’re not going to be in the golf ball business and that’s it I mean they’re they’re fullon every product now they’re starting to add different options to the

Lineup you first you had a blade putter now you’re going to event looks like you’re going to eventually have an amlet putter so um yeah they’re not going anywhere and I I don’t know I just want to I just want to see if there’s more lawsuits I just I just love any anytime

There’s chaos that’s that’s my sweet spot so at least for now we know Embrace chaos you’re just not going to find one of those Putters at a true spec I don’t think so Chris is just shcking his said he won’t even answer the question he won’t even answer he he

Chooses not to respond there’s no chance nether confirm nor deny yeah I I will confirm that you will not have a Costco putter at a truce spe I will I will not be charging someone a fitting fee that is equal to the price of the putter yeah we can expect this one’s

Probably going to cost what like 99 bucks no the I mean the putter was 149 which I think would I mean it probably going to be in the 150 range I would imagine and do what they did last time super because it’s like super stroke grip they had on you could buy

The weight kit separately I think in what were they I think maybe it was 129 for the putter last time so I mean that’s reasonable considering like most I mean an AI an ai1 putter ai1 mil putter now is um what $4.99 which kind of C think pretty expensive odyssey’s price point in

Canada that’s $699 that like think about that’s a lot of money or like five it’s like 579 yeah so um they come in with a putter at 150 bucks someone walking into a Costco is like that’s a that’s a damn deal right I mean yeah the average Costco consumer is

Household income is probably around $180,000 total like you know they’re they’re talking to people who is the target market of these things so um you know once it comes out I’ll I’ll do what I did last time I’ll just find one and ship it to jeans house and he’ll ship it

To me and we’ll deal with that logistical nightmare again we don’t we don’t talk about that stuff that’s their their securest route to get product RB but um yeah well you got to you got to stop we you got to stop my and hand pick it up I’m not

Shipping anymore I’m not going to UPS so you got to you got to make a trip out here to do it I think I think you could twist his arm and he’ll do that anyway what else we got oh man yeah I was saving this one towards the end we

Do have an interview this week RB had an opportunity to to chat all things voke sm10 with with Aon Dill he’s not on V’s level just yet but ad’s moving that direction he’s he’s like the guy now along with voke when it comes to to vogi wedges anyway so we’ll

Have that interview at the end of today’s episode but before we do that Rory maoy is now giving Scotty sheffler his thoughts on the putter I do find this Rich speaking of Mallet Putters there you go there’s your transition there we go yeah I do find this Rich guys I got

To say and you know what somebody asked Rory about it he’s going to give an answer but man if if you look at this Rory and Scotty are basically the same guy like absolute nails from TD green like Scotty Sheffer is having like a I mean not just a career year career ball

Striking year but I mean one of the best of all time right I mean the the numbers are are absurd and the one the one Club we’ve talked about it before and Scotty doesn’t want to talk about it anymore so now it’s everybody else talking about Scotty’s putter struggles but it is it’s

The putter somebody asked him about you know what would what would Rory do and Rory said yeah we’ve all been through it I’ve certainly been through my fair share of putting W through the years and I feel like I’ve broken through and become a pretty consistent

Putter yeah I would say at times uh and he said for me going to a mallet was a big change I really persists with the blade putter for a long time but I feel like your stroke has to be so perfect to start the ball online where the M gives

You a bit more forgiv U margin for error that to me gave me the confidence that I could go forward with that knowing that even if I don’t put a perfect stroke on it the ball’s not going to go too far offline and it’s pretty pretty much in

Line with what we said about Mal Putters in the past which is Mal Putters give you a bit more wiggle room if you don’t you know hit it out of the middle I I think back to the photos that I was able to take last week at Riv of Tiger’s

Putter and that perfect we Mark I mean you could line it up with with the sight dot on top and it’s almost directly underneath it it’s it’s insane but you know not everybody is is a consistent you know he’s going to have consistent contact so that’s where mallets come

Into come into play is you know the the overall the heavier head the overall stability there if you’re hitting it off the heel or ta you’re going to have a heavier head that’s going to help reduce twisting which will hopefully lead to more consistent putts and get you closer

To the hole and maybe you know every so often you actually make a putt that you would have missed so yeah mallets mallets are good but again Rory is is not you know he’s not Brad Faxon and he’s not Denny McCarthy or some of these you know I

Denny McCarthy because he’s been a pretty consistent putter over the last few years I don’t know again Rory’s Rory’s asked a question he’s going to give you an answer but I don’t really know if he’s he’s the best guy to be providing advice I mean Scotty’s tried Scotty’s

Tried you know Mount Putters he he’s currently in a an olssen putter that is a bit on a bit more on the wider side it would kind of be like a like a plus version bit bit wider with with the flange last I saw and I I saw him

Working with Logan Olsen on Putters at Riv last week few interesting models nothing that I can can report on just quite yet but some fascinating stuff going on with the waiting so I don’t know man is Scotty gonna figure this out I would really like for him to go on

Like a tiger-like tear he he is he is a he is a mediocre putter away from being an absolute World beater I I see this I see this is a little bit of gamesmanship it’s like putting another thought into his head and you know based on based on the

Reporting on this pod he’s got a lot of thoughts in that head as it be you know to begin with and now you’re throwing in a mallet on top of it all and it it’s paralysis through analysis you know the interesting thing about mallets and having tested them and I think we talked

About I think you wrote a story about this when I think it was zalat Taurus missed uh a putt at 18 on the farmers um because he hits so badly off the toe and on his uh Mallet and cause gear effect and because that weight is so far back

It can actually when you miss hit you have to adjust for the fact that you create a little bit of Sid Spin and if that’s if that putts over 10 feet long that Sid spin you know on a toe shot will go to the left and on a heel shot

Will go to the right something a lot of people don’t know but you do need to fact that in and you know I recommend with mallets when you’re on the putting green just kind of intentionally hitting them on the toe and the heel just to get

A sense of how they perform so that you know you know what that’s going to be like and you can kind of you know adjust your Miss accordingly I was a I was a longtime blade uh player and I still prefer if I can to play a blade and I have a couple

New ones that I’m really excited to try out um that have forgiveness built into them in a smaller shape most notic most uh the newest one would be um whatever I can’t remember the name but the pxg one it looks like um it’s a heel toe Mallet

With a plumber’s neck but I mean it’s it’s got a ton of weight in the heel and toe so I’m like really curious um to kind of give that a shot but I’ve gone to a m I’ve gone to a long Putter and I found that my putting has gotten in

General better especially on longer putts where you have to make a larger longer stroke so um I still think inside of 5 to 10 fet you have to learn to read a putt which is still like the most important thing I almost think he’s struggling just with as much with that

As he is anything else and the other thing too which I I I’m shocked that we don’t see more of this because a lot of these guys they get into this and I’m not not crapping on this like brand but like I’m I’m just saying it’s like kind

Of like this what’s happening and like you have a guy like Jordan spe who has not changed his butter really at all he’s tried different things but he’s really kind of stuck with it and he still has pretty much stuck with the same same style and shape super stroke

Forever and you know we kind of figured it out right but of all the things that they they haven’t changed maybe they’re just doing it because they’re trying to eliminate variables but like Scotty every last time I saw him at Pebble when he was working with Putters and I I

Talked about it I wrote a piece on it like every single one of those Putters has the exact same grip on it like change a feel change something there whether it be like around like you got guy with the best hands in the world get

A round grip on there just a feel of a putter release or do something different because it I think it there is like the idea of the paralysis by analysis but from a quintic perspective Chris here’s what I want to know what is the difference when you get

A player that is between a mallet and a blade like do you see that like the quintic numbers really like tighten up just like you’d see like a high Moi driver kind of reduce spin variants I mean not necessarily it’s it’s all relative to the player right I

Mean going back to yourself like I love the look of a blade I love the feel of a blade and inside of 10 feet I I’m really comfortable with a blade but you get me much outside at 10 12 feet and it’s just an absolute dumpster fire and I mean you

You do have a lot more room to hide as far as ball striking and consistency goes with the Moi in a mallet but the as far as the player improvements or differences there’s so many different variables that we look at I mean we’re looking at weight we’re looking at

Optics we’re looking at shape we’re looking at Milling or insert type on the face we’re looking at grip and we’re looking at shaft there’s so many different variables that go into it and I mean you can get a lot of results just by changing the optic you can get a lot

Of different results by changing the actual shape of a putter I mean if you’re looking at just static shapes you know Square things have a tendency to be more left biased for a right-handed player round shapes have a tendency to be more right biased and then you bring

In offset net configurations and it totally changes the release pattern I mean and facial awareness and I mean potentially even strike location on the face same thing can be said for grips I mean a round grip allows the player generally to want to release the head more a square grip with a definitive

Edge and line on the top makes the face want to you know not release as much so there’s all kinds of different things that you can look at in putter fitting I can remember being super super excited when super stroke released like the one by one which was like the

Perfectly Square putter grip I remember seeing at the PGA show that year they had the big tall superstroke guy in the costume walking around which was very funny and uh I was like so pumped to like try the grip out when I finally like got a chance to try it out I’m

Telling you six holes into my my round of golf I like walked to the car and grabbed my other Putter and was like nope this is not the grip for me I was you know it’s it’s it doesn’t feel right it doesn’t we’ve all been there RB we’ve

All I was like screw this I’m grabbing and I like I’ve used and I use a lot most of the time like I’m using a some if I’m using a a standard like normal length putter I’m using some sort of smaller super stroke grip but that

Square one let me tell you that was the worst that was probably one of the worst experiments I’d ever had um and I know people who’ have gotten it and they love it like they they they grip differ they have like some sort of like different

Whether it be a clog grip or whatever right back what um left hand low or whatever um but that yeah it’s sometimes you just got to it’s like the one thing sometimes you got to like open a different door and find a new opportunity as like whatever they say

Some I’m sure some motivational Instagram account probably written something like that they just didn’t mean it when it came to Putters it’s funny you mention that because I remember when it when Aros came out with the very first set of sensors so excited you you like jam those I mean they were

Probably about an inch an inch tall and I put them all on the the grips and then that was like that was the original stuff like you don’t really have much else and I went out and I shot like 45 on the first nine holes with these with

These in there I was so pissed man I’m like God like it was just like visually my grip looked longer like the entire Club and I was like I can’t like I I can’t get over this so I I ripped them out I was like I I I love these they’re

Cool I like them I but I can’t like there’s something about it that’s just screwing with me and I I pulled them out of my golf clubs and shot 34 on the back nine it’s just like man I I think we all we’ve all been there it’s a product that

We’re excited about now of course Aros has some really cool products where you don’t even have the the sensors in the in the butt ends of the grips anymore so uh anyway but yeah it’s it it happens from time to time before we wrap this

One I did want to say that Rory being a realist here you know he offers some he offers some some you know tips to Scotty on you know maybe trying a mallet but he does finish with so I’d love to see Scotty try a mallet but selfishly for me

You know Scotty does everything else so well that he’s giving the rest of us a chance and I feel like everybody else on the PJ tour probably feels the exact same way so they probably hope Scotty continues on with the blade putter but who knows maybe he figures it out with

The blade I I am of the belief I’m of the belief that he should send everybody away and just just work with the putter that he’s got and figure it out sometimes you don’t need for put to win The Masters the ultimate like mind mess

Up that’s a that’s a good question I I don’t know I mean he was he was thought more he made it on the PG with uh with the same uh super at one from Scotty Cameron it’s not it’s not like he’s it’s not like he’s struggled with the putter he’s

Never been a great putter but I you know it just I I think the big thing for him is he I think he worries too much about like people’s perception of his putting I think I think he’s I think he’s like letting the outside outside noise and this is just like one man’s

Opinion I think he’s letting the out outside noise get to him I think if he were to just like say screw it like I’m just going to go into a silo and just work with this Putter and try and figure it out I’m not going to not going to

Worry about what anybody’s saying I’m going to give the same canned response anytime somebody asks me about the Putter and just try and figure it out I think he would I think he’d get back there but I I do I think he’s I think he’s self-conscious about it and I would

Be too I think any golfer would be you know especially if you’re you’re like right in the spotlight which he is is it’s tough so but I know that Rory and and the rest of uh Scotty’s colleagues are probably happy that he’s struggling with putter because if he wasn’t if he

Was just putting like average he would probably be beating the field by like four or five shots every time he teed it up like tiger I think T I truly believe and we don’t know because we haven’t seen it but I truly believe he if he was

An average putter if he was just around let’s say like zero for strokes game putting just zero I think he would be winning by like four or five shots every time he te it up he’s that good from T to Green so this this doesn’t bode well for

Like um just so from Riviera they showed this graphic on Sunday and it was Tia green he is he was ranked second at plus n plus 1.93 around the green he was ranked second at plus 1.77 and his putting out of 51 players he was ranked 50th at minus

1.32 if he was as to your point if he was just average that’d be more than an extra stroke per round of golf um which is he would be he would be murdering the field I I think I think he would be he would be like putting up tiger

Numbers I do I he’d be winning that much I truly believe that because he from T green he’s he’s practically unbeatable anyway all right so before we get into uh RB arb’s interview with with ad let’s do a couple of fully equipped hotline questions for this week as always if you

Want to leave us a voicemail the number is 602 935 4974 again that’s 602 935 4974 coach I think you have a couple teed up for this week so let a rip for so is silent well no I was I was thinking how to respond to that I’m here

I’m on it I got it I was thinking he’s having audio issues again I thought it was a bit voice of God Jesus I did think it was a I just think I did I thought it was a bit too any I was I was coming off mute I got a

Little background noise here I was trying to be courteous sounds like you’re on a Jet Plane at times this episode I I don’t know what’s going on I I’m just ready to strap everything and start over with the all new tech this is crap anyway uh to answer his question uh you

Can come with the mini driver we can get some baseline numbers we can do some testing but with the length of that driver we don’t have a shaft Matrix specifically to cater to the mini driver so the way that it’s kind of set up it’s obviously shorter than the standard

Length driver and I say standard very Loosely uh being between 45 and 46 inches and then longer than the standard 3w again standard being loose term with 43 inches to 43 and a half inches so I the mini driver could be more similar to the a b

Profile of an actual driver so I mean you may benefit from going in and doing some testing with a driver just to figure out what type of Bend profile and uh type of shaft would work for you and then build it to go into the mini driver

But there’s not a specific way to test uh shafts in that mini driver head just because of the length issue now if you want something that is a sledgehammer and take the mini driver head and put it on a uh a standard driver length shaft

Then oh yeah we could go nuts with that but as far as being able to test what we would build uh at the length that the mini driver is built and sold at we don’t have anything in the studio to do an Apples to Apples comparison with what

You have bought off the rack unfortunately it’s just one of those nichy clubs kind of like the the Callaway u i me it’s a great Golf Club ton of people use them lot of benefit to be had there in performance but but it’s just nichy in its construction and we we

Don’t have the resources to have a matrix specifically dedicated to that type of golf club all right well there you go there’s your answer and I’m sure that people out there that were wondering about Mini Drivers hopefully that helps you out as well all right coach number two that’s a really great question

It’s tiger by a mile guys when Tiger’s first paycheck was like 200 Grand by the time you know they were he was finishing it would it had like eight times that so yeah sure you know a WGC was worth two million bucks 10 years ago but now you’re only at not

That we expect players to be winning $10 million a tournament but a uh Genesis was worth four I think or 3.5 or something like that which is still nuts but that’s only double like the inflation the tiger inflation um I think is the uh is by far because ke TV

Contracts went up all of that stuff at least that’s my opinion um I think it it was used they used to do it all the time they don’t do it anymore as long like mean we’re talking years ago but no Lang up used to ask anytime they did a player

Interview they’d ask how much do you think of your career earnings do you owe to Tiger Woods and most players would say probably about 70% of it because he goes what would you pay tiger tax that’s the that was was the question basically and I was like yeah you guys

Owe a lot of freaking money to Tiger Woods everyone does more so than anyone else in my opin again it’s my opinion oh man I mean okay I’ll I’ll let I’ll let Jean and and seral killer go before I get my answer go ahead I well I was just gonna

Say uh hands down tiger because you know it it the the the game in in his professional career has changed so dramatically um it was you know and I’m dating myself a little bit here but you know golf used to only be shown on weekends you know you couldn’t you

Couldn’t see golf on Thursday and Friday and now you get preol content media content like uh like the NFL I mean it’s just it’s it’s all consuming so Ty hands down but I think the caller has a really interesting point is that Liv golf has proven and I

Hate to say this because I I do believe he’s the goat but you know and I think Riv was a classic example we’re in the post tiger era of golf you know his era is over and we’re in this new modern era that still has to be shaken out but uh

The Saudis obviously believed that this has enough worldwide potential to throw a boatload of money at it so this this next effect while it’s not tiger esque as far as you know the sheer scale it’s pretty massive but I also would have to say it was built on the shoulders of Tiger Woods

With you know without a doubt yeah s killer what do we think um I’m in agreement I mean it’s it’s tiger and it’s he changed essentially everything with golf I mean the look at just the players in general me the athleticism the physique of the players you went

From a John daily to now you have this person that looks like an athlete coming out and just dominating and to No Surprise the upand comers that followed him were I mean emulating what it is that tiger was doing I mean with an entire team of people behind him from

Coach to nutritionalist to personal training and the physique changed the game changed and that’s that’s the tiger effect for sure so not only the income level but the talent level and the depth of the talent pool I say is all a direct relationship to the tiger influence I mean he brought it

Into the mainstream like Jean was saying and he made golf cool he did stuff that nobody else had ever done before and brought an entire new viewership and audience to golf and they went wow look at this guy I mean this is something different and exciting and it got people

Talking about it and yeah like like we said just brought a ton more money through sponsorship yeah I I I get to to to Chris’s point I get to use one of my favorite lines in golf I think it’s been attributed to Lee trino and this just sums up golf pre

Tiger and the the country club you know mentality is Travino said you know it’s been a long night when you wake up and there’s still ice in your glass and that pretty much sums up these guys you know they’d get behind the Gates a lot of the time I mean this

Is going back a little earlier than Tiger but a lot of the times you know when I was a kid the only golf that was shown was the back nine on Saturday and Sunday they didn’t even show the full you know 18 so um he he’s just he had a revolutionary

Effect uh as far as the interest in the game and the um uh the the sheer attention to golf and I I I think what made tiger unique is Michael Jordan increased uh viewership in the NBA but he didn’t increase basketball sales or he didn’t increase um you know people

Buying outdoor courts what was interesting about tiger was Tiger moved the needle in getting people to play the game not only viewing the game but getting people to play the game and that’s what uh was really Revolution revolutionary about him Visa V Jordan Jordan created viewership in the NBA and

Brought it to a new level tiger created viewership but he also created participation and for that I think all of us uh on this pod should be thankful for is that he helped Elevate the game and interest in the game all the way around yeah it it is it is really

Difficult to not say Tiger Woods because if you look at what Liv has done yes you could say that they did something that we’ve never seen in golf which is guaranteed money up front and a lot of it but if you look at at the guaranteed

Money it’s only going to a a select group group of golfers whereas Tiger Woods everybody on the PGA tour benefited from tiger and and I think that that is the difference is that Tiger Woods was was mainstream and he helped the golf industry he a sagging golf industry at

That he helped the PGA Tour he helped all of those television deals I mean how much money did Tiger Woods bring to to to all those TV deals whenever the pg2 was reupping with with the major networks it’s it’s just it’s impossible to quantify what tiger did for the game

Whereas it it does feel like Liv is is pretty much just like throwing money around and it does I mean look it what just happened on the PGA tour with private Equity money coming in what is that like a three3 billion doll yes right 1.5 and then one yeah

They it was in a a 3 billion based on like a 12 billion evaluation or something yeah yeah I mean that that’s all that’s a lot of money but that doesn’t it just I I feel like in the professional game right now we’re we’re getting to a point where where we have

Sort of the and I hate saying this because being a having or owning a PJ tour card is is a really big deal but it’s sort of the halves and the Have Nots we’re seeing it in the Signature Events fewer guys are getting in uh you know it we’re and those guys are

Having to go and play the the other tour events we’re now seeing sponsors pulling out of title sponsors pulling out of tour events I think about Charlotte with Wells Fargo last year that so there there’s a lot of money that’s being thrown around but it’s being thrown

Around to a very select group of players and and I think that’s going to continue again whereas tiger benefited all so yeah I would say it’s Tiger but a great question and it it’s certainly not just a yeah tiger I think some people would say live but I don’t really think

There’s a wrong answer there that’ll do it for Episode 229 of fullly equipped as all as if you want the gear goodness check us out on our social channels we are fully unstore equipped on Twitter and fly equi golf on Instagram and the YouTube channel thanks all for listening we’ll see you next