- Admin
- #1
We just wrapped up an hour long interview with John for the Spring magazine issue. This one is can't miss and we may replay it on THP Radio once it launches. John pulls no punches on anything and here are some of the highlights.
- Give us your general description of the term "feel" for amateurs and how it relates to choosing clubs? It is 80% sound and has been proven a hundred times during testing.
- What is the number one reason scores do not go down when equipment has gotten so much better? Ego! People constantly play the wrong equipment because they have been educated elsewhere incorrectly. (He goes into a great story about 2 tour pros (major winners) that spoke about his creation of the TP Rac MBs and how there is no way an amateur outside of a scratch golfer is doing justice to their score by playing them)
-Explain the creation of the hybrid? Long answer about the team that came up with it at Taylormade (he was the head of that team) and how the first version was pretty much a terrible club. It was geared towards a different player and wound up back in the states. Spoke about who should be playing it and why and what brands are what.
- Spoke about his creation of the interchangeable shaft? Why it flopped at first and then why the movement of the face changed everything.
- Tell us about the switch by most tour pros to cavity backs? Blame Ping [laughs]. They work with so many college and high school golf teams that when a guy gets to the next level, more than half of them have not played blades and struggle with them so much. The forgiveness between a blade and a cavity back is certain number of strokes per round based on handicap. It has been tested over and over by every company I have worked for and proven. (JH has worked for TA, Titleist, TM, Nickent, and others)
- Your take on the groove rule? Myself and the design team at Taylormade were the 1st ones to mill the grooves in the wedge. Bob [Vokey] jumped in 10 months later with it as well and since that time more and more have followed us. The average amateur golfer will never notice a difference at all. Heck most single digits wont notice a difference either. On tour they will simply switch to higher lofted wedges to combat it for short game. The real test on tour will be the 5 and 6 iron approaches from off the fairway. But the companies are too fast and golf ball tech will fix all of it.
There is so much more but you will have to wait until the magazine. It was fun talking to one of the best club makers of all time when there is no affiliation to any company at all. He has created 3 of the top 5 selling irons in golf over the last 30 years and was instrumental in the creation of the hybrid club.
- Give us your general description of the term "feel" for amateurs and how it relates to choosing clubs? It is 80% sound and has been proven a hundred times during testing.
- What is the number one reason scores do not go down when equipment has gotten so much better? Ego! People constantly play the wrong equipment because they have been educated elsewhere incorrectly. (He goes into a great story about 2 tour pros (major winners) that spoke about his creation of the TP Rac MBs and how there is no way an amateur outside of a scratch golfer is doing justice to their score by playing them)
-Explain the creation of the hybrid? Long answer about the team that came up with it at Taylormade (he was the head of that team) and how the first version was pretty much a terrible club. It was geared towards a different player and wound up back in the states. Spoke about who should be playing it and why and what brands are what.
- Spoke about his creation of the interchangeable shaft? Why it flopped at first and then why the movement of the face changed everything.
- Tell us about the switch by most tour pros to cavity backs? Blame Ping [laughs]. They work with so many college and high school golf teams that when a guy gets to the next level, more than half of them have not played blades and struggle with them so much. The forgiveness between a blade and a cavity back is certain number of strokes per round based on handicap. It has been tested over and over by every company I have worked for and proven. (JH has worked for TA, Titleist, TM, Nickent, and others)
- Your take on the groove rule? Myself and the design team at Taylormade were the 1st ones to mill the grooves in the wedge. Bob [Vokey] jumped in 10 months later with it as well and since that time more and more have followed us. The average amateur golfer will never notice a difference at all. Heck most single digits wont notice a difference either. On tour they will simply switch to higher lofted wedges to combat it for short game. The real test on tour will be the 5 and 6 iron approaches from off the fairway. But the companies are too fast and golf ball tech will fix all of it.
There is so much more but you will have to wait until the magazine. It was fun talking to one of the best club makers of all time when there is no affiliation to any company at all. He has created 3 of the top 5 selling irons in golf over the last 30 years and was instrumental in the creation of the hybrid club.