Bounce
Measurable bounce is the angle formed between the leading edge of the golf club and the lowest part of the sole.
More important than measurable bounce is "effective" bounce, which is a combination of many sole design features that contribute to a club's overall playability. Generally, clubs with low bounce tend to dig into the turf (requiring more precise ball contact), while clubs with higher bounce tend to resist digging and are therefore more forgiving in terms of ground impact.
Related term: Sole Radius.
Bulge
A design characteristic of woods, bulge is the horizontal curvature of the face measured in inches of radius.
Bulge helps compensate for the spin created when the ball is struck on the heel or toe, resulting in straighter drives. The amount of bulge required is based on the location of the center of gravity — the farther from the face the center of gravity is located, the more bulge is required.
Center of Gravity
Optimizing the center of gravity (CG) location in a clubhead design is critical for achieving the most favorable performance characteristics. The CG location significantly affects the golf ball flight (or roll for putters) by directly influencing all three of the major golf ball performance initial conditions: Ball Velocity, Launch Angle, and Spin Rate. The CG location can also significantly effect the moment of inertia (MOI) of the clubhead, which is the most critical factor in improving a club heads forgiveness and consistency.
Color Code
PING terminology for the lie angle of a golf club (the angle between the shaft and the sole of the club) in relation to its length. There are 12 different color codes. While taller golfers generally require more upright color codes and shorter golfers generally require flatter color codes, different color codes can also used to help golfers correct hooks and slices.
Component Matching
PING's method of custom building a properly matched and balanced set of golf clubs.
By selecting each component (clubhead, shaft and grip) for every set by gram weight, every club in the set has uniform weight and balance for consistent feel and balance.
Divot
The mark left on the ground after turf is uprooted by the golf club during the swing.
The shape, direction and depth of a golfer's divot reveal the position of the clubhead at impact and the path of the golfer's swing, providing the fitter with valuable insight to the dynamics of the golfer's swing.
Draw
A ball flight with a slight-to-moderate right-to-left curve for right-handed golfers, or a slight-to-moderate left-to-right curve for left-handed golfers. Depending on the golfer's preferences, a draw may be a desirable ball flight. However, golfers who wish to change this type of ball flight may consider a flatter color code (applies to irons only) and/or a thicker grip diameter (applies to both irons and woods).
Dynamic Swing Test
The third step in the fitting process, the Dynamic Swing Test is used to identify how the golfer's hand position, posture and swing affect the position of the club at impact.
Using special tape on the sole of the club, the golfer hits balls from an impact board that leaves marks on the tape. While a mark in the center of the club indicates the color code of an iron in the preferred impact position, the golfer should choose the color code that provides the best possible ball flight.
Face Balanced
A design characteristic of certain putters that causes the face to remain parallel with the ground when the club is balanced at its center of gravity.
A face-balanced putter may be recommended for golfers with a straight-back-straight-through putting path or for golfers who tend to push their putts. An example of this type of putter is the popular Craz-E model.
Face Angle
Usually described as being open or closed, face angle refers to the direction the wood clubface is designed to point when the shaft is in the proper position at address.
Fade
A ball flight with a slight left-to-right curve for right-handed players, and a slight right-to-left curve for left-handed players. Depending on the golfer's preferences, a fade may be a desirable ball flight. However, golfers who wish to change this type of ball flight may consider a more upright color code (applies to irons only) and/or a thinner grip diameter (applies to both irons and woods).
Ferrule
A decorative cone-shaped plastic sleeve that creates a smooth transition from the shaft to the clubhead.
Flat
A term used to describe a lie angle in which the toe of any club (putter, iron or metal wood) is lower than standard, or lower than it would be in the preferred position.
In this orientation, the loft of the club causes the face to be pointed farther right (for a right-handed golfer) which, with irons and metal woods, encourages a fade, or can be used to reduce a draw or hook.
Flex
A measurement or rating of how much a shaft will bend under a certain load, flex is usually assigned a familiar letter such as A, R, S or X. PING designs shafts for golfers with specific swing speeds to help them optimize the carry distance and trajectory of their shots. Generally, golfers with slower swing speeds require more flexible shafts (A, Soft R, and R flexes), while golfers with higher swing speeds generally require stiffer shafts (S, X).
Frequency Coefficient Matching
A method of measuring shaft flex, the goal of frequency matching is to provide a golfer with a consistent flex, or feel, throughout the entire set of clubs.
Grip Color Code
Since grip size is such an important fitting variable, PING manufacturers grips in variety of different sizes (diameters), or color codes. Grip size can have a dramatic impact on ball flight since it affects the release of the hands through impact.
Larger grip diameters tend to restrict the release and may promote a fade or help reduce a draw or hook. Smaller grip diameters tend to encourage the release and may promote a draw or help reduce a fade or slice.
Grip Profile
Used to describe the cross-sectional design of a grip, the grip profile for irons and woods are required to be circular by The Rules of Golf.
Putter grips, however, may be designed with non-circular cross-sections which can more effectively influence the golfer's hand action during the stroke.
Selecting the proper grip profile for your putting style can help you better control your wrist action through the stroke.
Heat Treating
The process used by PING to temper the heads of irons, heat treating involves heating the clubheads in large vacuum furnaces at temperatures exceeding 1700 degrees farenheit for several hours.
This process allows PING irons to be adjustable for years after purchase, and also contributes to their strength and solid feel. Other benefits include corrosion-resistance and consistency of the grain of the metal.
Heel
The area of the clubhead that is closest to the hosel, which is where the shaft is connected to the clubhead.
Hook
A ball flight with a pronounced right-to-left curve for right-handed golfers, and a pronounced left-to-right curve for left-handed golfers.
A flatter color code (irons only) and/or a thicker grip diameter (irons and woods) can help reduce this tendency in most cases. A player who tends to hook his or her drives may also benefit from additional loft, which will increase backspin while reducing sidespin, thereby improving accuracy.
Hosel
The portion of the clubhead into which the shaft is inserted. Several PING iron models feature a flat-top hosel which increases the surface area of the shaft that is in contact with the club, resulting in improved feel.
Hosel Offset
The distance from the front of the hosel to the lead edge of the face, hosel offset is often confused with face progression, which is measured from the centerline of the shaft, but both are design features that affect the trajectory of the ball. Clubs with increased offset, or face progression, will create a higher ball trajectory since the club must travel slightly farther along its arc before making contact with the ball.
Investment Casting
Investment casting was chosen over forgings by PING's founder, Karsten Solheim, in the 1960's as the preferred method to produce consistently high-quality clubheads. In this process, wax clubhead replicas are repeatedly dipped into ceramic materials to create a hard shell, the wax is removed by melting, and molten metal is poured into the shells. After the metal has cooled, the shell is removed to reveal the clubhead.
Offset
The distance from the front of the hosel to the lead edge of the face, hosel offset is often confused with face progression which is measured from the centerline of the shaft.
Both design features affect the trajectory of the ball — if two clubs with the same loft but different amounts of offset, the club with more offset will generally produce a higher trajectory, depending on the center of gravity. This is due to the club travelling farther through the swing arc (thereby having a shallower angle of attack) before making contact with the ball.
Loft
The angle of the clubface relative to the centerline of the shaft.
While loft has the most influence on the launch trajectory of a golf ball, there are other factors that contribute significantly to the overall ball trajectory, specifically the effective shaft flex (shaft length, shaft flex and flex profile, i.e. tip-stiff vs. tip-flexible) and the center of gravity.
Roll
A design characteristic of woods, roll is the vertical curvature of the face measured in inches of radius.
Roll helps reduce the negative effects of hitting the ball too low or too high on the club face by providing additional loft when the ball is hit high on the face and less loft when the ball is hit low on the face. The amount of roll required depends on the location of the center of gravity of the club.
Set Makeup
The specific combination of driver, fairway woods, hybrids, irons, wedges and putter that a golfer has in his or her bag.
A complete fitting should include assessment of the golfer's strengths and weaknesses to identify the proper mix of clubs. The recommended method is for the golfer to monitor his or her performance on the course using the PING Performance Scoresheet, keeping track of how frequently each club in the bag is hit, as well as the distance and direction of each shot.
Sole Radius
A design feature of all types of clubs, sole radius describes the curvature from the heel to the toe.
Sole radius is extremely important since it affects how the club reacts when it makes contact with the turf, and as it travels through the turf. With irons and wedges, sole radius is one of the many factors that influence the effective bounce of the club, or how the club the performs in different types of lies.
Slice
A ball flight with a pronounced left-to-right curve for a right-handed player, or a pronounced right-to-left curve for a left-handed player.
A more upright color code (irons only) and/or a thinner grip diameter (irons and woods) can help reduce this tendency in most cases. A player who tends to slice his or her drives may also benefit from additional loft, which will increase backspin while reducing sidespin, thereby improving accuracy.
Static Fitting
The first step of the fitting process, a Static Fitting determines starting specifications based on the golfer's physical measurements, such as height, wrist-to-floor, and hand size.
Although a static fitting is accurate within one color code for 70% of golfers, the results should be validated by a club-fitting specialist during a complete fitting session, preferably one that includes ball flight observation of shots hit with clubs with different specifications.
Swing Weight
A measurement of the ratio of the clubhead's weight to the grip end of the golf club, swing weight is commonly equated to how heavy the clubhead feels at the end of the shaft. To measure swing weight, the club is placed in a special scale with a fulcrum, or balance point, that is 14" from the butt end of the club. Swing weight measurements are represented by a letter/number combination. The letters range from A to G, and the numbers range from 0 to 9 - A0 being the lightest, G9 the heaviest. Most PING irons are built within the D0-D2 range with progressively heavier wedges.
Toe
The area of the clubhead that is farthest from the hosel.
Toe-down Effect
The downward flexing of the shaft in the downswing due to centrifugal force acting on the clubhead.
Torque
A measurement (in degrees) of how much a shaft will twist under a certain load. To test a shafts' torque rating, the butt of the shaft is attached to a fixture and a twisting force (4 ft./lbs.) is applied to the tip. The number of degrees the tip rotates is the torque rating.
Shafts with more torque generally feel softer since the shaft absorbs more vibration by flexing more around the axis (centerline) of the shaft, but are not as accurate when mis-hit.
Trajectory
Trajectory refers to the launch angle and "shape" of the flight of the golf ball. Regardless of the type of club, the trajectory of the golf ball can indicate whether or not the golf club's loft and shaft flex are properly matched to the golfer's swing speed.
Upright
A term used to describe a lie angle in which the toe of any club (putter, iron or metal wood) is higher than standard, or higher than it would be in the preferred position.
In this orientation, the loft of the club causes the face to be pointed farther left (for a right-handed golfer) which, with irons and metal woods, encourages a draw, or can be used to reduce a fade or slice.
