Pro to the pros. Expert to the experts.

Ralph Maltby has been designing and evaluating golf equipment for more than 40 years. He is universally regarded as one of the premier golf equipment experts in the world.

Nice to meet you.

Ralph began his career designing and engineering for a number of major golf equipment manufacturers. He went on to found The GolfWorks in 1976, providing clubmakers and other golf equipment experts with club components, clubmaking tools and supplies, and technical information.

Ralph created the Maltby Playability Factor club rating system, through which he has tested and rated the performance of more than 1000 golf clubs. He has published seven books, secured multiple patents and lectured at more than 250 PGA Business Schools. Ralph has released a wide range of instructional videos and is a frequent guest on The Golf Channel.

In 1991 he was listed by Golf Digest magazine as one of the 36 most powerful men in golf and in 1996 was inducted into the “Professional Clubmakers Society” Hall of Fame.

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  • 7:10AM - Mar 10, 2010RE: Pro to the pros. Expert to the experts.

    #22
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    Originally Posted by JTG

    Ralph,

    If you use only changes in shaft specifications within a single series with a broad range of options of a manufacturer’s shafts would an answer be easier? Some examples might be the ProLaunch, YS+, or Aura series from Grafalloy or Graphite Design. Another limiting given could be a single type of swing type of your choosing like a slow, smooth, sweeping type as an example.

    My son is turning pro this year

    He has over the past 4 years fought a twitch in his right hand when putting. He went back to Cack Handed for the last 2 years which worked quite well however now that he is playing on the Minor League Tour his twich has started again.

    It only happens during tournament play, during a normal game he can make putts all day long, obviously it is a nervous issue.

    He is now trying a belly putter out to see if this may help.

    I wonder if anyone else has had a similar problem and if so how did they work through the problem.

    Many thanks in advance

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  • 11:42AM - Mar 4, 2010RE: Pro to the pros. Expert to the experts.

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    • JTG

    • JTG
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    • 6 Comments

    Ralph,

    If you use only changes in shaft specifications within a single series with a broad range of options of a manufacturer’s shafts would an answer be easier? Some examples might be the ProLaunch, YS+, or Aura series from Grafalloy or Graphite Design. Another limiting given could be a single type of swing type of your choosing like a slow, smooth, sweeping type as an example.

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  • 10:22AM - Feb 28, 2010RE: Pro to the pros. Expert to the experts.

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    JTG, this is a tough one to answer for two reasons; first different golfer swing types can get very different results. Secondly and probably most important is that the graphite shaft manufacturer’s all have different standards of shaft measurement properties. At least with MPF it’s an apples to apples comparison.

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  • 10:24AM - Feb 27, 2010RE: Pro to the pros. Expert to the experts.

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    • JTG

    • JTG
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    Ralph, In several things that I’ve read you provide a very good answer for results that can be expected with the different MPF ratings for iron heads. If I have understood correctly, it could be a 200 – 400 MPF change before many golfers may notice a change, and at 400 and above many should notice a change. Expecting much from an change of 80 might not be realistic.

    Can you provide similar relevancy to changes in 3 of the shaft specifications: Flex, Bend Point, and Tip Stiffness? What magnitude of change would usually need to be made before an broad group of amature golfers could/shood notice the changes? For example: Would focusing on a tip stiffness difference between med/firm and medium carry much relevancy or would it require more spread to notice a difference?

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  • 5:12PM - Feb 15, 2010RE: Pro to the pros. Expert to the experts.

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    Seatuck, get rid of the cheap stock TaylorMade shaft and look at a top grade graphite tip stiff shafts (that is if you have a TaylorMade shaft in the driver). If you truely carry the ball 280 you need an “X” flex. I recommend that you get on a lauch monitor and check out all the numbers.

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  • 8:02PM - Feb 11, 2010RE: Pro to the pros. Expert to the experts.

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    I hit a driver about 280 and very high – all carry with no roll. However, if I miss the fairway, it is almost always with a slice. I end up choking down on the driver an inch or so, and the slice disappears, as does about 15 yards or so. I am not looking to hit the ball much if any further, but I want to hit it slightly lower and more consistently straight without choking down. I use a stock stiff shaft now on a Taylor Made driver. Should I consider going to an extra stiff shaft?

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  • 12:26PM - Nov 24, 2008RE: Pro to the pros. Expert to the experts.

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    Yes – the Trouble Out hybids are excellent clubs! The kit is the best deal of any club on the market! I am moving to 3 – 6 iron in these myself!

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  • 8:45PM - Sep 18, 2008RE: Pro to the pros. Expert to the experts.

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    Keith, I would recommend talking to any of the mangers at your local Golf Galaxy. I’m sure they would be more than happy to set you up with the Golfworks Manager to learn to build your own set of clubs. Best of luck!!

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  • 10:41AM - Sep 25, 2007RE: Pro to the pros. Expert to the experts.

    #14
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    dougf, Adams has a shorter “C” dimension and this causes the lower MPF. Adams rarely puits the center of gravity in the middle of the face. The Callaway X-Forged center of gravity is .100” toward the heel. This is rare for Callaway to do as putting the C.G. in the center of the face is quite easy and the only way to properly make a golf club. It’s obviously your choice, but I prefer the X-20 Tour. Make sure the same shaft was in the two Callaway demo clubs (X-Forged and X-20 Tour’s). Hit them one more time to be sure. I personally would not pick Adams over Callaway and I am aware that their is probably a large price difference.

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  • 10:39AM - Sep 21, 2007RE: Pro to the pros. Expert to the experts.

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    I just signed up and decided to become a member on this site as I enjoy reading unbiased results of club testing. I’m in the market for a new set of irons and am having a difficult time deciding as there is a lot of great equipment out there today. I like the Ping i5 and am demoing the new i10s this Sunday at a Ping demo day. Other clubs I’m considering include the Callaway X-Forged, X-20 Tours and Adams Pro Forged irons. I hit the X-Forged more consistent than the X-20 Tour even though the overall MPF is higher on the X-20 Tours. My question is with the overall MPF. For example, the Adams Pro Forged irons have a higher MOI, lower actual VCOG and a higher rear center of gravity than the Maltby MTF Forged irons, but have a lower MPF by 137 points. What causes the Adams to have a lower MPF number? Also, the Callaway X-Forged irons have a C dimension of 1.234. Is the sweetspot for the X-Forged in the center or towards the heel of the clubhead? Thanks for your time and this great website.

    Doug

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