A Further Understanding of The Maltby Playability Factor

Introduction

Start with the premise that many golf clubs today play much easier than golf clubs of the past and for that matter the past few years. Obviously golf club design technology has reached new levels but all golf companies have not achieved this. Yes, they may market their clubs with all the right words in trying to convince us that their clubs are absolutely the best there is, but some of us know differently. Only a select few companies with the right personnel and technical capabilities have produced demonstrably different playing characteristics in their designs. Is it just dumb luck or do these select few companies really know how to design golf clubs that are easier to hit?

Few manufacturers have mastered how to make golf clubs based on the best science we have.

I have done extensive golf club testing with golfers throughout the years and have noted that indeed, as time marches on and new technologies are developed that some golf club manufacturers and The GolfWorks actually do make golf clubs that are easier to hit and especially those clubs aimed at the average golfer. Couple this with the fact that for the last 6 years I have been designing golf clubs with an advanced mathematical formula based on dimensional and mass characteristics of the head itself that allows me to build-in the specific amount of playability that I desire.

For the last 4 years many of you have been reading the copy I write in the GolfWorks catalog about the Maltby line of golf clubs and specifically why and how I designed that particular golf club for a specific purpose or player. Better yet, are those of you who have purchased Maltby clubs and found that they performed exactly as advertised and were as good or in many cases better than the major brands and at a fair price. Dumb luck? No, the years of designing, testing and researching golf clubs using my state of the art golf club design studio, has allowed the GolfWorks to be in the forefront of understanding and advancing golf club technology. Less than 5 major golf manufacturers fall into this category and certainly no other component companies.

Golfer Abilities And Desires

Every golf club designed cannot be aimed specifically at the absolute easiest to play category. If they were, there would be many golfers who would be left out that desire a different type of club and playability. Let’s talk about irons. There are many types and styles of irons on the market. We all know about the golf club companies that only build one type for a specific golfer group. One group that comes to mind is the so-called better player who prefers the more traditional look, standard cavity back or muscle back in cast stainless steel and for some, preferably, forgings. Also, many touring professionals are in this category (although every year more and more are switching over to much higher playability factor irons). Of course, it depends on who pays what amount of money to play a specific brand but in most cases the golf club manufacturer needs to come up with some kind of variation that the touring professional will be satisfied with. Then there are companies who mostly aim at the average or struggling or beginning golfer and design only the most forgiving irons they can. Some of these companies are the ones that drive technology and make golf clubs easier and easier to play.

The Solution

So, how do we sort out all of this design stuff? How do we know exactly what playability category a certain golf club is in? Who is it designed for and what will it do for me? Well, there is a way and you can benefit from knowing what playability category a golf club is in and if it is right for you before making a buying decision.

Take a look at the Playability Factor Chart for irons. There are 6 categories of playability defined on this chart. A mathematical formula places each unique iron design in the appropriate category. The following dimensions and mass properties are some of the factors that determine which category a particular iron design falls into.

MPF is the first time irons have been put into categories by playability factor. The history of various iron designs and their success of failure in the market place is only one validating element in MPF. Couple this with my 39 years experience in designing woods and irons for 10 different OEMs and The GolfWorks, extensive player testing, machine testing and working with many touring professionals provides the final validity for being able to accurately categorize irons to help golfers play better. However, the ultimate validity rests with you and only you, the satisfied golfer.

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  • 12:18PM - Mar 10, 2008RE: A Further Understanding of The Maltby Playability Factor

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    Sammyboy, what any company says is mostly in how they are marketing their product for a certain golfer segment. Whether the MPF is high or low may not correlate any to the advertising agencys thinking.I will say that they are actualy correct sometimes as is the case with the new Cobra UFi irons that have many claims in their ads. They just happen to be all factual.

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  • 7:18PM - Mar 7, 2008RE: A Further Understanding of The Maltby Playability Factor

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    Question: will you relate the difference between MPF & forgiveness ? example: Callaway has the big birtha irons as their #1 forgiveness irons, yet the X20 have a higher mpf! thanks Sam G.

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  • 5:02PM - Jul 12, 2007RE: A Further Understanding of The Maltby Playability Factor

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    Alex, you ask a very good question and it would be beneficial to all golfers to discuss it. All golfers should in theory play with the highest Maltby Playability Factor (MPF) category for irons which as you know is “Ultra Game Improvement” or above 851 points. Now, with that said, everyone needs to realize that MPF only rates the “mass and dimensional” properties of the clubhead (center of gravity location and moment of inertia). It does not take into account the fitting factor such as the proper shaft, proper club length, proper lie angle, proper swingweight, proper grip size and so on. It also does not take into account certain iron head specifications such as sole bounce angle, sole grind, leading edge grind, loft angle, hosel offset and face progression. So, MPF is designed to put you into the category of playability that will help you the most or more importantly, keep you from making a mistake and playing irons that are too low in playability for your skill level. A good point to bring up here is that their are many tour players on all the different tours that play with the highest playability category irons. They have adjusted or selected specifications and components that match their games and provide the best results. Their are also a few tour players (getting less every day) who still play with very low playability blade type irons. They simply cannot look at anything that is not completely traditional. Alex, you are basically “right on” in your comment. So,as a final example, let’s say you are convinced that you want the absolute highest playability iron. Let’s also assume the three irons you are looking at have exactly the same MPF points. You need to demo each of the three irons to see how all the other specifications of that iron fit into your game and swing. Obviously, the shaft is one of the big factors here. Actually hitting them allows the golfer to pick the best performing and best feeling (most solid hitting) iron. Since no one can really look at any iron and determine its actual playability factor, MPF was developed to overcome the sometimes exagerated and misleading marketing claims and to quantify through actual numbers the playability of that head design.

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  • 2:24PM - Jul 12, 2007RE: A Further Understanding of The Maltby Playability Factor

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    • Alex

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    So, are there reasons why you wouldn’t want the highest MPF possible? Or at least one on the higher end? Why would I opt for something lower?

    Is there a sense of, within a few sets of clubs that are about the same MPF level, it is sort of then up to the golfer to pick a set the feels good to them?

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  • 10:45AM - May 8, 2007RE: A Further Understanding of The Maltby Playability Factor

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    Mark, don’t worry too much about the individual numbers. It’s the overall that has the most meaning. With that said, if you were the type of person who mostly hit the ball low on the club face and had a sweeping type swing vs. a down and through swing, I would opt for the lower center of gravity when looking through the numbers. The moment of inertia, while important, is not nearly as important in an iron as it is in a wood club and also the putter. I actually apply much less weight to the MOI numbers for irons and more weight for the center of gravity location away from the hosel and lower in the head.

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  • 4:50AM - May 8, 2007RE: A Further Understanding of The Maltby Playability Factor

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    • mark

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    I am having a little trouble interpreting some of the figures and how they relate to MPF in irons 2007. In the first MOI column it appears that the highly rated Callaway Fusion Widesole has a lower MOI than the Macgregor Tourney blade. How can this be so. Should I be looking at the MOI C/F column instead. Thanks.

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