The Debate of the Long Putter

In the sport of golf, there has always been a debate about the use of "long putters." A long putter is a putter, just longer than the normal putter (which is normally 33 inches to 36 inches). There are 2 types of long putters: the belly putter, where the end of the putter touches your belly while swinging, and the chest putter where the end of the putter touches

A comparison of the lengths of putters

your chest. Some believe it is perfectly fine to use one, while others believe it is a swing aid which is considered cheating. The USGA (United States Golf Association) settled the argument by announcing they would start banning the ability to anchor the putter to your body in 2016. The reasoning behind it is simply the player must have a free - swinging motion through the duration of a swing without interference and the club should not be anchored to the body.  

So what does this mean the professionals and the average golfer?

Since the ban will not take place until 2016, anyone can still use a long putter, but it is recommended you start making the transition to a normal length putter. 

So what's so special about the long putter? And why is it being banned? Well technically the long putter isn't going to be taken away completely, just the ability to anchor it is being banned. When your putter is anchored to your body, whether it's the belly or chest, helps the player steady their hands. This is considered a big advantage for those players, especially on those nerve racking 4 footers. The USGA saw this as an unfair advantage and decided to outlaw the ability to anchor the putter.

Adam Scott putting with a chest anchored putter

Since 2011, four of the last ten major champions used an anchored putter. Keegan Bradley won the 2011 PGA Championship with a belly putter, Ernie Els won the 2012 British Open with a belly putter, Webb Simpson won the 2012 US Open with a belly putter, and Adam Scott won the 2013 Masters with a chest putter. This trend has been increasing the debate the use of an anchored putter, even some pros are expressing their opinions. In the Washington Post, Tiger Woods said he has always believed players should not be able to anchor putters. Arnold Palmer agrees with Tiger in the same article, saying "We don't need a contraption to play the game of golf." 

On January 1st, 2016 the rule of the anchored swing will be banned from the sport of golf. The topic of anchored putting has been debated for quite some time and it is finally being resolved. 

A Review: The Adjustable Driver

Some people may think the sport of golf is just a boring sport where all you do is hit a small white ball with a stick and hope it goes in a small hole a mile away.  Others know golf is actually one of the most technical sports out there.  As for me, I fall in the second category.

I have been golfing since I was 4 years old and it has been my favorite sport since.  As I was growing up I soon learned there were differences in each golf club and there are different clubs for each skill level.  I would ask my dad what those differences were and what I should use, he would tell me "Trey, even though there are a bunch of different kind of clubs with all kinds of technology put into them, it comes down to which feels best to you."  What if there was a club that could adjust to any golfers preference?  In this post, I am reviewing the revolutionary technological development of the adjustable driver.

One of the biggest problems for a golfer is hitting the ball straight or in a desirable way.  Before the adjustable driver, golfers would buy a specific driver that had a preset face angle of something like "open" or "closed" in order hit the ball better and straighter.  Then in 2009, Nike golf introduced the golf world to its first adjustable driver.  This ended the need to buy a new driver with a preset face angle and lie, saving golfers quite a bit of money, and it allows golfers to fine tune their driver to their own preferences. Since its beginning, the adjustable driver has been growing and is now expected in new drivers.  Now just about every golf brand has an adjustable driver.  

The first adjustable driver Nike introduced controlled 2 variables: the face angle and the lie angle of the club head.  I personally owned this driver and I love being able to fine tune my driver.  If I had been hitting a fade when I wanted to hit a draw, I would pop off the club head, move it to my desired position and tighten it back onto the shaft.  It was very simple and it worked.  Not only did I see a difference actual look of the club head but also in the ball trajectory.  

The adjustable driver nowadays has another feature, the ability to adjust the loft.  Now golfers can fine tune how high or low they want the ball to travel.  With all of the features these new adjustable drivers can do, the average golfer can become their own club fitter. Even though the average golfer will not know everything there is to know about how find the perfect club for their swing, but the adjustable driver gives them the ability to tinker to help find the perfect adjustment.

Overall, making the driver adjustable has been one of the biggest developments in golfing technology.  It gives the average golfer the ability to fine tune their driver to their own preferences, whether it is hitting a low draw or a high fade.  

Pictures:

Nike Driver:

http://www.golf.com/equipment/nike-sq-dymo-squared-and-dymo-squared-str-8-fit-drivers

Settings Chart:

http://gearpatrol.com/2009/05/28/nike-sq-dymo-str8-fit-driver/

Mechanical Engineering: Engineering Your Passion

Mechanical Engineering.  

What is it exactly?  Designing products?  Making cars?  Building things?  Well, the answer is yes, to all of these questions.  Basically, mechanical engineers design products and solve problems, it's as simple as that.  Kind of.  

Of course it's not as simple as designing a tool, a car, or some product.  There is a lot that goes into the design/process of that tool, or that car, or whatever it might be.  Before it the product is even made, the engineer designs a process that is the most efficient way to make the product. This is the goal for engineers and this is what companies want; engineers that can save them time and money. Then they design the product, usually using a 3-D modeling program.  And with todays technology, the engineers can do testing on the computer.  They can test the amount of stress a certain metal goes through under different pressures and temperatures.  With this technology, it saves time, money and materials since most of the testing can be done by a program.  

Some of you may be thinking: So how does this affect you?  I'll answer that question with another question: How does this NOT affect you?

Just about every single product nowadays was designed by an mechanical engineer, big or small. That bed you woke up in, designed by a mechanical engineer.  The Faucet in your bathroom you used you used this morning to brush your teeth, oh and that toothbrush, designed by a mechanical engineer.  That car you drive to work everyday, designed by a mechanical engineer.  That thing you use everyday, I think you can guess what I'm going to say next, designed by a mechanical engineer. Without mechanical engineers, there would be chaos!  Well, maybe not chaos but many of the products we use today would poorly made and made inefficiently.


As for myself, I chose to study mechanical engineering for a number of reasons.  It's practical, high job demand, logical, but the real reason I chose this field is because of my passion for my favorite sport, golf.  I want to use my degree to design golf clubs for a living. Since I was a kid, I have wanted to be a golfer and since I don't have the talents to become a pro I wanted to do the next best thing, make the clubs for the pros. I know it's not the most I could do with this degree but that's the beauty with mechanical engineering, it is a very broad field that you can find the perfect job that suits you.

Mechanical engineering is very heavy in math and science but is not limited to just math and science.  With a degree, you can pursue a job that will fit your passions, like my passion for golf.  It could range from a favorite sport to a hobby, like hunting or cars, to a certain product, to just about anything.  Becoming a mechanical engineer allows people to design products to benefit the world and their own passions.

Pictures:

Johnny the Engineer:  
http://www.topuniversities.com/courses/engineering-mechanical/careers-mechanical-engineering

3-D Model of car:
http://www.crushdigital.co.uk/blog/3d-modeling-explained

Golf Swing:
https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/design/designing-the-perfect-swing