Seth - I like 'collecting' persimmon (nothing fancy, just the occasional goodwill 'find'), and over the years have gathered up some nice classics: e.g. Powerbilt Citations, a variety of Hogans, Walter Hagens, the PGA (later Tommy Armour) brand, late model Titleists oil-hardened tour models, MacGregor, Wilson Staffs, and the cannons (ha ha) that were the laminated maple Ping Eyes and Ping Zings. Watching this video and from my own playing experience, I thought:
1. It's remarkable how great a driver Greg Norman was in his prime: very long and very accurate....which adds some nuance to the discussions about better athletes-swing speeds as the key elements in increased distances
2. That said, it's probably true that these boys didn't 'optimize/tailor' the equipment...besides everything else (e.g. shaft flex, open/shut faces etc) it's striking how, with the old clubs and before the days of lofts being indicated, each club had its own personality that you had to discover and/or get used to: I can take out 5 persimmon drivers that all have stiff shafts and are all the same length and all look to have roughly the same loft, and the difference between how I hit them is night and day
3. The 3 and 5 woods, it seems to me, have changed/improved a lot less than drivers have over the years: I find some noticeable difference in distance from the persimmon drivers and the modern titanium ones, but I find less difference with my 3 woods and least of all with 5 woods -- a Hogan 5 wood with speedslot and Apex 4 steel shaft, hit on the screws, goes just as far as my Ping G2 17 degree 5 wood with graphite shaft...and has the added benefit of letting even an average golfer like me 'work' the ball
4. Each generation, i think, develops a golf swing that best matches the equipment available when it was growing up. It wasn't a lack of education or understanding or technique or athleticism that had Bobby Jones swing like he did and Byron Nelson as he did or Ben Hogan or Jack Nicklaus or Greg Norman etc as they did. Playing partners (usually lower handicappers than me) will sometimes ask to hit the old equipment off the tee instead of their modern drivers, and the (unintentional) result is that I gain a whole new level of admiration from them -- there hasn't been one person who hasn't either sliced his tee shot wildly to the right or duck hooked/smothered it to the left. I tell them (and i mean it) that they just need to get used to it -- i.e. that if i can do so can they; but it is true that the swing I've developed has changed from the one I used when i played modern equipment. And, while no one believes me, that swing -- i.e. more centered, more controlled -- and those clubs (with matching, period correct irons) have not only helped me become a better golfer but also to score better than I used to.
5. The golf ball. I don't know the physics, but how the Titleists I now use can go so far, and spin so little (i.e. not a banana ball to be seen in ages) and yet feel so good on and around the green is beyond me. What the heck would Mr. Nicklaus have accomplished with *that* in his bag instead of the wonky, spinny Macgregors?
Peter