20 Aug 2019 admin

The Vision Telescope

By Norm Crerar, USGTF Contributing Writer Vernon, British Columbia

I have been in the recreation business for over 50 years, both actively and lately as a consultant. Most of my time was spent in the ski industry as an active player and the golf industry a participant and consultant. I ski recreationally – and still do some teaching – and golf recreationally. As a result of my unique background, I have trouble just going out there with a clear mind just skiing or golfing. I am constantly looking around at what is out of place, asking myself why doesn’t someone fix this or adjust that, make a subtle change here or there that would give the visitors a better experience, or save the company some money. I love it! I am concerned, though, as both the ski industry and the golf industry are suffering from the same thing, declining numbers of participants. Some of this was due to the economy, but most is due to the Baby Boomers getting older or disappearing for health reasons. Shockingly, there are very few programs designed to get more people skiing and/or golfing more often.

Back in the 1970s, skiing had a program called GLM (Graduated Length Method). The clients started on very short skis on very gentle terrain, and as soon as they could turn the skis easily, they graduated to slightly longer skis and were taken to the top of the mountain, where they skied down a specially-tailored run that got them to the bottom quickly and safely. This was instant success for almost everyone. These thousands of people were the ones who bought the first condos at Vail and Whistler and allowed the ski industry to really take off. This same age group took up golf and found the time and money to take lessons, buy memberships, rent carts, hit thousands of range balls, find new and better equipment and buy resort properties. Both industries are now struggling to find new members and new markets.

How Free Bets Became a Staple of Australian Sports Wagering Culture

Australian sports betting has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past two decades, evolving from a landscape dominated by TAB agencies and telephone accounts into one of the most competitive online wagering markets in the world. Central to this evolution has been the rise of the free bet — a promotional mechanism that operators have used to attract new customers, retain existing ones, and differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded field. Understanding how free bets became embedded in Australian wagering culture requires looking at the regulatory shifts, technological changes, and behavioural patterns that have shaped the industry since the early 2000s. Far from being a simple marketing gimmick, the free bet has become a structural feature of how Australians engage with sports wagering, influencing everything from which platforms punters choose to how they approach risk when placing wagers on events ranging from the Melbourne Cup to NRL finals.

The Regulatory and Technological Conditions That Made Free Bets Possible

The story of free bets in Australia cannot be told without first understanding the legal framework that allowed online wagering to flourish. The Interactive Gambling Act of 2001 was a pivotal piece of legislation that, while restricting certain forms of online gambling, explicitly permitted online sports betting with an account-based model. This created a legal pathway for licensed operators — initially those based in the Northern Territory, which had established a relatively permissive licensing regime — to offer wagering services across state and territory lines. Companies like Sportsbet, which launched in 1999 and obtained a Northern Territory licence, were among the first to recognise that the internet could fundamentally change the scale at which promotional offers could be deployed.

Before the internet era, promotional offers in the wagering industry were constrained by geography and logistics. A TAB outlet in Sydney could run a local promotion, but reaching punters nationally required expensive broadcast advertising or direct mail campaigns. The internet collapsed these barriers entirely. By the mid-2000s, operators could sign up customers from any Australian state within minutes, verify identity digitally, and credit a free bet to an account almost instantaneously. This logistical ease meant that free bets could be offered at scale without the administrative overhead that would have made them impractical in earlier decades.

The proliferation of smartphones accelerated this process considerably. By 2012, the majority of Australian adults owned a smartphone, and wagering operators moved quickly to develop native applications. The app environment proved particularly suited to free bet promotions because push notifications could alert users to time-sensitive offers — a free bet on a particular race meeting, a bonus for an upcoming football round — in a way that was impossible through desktop browsers alone. Nielsen data from around this period showed that mobile wagering was growing at rates exceeding 40 percent year-on-year in Australia, and operators competed fiercely to be the app installed on a punter’s device, using free bets as the primary incentive for initial downloads.

The entry of international operators into the Australian market further intensified this dynamic. When William Hill acquired Sportingbet’s Australian operations in 2013 and Paddy Power merged with Betfair before eventually entering the local market, they brought with them European promotional cultures where free bets had been standard practice since the early 2000s. These operators understood free bets not merely as a customer acquisition cost but as a mechanism for establishing brand recognition in a market where punters were increasingly willing to hold accounts with multiple operators simultaneously.

How Free Bet Mechanics Shaped Punter Behaviour

The mechanics of how free bets are structured have had a measurable influence on how Australian punters approach wagering decisions. A standard free bet in the Australian market typically takes one of two forms: a matched deposit bonus, where the operator credits a percentage of an initial deposit as a free bet token, or a no-deposit free bet offered simply for registering an account. In both cases, the free bet token differs from cash in one critical respect — the stake itself is generally not returned with the winnings. This means a punter who places a ten-dollar free bet at odds of three-to-one receives twenty dollars rather than thirty, because the ten-dollar stake is retained by the operator.

This structural feature has pushed many punters toward using free bets on higher-odds selections rather than favourites. The mathematical logic is straightforward: since the stake is not returned regardless of the outcome, the value of a free bet increases proportionally with the odds at which it is placed. This has had the practical effect of encouraging punters to explore markets they might not otherwise have considered — exotic racing bets, multi-leg accumulators, or less prominent sporting events where bookmakers offer longer prices. Operators are aware of this dynamic and have sometimes used it deliberately, offering free bets tied to specific events or markets where they hold a stronger margin.

The phenomenon of bonus hunting, known in Australian wagering circles as “bonus bagging,” emerged as a direct response to the proliferation of free bet offers. Sophisticated punters developed systematic approaches to extracting value from promotional offers, often by placing a free bet on one outcome and a corresponding lay bet on a betting exchange like Betfair to hedge their exposure. This practice, while entirely legal, prompted operators to introduce increasingly complex terms and conditions — minimum odds requirements, turnover conditions, and sport-specific restrictions — designed to limit the profitability of purely mechanical approaches to bonus extraction. The ongoing tension between operators refining their promotional terms and punters adapting their strategies has been one of the defining features of the Australian free bet landscape since approximately 2015.

Resources documenting these evolving promotional structures have become increasingly useful to punters navigating a complex market; for instance, http://free-bets-online.com/ aggregates current offers and explains the specific conditions attached to each, reflecting how much more sophisticated both the offers themselves and the information ecosystem around them have become compared to the early days of online wagering in Australia.

The Regulatory Pushback and Its Consequences for Promotional Culture

The expansion of free bet culture in Australia did not occur without significant regulatory scrutiny. Concerns about problem gambling and the aggressive marketing of wagering products — including free bets — led to a series of legislative and regulatory responses that have materially shaped how operators can promote their services. The most significant of these was the implementation of the National Consumer Protection Framework for Online Wagering, which was agreed upon by Australian state and territory governments in 2018 and progressively rolled out through 2019 and 2020.

Among the framework’s provisions was a requirement that operators allow customers to set deposit limits, take breaks from wagering, and self-exclude from all licensed platforms through a single national register. More directly relevant to free bets, the framework addressed inducements — the category of promotion that includes free bets — by restricting how and to whom they could be offered. Operators were prohibited from offering inducements to customers who had set deposit limits or who had previously self-excluded, and there were tightened rules around unsolicited contact promoting wagering products, including free bet offers, to existing customers.

The Broadcasting Services Amendment (Online Gambling) Act of 2018 had already introduced restrictions on in-play betting advertising and the promotion of wagering services during live sports broadcasts, which had become a flashpoint for public concern about the normalisation of gambling among younger audiences. While this legislation did not directly target free bets, it affected the channels through which operators could promote them, pushing more promotional activity toward digital channels — email, push notifications, and social media — where the regulatory environment remained somewhat less prescriptive.

State-level measures added further complexity. South Australia had introduced a 15 percent point-of-consumption tax on wagering in 2017, and other states followed with similar measures over the subsequent years, with New South Wales implementing its own framework in 2019. These taxes, calculated on net wagering revenue rather than turnover, created financial pressure on operators that had implications for promotional budgets. Some smaller operators reduced the scale of their free bet offerings in response, while larger operators with greater economies of scale maintained or even expanded their promotional activity as a means of defending market share. The net effect was a degree of consolidation in the market, with the largest operators — Sportsbet, TAB, Ladbrokes, and Neds — accounting for a growing proportion of total wagering revenue and free bet volume.

Responsible gambling advocates have raised persistent concerns about the role of free bets in encouraging wagering among people who might not otherwise participate or in increasing the frequency of wagering among existing customers. Research published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies and various state gambling research bodies has consistently found that promotional offers, including free bets, are cited by problem gamblers as a factor that influenced their wagering behaviour. The industry, through bodies like the Australian Wagering Council, has argued that free bets are a standard commercial tool analogous to promotional offers in other retail sectors, and that the appropriate response is consumer education and access to support services rather than prohibition. This debate remains unresolved and continues to inform the regulatory agenda.

Free Bets in the Context of Australian Sports Culture

To understand why free bets have become so deeply embedded in Australian wagering culture, it is necessary to appreciate the particular relationship Australians have with sport and with wagering as a social activity. Australia has one of the highest per-capita rates of gambling expenditure in the world — figures compiled by the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office have consistently placed Australia among the top two or three countries globally on this measure. Sports betting, while a smaller component of total gambling expenditure than electronic gaming machines, has grown substantially as a share of the total since online wagering became mainstream, and free bets have been a significant driver of this growth by lowering the perceived cost of entry.

The cultural significance of events like the Melbourne Cup, the AFL and NRL finals series, and the Sydney to Hobart yacht race as wagering occasions cannot be overstated. These events function as focal points around which operators time their most substantial free bet promotions. In the weeks leading up to the Melbourne Cup carnival, for example, it is common for major operators to offer free bet credits tied to account deposits, multi-bet bonuses, and race-specific promotional tokens. The social dimension of wagering on these events — the workplace sweepstake, the group bet among friends — creates an environment in which a free bet offer can serve as an entry point for someone who might not otherwise engage with a wagering platform.

Cricket has also become an increasingly important context for free bet promotions, particularly since the growth of Twenty20 formats and the Big Bash League, which generates a high volume of matches across a compressed summer schedule. The regularity of matches and the variety of in-play and pre-match markets available on cricket have made it an attractive vehicle for promotional activity, with operators offering free bets on specific outcomes — the highest scorer, the number of sixes in an innings — that encourage engagement with markets beyond the simple match result.

The integration of wagering into sports media coverage has reinforced the prominence of free bet culture. While restrictions on broadcast advertising have limited some promotional activity, digital sports media — podcasts, YouTube channels, and social media accounts run by former athletes or sports commentators — have become significant channels for communicating free bet offers to engaged audiences. The line between sports analysis and wagering promotion has become increasingly blurred in this environment, a development that regulators are beginning to examine more closely as part of broader reviews of wagering advertising standards.

It is also worth noting the role that loyalty and rewards programs have played in extending the free bet concept beyond simple sign-up promotions. Programs like Sportsbet’s Rewards, which credits points for wagering activity that can be redeemed for free bet tokens, represent a maturation of the free bet model from a customer acquisition tool into a customer retention mechanism. This evolution mirrors what has happened in other consumer industries — airlines, supermarkets, credit card providers — where loyalty programs have become a standard feature of the competitive landscape rather than a differentiating innovation.

The Australian free bet market has also been influenced by the growth of same-game multis — accumulator bets constructed entirely from markets within a single match. Major operators introduced these products around 2017 and 2018, and they quickly became one of the most popular wagering formats among younger punters. Free bets are frequently deployed in conjunction with same-game multi promotions, either as a reward for placing a qualifying multi or as a standalone offer tied to a specific match. The combination of a complex, high-odds product with a free bet token creates a compelling proposition for the target demographic, though it also raises questions about the extent to which such promotions encourage higher-risk wagering behaviour.

In summary, the trajectory of free bets in Australian sports wagering reflects a broader story about how a traditional leisure activity has been reshaped by technology, competition, and regulatory intervention. Free bets began as a straightforward customer acquisition tool borrowed from European wagering markets and have evolved into a multifaceted promotional category that intersects with questions of consumer protection, sports media, and cultural attitudes toward risk. The regulatory framework continues to develop in response to evidence about the impacts of promotional wagering, and the industry continues to adapt its practices accordingly. What seems clear is that free bets, in some form, will remain a feature of Australian wagering for the foreseeable future — the competitive pressures that created them have not diminished, and the appetite among Australian punters for value-added wagering experiences shows no sign of abating. The challenge for regulators, operators, and public health advocates alike is to find an equilibrium that allows a legal commercial activity to function while managing the genuine harms that can arise when promotional mechanisms interact with vulnerable individuals in a high-engagement wagering environment.

Most of the early golf and ski resorts were started with a person or a few persons with a vision and little money. As the Baby Boomers passed through, both industries matured, the ski lift systems and grooming got better, and the golf courses were greener and opened earlier and closed later. Both were able to employ and train professionals, run things more efficiently, buy bigger and better equipment, add services, etc., but the prices started to rise and have continued to do so.

Now both the summer and winter resorts are heading in a difficult direction. Look at this as a triangle: The very few at the top do not care what the cost is; they pay their money and are off to play. The ones in the middle can afford to pay and play but decision time is around the corner; the many at the bottom will drop off at the next price rise, leaving the triangle smaller and with fewer people. Enter the accountants. Their training is to count beans. When the beans are black, they are happy. When the beans are red, they know only two things, raise prices and cut expenses (which means cutting services). People drop off the bottom line of the triangle. The triangle is now smaller. Cut expenses again. Smaller triangle, and on it goes. Sadly, this is where the “telescope” comes into the equation. For some reason, the accountant types have only been trained to look from the big end to the small end of a telescope and only see the very small picture, usually only the bottom line.

The USGTF was started with a vision born from necessity and opportunity. Looking from the other end of the telescope, your current president could only see the big picture, found a few like-minded people, offered some courses on learning how to teach golf, and the rest is history.

But the challenge remains. Both the golf industry and the ski industry need the same thing. They desperately need people to look out of the right end of the telescope and see the big picture and need to find ways of getting more people skiing and golfing more often. Doing nothing is hard, because you never know when you are finished.

What end of the telescope are you looking through?

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12 Aug 2019 admin

When Adversity Strikes

Why then ’tis none to you; for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” – Hamlet, by William Shakespeare

Sometimes we are forced to play in adverse conditions, but this article isn’t talking about the weather. No, we are talking about something that is rarely spoken about except for perhaps at the 19th hole after the round – people who are difficult to play with.

Difficult playing partners run the gamut with all sorts of behavior. We can let it affect our own games or we can ignore it. Granted, ignoring certain behaviors can be quite hard to do, but if you or your students want to play your best, you’ve got to figure out a way to work your way through it.

Let’s keep in mind that, absent any sort of physical altercation or making noise in your routine or swing, what someone else does has no direct bearing on what we are doing. We can only let it affect us when we put a negative judgment on a person’s actions, as Hamlet stated. And once we make a negative judgment, it tends to get into our psyche and then, by definition, we are focused on that person and their behavior. When we’re trying to put up a score or just have fun on the golf course, that goes out the window when we do that.

As hard as it may be to not get upset with certain people or their actions, it is imperative that we stay in our own world when that type of adversity strikes. There are several types of difficult playing companions that all of us have encountered at one time or another:

usgtf golf teacher certified golf coach pga

The Club Thrower

Let’s be honest. Most of us have tossed a club in the past. Rory McIlroy famously hurled his 3-iron into a lake at Trump Doral in Miami during the tournament, and other examples abound. Club breakers also fall into this category. But most of us either matured or realized that our stature in the game demanded a better showing of class, so we no longer do it. If we’re paired with a club thrower or breaker, instead of putting a negative spin on it at the time, we have two choices: to let it affect our game negatively or not. Of course, if the club thrower is firing clubs left and right and endangering others, this is not to be tolerated, and at that point we might have no choice but to get worked up about it. But most club throwers are only making fools of themselves, in the end.

The Rules Expert

From anecdotal evidence, it appears women are more guilty of this than men. Stories about where a strict adherence to the Rules of Golf is demanded by the matriarch of the group, and even the most minor violations are met with great scorn and the figurative hammer. If you are the victim of a USGA and R&A wannabe, simply thank them for their information and move on. You’re not going to get them to change their ways, and just make it a point of not playing with them anymore. If they’re part of your regular group and this can’t be avoided, they’ve surely annoyed others, too. A group intervention should be convened for the sanity of all.

The Golf Instructor

You lifted your head” is something you may hear after you hit a poor shot, especially one that was topped, as if that was the sole cause of your poor shot. If keeping your head down was the magic secret to golf, there would be no need for real golf teaching professionals, and everyone could enjoy magical ballstriking for the rest of their lives. Even if you’re not taking lessons from a golf teaching professional (and plenty of teaching professionals take lessons from other instructors), just inform the person you’re working with so-and-so and you and your teacher/ coach are aware of the problem.

The Chatterbox

Some of us are extroverts; some of us are introverts. Some of us take time to warm up to people; some of us can be lifelong friends after five minutes. Some of us are serious on the course; some of us are fun seekers. Those who tend to be quiet can be very easily rattled by someone who is not, but rarely is vice versa the case. Jim Peters, the winner of the 2018 Harvey Penick Trophy for Excellence in Golf Teaching, said some of the best advice he ever received was that we have two ears and one mouth, so use them in proportion. If you’re paired with the Mouth of the South, let him or her ramble on. Or, with the acceptance of listening to music on the course these days, you can pop some ear buds in and tune them out.

The Narcissist

This person thinks mainly of themselves, both through their words and actions. If you’re in the same cart and he’s driving, he’ll often drive right by your ball and go directly to theirs, nevermind that your ball is 30 yards back. Or, at the slightest hint of being in trouble, they make a beeline to their ball, all the time lamenting how he didn’t keep his head down or his left elbow straight. They keep up a running monologue of their game and sometimes their life. It can be exhausting to play with such a person, but remember that you’re not going to change who they are in one round of golf. As best you can, put your focus on something else, maybe the beauty of the course or the interesting design of your current hole.

The Complete Hacker

People new to the game are not going to be very good. There are also some long-time players who aren’t very good, to put it mildly. If they keep it moving, fine. But if they insist on looking for every errant ball and refusing to pick up when they’re on their 10th stroke 100 yards from the green, you have every right to say something, even to the point of abandoning them and going ahead.

The Cheater

There is a difference between cheaters and rule breakers. Cheaters deliberately break the rules, while ordinary rule breakers do so unknowingly. If you’re simply playing a casual round, it’s not a big deal. However, if you’re in a tournament, it can, of course, become a very big deal. But surprisingly, it also may not be.

An example of the latter is a cheater or rule breaker whose score is not going to win them any prizes in the competition. After the round is over and the scorecards are signed, you can advise them of what the rule is that they broke. But be careful that you are 100 percent — and we mean 100 percent — certain that you are giving the correct information. If the cheater/rule breaker is violating a rule and they are in contention for a prize, you have an obligation to say something on the spot. After the scorecards are signed is not the time to speak up. Yet, even here it may be inadvisable to say something. We hate to separate rules into “minor” or “major” categories, but if the person gained absolutely no advantage (such as having his son carry his putter to the green while employing another caddie, a violation of the one-caddie rule), then it might be best to remain quiet. Cheaters/rule breakers who are called out almost always react in a volatile manner, so this definitely calls for extreme discretion and diplomacy.

Wrapping Up

We are not advocating condoning rude or ill-mannered playing partners. But we are saying that there is often little one can do to change the situation for the better, as we’re dealing with people with long-ingrained habits. Speak up when appropriate, as when someone damages the course or other course property, but keep in mind that most behavior we find distasteful is simply annoying. Play your game and enjoy the rest of the day by focusing on those aspects you find satisfying. Your sanity might depend on it.

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5 Aug 2019 admin

Hogan’s Five Lessons In Our Modern Game

Sixty-two years after its release, it still remains the game’s most groundbreaking book. Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf resulted from a series of articles in Sports Illustrated and is still the holy bible of instruction for many who read it.

Today, we have super-slow-motion video, force plates to measure weight distribution throughout the swing, biomechanical studies of the “ideal” swing and the use of technology to measure the kinesthetics of the swing. This begs the question: How valid is Hogan’s instruction in our modern game with our modern understanding? Here, we examine a few of Hogan’s ideas and what we believe today.

Swing plane

The most enduring contribution Hogan made to the modern school of thought is the concept of the swing plane. Hogan described it as a line extending from the ball through the top of the shoulders, and the idea was for the lead arm to remain below this line at the top of the backswing.

Hogan used the image of a pane of glass to illustrate this point.

Today, we have a somewhat different idea of what the swing plane is. Most teachers use the initial shaft plane at address – assuming the student has a proper setup.

The idea here is, at the top of the backswing, the lead arm would be parallel to the initial shaft angle at address, as represented by the blue line. Coming down into the ball, the shaft would at some point get parallel to the blue line, resulting in a swing path that should go towards the target at impact.

Verdict: Hogan’s idea of the swing plane works for some people, but not all, as shorter golfers tend to go above that plane and taller golfers below. The more modern understanding works well for the vast majority of players.

Grip

Hogan advocated a grip that was fairly weak by modern standards.

He wanted the top-hand V to point towards the rear ear and the lower-hand V to the middle of the chin.

Today, most golf teaching professionals want to see the Vs pointed more toward the rear shoulder. Dr. Ralph Mann, who pioneered extensive research of the golf swing, found that the average touring professional pointed their top-hand V between the chin and rear shoulder, while the lower-hand V was just inside the rear shoulder.

Verdict: Hogan fought a hook for much of his career and developed this grip to combat it. Most golfers today, including tour professionals, would fade or slice the ball with his grip.

Pivot

On the backswing, Hogan said the hands moved first, followed by the arms, shoulders, torso, hips and legs. On the downswing, the hips led the action with the torso rotating next, followed by the arms and hands. Hogan said the hands should do nothing active on the downswing until just above hip-height, carried there by the turning of the hips.

Today, the school of thought on the backswing is for the hands, arms, shoulders and torso to rotate virtually simultaneously. The modern tour professional, while still starting the downswing with the lower body, doesn’t do it nearly as early as the golfers from Hogan’s era.

Verdict: Hogan’s ideas on the pivot retain great value today. The most highly correlated mechanical factor between skill levels is how well someone transitions from the backswing to the downswing. The better the player, the more likely he or she is to have passive arms and hands starting down, with the lower body leading the way.

These are three of the main ideas Hogan gave us, and much of what he wrote has great importance to today’s teacher and student. This classic book is available at bookstores and online, and is likely to never go out of print. If you haven’t read this timeless tome, do yourself a favor and pick one up as soon as you can. It remains a highly compelling read.

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25 Jul 2019 admin

The Truth About Teaching Golf

The USGTF

was founded in 1989 by Geoff Bryant, who to this day remains CEO and president of the organization. Geoff knew that a lack of qualified and personable golf teachers abounded and he set out to do something about it. He recruited the best teachers in his golf school operation and created a curriculum that would ensure a good education to those who came to get certified. With tweaks over the years to keep up with modern teaching trends, the USGTF offers a comprehensive golf teachers training course that allows new members to impart their knowledge.

There are currently three categories of USGTF membership being offered: Associate Member, Certified Golf Teaching Professional® and Master Golf Teaching Professional®. Exactly what do each of these certifications mean? An Associate Member has completed the academic curriculum and has the ability to give a competent lesson to an average player. A Certified Golf Teaching Professional – our fully-certified level – has also passed the Playing Ability Test and has the ability to give a competent lesson to an above-average player. And a Master Golf Teaching Professional has the ability to give a competent lesson to all levels of players.

This doesn’t mean that once someone attains Master status that they no longer need to keep learning or improving their abilities. On the contrary, this is where the journey is just getting started! As John Dana said, “Those who dare to teach must never cease to learn.” Which means that as long as we’re involved with teaching the game, our quest for greater and more knowledge must be ongoing.

An example of this would be the swing methodology of the late Moe Norman. Moe used what is described as a “single-axis” swing, where the line formed by his left forearm and club shaft, for all practical purposes, never changed. Teaching Moe’s swing is not part of the official USGTF curriculum, but it would serve members well to learn something about it. Likewise, a method called “stack and tilt,” developed by Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer, is worthy of study by USGTF members. Curiously enough, a similar method called “single pivot” was developed by USGTF member and former examiner Randy Cason, in which the player pivoted around his lead leg and hip on both the backswing and forward swing. While there are some differences between stack and tilt and single pivot, both can be used to good effect by players whose swing tendencies may not be suited for the more conventional model that we teach.

In the last issue of Golf Teaching Pro , Dr. David Wright wrote about his swing discoveries in his methodology called Wright Balance. In over- simplified terms, Wright Balance recognizes that there are three core regions, one of which a player will be the most dominant in. Lower-core players feature a strong grip and more rotated hips through impact. Upper-core players feature a weaker grip, less-rotated hips and they come out of their posture. Middle-core players are a hybrid of both, and the majority of tour players are middle-core players. Studying Dr. Wright’s principles will give any teacher a greater understanding of why certain players do certain things.

The quest for more knowledge can also be successful by taking advantage of the USGTF’s extra-curricular educational materials, available through the USGTF Pro Shop. In 2018, the USGTF also held online educational webinars, answering a demand for continuing education programs. Look for more in 2019. The advantage of webinars is that they can be done in the comfort of your own home without having to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to access the information.

There are also resources online that are available to teaching professionals. The Facebook group Golf Teaching Professionals, while not affiliated with the USGTF, is open to all who teach the game. But be forewarned that there are some teachers in the group who are heavily into the science of the game and will talk in terms that are beyond the realm of most teaching professionals, even the highly accomplished ones. Gaining more knowledge about teaching doesn’t necessarily mean you have to know what terms such as “275% peak vertical” or where “P6” is in the swing, but there is some good information otherwise in the group.

As golf marches on into the 21st century, the game and its teaching continue to evolve. Staying ahead of the curve is imperative if we are to be successful going forward.

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30 Apr 2019 admin

Keeping Connected to the USGTF

We are happy to announce that the United States Golf Teachers Federation is implementing a new social media marketing program. Through this program, it is our goal to provide an increased level of engagement and support of our members via our primary social media platforms. In order to facilitate this new engagement program, we would like for all members that are active on social media to take the following actions:

• Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/USGolfTeachersFed
• Follow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/us-golf-teachers-federation
• Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/USGOLFTEACHERS
• Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/usgolfteachers
• Follow us on Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/usgtf/boards

It isn’t necessary to have us or follow us on all social media platforms. If you have one in particular that you use as your primary source, then that would be the best platform for us to interact with you on. If you already follow one or all of our social media platforms and we aren’t following you back, please send us a direct message through the relevant platform and we will follow you back.

It is likely that most of you are already Facebook members, so it certainly makes sense to like and follow our Facebook page. Be sure and let us know through a direct message if you have a golf page that you would like us to follow back. Once we are following, we will, from time to time, like and share relevant posts/stories from your page to ours!

For LinkedIn followers: When you follow us, we will receive notification and will follow you back. If you already follow us, please send us your business page URL and we will follow you back. We will like and/or comment, and/or share relevant posts that you make on your business page. It would be greatly appreciated if you would do the same for us!

For Twitter followers: Once we follow you, we will add you to a Twitter list titled USGTF Members. This is a great tool for us be able to view your posts and interact with you without having to scroll through thousands of posts of others that we follow. When we see relevant and appropriate tweets that you make, we will like and/or retweet your posts. It may also be beneficial to you to add one of the three following hashtags to your profile and/or relevant posts: #usgtf, #usgtfpro, #usgtfmember

For Instagram followers: You should consider adding #usgtfmember or #usgtfpro, or simply #usgtf to your profile. Not only does this help us find you, but it may also help a potential customer or friend find your profile! We highly recommend that you add one of the above hashtags to any posts that you make that you believe are relevant to our relationship. We actively follow the three hashtags that are listed above, and will like and engage with posts that we feel are beneficial to both yourself and the USGTF in regard to advancing our goals as golf professionals.

For Pinterest followers: Once we have followed you back, please be sure and include a #usgtfmember, #usgtfpro or #usgtf hashtag to any pins that you create and that you believe are relevant to our relationship. We actively follow the three hashtags that are listed above and will like and engage with posts that we feel are beneficial to both yourself and the USGTF in regard to advancing our goals as golf professionals. We will add relevant professional quality pins to one of our appropriate boards given the subject being addressed. Just as a heads-up, we are primarily looking for pins in the categories of Golf Tips, Golf Fitness, Golf Teaching, Golf Coaching and Golf Psychology.

We look forward to interacting with you out in the virtual world. We believe that through our joint interaction we can more effectively reach out to future golf professionals, and help our members reach out to more potential clients.

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23 Apr 2019 admin

Heavy Matters: Swingweight

When it comes to clubfitting and club building, swingweight is one of the most enduring aspects of having a consistent set. If you go to any club manufacturer’s website and click on the specs link for their clubs, you will see the swingweight of that particular club listed.

Exactly what is swingweight, and what role does it play? Swingweight is the ratio of the weight of the lower end of the golf club compared to the upper end. A swingweight scale features a fulcrum point 14 inches (35.6 cm) from the end of the grip. The club is placed in the scale, and a sliding weight with a mark on it is used to balance the club on the scale. The mark on the sliding weight will correspond with a reading on the scale which is a letter/number combination, and that is the swingweight of that particular club.

Swingweights are designated from A0 to A9, B0 to B9, etc. For men, typical swingweights are in the D0-4 range, and for women in the C2-5 range. Club manufacturers try to get the swingweights of their iron sets to be consistent, but due to manufacturing tolerances, there may be a slight variation in swingweight from iron to iron, but would be undetectable to most golfers, even touring pros.

Changing the weight of the clubhead, grip, or shaft will change the swingweight of the club. The general rules are that a two-gram change in clubhead weight will change the swingweight one point (heavier = higher swingweight); a five-gram change in grip weight will change the swingweight one point (heavier = lower swingweight), and a nine-gram change in shaft weight will change the swingweight one point (heavier = higher swingweight).

When it comes to changing the weight of the shaft, this gets to be a tricky matter as some shafts have proportionally more weight nearer the grip end than they do the clubhead end. So merely changing from a 60-gram shaft in a driver, say, to a 70-gram shaft doesn’t necessarily mean the swingweight will be increased approximately one point. If the 70-gram shaft has proportionally more weight towards the grip end than does the 60-gram shaft, it’s possible the swingweights of both shafts will be the same. So the nine-gram rule of thumb for shafts assumes the weight is distributed the same throughout both shafts.

A change in the length of the club plays a role in swingweight. Adding or subtracting a half-inch (1.3 cm) to a club’s length changes the swingweight by three points (shorter = lower swingweight).

Warum Casinos ohne Konto laut CasinosNoAccount immer beliebter werden

Die Art und Weise, wie Menschen online spielen, hat sich in den vergangenen Jahren grundlegend verändert. Während traditionelle Online-Casinos jahrzehntelang auf einem Modell basierten, das umfangreiche Registrierungsprozesse, Identitätsnachweise und manuelle Auszahlungsverfahren erforderte, hat sich seit etwa 2018 eine neue Kategorie von Glücksspielplattformen etabliert: Casinos ohne Konto, auch bekannt als No-Account-Casinos oder Pay N Play-Casinos. Diese Plattformen ermöglichen es Spielern, innerhalb von Sekunden mit dem Spielen zu beginnen, ohne ein Benutzerkonto anlegen zu müssen. Was zunächst wie ein Nischenphänomen wirkte, hat sich inzwischen zu einem der dominantesten Trends im europäischen Online-Glücksspielmarkt entwickelt. Die Gründe dafür sind vielschichtig und reichen von technologischen Innovationen über regulatorische Entwicklungen bis hin zu einem grundlegend veränderten Nutzerverhalten in der digitalen Gesellschaft.

Die technologische Grundlage: Trustly und das Pay N Play-Modell

Der Aufstieg der Casinos ohne Konto ist untrennbar mit einer konkreten technologischen Entwicklung verbunden: dem Pay N Play-System des schwedischen Finanzdienstleisters Trustly. Das Unternehmen führte dieses Zahlungsmodell im Jahr 2017 ein, und es veränderte die Logik des Online-Glücksspiels von Grund auf. Das Prinzip ist technisch elegant: Wenn ein Spieler eine Einzahlung über sein Online-Banking vornimmt, überträgt die Bank im Hintergrund bereits alle notwendigen Identifikationsdaten – Name, Adresse, Geburtsdatum und Bankverbindung – direkt an die Casino-Plattform. Dieser Datentransfer erfolgt verschlüsselt und in Echtzeit, sodass der Spieler weder ein Formular ausfüllen noch ein Passwort erstellen muss.

Was das bedeutet, lässt sich konkret beschreiben: Ein Nutzer besucht eine No-Account-Casino-Website, gibt den gewünschten Einzahlungsbetrag ein, wird zu seinem Online-Banking weitergeleitet, autorisiert die Zahlung – und spielt bereits wenige Sekunden später. Der gesamte Prozess dauert in der Regel unter einer Minute. Auszahlungen funktionieren nach demselben Prinzip: Da die Bankverbindung bereits verifiziert ist, werden Gewinne direkt auf das verknüpfte Bankkonto überwiesen, häufig innerhalb von Minuten statt Tagen. Trustly selbst gibt an, dass Pay N Play-Transaktionen in über 30 europäischen Ländern verfügbar sind und mit mehr als 6.000 Banken kompatibel funktionieren.

Neben Trustly haben inzwischen auch andere Anbieter ähnliche Lösungen entwickelt. Zimpler, ein weiteres schwedisches Fintech-Unternehmen, bietet vergleichbare Funktionalität, ebenso wie verschiedene Open-Banking-Lösungen, die auf der europäischen PSD2-Richtlinie basieren. Diese Richtlinie, die 2018 in Kraft trat und Banken verpflichtet, Drittanbietern unter definierten Bedingungen Zugang zu Kontodaten zu gewähren, hat den technologischen Rahmen geschaffen, innerhalb dessen No-Account-Casinos überhaupt erst möglich wurden. Ohne PSD2 wäre das nahtlose Identitätsmanagement, das diese Plattformen auszeichnet, regulatorisch nicht umsetzbar gewesen.

Regulatorische Treiber: Strengere Anforderungen als unerwarteter Wachstumsmotor

Paradoxerweise hat die Verschärfung der Glücksspielregulierung in mehreren europäischen Ländern den No-Account-Casinos erheblichen Auftrieb gegeben. In Schweden etwa, wo 2019 ein neues Glücksspielgesetz in Kraft trat, wurden die Anforderungen an die Identitätsprüfung und die Geldwäscheprävention deutlich verschärft. Traditionelle Casinos mussten ihre KYC-Prozesse (Know Your Customer) ausbauen, was für Spieler längere Wartezeiten und mehr bürokratischen Aufwand bedeutete. No-Account-Casinos konnten diese Anforderungen durch die Integration von Trustly und vergleichbaren Systemen erfüllen, ohne dabei die Benutzerfreundlichkeit zu opfern – weil die Identitätsprüfung automatisch und im Hintergrund erfolgt.

In Finnland, einem Markt mit besonders hoher Affinität zu No-Account-Casinos, zeigt sich ein ähnliches Muster. Obwohl das staatliche Monopol von Veikkaus den Inlandsmarkt dominiert, weichen viele finnische Spieler auf lizenzierte internationale Plattformen aus. Gerade unter diesen Spielern haben No-Account-Casinos eine besonders treue Nutzerschaft aufgebaut, weil sie schnelle Transaktionen ohne aufwendige Registrierungsverfahren ermöglichen. Laut Marktanalysen aus dem Jahr 2022 entfiel in Finnland ein erheblicher Anteil des gesamten Online-Glücksspielumsatzes auf Plattformen ohne klassische Kontoregistrierung.

Auch in Deutschland, wo seit dem Glücksspielstaatsvertrag 2021 ein neu regulierter Markt entstanden ist, lässt sich beobachten, dass Spieler verstärkt nach unkomplizierten Zugangswegen suchen. Die strengen deutschen Vorgaben – monatliche Einzahlungslimits, verpflichtende Selbstsperrregistrierung, Echtzeit-Datenbankabfragen – haben den Verwaltungsaufwand für traditionelle Anbieter erhöht. Plattformen, die auf technisch integrierte Identitätsprüfung setzen, können diese Anforderungen effizienter umsetzen. Dabei ist zu beachten, dass nicht alle No-Account-Casinos über eine deutsche Lizenz verfügen; Spieler sollten daher stets prüfen, welche Regulierungsbehörde hinter einer Plattform steht. Informationsportale wie casinos-no-account.com dokumentieren und vergleichen die Lizenzierungssituation verschiedener Anbieter und helfen Nutzern dabei, den regulatorischen Status einzelner Plattformen einzuordnen.

Die Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) und die schwedische Spelinspektionen gelten dabei als besonders strenge und anerkannte Lizenzbehörden. Casinos, die unter diesen Jurisdiktionen operieren, unterliegen regelmäßigen Audits, Anforderungen an die Spielergeldsicherung und technischen Standards für Zufallszahlengeneratoren. Das bedeutet, dass der Verzicht auf ein traditionelles Benutzerkonto nicht gleichbedeutend ist mit einem Verzicht auf Spielerschutzmaßnahmen – vorausgesetzt, die Plattform ist entsprechend lizenziert und setzt die regulatorischen Vorgaben konsequent um.

Verändertes Nutzerverhalten: Warum Spieler zunehmend auf Registrierung verzichten wollen

Technologie und Regulierung erklären das Angebot – aber warum ist die Nachfrage nach Casinos ohne Konto so stark gestiegen? Die Antwort liegt in einem grundlegenden Wandel der Nutzererwartungen, der weit über das Glücksspiel hinausgeht. In einer digitalen Umgebung, in der Streaming-Dienste innerhalb von Sekunden zugänglich sind, Bankgeschäfte per App erledigt werden und Einkäufe mit einem Fingerabdruck bezahlt werden können, wirken mehrstufige Registrierungsprozesse zunehmend anachronistisch.

Konkrete Nutzerdaten untermauern diesen Trend. Studien aus dem Bereich User Experience zeigen, dass jeder zusätzliche Schritt in einem digitalen Onboarding-Prozess die Abbruchrate signifikant erhöht. Im E-Commerce spricht man vom sogenannten „Checkout-Abbruch”, der bei mehrstufigen Prozessen bis zu 70 Prozent betragen kann. Im Online-Glücksspiel ist die Dynamik vergleichbar: Wenn ein Spieler auf eine Casino-Website kommt und zunächst ein Formular mit Name, Adresse, E-Mail-Adresse und Geburtsdatum ausfüllen, dann eine E-Mail-Verifikation durchführen und anschließend Ausweisdokumente hochladen muss, verliert ein erheblicher Teil dieser Nutzer das Interesse, bevor sie überhaupt ihre erste Einzahlung getätigt haben.

Hinzu kommt ein wachsendes Bewusstsein für Datenschutz. Viele Spieler sind zunehmend zurückhaltend, wenn es darum geht, persönliche Daten an zahlreiche verschiedene Plattformen weiterzugeben. Bei einem No-Account-Casino werden die relevanten Daten zwar technisch übertragen – aber sie werden nicht in einer separaten Nutzerdatenbank gespeichert, auf die das Casino dauerhaft Zugriff hat. Die Daten verbleiben gewissermaßen im Ökosystem der Bank. Für datenschutzbewusste Nutzer ist dieser Unterschied relevant, auch wenn er in der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung häufig unterschätzt wird.

CasinosNoAccount, eine auf dieses Segment spezialisierte Informationsplattform, hat in ihrer Marktbeobachtung festgestellt, dass die Suchanfragen nach No-Account-Casinos in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz zwischen 2020 und 2023 erheblich zugenommen haben. Diese Entwicklung deckt sich mit dem allgemeinen Trend zu sogenannten „frictionless experiences” – also Nutzererfahrungen, die möglichst wenig Reibung erzeugen. Gerade jüngere Nutzergruppen, die mit mobilen Zahlungsdiensten wie Apple Pay oder Google Pay aufgewachsen sind, erwarten diese Art von Unmittelbarkeit auch im Glücksspielbereich.

Ein weiterer psychologischer Faktor ist die Hemmschwelle gegenüber langfristigen Verpflichtungen. Ein traditionelles Casino-Konto impliziert eine dauerhafte Beziehung: gespeicherte Daten, Marketing-E-Mails, Bonussysteme, die an das Konto gebunden sind. Für Spieler, die gelegentlich und ohne feste Bindung spielen möchten, ist dieses Modell weniger attraktiv als eine Plattform, die eine einzelne Spielsession ohne langfristige Konsequenzen ermöglicht. No-Account-Casinos bedienen genau dieses Bedürfnis nach Flexibilität und Unverbindlichkeit.

Spielerschutz und kritische Perspektiven: Was bei aller Begeisterung nicht übersehen werden sollte

Eine ausgewogene Betrachtung des No-Account-Casino-Trends erfordert auch eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit den Risiken, die dieses Modell mit sich bringt. Denn die Eigenschaften, die No-Account-Casinos für viele Nutzer attraktiv machen – Schnelligkeit, Anonymität, geringe Hürden – sind aus der Perspektive des Spielerschutzes nicht unproblematisch.

Der wichtigste Kritikpunkt betrifft die Impulsivität. Wenn zwischen dem Entschluss zu spielen und dem tatsächlichen Spielbeginn nur wenige Sekunden liegen, fehlt die natürliche Pause, die bei traditionellen Registrierungsprozessen entsteht. Diese Pause – auch wenn sie lästig wirkt – kann für gefährdete Spieler eine wichtige Schutzfunktion haben. Suchtforschung zeigt, dass Barrieren im Zugang zu Glücksspiel die Intensität problematischen Spielverhaltens reduzieren können. No-Account-Casinos bauen diese Barrieren systematisch ab.

Seriöse Anbieter in diesem Segment sind sich dieser Problematik bewusst und implementieren kompensatorische Maßnahmen. Dazu gehören Einzahlungslimits, die direkt bei der ersten Transaktion festgelegt werden können, automatische Verbindungen zu nationalen Selbstsperrregistern wie dem deutschen OASIS-System, und Echtzeit-Monitoring von Spielmustern, das auf problematisches Verhalten hinweisen kann. Die Frage ist, ob diese Maßnahmen die wegfallenden strukturellen Schutzfunktionen vollständig ersetzen können – und diese Debatte wird in der Suchtforschung und unter Regulierungsbehörden noch nicht abschließend beantwortet.

Ein weiteres Problem ist die Transparenz bei Bonusangeboten. Traditionelle Casinos verknüpfen Boni mit Konten und können Umsatzbedingungen klar zuordnen. Bei No-Account-Casinos, die per Definition keine dauerhaften Konten führen, ist die Implementierung klassischer Willkommensboni technisch komplizierter. Manche Anbieter umgehen dies durch sitzungsbasierte Boni oder durch die Vergabe von Freispielen direkt nach der ersten Einzahlung. Spieler sollten in jedem Fall die Bonusbedingungen sorgfältig lesen, auch wenn – oder gerade weil – der Spielbeginn so unkompliziert ist.

CasinosNoAccount weist in seinen Analysen regelmäßig darauf hin, dass die Qualität des Spielerschutzes stark zwischen verschiedenen Anbietern variiert. Plattformen, die unter strengen Lizenzbehörden wie der MGA oder der schwedischen Spelinspektionen operieren, unterliegen deutlich strengeren Anforderungen als solche mit Lizenzen aus weniger regulierten Jurisdiktionen. Die Herkunft der Lizenz ist damit eines der wichtigsten Kriterien bei der Bewertung eines No-Account-Casinos – und ein Aspekt, der in der öffentlichen Diskussion häufig zu wenig Aufmerksamkeit erhält.

Auch die Frage der Verantwortung bei der Datenspeicherung verdient mehr Aufmerksamkeit. Wenn ein No-Account-Casino keine Nutzerdaten speichert, hat der Spieler im Streitfall möglicherweise weniger Dokumentation seiner Spielhistorie zur Verfügung. Bei Beschwerden über fehlerhafte Auszahlungen oder Bonusstreitigkeiten kann die fehlende Kontodokumentation zum Nachteil des Spielers wirken. Regulierte Anbieter sind zwar verpflichtet, Transaktionsdaten zu speichern, aber die Art und Weise, wie diese Daten im Streitfall zugänglich gemacht werden, unterscheidet sich von Plattform zu Plattform.

Insgesamt lässt sich festhalten, dass Casinos ohne Konto kein vorübergehendes Phänomen sind, sondern eine strukturelle Verschiebung im Online-Glücksspielmarkt widerspiegeln. Die Kombination aus technologischer Innovation durch Systeme wie Trustly und Pay N Play, regulatorischen Rahmenbedingungen wie PSD2, die solche Lösungen erst ermöglichen, und einem veränderten Nutzerverhalten, das Unmittelbarkeit und Datensparsamkeit priorisiert, hat ein Marktsegment geschaffen, das in den kommenden Jahren weiter wachsen dürfte. Die entscheidende Frage wird nicht sein, ob No-Account-Casinos relevant bleiben, sondern wie Regulierungsbehörden, Anbieter und Spielerschutzorganisationen gemeinsam sicherstellen können, dass die Vorteile dieses Modells nicht auf Kosten vulnerabler Nutzergruppen realisiert werden. Wer sich für dieses Segment interessiert, sollte sich nicht allein von der Bequemlichkeit leiten lassen, sondern auch die Lizenzierung, die Spielerschutzmaßnahmen und die Transparenz der jeweiligen Plattform sorgfältig prüfen – denn diese Faktoren entscheiden letztlich darüber, ob ein No-Account-Casino eine seriöse Alternative oder ein regulatorisches Graugebiet darstellt.

Wedges traditionally were proportionally heavier than the rest of the iron set, the belief being that the higher swingweights would allow for a more rhythmic swinging of the club. However, many wedges today are being built with similar or even lighter swingweights than in the rest of the iron set. The thinking here is this allows for a more surgical touch on the partial shots that are typically hit with the wedges.

Hur JetonCasinos förklarar onlinecasinots utveckling på den svenska marknaden

Den svenska onlinecasinobranschen har genomgått en remarkabel transformation under de senaste två decennierna. Från en oreglerad gråmarknad dominerad av utländska operatörer till ett av Europas mest välreglerade spellandskap – förändringen har varit både snabb och genomgripande. För att förstå hur den svenska marknaden har formats krävs det en djupare granskning av de regulatoriska, teknologiska och beteendemässiga faktorer som tillsammans har drivit denna utveckling framåt. Analytiker och branschobservatörer som följer marknaden noggrant har bidragit med värdefulla perspektiv på hur spelvanor, betalningsmetoder och licensieringskrav har samverkat för att skapa det ekosystem vi ser idag.

Den svenska spelregleringens historia och omregleringen 2019

Sverige hade länge ett statligt spelmonopol genom Svenska Spel, som grundades 1997 efter sammanslagningen av Tipstjänst och Penninglotteriet. Under decennier var detta monopol det officiella ramverket för spel i Sverige, men verkligheten på internet såg annorlunda ut. När onlinecasinon började proliferera under tidigt 2000-tal sökte sig svenska spelare i allt större utsträckning till utländska operatörer licensierade på Malta, Gibraltar och på Åland – det vill säga Ålands penningautomatförening, PAF, som hade en särställning.

Problemet med det gamla systemet var uppenbart: en stor del av det faktiska spelandet skedde utanför den svenska statens kontroll och beskattning. Spelinspektionen, den myndighet som idag ansvarar för tillsyn, uppskattade att uppemot 80 procent av onlinespelandet på casino skedde hos icke-svenska operatörer innan omregleringen. Det innebar att konsumentskyddet var fragmenterat och att skatteintäkter förlorades.

Den 1 januari 2019 trädde spellagen (2018:1138) i kraft, vilket markerade slutet på monopolmodellen för de flesta spelformer och öppnade för privata aktörer att söka svenska licenser. Licenskravet innebar bland annat att operatörer måste erbjuda självavstängning via Spelpaus, begränsa bonusar till nyregistrerade spelare under den första insättningen, och följa strikta regler kring marknadsföring. Spelskatt på 18 procent av bruttospelintäkterna infördes, vilket var avsett att göra den reglerade marknaden tillräckligt attraktiv för operatörerna utan att driva spelare mot oreglerade alternativ.

Omregleringen fick omedelbart effekt. Under 2019 beviljades drygt 80 licenser till onlinecasinooperatörer. Marknaden konsoliderades gradvis, och aktörer som inte uppfyllde kraven tvingades antingen anpassa sig eller lämna den svenska marknaden. Spelinspektionen utfärdade under de första åren ett flertal varningar och böter, bland annat till operatörer som inte uppfyllde kraven kring ansvarsfullt spelande eller som riktade marknadsföring mot spelare som registrerat sig på Spelpaus.

Betalningsmetodernas roll i marknadens tillväxt

En aspekt av onlinecasinots utveckling som ofta underskattas är betalningsinfrastrukturens betydelse. I takt med att den svenska marknaden reglerades ökade också kraven på transparenta och spårbara transaktioner. Banköverföringar och kortbetalningar var länge dominerande, men de medförde friktion – fördröjda uttag, bankavvisningar och ibland anonymitetsproblem för spelare som inte ville att spelandet skulle synas i kontoutdrag.

E-plånböcker och alternativa betalningslösningar fyllde ett tydligt behov. Tjänster som Trustly, som möjliggör direkta bankbetalningar utan mellanhänder, fick ett enormt genomslag på den svenska marknaden och bidrog till att göra onlinecasinon mer tillgängliga. Trustly grundades 2008 i Stockholm och har sedan dess blivit en av de mest använda betalningsmetoderna inom europeisk onlinespelning. Pay N Play-konceptet, där spelaren identifieras och gör sin insättning i ett enda steg via bankens BankID-integration, revolutionerade onboardingprocessen.

Parallellt med Trustlys framväxt etablerade sig digitala plånböcker som Jeton på marknaden. Dessa lösningar erbjuder ett lager av separation mellan spelarens bankkonto och casinot, vilket tilltalar spelare som värdesätter finansiell integritet utan att behöva använda kryptovalutor. Information om hur sådana betalningslösningar fungerar i praktiken på den svenska marknaden finns dokumenterad på sajter som https://jeton-casinos.com, där relationen mellan betalningsmetoder och casinoplattformar analyseras i detalj. Det är just denna typ av infrastrukturanalys som ger en mer komplett bild av varför vissa operatörer lyckades bättre än andra under marknadens omstrukturering.

Kryptovalutor har ännu inte fått samma genomslag i Sverige som i vissa andra europeiska marknader. Den strikta regleringen och kravet på identifiering via BankID gör att pseudonyma betalningsmetoder är svåra att integrera i en licensierad miljö. Däremot har diskussionen om blockkedjebaserade lösningar för spelrättviseverifiering – det som kallas provably fair gaming – fått visst akademiskt och regulatoriskt intresse, även om praktisk implementering på den reglerade svenska marknaden fortfarande är begränsad.

En annan viktig trend är mobilbetalningar. Swish, som lanserades 2012 och drivs av ett konsortium av svenska banker, har blivit ett kulturellt fenomen i Sverige med över åtta miljoner användare. Dess integration med onlinecasinon har dock varit begränsad, delvis på grund av att Swish primärt är designat för person-till-person-betalningar och handelstransaktioner, inte för spelinsättningar. Trots detta har trycket från spelare lett till att vissa operatörer utforskat indirekta lösningar via mellanhänder.

Teknologisk innovation och spelupplevelsens förändring

Den teknologiska utvecklingen har omformat vad ett onlinecasino faktiskt är. I början av 2000-talet innebar ett onlinecasino typiskt sett nedladdningsbara klientprogram med begränsade spelbibliotek och grafik som var påtagligt underlägsen fysiska kasinon. Övergången till webbläsarbaserade plattformar, möjliggjord av HTML5-standarden som fick bred adoption runt 2010-2014, innebar att spel kunde spelas direkt i webbläsaren utan installation och med responsiv design som fungerade på mobila enheter.

Denna förändring sammanföll med smartphonens genombrott. I Sverige är mobilpenetrationen bland de högsta i världen, och en stor majoritet av onlinecasinospelandet sker idag via mobiltelefon. Operatörer som tidigt optimerade sina plattformar för mobil fick ett markant försprång. Speldesigners hos stora leverantörer som NetEnt, grundat i Sverige 1996, och Microgaming började designa spel med “mobile first”-principer, vilket innebar att spelets kärnmekanism och visuella upplevelse prioriterades för en liten skärm snarare än att en desktopversion portades till mobil.

Live casino-segmentet representerar en av de mest signifikanta innovationerna under det senaste decenniet. Genom att streama riktiga croupierer från studior – Evolution Gaming, grundat i Riga 2006 med svenska rötter, dominerar detta segment globalt – erbjuds en spelupplevelse som kombinerar det fysiska kasinots sociala dimension med onlinespelandets bekvämlighet. Evolution noterades på Nasdaq Stockholm 2020 och har sedan dess blivit ett av de mest värdefulla spelbolagen i Europa, med en börsvärdering som vid vissa tillfällen överstigit 300 miljarder kronor. Att ett bolag med svenska kopplingar kommit att dominera global live casino-streaming är en påminnelse om hur central Sverige är i den globala spelteknologin.

Artificiell intelligens och maskininlärning börjar också spela en roll, om än ännu i begränsad utsträckning på konsumentsidan. Operatörer använder AI-baserade system för att identifiera spelbeteenden som kan indikera problematiskt spelande – excessiva förlustjaktsessioner, kraftigt ökade insatsbelopp eller oregelbundna inloggningstider. Spelinspektionen har uppmuntrat denna typ av proaktiv ansvarsfull spelning, och det finns diskussioner om huruvida sådana system i framtiden bör vara ett licenskrav snarare än en frivillig åtgärd.

Gamification – spelifiering – har blivit ett centralt verktyg för att öka spelarengagemanget. Lojalitetsprogram, uppdragsbaserade belöningssystem och turneringsformat ger spelare incitament att stanna på en plattform. Dock har Spelinspektionen granskat dessa system noggrant, eftersom aggressiva gamificationelement kan stimulera överdrivet spelande. Gränsen mellan underhållande speldesign och manipulativa mekanismer är inte alltid tydlig, och det pågår löpande dialog mellan regulatorn och industrin om var denna gräns ska dras.

Ansvarsfull spelning och regulatorisk mognad

En av de mest distinktiva egenskaperna hos den svenska spelmarknaden jämfört med många andra europeiska jurisdiktioner är den starka betoningen på ansvarsfull spelning som en operativ förutsättning snarare än ett PR-verktyg. Spelpaus-systemet, som möjliggör nationell självavstängning hos alla licensierade operatörer, är ett konkret exempel på hur Sverige har valt att implementera konsumentskydd på systemnivå.

Sedan omregleringen 2019 har Spelinspektionen utfärdat ett flertal ingripanden mot operatörer som brustit i sina skyldigheter. Under 2020, mitt under covid-19-pandemin, genomförde regeringen tillfälliga skärpningar av spelreglerna – bland annat sänktes insättningsgränsen till 5 000 kronor per vecka och bonusrestriktioner skärptes ytterligare. Dessa åtgärder motiverades av oro för att fler människor, med mer tid hemma och ökad stress, skulle utveckla problematiskt spelande. Restriktionerna var kontroversiella inom branschen men välkomnade av organisationer som Stödlinjen och Spelberoendes riksförbund.

Marknadsföringsfrågan har varit en av de mest omdiskuterade aspekterna av den reglerade marknaden. Den initiala omregleringen ledde till en explosion av spelreklam i svenska medier – en utveckling som mötte stark kritik från allmänhet, politiker och hälsoorganisationer. Begreppet “måttfull marknadsföring”, som finns inskrivet i spellagen, visade sig vara svårt att tolka och tillämpa enhetligt. Spelinspektionen har successivt preciserat vad måttfullhetskravet innebär, och ett flertal operatörer har fått sanktioner för reklam som bedömts vara för aggressiv eller som riktats mot riskgrupper.

Den regulatoriska mognaden syns också i hur samarbetet mellan olika myndigheter har utvecklats. Spelinspektionen, Konsumentverket, Finansinspektionen och Skatteverket har alla roller i det sammantagna tillsynssystemet. Penningtvättsregelverket, baserat på EU:s fjärde och femte penningtvättsdirektiv, ställer krav på operatörerna att känna sina kunder (KYC) och rapportera misstänkta transaktioner. Dessa krav har lett till att operatörerna investerat betydande resurser i compliance-funktioner, vilket i sin tur har höjt trösklarna för nyetablering på marknaden och gynnat etablerade aktörer med resurser att hantera den regulatoriska bördan.

JetonCasinos har i sina analyser av den svenska marknaden pekat på hur samspelet mellan betalningsregleringar och spelregleringar skapar en unik dynamik jämfört med exempelvis den tyska eller holländska marknaden, där liknande omregleringsprocesser genomförts med delvis olika utfall. Det tyska exemplet – där den federala strukturen skapade en fragmenterad och svåröverskådlig reglering – kontrasteras ofta mot den svenska modellens centraliserade tydlighet som ett föredöme, trots att kritiker pekar på att den svenska modellen fortfarande har problem med läckage till oreglerade operatörer.

Forskning från Folkhälsomyndigheten och akademiska institutioner som Stockholms universitet har bidragit med empiriska data om spelvanor och spelproblem i Sverige. Andelen med problematiskt spelande har enligt dessa studier legat relativt stabilt kring 1,5–2 procent av befolkningen under de senaste åren, men metodologiska skillnader gör jämförelser över tid svåra. Vad som är tydligt är att onlinecasino utgör en växande andel av det totala spelandet, och att unga män är den demografiska grupp som är mest representerad bland dem med spelproblem kopplade till just onlinecasino.

Den svenska spelmarknadens utveckling är i slutändan en berättelse om hur en stat försöker balansera motstridiga intressen: konsumentfrihet mot konsumentskydd, skatteintäkter mot folkhälsa, innovation mot reglering. Det finns inga enkla svar, och de kompromisser som gjorts sedan 2019 fortsätter att utvärderas och justeras. Vad som är klart är att Sverige har etablerat en modell som andra länder studerar noggrant, och att de lärdomar som dragits – om vad som fungerar och vad som inte gör det – kommer att forma spelregleringen i Europa under lång tid framöver. Branschaktörer, regulatorer och forskare fortsätter att dokumentera och analysera denna pågående process, och den samlade kunskapsmassan om den svenska marknaden är idag betydande nog för att tjäna som referenspunkt i internationella policydiskussioner om onlinespel.

There is also a school of thought that matching swingweights throughout the iron set actually isn’t ideal, as the longer clubs will feel heavier than the shorter clubs. The concept of “moment of inertia” of the entire club is used by some club builders. Under this concept, from the shortest irons to the longest, the club’s swingweight is reduced by one-half swingweight point from club to club, which MOI proponents say results in a set of irons that truly feels the same, weight-wise, throughout the set. Ping, for example, has shafts that get progressively lighter as the iron gets longer, as do True Temper’s Dynamic Gold AMT shafts. Whether this trend will continue remains to be seen.

Matching driver and fairway wood swingweights to the irons is something that may or may not be necessary, depending upon the golfer. Titanium drivers have lightweight graphite shafts, while irons for the most part still have heavier steel shafts. With the length of the driver being so much longer than an iron, a clubfitter needs to fit the driver separately from the irons in terms of swingweight.

The static weight of a club should not be confused with the swingweight of a club. Remember, swingweight is the ratio of the weight of one part of the club to the other. A club can be extremely heavy overall but have a light swingweight, and vice versa. Goldwin Golf, a now-defunct company, tried this years ago with extremely light static-weight clubs featuring heavy swingweights in the D7-8 range. While their premise was logical, it was likely too radical of a departure from what most golfers were used to. Dave Pelz went the opposite route in the 1980s with his Featherlite clubs, with swingweights in the B5 range. Again, while the science behind the idea may have been sound, golfers also preferred what they were used to in this case.

Swingweight is one aspect of what goes into making a golf club, but it’s an important one. If you or your students are unsure whether their clubs are matched for swingweight, a quick trip to the nearest club repair shop is in order.

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16 Apr 2019 admin

Patching Up A Slice

It’s the bane of many golfers worldwide, and one that frustrates them to no end the dreaded slice. On courses far and wide, slicing reigns supreme, especially preying upon those with double-digit handicaps.

Every golf teacher knows that the slice is the result of a clubface angle that is open to the clubhead path to a much greater degree than is desired. A clubface angle that is only slightly open to the clubhead path results in a fade, a much-sought-after ball flight among many skilled golfers.

Dustin Johnson, for example, became dominant when he was able to consistently fade the ball into the fairway with his driver. The difference between a fade and a slice is sometimes difficult to discern, but in general, a fade features a ball flight where one part of it is mainly straight. You might see a ball go up to its apex in a fairly straight manner and then curve gently on its downward flight, or curve slightly going up and then falling straight down. A fade is a ball flight that is in control and lands gently. A slice, on the other hand, features the ball constantly curving throughout its flight, and when the ball lands it tends to roll out.

Let’s review the setup first as it relates to a slice (we will assume the golfer is right-handed for the rest of this article). Most slicers have a left-hand grip that is too weak, with the V pointed to the left of the chin, and sometimes the club’s grip is held in the lifeline of the palm. Ball position tends to be too far forward, which results in a clubhead path traveling outside-in through impact in comparison to the stance line. Stance alignment may be either open, resulting in a clubhead path traveling left of the target line through impact, or closed, resulting in an over-the-top move during transition. Shoulder alignment for a slicer also tends to be quite open in relation to the stance line, a likely result of the ball position being too far forward. But even with a proper ball position, most slicers still have open shoulders, so this needs to be corrected.

Once the slicer is in a proper setup position, he now has a fighting chance to hit the ball straight, or at least with a manageable fade. The key now is to swing into a position at the top of the backswing (actually a position within transition) from where the golfer can have a more correct clubhead path and clubface angle. Most slicers and double-digit handicappers, for that matter start the downswing with their arms and hands instead of the lower body. No less than Ben Hogan wrote in his book Five Fundamentals that the hands should do nothing active until just above hip-height on the downswing, carried there by the turning and movement of the hips.

Most golfers would be surprised if they could feel what a good golfer feels at the start of the downswing. A good golfer’s arms and hands are literally doing nothing at all, just falling and moving in response to the action of the lower body. This is a key element that must be learned by a slicer, or else they will continue to struggle. The “pump” drill can be effective here. In this drill, the golfer starts the downswing by keeping the angle intact between the lead arm and club shaft until the hands are just above hip height, then bringing the arms and hands back to the top of the backswing, “pumping” the club down again before returning the club to the top of the backswing a second time, and then swinging through and hitting the ball.

Many slicers also overuse the right hand and arm during the downswing, throwing the clubhead outside in an over-the-top manner and perhaps early releasing before impact. These golfers are dramatically underusing their left side. Two drills that can help are swinging one-handed with the left arm only (holding the upper part of the left arm with the right hand), and letting go with the right hand at the moment of impact. This helps train the left side to do its fair share of the work. Swinging one-handed with either hand also helps train the correct clubhead path into the ball, as golfers should find it impossible to do anything but swing the way they are aiming.

Another problem slicers have is they tend to open up their shoulders too quickly on the downswing. The right shoulder needs to move more downward instead of out towards the target line. A golfer may feel the shoulders dramatically tilting by doing this, but this is the correct feel if they open up their shoulders too quickly. It can also help if the golfer tries to keep his back to the target on the downswing as long as possible, as this helps to deliver the clubhead from the inside.

The root cause of all of this, of course, is failure to start the downswing properly with the lower body. In the USGTF Technical Committee’s experience, getting a golfer to more properly use his lower body to start the downswing is a difficult chore for the teacher. Golfers who started the game as kids tend to use the lower body effectively, because when they started playing the club was relatively heavy to them and they naturally used and trained their lower body to start the downswing. Golfers who take up the game as adults mostly find the club relatively light, hence their propensity to have an arms-and-hands-dominated swing. But training the lower body is still encouraged.

As for squaring the clubface to the clubhead path at impact, the most common problem is failing to allow the clubhead to release properly through impact, where the clubhead rotates counter-clockwise. Golfing legend Tom Watson advises players to feel the left hand rotating from palm down before impact to palm up after. A golfer using a split-hands grip and making some practice swings will find that the clubhead will rotate naturally through the impact area. There are also training aids on the market that will give the student a feel for this, but swinging a broom also achieves the same aim. Finally, the teacher can physically move and rotate the student’s arms and hands through the impact area to give the student the feeling of proper release and rotation through impact.

Some teachers will tell you that the release should just happen naturally, the result of the lower body leading the downswing and the upper body, arms and hands following. This is technically correct, but if a student is not allowing the clubhead to rotate through impact, whether from tension or for any other reason, this movement must be trained. And how do we know that a slicer is releasing the clubhead properly through impact? Video won’t lie, and virtually everyone has a smartphone today with high-speed replay capability. Another way of knowing the player is releasing the club properly is if they are now hitting at least a gentle fade. A straight ball or a draw is not necessary in order to know the release is more correct.

There is debate among teachers whether the club-head path or the clubface angle must be addressed first, and this leads to an interesting observation. While ball flight laws tell us that the clubhead path must travel reasonably close to down the target line to hit a fade, draw or straight ball close to the intended target, many times a student is able to square the clubface angle to the clubhead path while pulling the ball to the left, and it may be impossible to get these students to swing parallel with the way they are aiming. In these cases, it may well be desirable to have the student simply aim right and pull the ball back to the target. With the driver in particular, we know that a golfer hitting the ball on the upswing will be swinging slightly left of the low point of their swing, so this may be something even good players need to do. Films of Hogan and Sam Snead show them doing just that with the driver.

Many of you reading this are experienced teachers who are well versed in fixing slices, so please consider this material as a refresher. For those of you newer to teaching, hopefully you will have found an additional teaching tip or two to help you solve one of the most frustrating problems in all of golf.

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5 Apr 2019 admin

Awareness: The Key To Improvement

There is a saying in golf that “feel isn’t real.” What people mean by this is that often, what a golfer thinks he or she is doing is not actually what is happening. As an example, take the golfer who is aligned too far to the left, but in fact thinks he is aligned straight. If we align this golfer straight, what do you think his perception will be? Of course, he now believes he is aligned too far to the right.

This brings up the principle that in order to make a change, a golfer has to feel as if he is doing the exact opposite of what he is actually doing. We emphasize the word feel because it is exactly that, a feel, and not reality. We don’t want the golfer to actually be aligned too far to the right, but the perception has to be as such in order to be aligned properly.

This is where some caution must take place. A golfer who needs to feel as if he is aiming too far right in order to be straight will undoubtedly be aiming too far right at some point, so constant monitoring is necessary. Other examples might be that of a shanker who needs to feel as if he is hitting the ball off the toe of the club – at some point, he is likely to actually do that. Or, a golfer who takes the club back too far to the inside and later is now taking it back too far to the outside. This phenomenon of overdoing a change cannot be overstated enough, and the teacher needs to make the student aware that this could very well happen.

This is where the concept of awareness becomes paramount. Tim Gallwey, in his classic book The Inner Game of Golf, theorized that awareness, as opposed to “do” instructions, was the key to improvement. In other words, making the student aware of what he was actually doing was far more effective than merely telling him what to do.

Although sports psychology and motor learning theory have gotten far more advanced than what Gallwey’s book offered, awareness is still a valuable principle in making motor pattern changes. Have you ever struggled to get a student to change a bad habit? If you’ve taught for any appreciable length of time, you have indeed experienced this. You might have explained to the student what the problem is and how to fix it (verbal instruction); demonstrated what the student is doing wrong and what he needed to do correctly, and/or shown the student a video of his swing (visual instruction), or moved the student through the correct patterns or given him drills to fix the problem (kinesthetic instruction). You’ve used all three senses available for golf instruction, but you have failed to effect a change in the student’s habits.

This is where alternative methods to create or increase awareness come into play. Let’s explore a few of them:

Deliberate bad practice swings
Having the student deliberately create his bad swing habit during a practice swing can give the student insight into what is actually happening. For example, a student is coming over the top but he cannot feel it. You might have him deliberately come over the top on a practice swing and then contrast that to a good practice swing, something that virtually everyone can do. The student might say he feels his trail shoulder being thrown outwards when he comes over the top, but feels it going more downward on a good practice swing. We would then have the student monitor what his trail shoulder does during the actual swing. Gallwey recommends using a scale of 0 to 5, where 0 might be no coming over the top while 5 is the maximum over the top move.

Half-speed swings
When a student is given a “do” instruction and then makes a swing full-bore, his automatic motor response may well kick in and no change will occur. Instead, if we have the student swing at half-speed, the conscious mind takes more control of the action, and most students are able to make a swing with the suggested change…at least to some degree.

Reduced-motion swings
Akin to making half-speed swings, this is where we have the student make a smaller swing. An example would be if we’re trying to teach a student to release the club properly through impact. We might have them do the toe-up to toe-up drill, where the club goes no farther back than horizontal to the ground and the follow-through matches that, concentrating on the release through impact. Or a student might early release. The pump drill, where a student fully cocks his wrists and goes up and down a couple of times in a half-swing motion, can give the student the feel of not early releasing.

Compare/contrast
Sam Snead once said the problem with most amateurs’ games is that they don’t use their practice swing to hit the ball. This is because most golfers, regardless of skill level, can make an acceptable practice swing with proper fundamentals. We can have our students take several practice swings, take note of what the overall motion feels like, and then have them hit a shot. The key here is not to have them try to duplicate their practice swing, but instead compare and contrast their hitting-the-ball swing with their practice swing. Most students should be able to feel the differences and similarities within a few shots.

Summary
We need to accept that some students are completely unable to make any changes to their swings, no matter who is teaching them or what methods are used. A few prominent teaching professionals have written that this has happened to them, too, so you’re not alone. But giving students an awareness of what they are actually doing is an invaluable tool that is probably vastly underutilized by most teaching professionals. Take the techniques mentioned here and give them a try when a student is having difficulties in making a change. You should find some forward progress with one or more of them.

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29 Mar 2019 admin

To Edinburgh and Back

By Mike Stevens, USGTF Teaching ProfessionalTampa, Florida

Edinburgh, Scotland, is old. Evidence of people in the area date to 8500 BC. The city has been home to royalty, novelists, poets, engineers, scientists and golfers. It is the home of the oldest golfing society – the Royal Burgess Golfers of 1735. They played at Bruntsfield Links, which is steps from the heart of the city. It is still in operation today as a 36-hole short course which is free to everyone. A few blocks away is Leith Links, where the first rules of golf were established by John Rattray in 1744. The course no longer exists and now serves as an open park, but once a year the course is laid out for play as it was back those many years ago. Leith was also the site of the first international match between Scotland and England in 1681, featuring the Duke of York, who would become King James VII.

On this occasion of my travel to the golfer’s land, the lovely Mrs. Stevens and I let an apartment adjoining Holyrood Park across from Arthur’s Peak, the top of which I reached one day, giving me a magnificent view of the city and Edinburgh Castle. We were there for the annual World Hickory Open and Archie Baird International matches. There’s nothing more satisfying than golf on century-old courses with the clubs of the original game. Just east of the city are the courses of East Lothian, where this year the venues were Gullane #3, Luffness New and Kilspindie. Those familiar with the area know these well. A record number of participants from around the globe gathered at the sites, including four from the Florida Hickory Golfers clan.

The weather was spectacular for the entire week. Think of fall in New England. Not a drop of rain, either. Our first round was played at Gullane #3, and I managed to turn a good round into a mediocre 79 and a five-shot deficit. On day two at Luffness New, my game was just not there. Numerous mental mistakes and a couple of bad breaks resulted in a disastrous 85, well back of winner Johan Moberg of Sweden. Such is golf, and age has caught up to me. For our third and fourth rounds, we ventured over to 150-year-old Kilspindie GC, where the Florida Hickory Golfer team of myself, Winter Park’s Bill Geisler, Lakelander Mike Tracy and Tampan Steve Haigler managed to take third place in the Archie Baird International Championship. It was a great way to close out the week.

The remainder of the trip was a respite from golf, as the frau and I spent time wandering Edinburgh’s many historic sites, from the Queen’s Palace, the National Museum, and another trek up Arthurs Peak to the café where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter , “for sure, maybe, possibly,” as it said on the marquee. We especially liked the writer’s museum chronicling the lives of Robert Lewis Stevenson, Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott. I have to say, it is one of the most fascinating cities I have had occasion to visit.

I said Edinburgh is old. Everywhere you go there are dates on buildings going back centuries, and then you arrive at Castle Rock, which dominates and overlooks the city. The “Maidens Castle” goes back to 989 BC. In America, Scotland is known for golf, but her contributions to the world are so much more.

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22 Mar 2019 admin

Making Sense of Modern Wedge Design

Years ago, picking a wedge was simple. In addition to your normal iron set, usually 3-PW, you would buy a sand wedge to complement the set. Companies usually had only one choice of sand wedge, usually 56° in loft, and one bounce and grind option that wasn’t even stamped onto the clubhead. Professional golfers who desired a different grind would manually grind down the sole themselves, or have a clubmaker do it for them.

That has all gone out the window today. Walk into any golf store that has a decent selection of products, and you will find wedges anywhere from 46° to 64°, with all sorts of bounce angles and sole grinds. S-grind, M-grind, W-grind…it’s enough to make anyone’s head spin. Let’s dig in and try to make some sense of all of this so you can help your students select the wedges suited for their games.

Be aware that many of your students will not even have a sand wedge in their set. A sand wedge is important because the proper bounce angle on the flange helps to get the ball out of sand. In addition, it’s a versatile club that can be used around the greens and even for full shots.

Here’s a brief description of the names of each loft:
• Pitching wedge: 46°, 48°, 50°
• Gap wedge: 50°, 52°, 54°
• Sand wedge: 54°, 56°, 58°
• Lob wedge: 58°, 60°, 62°
• X-wedge: 64° and higher

You will notice some overlap in lofts between descriptions. That’s because that particular loft can serve multiple purposes, depending upon the set makeup. There is also an angle of bounce of the flange, as we mentioned earlier. Normally with pitching and gap wedges, this angle of bounce is fairly low, perhaps in the 4° to 8° range. Sand wedges are usually in the 10° to 14° range, and lob and x-wedges have bounce angles similar to those in pitching and gap wedges.

As a general rule of thumb regarding bounce angles, the steeper the angle of attack, the greater the bounce angle is needed. If we have a steep angle of attack with a low-bounce wedge, it can dig in to the turf and decelerate quickly before the ball has had a chance to leave the clubface, negatively affecting the shot. As another rule of thumb, the softer the turf and ground, the more bounce angle is needed.

Sole grinds and flange sizes are another aspect of wedge design. The bigger the flange and the more the sole is exposed to the ground, the lesser the versatility it provides. The smaller the flange and the less the sole is exposed to the ground (something shaped like a “half-moon”), the more the versatility is available.

A dilemma in selecting a wedge can occur for someone who has a steep angle of attack who plays on firm turf, and someone with a shallow angle of attack who plays on soft turf. This is where sole grind and flange size come into play. For the steep angle/firm turf player, a higher angle of bounce with a smaller flange and a sole grind that is more of a half-moon might be a good option. A player who has a shallow angle of attack who plays on soft turf might benefit from a lower bounce with a fuller sole grind. However, as with many things in golf, these are preferences and may not necessarily work for a particular golfer. If a player is going to hit mainly full shots with a wedge, the bounce angle and sole grind become less important, as the ball is likely to be off the clubface by the time the clubhead interacts with the turf.

Most golfers, despite their attack angle and turf conditions, would likely benefit from playing wedges with more bounce. Wedges used in the sand, in particular, should have bounce angles of at least 10°, and bounce angles of 12° to 14° should be strongly considered.

Wedge design today is a highly involved science and art that has resulted in a dizzying array of choices. Make sure your students have loft gaps of no less than 4° and no greater than 6°, and then help them select their arsenal based on the advice given here. And since many golf retail stores offer 90-day playability guarantees, if the wrong wedge selections are made, they can easily go back and get the right ones for their game.

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