golfrewind.com

1. What are some good drills that I could do at home to help get my "golf" muscles used to playing again?

2. How much does height affect what length of club someone needs to play with?

3. How well do these new square head drivers actually work? I have seen them in Golf Digest and other places, but they look kind of goofy in my opinion.

Many thanks.

1. There are a few books that you could check out (that is what libraries are for!). I like Get Yourself in Golf Shape. Year Round Drills to Build a Strong, Flexible Swing by Cindy Reid. There are a few others. Play Golf Forever and Fit for Golf and Ernies Els' Guide to Golf Fitness and so on. I searched for "golf and fitness" in Amazon.com's front page.

2. Height has a little effect, simply because height is correlated with arm length and leg length. But, the real critical length here is the height the wrist is above the floor. That is what a professional club fitter will measure. Since you could be a short guy with long arms and thusly need shorter clubs. Or you could be a short guy with really short arms and need longer clubs than average. So you see, absolute height has very little effect, but the lengths of the arms and legs mean a lot. If you are considering getting fit for a set, I wouldn't hesitate if I were you. Clubs fit to you personally will be the best tools for the job.

3. This is going to be a very personal issue. You probably need to go to the store/launch monitor and see for yourself. The increase in moment of inertia from the square driver over the pear shaped driver is a large number, but at those high numbers the changes don't really translate into a lot. It really comes down to personal preference. Though a lot like the answer to number 2, there are a lot of variables that go into picking the right driver, the right loft on the head, whether that head is high or low launching, the shaft flex, kickpoint, etc. Again, this is not a question that can be answered over the internet, you need to go an test these things out for yourself since every person's swing is unique in their own ways.

how much do professional fittings usually run? I've never tried to get one done.

It depends on what you are getting fit. A putter fitting is like $10 to $25. A driver fitting can be like $20-40. A fitting for a set of iron can be as high as $100. There are a lot of variables that can go into getting the perfect fit: not just loft, lie, and length, but a really detailed fitter will also shafts, type of ball flight you want/have, your swing (flatter or steeper), and even custom fit your grip size, you might want/need thinner or thicker grips. Swingweight, frequency matching, MOI matching, there are many, many options.

I'd recommend going to a smaller local shop to do the fitting. Most of them will charge you for a fitting, but then apply most if not all of that fitting cost toward your purchase if you purchase through them. They don't do fittings for free since they don't want you getting all your stats and then going to the Internet to look for a sale. Some of the bigger shops will "fit" you toward what clubs they have in stock at the moment, whereas the smaller shops will probably do their best to fit you as best as you can. Just know that it will probably take a few weeks until your perfect clubs are going to be in as they will have to be ordered from the factory with the lie/length/loft adjustments.

Make sure you get a dynamic fit, too. Dynamic means actually swinging the club and hopefully outside so you can watch the entire ball flight. The oppostie would be just a static fit, which only need your personal measurements. You can get a static fit from many sites on the Internet, for example. A static fit would most likely get you in the neighborhood of a fitted club, but again, the fitting process is largely about getting the club as perfect for you as can be.

Thanks that helps out alot.