Different Types of Golf Clubhead Materials - By: Tauqeer Hassan

Golf equipment comes in a bewildering array of shapes and materials providing golfers of all abilities with the club that is right for them, while making selection increasingly difficult. The quest for more distance off the tee in particular has led manufacturers to experiment with new materials for clubheads, although classic woods are still used today.

Among the most popular woods are those now made of steel. Graphite is increasingly being used, titanium has emerged and there are even some ceramic- and plastic-headed woods about.

With these new materials comes a variety of clubhead designs because, as opposed to wood, weight distribution can be varied enormously.

If you are in the market for new clubs, you should keep an open mind. While the lure of new-age materials is tempting indeed it may well be that a traditional wood is right for you. The overall compatibility of clubhead, shaft and grip is the key to choosing a good club. First and foremost you must feel comfortable with the clubs you are considering so that you can swing them confidently. It's no good having a club with which you get more distance but which doesn't feel right and has you easing off your shots in order to maintain accuracy.

The following clubhead materials are on offer today in fairway wood and iron design.

Graphite
Clubmakers are now manufacturing graphite-headed woods which offer many of the advantages of metal heads, but are mainly found among oversized drivers and lightweight clubs. The combination of a lightweight shaft and a graphite head allows the golfer to produce maximum clubhead speed with little effort as the ball bounces back from the more springy graphite head at impact like an athlete on a trampoline.

A common problem, however, is a loss of feel for the club during the swing, which manufacturers tried to overcome by increasing the size of the clubhead.

The weight difference between an all-graphite club and others can be as much as three ounces. The latest innovation has been the one-piece graphite with head and shaft combined. There are only a few models about and it is yet to be seen if they will be successful. The principle behind the design is to produce more consistent performance by not having any joints.

For the average golfer, the major disadvantage of graphite-headed clubs is the top-end-of-the-market price. A cheaper alternative may be metal.

Titanium
Titanium shafts have been around for quite some time but titanium heads are a recent innovation. Like graphite, titanium is becoming a popular material in the manufacture of oversized drivers. It has the strength of steel but is far lighter and the size of the clubhead can be expanded more, providing more hitting area.

Also, like graphite, titanium is designed to allow the player to achieve greater clubhead speed - and, like graphite, it is an expensive item.

Plastic
In the 1980s, a few companies experimented unsuccessfully with hi-tech plastics in clubhead design. Even Cobra's range of Ultramid woods, made from bullet-proof plastic, was destined for the scrap heap until John Daly, the longest hitter on the U.S. Tour, won the 1991 PGA Championship using an Ultramid driver.

Daly had chosen the Ultramid out of necessity. He had bent the face of metal-headed drivers and cracked the inlays in traditional wooden models. After his PGA victory, Cobra received 2,000 orders within the next week, the Ultramid remained, and now Cobra has used plastic in the manufacture of other clubs.

The principle behind using plastic is much the same as for using metal. Clubs made of this hard material are designed to generate more power and versatility of design. Obviously, very few people will be able to hit the ball hard enough to damage their equipment but that doesn't mean plastic-headed woods will not be right for them.

Ceramic
Ceramic-headed woods have only been manufactured by a couple of clubmakers and as yet, there has not been any great interest. But as more and more golf shoes are fitted with ceramic-tipped spikes which last longer than others, golfers' awareness of this material will increase.

The perception among golfers, I imagine, is that ceramic is a brittle substance which would not stand up to the pressure of hitting golf balls. In fact, it is one of the harder substances and is even used in the manufacture of automobile engines.

Irons
When you buy a set of irons, you look for clubs which offer playability - you want consistency and control. The lesser need for lightweight irons makes new clubhead materials, for instance the expensive, grahite woven heads, a rare choice. By far the most popular material for irons is steel.

Stainless steel, which is cast, dominates the world markets with perimeter-weigh ted heads, the overwhelming choice of the average player.

Carbon steel, better known as mild steel, which is forged, is predominantly used for blades, popular with above average amateurs and professionals in all countries. They prefer mild steel because of the softer contact it provides. The ball actually stays on the clubface fractionally longer at impact and comes off softer, giving the player better feel and control, particularly with finesse shots.

A number of companies are now producing perimeter-weighted clubs in mild steel, because a growing number of better golfers are switching over to game-improvement models, although mild steel is not rust resistant and must be chromed, meaning it does not have as long a life as the harder stainless steel. It's a trade-off between a club that lasts and one that offers better feel.

There have been other materials used, such as beryllium-copper and manganese-bronze, soft alloys which can be dye cast. These were used in the first mild-metal perimeter-weighted clubs but are becoming increasingly rare because of their lack of durability.

Feel
In golf, feel and touch have different meanings. Feel refers mostly to feedback while touch refers to the golfer's ability to control a shot - the level of finesse. Feel contributes to touch. The better feel or feedback a club provides, the more touch the player will have.

Those people who prefer wood to metal-headed woods argue that a click at impact is better than a clang. Wood provides better feedback, you know instantly whether you've made good contact or not.

The introduction of graphite inserts in the face of metal-headed woods is designed to offer the best of both worlds, the soft feel, similar to wood, with the weight distribution advantages of metal.

You can draw the same comparisons between mild-steel and soft-alloy irons and the harder stainless steel models, although the difference is less noticeable.

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