You’ve probably never heard of Gerry Hogan, but you might know of Eddie Merrins, the legendary “Little Pro” at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles. Merrins is best known for his “swing the handle” philosophy of teaching that has worked for professionals and amateurs for more than 60 years.
Nunchuk shaft
Gerry Hogan is a golf instructor and author as well known to players in his native Australia as Merrins is in the U.S. Hogan’s book, “The Hogan Manual of Human Performance: Golf “ is a must in anyone’s golf library.
So what do Hogan and Merrins have in common? In a roundabout way it’s the Nunchuk shaft from nVentix Golf (www.nventix.com). The Nunchuk technology, designed by Hogan, goes along with Merrins’ “swing the handle” teaching method.
“The idea is to have the shaft aligned with the club head through the impact zone,” said nVentix Chief Executive Officer Mike McCall. “Most shafts in the marketplace introduce a lot of variables to the position of the club head as it works its way through the impact zone.”
That is, the shaft might droop forward, flex back or even twist around the club head. The Nunchuk shaft for drivers and fairway woods, as well as the Nunchuk 370 for hybrids, is designed to keep the head of the club, the shaft, and the player’s hands in a straight line configuration through the ball.
The only possible ‘flex point’ of the Nunchuk, McCall said, is in the central area or the shaft. The other two extremities of the shaft, the butt and the tip, are designed to be very rigid to prevent droop, flex and twist in the lever arms – hence the Nunchuk name.
Swing the handle, get it? I get more consistent ball striking off my driver and hybrid with Nunchuk shafts than with the stock shafts in the clubs.
Don’t look any references to flex on the Nunchuk shafts. You won’t find any.
“The shaft really doesn’t have different flexes or weights for different swings,” McCall said. “The first shaft we introduced in drivers and fairway woods came in only one model. We’ve had a junior girls win state championships playing that shaft and had success on the PGA Tour with the same shaft.
“The shaft is a little heavier, so that goes against the grain. But it’s counterweighted – the weight is in the butt end of the club so when you pick up it’s not going to feel heavier.”
