[Adiamant]

Can't wait to see the article when it comes out! Also curious what he's planning for the future after Nickent closed it's doors.

i'm curious too. in the article does he talk about his future plans??

[Vitoethiche]

i'm curious too. in the article does he talk about his future plans??

Yes he does.

[patrycjakolekk]

Should be a great article. This guy awesome and I am sure many in the golf industry are quite interested in his future plans.

[Lerpenoaneway]

Should be a real interesting read, can't hardly wait for regular subscription to begin.

[cauddyVab]

This is awesome!

I don't know a ton about Hoefy but I do know I loved my 3DX Pro's and am on the bring of nabbing either some 4DX Pro's or CB's while I still can. It'll be great to hear from him and see whats next for him!

[Vitoethiche]

His resume is about as good as there is in golf.

Irons - Created 3 of the top 5 selling irons of all time.
Hybrids - Was on the team that created the 1st ever hybrid.
Drivers - The person behind interchangeable shaft technology.

[Vitoethiche]

We just wrapped up an hour long interview with John for the Spring magazine issue. This one is can't miss and we may replay it on THP Radio once it launches. John pulls no punches on anything and here are some of the highlights.

- Give us your general description of the term "feel" for amateurs and how it relates to choosing clubs? It is 80% sound and has been proven a hundred times during testing.

- What is the number one reason scores do not go down when equipment has gotten so much better? Ego! People constantly play the wrong equipment because they have been educated elsewhere incorrectly. (He goes into a great story about 2 tour pros (major winners) that spoke about his creation of the TP Rac MBs and how there is no way an amateur outside of a scratch golfer is doing justice to their score by playing them)

-Explain the creation of the hybrid? Long answer about the team that came up with it at Taylormade (he was the head of that team) and how the first version was pretty much a terrible club. It was geared towards a different player and wound up back in the states. Spoke about who should be playing it and why and what brands are what.

- Spoke about his creation of the interchangeable shaft? Why it flopped at first and then why the movement of the face changed everything.

- Tell us about the switch by most tour pros to cavity backs? Blame Ping [laughs]. They work with so many college and high school golf teams that when a guy gets to the next level, more than half of them have not played blades and struggle with them so much. The forgiveness between a blade and a cavity back is certain number of strokes per round based on handicap. It has been tested over and over by every company I have worked for and proven. (JH has worked for TA, Titleist, TM, Nickent, and others)

- Your take on the groove rule? Myself and the design team at Taylormade were the 1st ones to mill the grooves in the wedge. Bob [Vokey] jumped in 10 months later with it as well and since that time more and more have followed us. The average amateur golfer will never notice a difference at all. Heck most single digits wont notice a difference either. On tour they will simply switch to higher lofted wedges to combat it for short game. The real test on tour will be the 5 and 6 iron approaches from off the fairway. But the companies are too fast and golf ball tech will fix all of it.

There is so much more but you will have to wait until the magazine. It was fun talking to one of the best club makers of all time when there is no affiliation to any company at all. He has created 3 of the top 5 selling irons in golf over the last 30 years and was instrumental in the creation of the hybrid club.

[mosypeSom]

Thanks for the post, JB. The design process for any product is exciting. But, golfers demand so many things from our clubs. Looks, feel (great reading Mr Hoeflich's response to that question), performance. You can never please everyone but, he has obviously pleased many.

[Vitoethiche]

You are welcome. In the full version that will be in the magazine he goes in depth about what it takes to create clubs for different people. It will be a very interesting read.

[Grainiary]

Who is he? Looks like a very interesting discussion.

On a similar note I went from SGI to player's irons recently. I hit the player's irons better. I also hit my long irons better than hybrids. Am I just an anomaly? I wonder what Mr. Hoeflich's take on that would be?

[Vitoethiche]

Here is his background. He has created a who's who list of the best clubs made over the last 3 decades.

The Hackers Paradise The Club Design Expert

[Grainiary]

Thanks!

[Q0KmoR8K]

I'm looking forward to the whole article.

[NADALA]

That's going to be a fun read. He's been on the design team for some of the most 'classic' clubs in our lifetime.

[Vitoethiche]

That's going to be a fun read. He's been on the design team for some of the most 'classic' clubs in our lifetime.

You got that right.

TA 845s
Titleist DCI
Taylormade Rac
The 1st Hybrid
The list is pretty amazing.

[Rabbahpuptiopp]

Can't wait to see the article when it comes out! Also curious what he's planning for the future after Nickent closed it's doors.