THE HCC XPERIENCE. IMPOTENCE AND FRUSTRATION

I want to tell you that what you are going to read, as I told you in my initial narrative in part 1, which is a story that I have not personally written, but a third person, who is the one who signs at the bottom of the article, are feelings that I have met other players, after going through a lot of professionals and all I do is try to treat these new players with mixed feelings as PEOPLE and not just another client and billing. 

There is an article on our blog where I talk about what a fitting really is, but the problem is not what amateur players normally find, but rather something that we have gotten used to calling a fitting, when you read the articles that I am telling you, If you didn't read it, you'll still understand it, but I'll leave it here below.

https://handmadecustomclubs.com/que-es-un-fitting-de-golf/

I have always said that in my life and in that of Handmade Custom Clubs, I let in whoever I want and that I totally reject those who want to hurt me with their envy and their desire to discredit. Life put me in complex situations this year, but no matter how much one or some try to harm me, what they do is motivate me more to continue and know that if that happens it is for a reason, because I am doing things better than others and I am not aware of anything other than making people feel good and treating the players as I would like them to treat me. 

Here I leave you with the story that the truth seems very sincere and I think that more than one of you will be able to feel identified.

© Miki Rapado ®, 2020

I am going to title this part of the series in a very simple way: THE BEFORE. Therefore, you can imagine what the next two will be called.

At the age of 16 (more or less) I made my first custom-made golf clubs and, since then, it is clear to me that standard golf clubs or golf clubs that have been bought in a store never pass through my hands again. NO, not because custom golf clubs are one more part of all the gear that makes up the player, that is, in two words: THEY ARE FUNDAMENTAL.

Of course, before having them I have played three sets of clubs of different brands / models and, obviously, all of them bought in a store. I also understand that it is normal that when the player starts, since he does not know, he does little research and still "does not know" (come on, he is growing), so the first thing he does is buy standard or even second-hand clubs. It is normal and ultimately we have all gone through it to find out if we like this madness, which unites us so much.

But the key is when you've already got the hang of golf, when your swing is growing, taking shape and above all, when you are UNDERSTANDING it (because I tell you, this is worse than learning to speak Chinese, Arabic, Swahili ... I don't know, any difficult language you can think of? Well, that).

Since I discovered the world of fitting and clubmaking with what was my fourth team of clubs, I decided that it had been an investment forever and that never more I was going to buy golf clubs in a store. And so it was and IS. Yes indeed, to this day my bag has all the custom golf clubs, all. No half measures, what I tell you: all.

You may wonder, what happened then? This year my fifth came and what is currently my set of clubs (of course, custom). However, those golf clubs… that fifth set of clubs… in the end, it didn't make me any better. Yes, you read it right: they didn't make me better. In fact, I went backwards like a crab.

I made and ordered some custom golf clubs from a specialized site with all the love and commitment in the world, but all that desire and passion that I had put into it was lost along the way. In fact, I came to hate them and I didn't want to go down to train, or if I did go down, I did it reluctantly. Luckily that doesn't happen to me now. The result of this story will come in the following articles, but for now, I have to tell you again my memories about this "bad drink."

I fully defend those who dedicate themselves to this profession, without a doubt, everyone, but as in any workplace, I defend those who take care of the client as they deserve and They know how to listen from minute zero. They know how to listen and WANT to listen; they know how to understand and they WANT to understand it, whatever the cost.

And to the golf clubs... you also have to listen to them.

You have to listen to them in order to manufacture them with care and affection, to treat them with the delicacy they deserve so that they work, so that they work WELL. And if things go wrong, if you see that your player is not completely satisfied, if you see that "something is wrong", no matter how small... you must always be a shoulder to lean on for him. Because just as he relied on you when he placed his trust for you to manufacture something as delicate as his golf clubs, you have to be there to understand and help him, because no one knows this better than you.

Before I got into the hands of Miki Rapado and became part of the HCC world, my level of desperation with my clubs was at the maximum level raised to the nth power. All the work that I had done with my golf teacher in these last two years had gone “down the drain”. And NO, I'm not exaggerating. Do you remember my “combo plus”? Well, both can corroborate it with technical arguments and sufficient weight. But hey, sometimes circumstances happen in a way that we don't expect and you have to deal with it; That is how I lived it and those who know me and see me play every day lived it. In short, a time to forget, that's life.

 BUT LIFE ALWAYS TAKES MANY TURNS. 

Have custom golf clubs “not so tailored” it's a danger. It is a danger both personally and physically. And now you will ask yourself: what happened?

Well good:

• I lost the illusion for golf.
• I stopped enjoying training and playing.
• I stopped playing tournaments.
• I withdrew from competitions because I couldn't "endure" on the field (Note: I may already be playing badly or fatally, my morality does not allow me to ever withdraw from a tournament, but hey, you see how far it can go).
• I got too tired training, I came home exhausted.
• He did not go out to play in the field because he was "scared".
• I became obsessed with clubs, those to whom I had put so much care when I bought them.
• My swing changed unconsciously because I couldn't handle the new clubs. The swing dominated me. It was an aggressive, uncoordinated gesture, anyway, it wasn't me. And no, that "it's not the arrows, it's the Indian" is not entirely trueBecause for an Indian to be effective with his shots, he has to have good material. I do not think that the Indian wants to shoot with arrows whose tip weighs 3 kilos with the shaft made in filigree, can you imagine the shots? FLIP-FLOP!
• I despaired in the whole process.
• I stopped enjoying my change.
• I cried.

I knew that my clubs had “something”, that they weren't completely made for me or that, perhaps, they hadn't been made with all the care that should have been put into it. I already anticipate that the clubs are not a mascot (obviously not, hehe), but if you do not make them with love, care or thinking a little about the player and his circumstances, both physical and dynamic, those clubs will never work. It can work for a few weeks (and be thankful), but... consistency? Forget. Welcome to the hunger games… hunger for birdies… and tired of bogeys and doubles.

MY DECISION AFTER THIS WAS AS FOLLOWS

And I felt that, that something was wrong with my clubs and that something was not going well. I needed help, I needed someone to explain to me WELL what was happening, with technical and weighty arguments, but more than anything to look at me because I knew something was wrong. Because no matter how much I played, those clubs tickled me and something was not right "inside". I needed someone who, in two words, LISTENED TO ME; I needed Miki Rapado.

I don't know whether to say that it is lucky or inconvenient, but my swing and my golf are going a lot feelings; I need sensations and that the club transmits to me. I need to feel and understand what I am playing with my hands and what I see, I like. Especially if you stop to think for a moment that those sensations that you feel, should be felt (and if not felt, understood) by you. fitter/clubmaker And if you see that you are not in tune with him, for whatever reason, or that he simply does not understand you: change the professional. And that does not mean at all that his work is detracted from, it is simply matter of feelings.

Finding the ideal configuration of a custom golf club, even if you don't have it with you, It is a true adventure worth admiring: a true craftsman's work; record your name again: Miki Rapado.

Is it bad to seek second opinions? No.

Is it bad to investigate and learn? No.

Is it wrong to ask or have doubts? No.

Do you only buy clothes in ONE store? No

I THINK THAT AFTER THIS I HAVE LITTLE MORE TO SAY, RIGHT?

And remember a little moral-story:

if you are a runner who is preparing high-level marathons, his thing would be for you to buy the best ultra-top range shoes on the market to improve your times, improve the quality of your stride and be more dynamic, right? Okay, well. But… what if they only sell you a 43 and you actually wear a 40? would you buy them?

 

THE LOGICAL THING IS THAT IT IS NOT.

I don't think you want to end the race full of blisters or suffering to reach the finish line (at least I don't see it that way) because either you wear five pairs of socks to be able to fill your number to the top, or you don't reach the goal.

Well, you should apply this same philosophy with your golf clubs from now on.. If you see drivers, wedges, putters or sets of irons already assembled as standard, don't you consider for a moment that they are still too big for you? or small? Or that the shaft is not made for you? Or that the weight distribution is not the best for the dynamic gesture of your swing? Or that you should simply go to a custom golf club professional to take your golf one step further?

Would the 43 sneakers work for you? NO. Well, the standard club, neither. See you in the next article!

MVF