DIY Golf Club Ruler - USGA standard - The simplest method on a letter sheet

[Howard_Jones]

Way to many hobbyist dont have a Golf ruler, but if you have a standard ruler, you can make your own "USGA standard" ruler by the help of a letter sheet by drawing a pyramid on the paper like below, and attach the ruler with point zero on the corner of the 60* triangle like this.



The club shall be placed on the letter sheet so the sole touch the wall on the triangle like this. The chart below has conversion from metric to imperial, and "helper notes", for what often is the "norm" for play length. CLICK on the photo below for larger format.



To make the RULER itself to go "the right way", we turn it all upside down like this:
PAY ATTENTION TO THAT THE RULER IS NOW INTO THE SHEET - IT HAS TO BE THIS WAY TO MEASURE DOWN THE CENTER LINE OF THE SHAFT,  SO THE SHAFT SHALL BE CENTERED ON THE RULER.





Its fully up to you, how you will measure, all OEMs have their own "standard", so simply "choose yours" and follow it in all cases.

The only company im aware of that use the USGA Standard is Taylormade
- TM measure the FULL length including the full grip. (see below)
- Titleist in the other end, measure WITHOUT grip. (see below)
- Club makers often measure to the "edge" of the grip " ex dome" (the dome is the top of the grip see below) and cut the shaft 1/8" shorter than target so the last 1/8" comes from the grip cap EX dome.

Examples of how OEMs have different points they measure to.
Most of them except TM, use a VARIABLE LIE ANGLE RULER, but never mind that. - TM uses a ruler like we draw here, so does most club makers.
The difference in a set of irons where lie often goes from 60* for a #3 iron (like the ruler we draw here), and up to 64* in the wedges, makes a difference of less than 2 mm in the short end between a fixed 60* angle ruler and a variable lie angle ruler, but 99% of club makers use a FIXED lie angle ruler, and the only thing that matters, is that you use the same standard for YOUR clubs, and then the fixed lie angle ruler is "idiot proof" and the simplest of all to use.




METRIC RULER 
My suggestion is to use a fixed 60* ruler, and count 2/8" as the addition the grip cap gives as average.
Then we can use this conversion chart from imperial to metric for clubs with and without grips.
The metric system is more presise since 1/8" is 3.14 mm, so its easyer to use as judgement.

Edited March 27, 2023 by Howard_Jones

[Howard_Jones]

How to estimate play length for loose shafts with connector

This is a classic question, and if you see a shaft on the net, you will have to ask the seller to take one measurement of the shaft like this.

Measure from the top of the grip, and down to the hosel top (below the ferrule)
THIS IS THE MEASUREMENT THE SELLER MUST PROVIDE YOU WITH.
- Now ADD 1.25" for INSERT
- ADD whats called BBGM or Bottom of Bore to Ground measurement (if you know it)
The summary is play length

If you dont know BBGM - modern drivers is minimum 1.50", many is 1.75" and it can be as high as 2.25" but thats NOT common, so a estimate of 1.50" to 1.75" is the norm range for DRIVERS.

For WOODS, it happens that BBGM is LOWER (gives a shorter play length), but the common range is 1.25" to 1.75" with a average of 1.50"

SO, its NOT of any interest to know how long the shaft is with the FULL connector, we ONLY need to know how long it is from the end of the grip, and down to the hosel top BELOW the ferrule.





Again, the most common measurement for BBGM is 1.50" to 1.75", insert is hardly ever anything but 1.25", so if you know "End of grip to the hosel top", just make the summary to judge where you end.

Example 1
TM often has a BBGM of 1.75" and a insert of 1.25" who give 3.0" as a sum.
If the "End of grip to top of hosel" is 43.00", play length become 46.00"

Example 2
Titleist often has a BBGM of 1.50" and a insert of 1.25" who gives 2.75" as a sum. If the If the "End of grip to top of hosel"  is 43.00", play length become 45.75"

Here is the confusing part. When we look at "official specs" from OEMs and take their measure method into consideration, we might have a Titleist vs a TM club and look at their official specs

TMs specs will in this case say 46.00" and Titleist specs will say 45.75", but since Titleist specs is EX grip, we will get the same measurement on our ruler with grips on, where both returns 46.00"

Thats why we should IGNORE "official specs" since OEMs uses different methods. FIND YOUR standard, and follow that, and never mind what official specs say that this club is, since 2 different specs from OEMs can turn out to be the same on your ruler.

The bottom of the connector or "full length with connector" is USELESS since the bottom of the connector below insert vary and its out of interest, so INSIST to get the measurement explained here - End of grip to top of connector, below the ferrule"

Edited December 27, 2021 by Howard_Jones

[RCGA]

What part of the sole should I be using? The middle? 

[Howard_Jones]

40 minutes ago, RCGA said:

What part of the sole should I be using? The middle? 

GOOD question.

When we use a FIXED lie angle ruler, we are forced to use the point of the sole that meets the wall of the pyramid.

Here is how it will look like when the club has a lie angle higher than 60*
Contact point will be a tad heel side, and will vary from head to head model depending on sole shape (radius or camber heel to toe)



If we tried to force the middle of the sole to be the contact point, the shaft would move away from the ruler like this, and thats useless for measurements. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by Howard_Jones

[Nessism]

Howard's approach is awesome...and dirt cheap.

 

If you have $100 burning a hole in your pocket, one of these is money well spent...https://www.mitchellgolf.com/shop/repair-tools/clublength-measuring-tools/clublength-ruler-measuring-tool/

 

[Howard_Jones]

3 minutes ago, Nessism said:

Howard's approach is awesome...and dirt cheap.

 

If you have $100 burning a hole in your pocket, one of these is money well spent...https://www.mitchellgolf.com/shop/repair-tools/clublength-measuring-tools/clublength-ruler-measuring-tool/

 

Thats the ideal ruler IMO, and the one i used, but i wanted to make this post so "ad hoc measurements" without professional tools could be done right, without really investing anything, since many will maybe only use it once or twice.

We can still "improve it", by using a piece of plywood or similar, then use the drawing above, but instead of using the drawing itself, we add a piece of wood on the line to the triangle wall where the sole will rest against. The ruler itself dont have to cost a dime, just grab a free plastic ruler from IKEA the next time you are there, and use DB sided tape to fix it to the plywood.

So, i made this post for all those who wants a correct measurement, but want invest in special tools to make it, since it probably want be used much and maybe only a single time or two.

[@_the_crook]

I picked up a secondhand 48" T-square with the inches marked along both planes.

best five bucks spent maybe ever.

 

in a pinch, those six foot carpenters folding rules can be very handy.....

 

 

Edited December 9, 2021 by @_the_crook
sp

[CUBuffaloes]

Thanks Howard. I made a paper template and found some scrap pieces of wood in my storage shed. A little bit of work and my quick little project is done.

 

I have a mark on the board at the 30" and 40" spot so I'll just need a standard 12" ruler to get all the lengths around it.

 

 

[jmck]

Great stuff Howard. I can never remember which manufacturer measures which way. This should be pinned to the top of the forum IMO.

[Howard_Jones]

On 12/23/2021 at 3:15 AM, jmck said:

Great stuff Howard. I can never remember which manufacturer measures which way. This should be pinned to the top of the forum IMO.

Not needed, just make a bookmark and send those who have questions related to it in here.
The issue with "pinned topics" for posts i have written is that it kind of obligate me to be present at all times to answer follow up questions, and Golf WRX dont pay my a dime for all the info i share with you. That means a pinned topic of my posts will end up as a "full time unpaid job" for me, so i dont want that. (been there done that with a stupid flex chart who was pinned for almost 10 years)

My most important contribution ever to this board is my DIY driver tune up, and i will try to "improve it further", with links for each "chapter" to posts where the subject is handled to a deeper level for those who wants to know.

That means the tread will be shortened, and easier to go trough, but if the reader feels the need for more info on a specific subject, there will be a link to more info on that subject.

Most readers want it "short, easy, and strait forward", so this way i can please both those who wants the "fast and dirty", and those with a demand for the full in-dept explanation.

Its already a link from the DIY driver tune up into this tread as the first addition against this "conversion" of that tread so it becomes "complete" with in-dept options for all subjects handled there.

[RCGA]

If anyone wants something more durable than a piece of paper, you can buy a self-healing cutting mat ($10 on Amazon). Most versions will have a 60* lines with vertical and horizontal lines that make it easier to square up the ruler, etc. 

 

I tried making it with paper but got tried of re-doing it since I'd inevitably wrinkle my original.  

[joostin]

I want to add the link below because of people measuring through center of shaft vs USGA (heel-side of club).  See pictures.  There could be a significantly different starting point of the ruler depending where the ruler sits against the angle on purchased and DIY setups.  Just be consistent with yourself and aware of issues when sharing.

 

[PhlashPhace]

On 12/8/2021 at 8:53 AM, Nessism said:

Howard's approach is awesome...and dirt cheap.

 

If you have $100 burning a hole in your pocket, one of these is money well spent...https://www.mitchellgolf.com/shop/repair-tools/clublength-measuring-tools/clublength-ruler-measuring-tool/

 

I use this Mitchell ruler but I helped a buddy make one up.  He had a bench with a plywood top so we laid it out and drilled a couple holes holes that he could put dowels in when he needed to measure a club and take them out when he wasn't using it.  He had the dowels so the whole setup cost him the $7 for a 48" ruler and it's basically the same thing as the Mitchell one.

[Sean124]

I just made some marks on my work bench and clamped a piece of wood at 60 degrees. 

[rainkingjr]

38 minutes ago, Sean124 said:

I just made some marks on my work bench and clamped a piece of wood at 60 degrees. 

Love the creativity with this design. If you wanted to, you could actually make marks on the bench and adjust for exact lie angle with this set up if you wanted to.

Edited December 29, 2021 by rainkingjr