Kick Point: The Golf Gear Show

Titleist GT Drivers, Poutler's In The Bag Special & Gear Effect Explained

Another jam packed episode for you this week, including a brand new segment 'Ask The Pod'. The lads start this week with a review of Titleist's new GT drivers. Joe was lucky enough to enjoy the full fitting experience at the Titleist Performance Centre in Woburn and shares his thoughts both on that experience and the performance of the new drivers. After that, this week's explainer is on gear effect. We all benefit from the changes manufacturers make to golf clubs to alleviate gear effect, but what exactly is it? 
Also this week is the launch of 'Ask The Pod'. It's a fairly self explanatory section, where Dan and Joe field equipment related questions from listeners and viewers - easy! To have your question answered in a future episode of Kick Point, you can get in touch via kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com. 
Finally, Joe is joined by Ian Poulter, who offers a detailed look at the whats and the whys of the equipment in his golf bag. Stick around for some impressive insight on his new Titleist GT2 driver and his thoughts on tapering grips. 
 
 

Grading Every Equipment Brand's Year (So Far) & Henrik Stenson WITB Special

This week Dan and Joe are 'Live From LIV' with a bit of a different, but nonetheless jam-packed, episode of Kick Point. The lads were on site at JCB Golf & Country Club for the LIV UK event back in July and have lined up six WITB specials with some of the game's biggest names. This week, they're joined by Henrik Stenson who talks through his eclectic and somewhat aging bag of equipment. Yes, that iconic 3-wood is still in the bag but there's also some new nuggets and equipment tweaks the Ice Man is still making. 
Before they chat to Henrik, Joe wanted to sit back and take stock of the year in equipment so far. Seeing as it was the summer holidays when they recorded this, Dan and Joe spend some time grading each of the major equipment manufacturers year so far. Who goes home to happy parents with their A grade and who has plenty to work on going into next year? 

Akshay Bhatia's Clubs, The Origins Of Bryson's New Irons & A Watermelon Golf Bag

On this episode, Dan's in charge of Tested This Week with a new watermelon pattern bag from Ping and G/FORE's new G/18 shoes to show off in the studio. Meanwhile, Joe's been busy doing some investigative journalism and has been chatting to the founder of Avoda Golf, Tom Bailey. Avoda irons have been in the bag of one Bryson DeChambeau since this year's Masters, and Joe tells the story of how Avoda Golf came to be and how its relationship opened up with Bryson. 
Finally, the WITB this week dives into the golf bag of Akshay Bhatia. While not the biggest name in the game (just yet), a quick look in his bag reveals what seems to be a real gear nerd and equipment tweaker. Joe takes a detailed look at some of the unique choices he's made including a draw bias driver and a Tour-only driver adapter. 
As always, fell free to get in touch with Dan and Joe by dropping an email to: kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com. We would love to hear your suggestions for reviews, player's bags to cover and golf gear terminology to debunk.

Hovland's Clubs, The Half Price Pro V1s & Bounce Explained

Thanks for joining us for another episode of Kick Point! First, our Tested This Week comes in the shape of Seed golf balls, a direct-to-consumer golf ball brand now available in the UK and US that claims to offer balls that perform as well as the big brands best balls for half the price. Joe has been out on the golf course and with his Trackman to put these claims to the test... 
Joe's explainer this week is something of a back to basics, but with a Kick Point twist, all about bounce. Joe talks through what bounce is, how we can use it to our advantage on course and asks why iron sets don't come with different bounce options.  
Finally, this week's What's In The Bag is Viktor Hovland. The Norwegian has had a tough year on Tour after winning the FedEx last year - has he made any drastic equipment changes to try and help him out?
As always, fell free to get in touch with Dan and Joe by dropping an email to: kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com. We would love to hear your suggestions for reviews, player's bags to cover and golf gear terminology to debunk.

Åberg's Clubs, 3D Printing Explained & 'The Future Of Golf Club Manufacturing'

We're back in the studio this week after our recent trip to The Wisley. Joe has been out testing Cobra's new LIMIT3D iron, the first fully 3D printed iron to be available at retail. Cobra launched the irons with bold claims of 'blade looks' with 'game improvement forgiveness' and Joe's testing reveled some incredible findings. 
It felt fitting after chatting about the LIMIT3D iron to delve into the wider relationship between golf club manufacturing and 3D printing.  What exactly is it? What are the benefits of 3D printing when it comes to club manufacturing and prototyping? When will we see more of this? Finally, this week's WITB dives into the bag of Ludvig Åberg. The super Swede signed a deal with Titleist at the end of 2023, but his bag still holds a few secrets and pieces of Tour sauce well worth tuning in for. 
As always, fell free to get in touch with Dan and Joe by dropping an email to: kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com. We would love to hear your suggestions for reviews, player's bags to cover and golf gear terminology to debunk.

Richard Bland WITB Special

This week, we welcome our first ever guest onto Kick Point - Richard Bland. We spoke to Richard at his home club The Wisley the week after he won the Senior PGA Championship in Michigan. With very mixed bag, this episode is a really interesting dive into a fellow equipment nerd's bag. 
After we spoke to him, Cleeks GC went on to win its first team event at LIV Houston and Richard went on to win the US Senior Open, so we'll consider this appearance Kick Point's first podcast bump! Hope you enjoy this special (we've got plenty of guests lined up to join us very soon) and we'll be back next week with our usual format back in the studio. 
Get in touch with Dan and Joe by dropping an email to: kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com. We would love to hear your suggestions for reviews, player's bags to cover and golf gear terminology to debunk.

Rory's Clubs, L.A.B Putters & Putter Fittings Explained

This week's episodes comes from The Wisley in Surrey - our first podcast outside of the studio! To commemorate the feat, Joe and Dan dive deep into the world of putters, first looking at the takeover of L.A.B putters before Joe talks through the benefits of getting a putter fitting and the kinds of questions you should be asking a fitter when getting your next flatstick. 
After a quick foray into the halfway house, the What's In The Bag this week is that of one Rory McIlroy. A long-time TaylorMade ambassador, there's still plenty of tour sauce in Rory's bag to get stuck in to. 

Fitzpatrick's Clubs, Best Launch Monitors (For All Budgets) & Shaft Puring Explained

Joe has been busy testing launch monitors over the last few months, so we thought we'd start this episode by getting him to talk through the key differences camera and radar based systems, while also giving his verdict on launch monitors from right across the price spectrum - what would Joe recommend going for if we was building his very own home simulator? After that, he gets stuck into what Dan thinks is the most interesting explainer to date - shaft puring (stick with it!)
After a quick stop at the JCB Golf & Country Club halfway hut, our What's In The Bag this week is Matt Fitzpatrick, one of the most meticulous minds in the game of golf with a similarly intricate bag set up.  
Get in touch with Dan and Joe by dropping an email to: kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com. We would love to hear your suggestions for reviews, player's bags to cover and golf gear terminology to debunk.

Schauffele's Clubs, TaylorMade R7 Quad & Japanese Forging Explained

Joe has been testing some stunning clubs from Japan, specifically the Bose Iron Factory, owned and founded by Falcon Matsubura. After a chat about these rather intimidating blades, the lads chat about Japanese forging practices more broadly - is it still the gold standard? 
After that, Joe has another piece of 'gear that changed the game' in the shape of the TaylorMade R7 Quad driver before the pair dive into the bag of recently crowned PGA Champion Xander Schauffele. 
Get in touch with Dan and Joe by dropping an email to: kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com. We would love to hear your suggestions for reviews, player's bags to cover and golf gear terminology to debunk.

Korda's Clubs, Top Budget Equipment & 'The Most Iconic Wedge Of All Time'

This week Dan and Joe take a deep dive into the bag of women's world number one Nelly Korda, discuss some of the best 'budget' irons and drivers on the market right now and take a dive into the Halfway Hut at The Belfry. 
Also this week, Joe also kicks off a new franchise he's coined 'Gear That Changed The Game' with the Ping Eye2 Copper Beryllium wedge - a wedge he describes the 'most iconic wedge of all time'. 
Get in touch with Dan and Joe by dropping an email to: kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com. We would love to hear your suggestions for reviews, player's bags to cover and golf gear terminology to debunk.