What is MPF

First and foremost, the playability factor should be recognized as a “guide” to either selecting or understanding why a golf iron plays the way it does.

MPF makes it easier to choose the right clubs for you.

Golf is, for many people, a difficult game. It is a game that entices hundreds of thousands of people a year to take up the game and it is a game that loses about the same amount of people every year. Besides this fact, new, existing or potential golfers need to wade through all of the equipment hype and also what other people or the ever-knowledgeable golfing buddy is recommending. If only there was a way for the golfer to avoid buying and playing with the wrong equipment. A simple guide that would aid the golfer and provide multiple choices to try golf clubs best suited to his or her style of play. There is a solution: the Maltby Playability Factor (MPF).

MPF is based on dimensional and mass properties of iron heads. In addition, the playability factor utilizes two mathematically based tables to adjust the playability factor. This adjustment can either improve or reduce the playability factor. The adjustments are based on dimensional and mass properties that either fall outside accepted parameters or enhance accepted parameters.

MPF is broken down into 6 categories. The categories range from the easiest, most forgiving clubs made today (Ultra Game Improvement) to extremely difficult to hit clubs that only very accomplished players should attempt to use (Player Classic). The 6 categories are explained in a chart that is easy to use and allows the player to honestly look at his or her game and make a decision. The final result of this simple, easy to use process is a satisfied golfer, playing with the correct equipment, who finds this game much easier to play and certainly more enjoyable.

About MPF

Clubmaker's tool set: Swingweight scale, grip tape, clubmaker’s ruler, shaft cutter, two-part epoxy, Maltby Playability Factor. All of these are necessary for a clubmaker to do the best job of fitting in the year 2003. Along with the tools and supplies that have been found on every workbench for years, thousands of custom clubmakers have discovered the Maltby Playability Factor is every bit as necessary to ensure they are pairing their customers with metal wood and iron designs (and now even putter designs!) that are truly matched to their needs.

While the Maltby Playability Factor was newly introduced to the golf industry in 2002, it’s not new to The GolfWorks. Founder Ralph Maltby and The GolfWorks Technical Staff have been relying on his Playability Factor research to design high-performance clubheads for years. The science behind Playability Factor was first shared last year, however, so clubmakers could also see how small changes in center of gravity and moment of inertia can have a substantial impact on the overall playability of a club.

“Playability Factor is the guiding force behind every clubhead we produce. Whether we are designing a club for a beginner or for a single-handicap player, Playability Factor determines where we can place weight throughout the clubhead to achieve a desired performance characteristic.”

This tool has been derived through years of extensive laboratory and field testing on thousands of clubs from virtually every major manufacturer and component supplier. Only after that meticulous evaluation could Ralph and The GolfWorks Technical Staff understand and utilize Playability Factor in all of their design efforts. The result is a clubhead fitting index that helps you perfectly match a clubhead design to a specific player type.

To review, Playability Factor is determined by a simple evaluation of the laws of physics and applied advanced mathematics to develop a formula that computes an index of clubhead Playability. For example, for irons the formula evaluates five dimensional and mass properties of an iron head

  • Vertical Center of Gravity
  • Horizontal Center of Gravity
  • Rearward Center of Gravity
  • Geometric Center of the Face
  • Moment of Inertia

In short, the higher the Playability Factor value generated by the formula, the more playable and forgiving the particular design should be. The six specific levels of Playability Factor are:

  • Ultra Game Improvement

    851 & Up - All Players Benefit: The absolute easiest to play golf club designs. Almost cannot tell a loss of distance or unsold feeling on off-center hits. Highest technology available. Mostly very low center of gravity. All benefits from "Super Game Improvement" category also apply. Becoming more popular with tournament pros.
  • Super Game Improvement

    701 - 850 - All Players Benefit: Irons in this category are extremely easy to play. Very solid hits more of the time. More consistency. Best distance. Mostly lower center of gravity heel/toe/low soleweighting. Becoming more popular with tounrament pros.
  • Game Improvement

    551 - 700 - All Players Benefit: Hits the ball straight and fairly solid on off-center hits with little distance loss. Heel/toe/soleweighting and some muscleback designs. Popular with tournament pros.
  • Conventional

    401 - 550 - Better Players Only: 0-14 handicap, 450-550 points should be considered minimum popular iron design category for tournament pros who play muscleback blades. Above 15 handicap would be best moving up to game, super or ultra improve categories.
  • Classic

    251 - 400 - Difficult To Play: Very good players only. 0-5 handicap is best and a solid ball striker. No game improvement features. Still used by some tounrament pros. Best to use 325 as minimum MPF.
  • Player Classic

    0 - 250 - Not Recommended: Very few if any tournament pros still play clubs in this category. It is absolutely essential that the ball be struck very close to the club's center of gravity. Center of gravity is usually higher and toward the heel.


Each category represents a range of 150 Playability Factor points. This range encompasses the spectrum of performance characteristics. The higher the Playability Factor rating of a particular model ...The more it will help a golfer get the ball into the air. The less sensitive the design is to off-center hits (ie the larger its sweet spot). Simply put, via Maltby Playability Factor, a higher handicap golfer will experience straighter shots and more consistent distance (typically longer) with a HIGHER Playability club. That same golfer, with a LOWER Playability club, would find it more difficult to get the ball up in the air and the feel at impact would be less solid The result would be a tendency for shots to miss to the right or left and be shorter.

The Maltby Playability Factor is the premiere clubhead fitting guide in golf today, because it is based on scientific data, not marketing hype. But don’t take our word for it. Here’s what Master Clubmaker Tom Grundner of Tucson, Ariz., said about Playability Factor: “If you are unfamiliar with Maltby Playability Factor, learn it! It is not just a marketing gimmick. For the first time we have a way of systematically knowing the ease with which a clubhead or shaft might be used by an average player, and it will revolutionize the way clubs are made and especially marketed.

The Maltby Playability Factor represented a breakthrough in custom clubfitting and clubhead performance evaluation has continued to evolve over the years. Our Technical Staff has devoted hundreds of hours to refining our Playability expertise, and the products listed on this site reflect their efforts. Use these listings in pairing golfers with new equipment and you can be confident that your choice will match their specific swing needs.