Understanding My Limits

Hi Again,

I'm a glutton for punishment so I'm going to take my Cleveland CG4's off the market. (Last night I took pics of them and today I was going to throw them up on ebay).

Thanks to a lot of people who chimed in on my problems with my 'new' irons. I really don't think I'm going to get anything selling them other than end up with possibly another set of clubs I'll have problems with.

I was reading someone else's post on range balls and thought I might be a little too hard on myself.

The first thing I want to address is, are my clubs legit? I bought them off of ebay and can't find a serial number. Does anyone know where the Serial number is on Cleveland CG4s?

Secondly the shaft. I was told they were 'upgraded' to True Temper Dynamic Gold stiff shafts. How can I find out what model they are? What weight they might be?

Here's some more shots of them in case this helps with identity:






My goal may be to learn to hit these over the winter. I may sign up for winter classes at the local golf town, but they're a lot more expensive than my normal (outdoor) instructor's prices. lol

A small issue I had was I was doing all my main testing at a crappy old range with very old balls, and I couldn't get any real distance.

My MAIN problem with these Clevelands is I hook them... a lot more than I do my Big Bertha '04s. I believe if I can straighten them out (without dropping my swing speed to 5 miles per hour), I can work this out.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I'm not sure I've said this before, but I think you have a fantastic set of irons. I don't think you have anything to worry about (assuming they are legit). Enjoy them. I use a set very similar to yours and I'm a high handicapper. I like the feedback and setup of a smaller headed iron.

Look at the True Temper shaft band. Does it say S300 or something similar? That would indicate what kind of shafts they are.

Thanks. I agree *if* they are legit. I would think they are based on the unique look of CG4's, and I think there are a lot more popular brands to knock off... but still for my own sake, I a little worried I can't find a serial number.

I'll look on the shafts again for a model number. At first glance I just saw "True Temper Dynamic Gold". I'm at work right now... working. and I'll check it out when I get home.

I can be stubborn I guess. I hate spending this much for something and giving up on it.

They look legit to me. The link to the true temper site with the specs is here The shafts say dynamic gold on them, the stiffness should be located on the label just below the grips. It will say s300 if they are stiff shafts. They look good to me though have fun hitting them.

Just checked the specs of the Big Bertha 2004 and Cleveland CG4 at:

http://callawaygolfpreowned.com/iset...s-bb-2004.aspx
http://www.clevelandgolf.com/index.p...mldw¤t;=2

Seems as though the lengths and lie angles are slightly off so if you don't feel like changing your swing to suit the club you could try changing the club lengths and lie angles slightly so that they resemble your old Big Berthas :)

If the shaft upgrade was done by Cleveland then try:
http://www.clevelandgolf.com/index.p...mldw¤t;=3

else try:
http://www.truetemper.com/golf/dynamicgold.asp

With regards to the serial number, I have a Cleveland LDI and the serial number was on a sticker located under the grip. Silly, huh? Guess, they wanted to keep that clean, Cleveland look :)

With regards to hooking check your grip and takeaway. If that's all fine try increasing the total weight or swing weight of your clubs using lead tape.

That's very interesting. Part of what I'm thinking is, since I'm a fairly new golfer to begin with, I really am probably damaging myself by switching back and forth so much.

Thanks for the insight on the lie/length differences, I really appreciate it.

My grip is neutral. I was taught that way from my instructor. I don't strengthen the grip for any club (drivers, woods, etc).

My grip issue used to be I held it in my palms a bit too much, taking away my ability to control the clubhead with my fingers, but I've solved that issue this summer.

When I was last at the range, the most promising result I got with the CG4's was when I laid a club down lengthwise on top of my swing plane to force myself to swing underneath, or more on plane. But I was still hooking.

Then I put a coin on the ground about 6" in front of, but in line of my ball. I would tell myself I have to connect with the ball, then the coin (of course I couldn't connect with the coin) and the result was a straighter shot but it felt short.

I am thinking the light club head makes it easier for me to come over the top. With more weight in the head (Big Bertha 04s) I think it pulls the club down quicker towards the inside.

Oddly enough when I swing outside/In with my CG4, I tend to 'heel' the ball more often. Weird, eh? It's like my swing goes further out, and connecting towards the heel causes the hook. Does my logic make sense?

I'm going back to my old (more expensive) range because I think part of my frustration was even when I squared up with the CG4's, I couldn't hit any club further than about 160! I looked at the range balls and they were puffy, cut up a lot, and looked quite old. I'm -hoping- that could explain my lack of distance. (I was watching guys hit next to me and they had more distance but they were using Drivers so I really couldn't compare).

Just noticed that the lofts on the CG4s are slightly weaker than the Big Bertha's as well which accounts may account for the lack of distance. Yippee, you're not going crazy :)

Outside/in to produce a hook? Normally, its inside out to produce a hook, no? Or maybe, you're going outside/inside/outside a la Furyk (who plays a fade if I remember correctly)? Either that or you're not feeling what's actually occurring?

I thought Outside-In would produce a slice with drivers/woods and a hook with irons?

Well, regardless you've convinced me that there's enough difference in these clubs that I need to get fitted.

I just bit the bullet and made a fitting appointment at the local golftown. They are charging me 60 bucks since I didn't buy the clubs there. And I guess whatever has to be done to the clubs will be an additional charge.

When I've bought clubs there, they tell me fitting is free. So I get fitted and they tell me I'm an 'off the rack' kind of guy. It'll be interesting to see how 'off the rack' I am now that it isn't free.

I just got home and checked out the shafts a little more closely... they are indeed upgraded by Cleveland and have an 'S' on them. I went to the cleveland site and came up with this:
BRAND MODEL FLEX WEIGHT TIP SWING WEIGHT
True Temper Dynamic Gold S300 130g 0.370 D4

True Temper Dynamic Gold LITE S300 109g 0.370 D2

Also the flex point is 'high' in my shafts and 'mid' in the stock Dynamic Lite shaft. I'm not sure what this means but it appears I have a heavier shaft on my hands.

No matter, I'm going to keep them. I really appreciate everyone's advice on both sides of the issue. I guess I'll have to match up a Hybrid pretty soon.

When you said that you hook a lot of shots it could be that you are hooking them becuase the CG4 has a healthy amount of offset. I demoed the CG4 and I didn't like them because the topline was too thick and it had too much offset which made me hit a lot of shots to the left. So I tried out the CG4 Tours, which have less offsetand they are AMAZING .

Colin,
I admire your determination as a fairly new and very serious golfer to learn to use your CG4's. I'd like to offer a point of view that is from the mental side...something I find can't be ignored, for me a least.
I like Cleveland and when the CG4 came out, I rushed to golftown and couldn't wait for my turn in the simulator. A few practise swings left me feeling like I couldn't feel the clubhead. After hitting a few terrible shots (I don't like hitting in the dark) I took a few more practise swings...still couldn't feel where the clubhead was during the backswing. 20 shots later, I had enough...these clubs were not for me.
My point is, my confidence in this particular model was lost and although I'm sure I could work it out on the range, they would perhaps frustrate me after a few bad holes out on the course. Then....I would beat myself up saying, "Why didn't I trust my gut feeling from day one"...or..."I should have bought the set that inspires me at address, feels great and works with me"? In other words, I might never love my irons which is what the majority of us need, game in and game out.
While the opposite could also be true (learning to love them) it's a roller coaster ride that still would leave room for my mental gremlin to return.
I've babbled quite enough so best of luck with your game plan!
Ian

Ian,

That's really an excellent point. Thanks for the compliment. I do consider myself 'new' but 'serious'. I don't take the game serious, but I do play a lot and always hope to improve.

You explain a really similar feeling I had/have. I wanted to like these things so much, I really paid a bit of a price. The lack of head feeling is precisely what some other poster was saying, and exactly what I felt.

So far I have improved tremendously with these irons, but I still feel they are for a much better player than I.

I am a fan of a few company's product, but I thought the CG4's would be my 'it' club for a few years. I'm still practicing with them a few times a week... I just hit the range again yesterday. They are still quite hard for me to control, but _very_ rewarding when hit well. I ended up picking up some CG11 wedges to compliment them. I hit the wedges much better than the irons. lol

Anyway, thanks for your experience. I think it would have definitely made me think twice if I had seen it when I first had real hesitations.

I'm personally just going to ride it out til a real 'deal' comes up on something that I can hit better.

A Nike rep told me something yesterday that stuck with me; he said at one point you gotta find a brand you like and grow with it, get used to it. I am at a point where I believe this and I still have to find 'my' brand.