marvin

Who is the girl on the right? She looks cute.

Hambrick and his team say these 10,000 hours claims are simply "incorrect". Their findings suggest that " some normally functioning people may never acquire expert performance in certain domains, regardless of the amount of deliberate practice they accumulate. " This may sound disheartening, but there is a "silver lining". People can avoid wasting time on futile dreams, say Hambrick et al, and "gravitate towards domains in which they have a realistic chance of becoming an expert through deliberate practice."

But now a team led by David Hambrick have published a forceful challenge to the 10,000 myth. " We found that deliberate practice does not account for all, nearly all, or even most variance in [elite music or chess] performance, " they write. ... The take-out was clear - some people failed to achieve the highest level even after completing substantially more than 10,000 of practice ; others achieved the highest level with only relatively modest practice. ... "The bottom line," write Hambrick and his colleagues, "is that deliberate practice is necessary to account for why some people become experts in these domains and others fail to do so, but not even close to sufficient ." What else matters? Another relevant factor, they say, is starting age. This correlates with amount of completed practice, but crucially, it remains a predictive factor even after subtracting the influence of practice. "This ... suggests that there may be a critical period for acquiring complex skills ," the researchers said. Source: http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2014/06/exploding-10000-hours-myth-its-no.html

I'm a 25 HCP and I play MP33. I bought MP33 two years ago when I started playing golf. I didn't know SGI/blades/cavity and which irons that were suitable for me at that time. I bought them just because it looks good, came from a company that I'm familiar, and it was ridiculously cheap. I've been through various ups and downs with MP33. I enjoyed hitting pure shot with this blade. I have no problem with 5-PW, but mishits on long irons (3 and 4) were awful. My highest round so far was 116, while my lowest was 94. I don't really care with other people's opinion. If I have money, I will probably trade them with newer CB irons such as JPX EZ. Dunno. Paiste, I hope you enjoy your blades and let us here know your updated experience with the MP68. Have fun!

Haven't read all the post here. But, is this basically a 3-wood off the tee? How does it perform off the fairway (compared to regular 3-wood)?

I took up golf in late 2012 when I was 28. I just got a divorce and need a kind of escape to cleared up my mind. I chose golf simply because the company that I worked for has a lot of golf events and I thought it would be embarrassing for me if I couldn’t participate. I took 5 x 2 hour lessons from a pro. Basically I learned everything from zero: grip, stance, posture, swing, and other fundamental aspects of golf. I’m not an athlete guy and not muscular either but I tried to give my best. After the lessons finished, I went to the range and spent hundreds of balls. I also spent a lot of time chipping, pitching, and putting on the green. About a year later, I decided to take an 18-hole for the first time. I scored 116, due to my driving (mostly OB), my poor second shot (topping, fat shot, thin shot, you name it), and 3-4 times putting per hole. In late 2013, I became more obsessed with golf. I found this forum. I spent a lot of time watching Youtube tutorials and swing analysis. I also watched almost every golf tournament on the weekend. Nowadays, I’m playing regularly: 2 times a month 18-hole and driving range every weekend. At home, I always practice my swing and putting. Whenever possible, I always try to video/record my swing to be analysed later. I decided to stop hoing and stick with my clubs. I always play by the rule and keep my stats. My score usually 95-105 and my best so far is 93. I guess I’m a slow learner, but I enjoy every second of my time on the course.

Thanks for your lavish explanation, guys. It cleared up my doubt and confusion. It seems that I have to stick with 10* driver and regular shaft. I realised that with stiff shaft, I tend to try to overswing and hit the ball as fast/hard as I can, that result in losing balance and control. With regular shaft, I assume that I can swing with 75-85% of my power, but still have the balance and control, right?

Sorry, my mistake. I'm righty. My mishit goes RIGHT, not left. Sorry for the confusion. Assuming that you have the same swing speed/technique/etc., what is the difference in hitting 8.5/9.5/10.5 driver? Does it affect distance and ball flight significantly?

Thanks for your prompt reply. When I hit it good, it goes straight, but just as far as my 3-wood. When I hit it bad, it goes left. Yes, it's a BAD slice, not just a fade.

Hi, I'm finding it difficult to hit my driver properly. It's 8.5*, neutral face, 55 gram stiff stock shaft, standard length, 45". Half of my tee shot always slice to the right. Even when I hit it perfectly, it's probably just as far as my 3-wood shot. Is it because of the loft/weight/flex/length? Btw, I have 3-wood and 5-wood standard stiff shaft and hit them fine. I hit my ProjectX 5.5 on my irons just fine. My old driver is 9.5 regular shaft and I just hit them okay.

Many thanks for your lavish answers, guys. Appreciate it much.

Luke Donald (-11) Charles Howell III (-10) Kevin Na (-10)

Thanks! Found a couple of FG Tour/X on eBay at ridiculously cheap price.

I occasionally took my little brother to the range. He seemed interested so far. It's been a month and he showed much swing improvement. I'm planning to take him to the course as soon as he able to swing a driver consistently. Time will tell.

A couple of questions on golf balls: (1) What level (or type) of player you need to be before the ball makes a significant difference? Is it completely ridiculous for a 24 HDCP player to use a Pro V1? Is a scratch player being held back by not using a premium ball? (2) What are the differences between ProV1 and ProV1x? Are they suitable for all-levels golfers? (3) What makes ProV1/ProV1x so popular on tour? Is it because the quality or is it because they got paid for playing ProV1/ProV1x? Thanks a lot.