Confused

[John Harrington]

Two years ago I had my handicap down to 14 and headed lower. Then I got the bright idea that if I got better clubs I could get the handicap lower quicker. Needless to say, everything fell apart and I went through more sets of clubs than I care to remember. I even had the local club maker who had won some pretty presitious awards make me a set but they were terrible. The problem I have is I have extremely weak wrists and even weaker hands. I have had 5 operations on my left hand, and am facing some on my right after the season is over, Three of the operations had to deal with my fingers curling in and not being able to straighten them. However it is not painful but once I get the glove on it stays on throughout out the round. The remaining two operations were due to severe arthritis where they took a tendon from my arm and inserted in my thumb joint where apparently it wraps itself around the joint and acts as a buffer to the bone on bone rubbing. Over this time I had slowed my swing down considerably fearing the mishit backlash where the clubs just vibrates in my hand.

I have set of Ping Rapture irons with new midsized Winn grips, but Ping's measuring site and others such a Wilson's indicate I need to have these regular black dot irons adjusted 2 degrees flat. What will such an adjustment do? I tend to have my mid irons dig in as my swing plane is too steep and I end up driving the club downward into the ground.

I have long arms for my height. I am 5' 10" and my arm length from wrist to ground is 32". Should I try and have the adjustments made to my Ping's or should I start fresh and have a clone maker make me a set specific to my physical set up. I am not a long hitter but straight, but can no longer afford a custome made set.

Taking all the measurements and answering all the questions on-line as far as a fitting goes. How accurate is such a process. My results are all the same although I would like all my clubs to be 1/4 to 1/2 inches shorter. With the change to 2 de=grees flat will that eliminate the ned for the short than normal clubs. I have no trouble off the tee or off the ground with fairway woods. I have looking seriously at the Wislon's because the Fat shafts are less likely to twist. Any truth in that.

Any suggested would be helpful.

John

[sean_miller]

That's a LOT of information to ponder. Anyone who offered suggestions would be just guessing, but having said that, I suggest discussing your golf swing with a physiotherapist rather than a clubfitter.

[NEOHMark]

Regarding the lie angle on your irons, you can probably get a good idea if you are too upright, too flat, or just right by looking at the dirt line on your clubs.  Clean your irons, go hit some balls on a grass tee box at a range (with several different irons) and then look at the dirt line and see if it matches the grooves on the clubs.  If the dirt line is nice and parallel to the grooves, your lie angle is probably correct for your swing.  If the dirt is higher on the heel side and goes downward toward the toe, you probably need to have them flattened.  If the opposite is true - the dirt line starts higher at the toe and goes downward toward the heel, you probably ought to have them bent more upright.  Look at your divots too - are they nice and flat from side-to-side throughout the divot?  Or is one side noticeably digging down deeper than the other side?  Toe side deeper means bend them more upright; heel side deeper means bend flatter...to fit your natural swing.

IMHO I wouldn't go by static measurements from a website.  Perhaps the pro at your local could give you some advice after seeing you hit a bucket of balls?

[tweaky]

John

as a ten year clubfitter my best advice for you is to find a clubfitter who deals with Wishon components.  Specifically the 770CFE irons.  by far the most forgiving irons on the market. they are milled thin and the ball comes off the face with a *click* rather than a *thwock* thereby lessening the impact that vibration has on the hands.   Matched up with graphite shafts fitted to your liking for length and oversized Winn grips for comfort. you won't be disappointed.  as far as how the lengths and lie angles go each club must be fitted to your feel and adjusted as a separate entity rather than all of them to some "standard" (there are no standards in golf clubs).