My Bag Analysis Session

[andycook]

I am a high handi-capper.  I play a lot on a 9 hole par 3 course (70+ rounds a year).  I am in my 3rd year of doing so. I'm a bogie player on the par 3.  I play ~5 rounds of big boy golf a year including scrambles.  I've taken enough lessons that I thought it would be worth checking out the equipment I use rather than keeping on buying and trying experimentation (I said that with a straight face).  I made an appointment at one of those golf stores that offers a bag analysis session.  I am a strong believer in having the right tools for the job and tools that fit.  I would swing a brick on a pink stick if it helped my game.

My bag - I play Cleveland HiBore XLI irons 5-SW with a mashie M4 23* hybrid, Cobra Rail F 3W & 5W, and a Callaway Diablo Edge driver 10.5*.  All are regular flex graphite.  I switched to reg flex mid season after gaming light flex graphite.  The golf I play barely requires the 5W or even the Mashie M4 so usually not all clubs are in the bag.

Had my appointment for the bag check at 2 PM today at the new golf store in Champaign. Dragged my bag in and got signed in. Immediately began hitting 5 balls for each club working up from lob wedge to driver. No putter work. I was a bit more nervous than anticipated.

The results -

• the driver and 3 wood were not the regular flex as advertised. One was senior and the other was stiff. I feel betrayed :) even though these aren't clubs I reach for all that often.
• the 6 iron was off on weight. Not a club I hit often anyway, mostly because I never saw much difference between it and my 7i.
• irons would benefit from being spined. Sounds cool and predictable.
• new grips. I knew that was coming.  The clubs were used when I bought them and I used them nearly daily for half this season when I got them.
• they will check the club lofts and adjust them while they have the clubs. The Cleveland HiBore XLI irons have the loft on the clubhead. This is one feature I really like for those clubs. I try to refer to the loft and not the club name. I suspect something is wonky between my 7i and 8i based on the actual distances I measure with gps on the course.
• the regular flex was a good fit for my swing.
• the standard length iron was a good fit for me.
• the driver results suggested a 1/4" shorter shaft, though this is my least used club because of the golf I play.

I left the clubs so they could check the loft of each one and do this work. I had them skip working on the 3W and Driver. I don't hit them alot and when I start doing so I will get the work done on them... I almost said that with a straight face. This will eat at me and I will have them adjusted soon even though I don't use them all that often or even carry them.  I also have a hole in my soul because the clubs aren't in my car trunk.

I think the session would have gone better if I had warmed up. I think I was holding back on each swing.  I felt I had a really slow and steady swing for the session with only achieving a good swing one or two times out of 5. That is the power of calculating averages from multiple swings. This is the same problem I have playing golf in the simulators.  Trying to crush the ball never seems to yield propotioinal distance results.   I think my mind can't get beyond the fact that the wall/screen/net is pretty close and I don't need to swing a real swing even though the screen shows a target down the fairway. I did a better job swinging the ball into the net which was just a net at the other golf store for the visual appraisal/golf fitting.

I respect the technical analysis. It was good to know that the swing fit the flex of my clubs. I think the overall benefit for me would be to take the results and see what can be done to fit the kind of golf I play which is mostly 9 hole par 3 golf. This can easily be improved by spending some time asking me about the golf I play - where, how often, scores, holes that own me, typical shot results, clubs I use, etc. Then take that and apply it to the technical information obtained. Being a new store they weren't familiar with the 9 hole par 3 course I consider my "home" course.  That would have helped.

I also think the shot result info should be hidden from view during the assessment. I found myself trying to smash the ball harder with a faster swing and even getting frustrated because the swing results didn't fit what I expected.

All in all I got the main thing I wanted - more than a visual assessment of the shaft flex being in the range for me. Checking the actual loft vs advertised loft is another thing I want to be sure of just as checking the length was good to do too. As a high handi-capper I am not sure that much else is going to benefit me now besides more lessons.  I didn't get and will have to ask for a printout of the club by club results and conclusions.

I hope I get the chance to swing the clubs on the machine again once everything is adjusted.  That plus the relief of knowing what the session is like may produce more true (better?) results.

[BugDude]

Interesting analysis.  I bought an old set of Golden Ram Tour Grind forged irons for $50 off of ebay (2i - pw) and they've turned out to be the best irons I've ever had.  I got them to practice with on the range and course to improve my ball striking (tiny forged muscle back blades).  Funny thing happened...after a while, I got pretty good hitting them and loved them.  They are a registered set of "Frequency Matched" irons.  That means each head and shaft are matched to the other clubs.  All shafts are spine alligned, weights and balances are consistent throughout the whole set.  Back in the day, Ram was one of the only companies doing this.  Today, manufactureres are just spitting clubs out as fast as they can.  They make sure the logo on the shafts line up and that's about it (without thought of spine alignment consistency, weight, true flex, etc).  I'm still hitting those old clubs and it is the first set that I've ever had that all the clubs feel the same and hit the same.  It does make a difference.