Equipment related reality check.

[sean_miller]

I've had 3 lately.

1.) I bought Scratch wedges. They're small. Hit my old Mizunos anywhere on the face and it's a good shot. Not with these babies. Sweet spot or horribleness. Good for practice if nothing else.

2.) I put a George Lowe sportsman in the bag yesterday. Couldn't get the ball to the hole with my new passive motion. I forgot how to release the head. Sounds like a gimick, but after about half an hour I was stoking much better putts - practice club.

3.) Thinking I wanted an extra challenge I swapped out my driver and SGI 2-iron for a persimmon driver and 2-wood. 2-wood was money (off a tee) and the driver, well, I got really good practice from adjacent fairways. Another practice club.

How did I get around the course in one piece in the 1980s?  That explains why I used to carry 18 balls for 18 holes, and sometimes I'd buy more at the turn just to be safe.

[iacas]

Good thoughts.

You can't ever go wrong practicing with "tougher" to hit clubs so long as you understand some basic stuff about the swing (i.e. it's conceivable someone could develop some bad habits in order to hit the older or "tougher" equipment better if they didn't know any better).

One thing to consider: add a TourStriker as a practice club. Maybe the 5-iron, maybe the Tour 7-iron. You've got your wedges, your long clubs, and your putter covered. A TourStriker would cover the irons.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by iacas

Good thoughts.

You can't ever go wrong practicing with "tougher" to hit clubs so long as you understand some basic stuff about the swing (i.e. it's conceivable someone could develop some bad habits in order to hit the older or "tougher" equipment better if they didn't know any better).

One thing to consider: add a TourStriker as a practice club. Maybe the 5-iron, maybe the Tour 7-iron. You've got your wedges, your long clubs, and your putter covered. A TourStriker would cover the irons.

Certainly a possibility of developing bad habits with the vintage driver. I might just stick with the 2-wood and rotate it with the TA7 2-iron. They're very similar swings, very similar distance with solid contact but the 2w goes a bit lower flight. The persimmon driver and 460 cc modern driver are not that similar at address or impact - might take a step backward there.

I considered a TourStriker, but spend more time at the mats area than the grass because there's more to distract my daughter at the mats area. I'd hate to get tendonitis trying to master the TourStriker off a mat.

Anyway, I'll throw a video with the driver and 2-wood in my swing thread just for the heck of it - worst camera angle ever but that was never my forte.

[sean_miller]

So my final bag setup does include the Scratch wedges.  I liked the 53 and 58 so I bought a 47 degree to match (last one GolfTown had). I left the 47 its stock length (slightly shorter than the 58) because it's working at that length - not sure why. I've been more focussed on contact since I bought them and my last 2 nines were a 38 on the front 9 (league play) and a 37 yesterday with two 3-putts. I tried to put a 49 degree 588 into service and it seems as big as a dinner plate. Might use those when I get too old to hit the centre of the club face.

[GaijinGolfer]

Earlier this summer I picked up an old set of Mizuno persimmon woods and it sure makes you appreciate how good today's clubs are.