My Swing (billchao)

[billchao]

1 hour ago, Vinsk said:

Did the JPX-919 forged have that nice Mizuno feel?

Not really. It just felt like your standard cavityback. Not as good as my MP4 on pure strikes but better on mishits, which let's be honest with ourselves - I hit more often than pure shots.

1 hour ago, Vinsk said:

Once I’m recovered I’m going to celebrate with a full bag fitting.

That's a good reward! I feel for you man, get well soon.

1 hour ago, Vinsk said:

I’m open to Ping, Titleist, Callaway and Mizuno.

I hit all four and TaylorMade. The JPX 919 was the best performer for me, followed by the P790. The Mizuno is more forgiving and thus more consistent.

It makes sense from a design standpoint. While both clubs launch higher than my blades,, the JPX 919 is more of the standard cavityback design and gave me more spin which I was lacking. The P790 is a hollowbody iron design that hits longer by reducing spin. I hit both the same distance but the P790 had a flatter trajectory, which will make holding greens with longer irons harder.

1 hour ago, Vinsk said:

And just curious, did you ever hit one of your ‘tour shots’ and get numbers on it?

I managed to hit a handful of shots in the 170+ carry range. I can carry the ball tour average but I don't hit the ball as high as they do. Tour average is like 32 yards peak height and 50° descent angle with a 7i. I obviously don't average what they do.

2 hours ago, Vinsk said:

I’m sure you’ll have some good choices with driver as fast as you can whip that damn thing. 

That's going to be an interesting day. I suck at hitting the stupid club.

[billchao]

Did my driver fitting today.

Same process, hit different shaft and head combinations. Eventually went back to my driver and adjusted the loft on that and that's the result on top. The Ping G410 Plus was far better.

It doesn't look like it from this printout because it's based off of the best shots we cherry picked, but even then you can tell the G410 Plus is both longer and straighter. Misses were much better than my G400 though. I definitely need x-stiff shaft for consistency and better dispersion, and the more forgiving head on mishits.

We did try the G410 LST which was also pretty good for me but not as good as the G410 Plus because I ended up with not enough spin on mishits.

[iacas]

That's not carry yardage, right? Do you have those numbers?

[billchao]

28 minutes ago, iacas said:

That's not carry yardage, right? Do you have those numbers?

That's correct. They didn't send me the carry yardage but from what I remember it was around 260 on the G410 Plus.

[billchao]

Thinking about my fitting a little bit, kind of prompted by @iacas asking about carry yardage. I think the LM at Golftec has the distance calculations normalized for a premium ball (they use range balls). So the ball speed is a little low but the carry distance is what you'd expect if you used a regular ball.

I looked through some of my old Mevo data and it brought me to this conclusion. My average ball speed with the driver my last session (January 2018, damn that was a long time ago) was 156.7mph with an average carry distance of 267. So the distance seems to be correct even though the ball speed during my fitting seemed low.

Anyway, looking into my Mevo data only confirms what we found during the first fitting - I launch my irons too low with too little spin. The driver fitting found a head and shaft combination that allows me to keep the ball in play more; I was not expecting any distance gain and I told my fitter such during the fitting.

I'm happy with it and will be ordering my new clubs after the holidays. They will be ready and waiting for the spring.

Plus, my driver swing speed averages 110mph. If my ball speed truly averaged 147mph, my SF would be an atrocious 1.37.

[ncates00]

26 minutes ago, billchao said:

Thinking about my fitting a little bit, kind of prompted by @iacas asking about carry yardage. I think the LM at Golftec has the distance calculations normalized for a premium ball (they use range balls). So the ball speed is a little low but the carry distance is what you'd expect if you used a regular ball.

I looked through some of my old Mevo data and it brought me to this conclusion. My average ball speed with the driver my last session (January 2018, damn that was a long time ago) was 156.7mph with an average carry distance of 267. So the distance seems to be correct even though the ball speed during my fitting seemed low.

Anyway, looking into my Mevo data only confirms what we found during the first fitting - I launch my irons too low with too little spin. The driver fitting found a head and shaft combination that allows me to keep the ball in play more; I was not expecting any distance gain and I told my fitter such during the fitting.

I'm happy with it and will be ordering my new clubs after the holidays. They will be ready and waiting for the spring.

Plus, my driver swing speed averages 110mph. If my ball speed truly averaged 147mph, my SF would be an atrocious 1.37.

It's possible.  Maybe they put a distance multiplier on or a headwind or something into the sim software.  Typically ball speed is not a metric that is normalized because it is directly measured regardless of whether you're using a radar or camera-based LM.  In fact, ball speed already is normalized by definition.  Normalization simply removes the actual result of the data inputted, e.g., wind affecting the ball and so forth.  

Perhaps you didn't swing as fast as you normally do or the range balls were terrible (more likely).  This is exactly why you should practice with only the balls you play.    Very used, terrible golf balls can show a huge loss in ball speed and often the ball doesn't appear to be in bad shape.  I first saw this when I compared my local range balls on my LM with my gamer.  You can see nearly 10mph of ball speed loss.  I also saw this when I tried to save on buying used/refurb ProV's; those balls could be waterlogged and damaged.  I saw ball speed loss with them.  As a result, I still save a few bucks by going with the practice-labelled balls.  I game a Pro-V1X and use the practice balls (no performance difference), so I get the exact same results on my LM at home and on the course--no surprises.

I would never do a fitting or gap test without using the ball that I game.

Edited November 28, 2019 by ncates00

[billchao]

22 minutes ago, ncates00 said:

It's possible.  Maybe they put a distance multiplier on or a headwind or something into the sim software.  Typically ball speed is not a metric that is normalized because it is directly measured regardless of whether you're using a radar or camera-based LM.  In fact, ball speed already is normalized by definition.  Normalization simply removes the actual result of the data inputted, e.g., wind affecting the ball and so forth. 

Maybe normalized isn't the right word. I'm saying the LM converts the range ball data to a premium ball before doing calculations (even Trackman does this). So whatever ball speed it records, multiply by whatever increase % you'd expect from a premium ball over a range ball, spit out distance calculations based on that.

The ball speed was too low for my swing yet the carry distance (not shown) was what I expected. The ball speeds recorded by the LM should not produce those carry numbers. I know how fast I swing and how far I hit the ball. The only thing that didn't make sense was the ball speed they gave.

[ncates00]

12 minutes ago, billchao said:

Maybe normalized isn't the right word. I'm saying the LM converts the range ball data to a premium ball before doing calculations (even Trackman does this). So whatever ball speed it records, multiply by whatever increase % you'd expect from a premium ball over a range ball, spit out distance calculations based on that.

The ball speed was too low for my swing yet the carry distance (not shown) was what I expected. The ball speeds recorded by the LM should not produce those carry numbers. I know how fast I swing and how far I hit the ball. The only thing that didn't make sense was the ball speed they gave.

Yeah, very likely.  Just don't hit those range balls.  Take a gamer ball with you or buy a sleeve at the counter (assuming there is a shop).

[billchao]

37 minutes ago, ncates00 said:

Yeah, very likely.  Just don't hit those range balls.  Take a gamer ball with you or buy a sleeve at the counter (assuming there is a shop).

Sure, I'll keep that in mind when I get to my fitting two weeks ago 🙃

[ncates00]

1 minute ago, billchao said:

Sure, I'll keep that in mind when I get to my fitting two weeks ago 🙃

Alright Mr. Snarky, what's the point in doing a fitting or gap test if you don't take a gamer ball with you?  You just assumed a range ball would cut it?  Cmon man.

[billchao]

1 minute ago, ncates00 said:

Alright Mr. Snarky, what's the point in doing a fitting or gap test if you don't take a gamer ball with you?  You just assumed a range ball would cut it?  Cmon man.

Ok you can't take a joke. Duly noted.

[ncates00]

1 minute ago, billchao said:

Ok you can't take a joke. Duly noted.

I saw your emoji so I assumed you were joking to some extent.  "Mr. Snarky" is hardly evidence of not being able to take a joke.  That's a playful jab back at you.  You can give but not take?  Duly noted.

Nonetheless, looks like your golf is coming along.  You and I are similar in ball speed (with your premium ball).  🙂 

[billchao]

On 11/23/2019 at 3:27 PM, billchao said:

Did my driver fitting today.

Same process, hit different shaft and head combinations. Eventually went back to my driver and adjusted the loft on that and that's the result on top. The Ping G410 Plus was far better.

It doesn't look like it from this printout because it's based off of the best shots we cherry picked, but even then you can tell the G410 Plus is both longer and straighter. Misses were much better than my G400 though. I definitely need x-stiff shaft for consistency and better dispersion, and the more forgiving head on mishits.

We did try the G410 LST which was also pretty good for me but not as good as the G410 Plus because I ended up with not enough spin on mishits.

Driver is ordered, or at least it will be on Monday through the learning center at Neshanic.

Got a little bit of a deal on it, too, because they sell Ping clubs and the county had their annual gift card sale recently. Too bad they don't sell Mizuno - the irons are significantly more expensive.

[billchao]

Got some practice in the nicer weather on Saturday. Couldn't find the center of the clubface if it hit me in the face. I definitely need to hit balls more often over the winter, if only just to maintain. I did eventually settle down and started working on laying the shaft down which helped a ton - still tend to pull the club down steep from the top.

The feel for me is not to lay the shaft down in transition but to think of laying the shaft down as the final part of the backswing. Tend to end up pulling the shaft down steep while closing the face otherwise. Letting the clubhead "fall" as part of the backswing gives me that momentary hesitation or pause to let the sweetspot get on plane and from there I just explode through to the finish.

I had video, but my phone bricked on me. Saturday is supposed to be pretty mild so if it doesn't rain I'll get out again and film something.

[billchao]

Videos, as promised:

 

 

Struck the ball really well today.

[Double Mocha Man]

1 hour ago, billchao said:

Videos, as promised:

 

 

Struck the ball really well today.

Good swing with a Sergio drop into the slot and an Arnie finish.  How are you a 12.4?  You gotta be lower.

P.S.  Did the chairs in the background get hit by a hurricane? 😄

Edited January 4, 2020 by Double Mocha Man

[billchao]

1 hour ago, Double Mocha Man said:

How are you a 12.4?  You gotta be lower.

I ask myself that question all the time.

The latest swings are a WIP, not my course swing. Hopefully I can put in enough work and make it my course swing by the time the season starts.

1 hour ago, Double Mocha Man said:

P.S.  Did the chairs in the background get hit by a hurricane? 😄

They’re stacked up, what are you talking about? 🤨😃

[billchao]

 

Reincorporating the flying elbow piece from last year. Seemed to have lost some of it in my last video. Important to keep the right elbow moving in front of me at transition instead of slightly behind me.

Same feeling at the top. Letting the club fall behind me on plane as a continuation of my backswing, then just letting ‘er rip.