Simplifying my set? Suggestions?

[onthehunt526]

I'm struggling mightily with my 58° wedge... I'm thinking of dropping it and replacing it with... Nothing. I'm also considering dropping the 4w and replacing it with well... Nothing. So here's the thought... Play Driver, 1h, 4h, 5i-PW, AW, 54°(or EXI SW), putter... Am I losing my mind?.... Also I'm about to putt with a broom... You don't want to know what's it like right now.

[Patch]

My irons start at the 5i, and I am only using two wedges now. (PW & SW). I am only hauling around 12 clubs now.

I play quite a few courses that have firm bunker sand, or no sand at all in some instances. I sometimes replace my SW with either my AW or LW just as a second thought. I just don't cary 4 wedes anymore. One of the guys in our group only plays with 8 clubs, and does quite well with his own game. 

If you don't need 14 clubs, there is no reason to  carry them.  Let your bag fit your own game, and don't worry what the other guy is hauling around. 

[DrvFrShow]

I putt with a broom - an Odyssey White Dart 48". Love it.

I play Driver, 3H, 4i (driving iron), 5 - 9, PW, GW, 55, 60, 64.

You might be decelerating with your 58. I've seen 10 HC players do that with LW. With your 58, make sure you keep your weight on your front leg. Play the ball mid stance. Forward press it. Take it back to only about 9'oclock (approx) and swing through the ball and don't forget to aggressively follow through the shot. Don't try to help the ball into the air. Vary your back swing depending upon how far you need to hit the ball. 

That's how I play my 55 - 64. I rarely hit a full wedge shot. Granted I'm a hacker, but I have to rely on these shots to save my score because the rest of my game sucks.

[bste]

Last week I picked up a stand bag w/ 7 slots.

So 7 clubs: Driver, 2h, 5i, 7i, 9i, Sw and putter.

Now, the bermuda hasn't started growing yet, so this could change.

Also, I'm an old fart so, I don't play long courses.

 

[Lihu]

16 hours ago, onthehunt526 said:

I'm struggling mightily with my 58° wedge... I'm thinking of dropping it and replacing it with... Nothing. I'm also considering dropping the 4w and replacing it with well... Nothing. So here's the thought... Play Driver, 1h, 4h, 5i-PW, AW, 54°(or EXI SW), putter... Am I losing my mind?.... Also I'm about to putt with a broom... You don't want to know what's it like right now.

Post more rounds in GG and you'll get a better idea what's going on. For instance, no one knows what's going on with your 58 degree wedge? You didn't elaborate or show a swing video. For all we know it could just be your swing? Who knows?

[onthehunt526]

Lihu,

I think with the 58 It's a mental thing. I get a little scared with it and either thin it or fat it... Absolutely no in between... I hit the 50 is the 54 It's not an issue... It's just the 58 for whatever reason.

[Dave2512]

Try using your gear for more than a couple days, you bounce around a lot .

[Lihu]

11 minutes ago, onthehunt526 said:

Lihu,

I think with the 58 It's a mental thing. I get a little scared with it and either thin it or fat it... Absolutely no in between... I hit the 50 is the 54 It's not an issue... It's just the 58 for whatever reason.

That's possibly a swing issue? If you can hit your 50 and 54, then I would think the 58 is only going to make a small difference? Perhaps those other two clubs are just more forgiving for other reasons?

[WUTiger]

2 hours ago, onthehunt526 said:

Lihu,

I think with the 58 It's a mental thing. I get a little scared with it and either thin it or fat it ... 

20 hours ago, onthehunt526 said:

I'm struggling mightily with my 58° wedge... I'm thinking of dropping it and replacing it with... Nothing.

With a 58* or a 60*, you have to hit through the ball. Not everyone uses a lob wedge. A couple of years back, I encountered a couple of small-college golfers who both used 56* as their highest lofted wedge.

With me, the 58* depends a lot on the turf type, and how recently the fluff was mowed. I may go a couple of rounds without touching it, and then use it four times in one day. And, I've given up on using it for more than a half swing.

OTH, as much as you adjust your bag, you might designate the Sweet 16, a mix of clubs you promise yourself you'll use the rest of this season. On any given day, you will leave behind the two which you think will help you least on that round's course.

And if you can't decide, ask your caddie... 

[Valleygolfer]

4 hours ago, onthehunt526 said:

Lihu,

I think with the 58 It's a mental thing. I get a little scared with it and either thin it or fat it... Absolutely no in between... I hit the 50 is the 54 It's not an issue... It's just the 58 for whatever reason.

Watch figjam's secrets of the short game, practice it and thank me later.

[Lihu]

5 hours ago, Dave2512 said:

Try using your gear for more than a couple days, you bounce around a lot .

The main thing is to practice with one set of clubs, commit to that set. If you keep changing your clubs then nothing will settle out.

[onthehunt526]

Lihu

It's the same set of clubs. Just bounce around between hybrids for long irons and the occasional 7-wood swap out...

I'm thinking of doing what John suggested and having a "Sweet 16", which I would drop two depending on course conditions...

I also need to think hybrids more as irons than fairways.

The comical thing is I started messing around with my set make up... And my scores have suffered. I think I may go back to the original make-up I started the year with. If I can't hit a 58° wedge, I just won't use it. If I'm struggling with the 4w or hybrid I just won't hit it... 

(Sarcasm intended)

I might just use my speed golf set as my gamer set. But that would be silly.

6 minutes ago, Lihu said:

The main thing is to practice with one set of clubs, commit to that set. If you keep changing your clubs then nothing will settle out.

 

[Buckeyebowman]

On 5/20/2016 at 2:56 PM, onthehunt526 said:

Lihu,

I think with the 58 It's a mental thing. I get a little scared with it and either thin it or fat it... Absolutely no in between... I hit the 50 is the 54 It's not an issue... It's just the 58 for whatever reason.

I once went for some lessons at a local place called "Mastergolf". I checked in and was handed a bucket of balls and told to go warm up. Shortly, the instructor joined me and handed me a wedge. I don't remember how many degrees of loft this wedge had, but it looked like a ball coming off the club face would hit me in my face face! However, this club revealed that I was a "jumper" from the top, and a "scooper" at the bottom. Just the appearance of the thing accentuated those faults in my swing.

Hey, if the club is in your head, maybe it's best to set it aside. But, maybe take it out now and again, and practice with it. To hit it properly, it will teach to keep your hands ahead of the ball at impact. And If you can learn to do that, it might improve much of your game and become a useful club.

[onthehunt526]

Well after settling on my sweet 16 I've made some discoveries. 

My 58° is OK around the greens... From say 30 yards and in. Anything outside of 30 yards I play a different type of shot with a 50° or 54°.

The top of the bag is a non issue because I rarely have a 4w, 3h, or 4i shot anyway (until we start using the back tee on 16)...

5i is a little dicey sometimes but overall I hit it pretty well.

6-PW, AW and 54° SW are pretty solid... I hit my 54° well up to 90 yards. My gap wedge is about 105-110... I hit both of them well with 9:30-2:30 swings. My wedge is 125... 9I is 140 with a good full swing. 8I is 150 7I 160 6I 175 5I 185 4I 195 3h 210... Don't really hit the 4w and the Driver is 250-260 when hit solid... Game Golf is a little skewed because it is including some punch outs and chunked shots. But it's a work in progress... I'd like to be confident in my 58° from 50-60 yards... But it needs work.

[allenc]

I stopped carrying my 3-wood and play 13 clubs.  My 19* hybrid has enough extra accuracy that the 3-wood is just always a worse choice.  The times I am somewhere awful more than detract from the extra 10-20 yards I might get.

I could probably also take out my second hybrid with seeing a scoring change.  From over 200 yards I'm just trying to get the ball somewhere in the vague vicinity and I often mishit longer clubs a bit so it shouldn't matter much.

On the other end I use a 54 and a 60 and those options help me at least a tiny bit.   However, the 60 is pretty much a just specialty club for downhill lies around the green or if the pin is very close to the front while I'm closer than full swing range.  For all other times I could replace them both with a 56 and be fine.  Even for the above situations it would probably only cost a fraction of a stroke per round.

[onthehunt526]

After some analyzing of Game Golf data, I think I finally have this figured out.

On the longer end, my 4H is more consistent than my 4i. But 5i down is pretty darn good. So I'm going with the following set-up:

Driver, 4w, 3h, 4h, 5-PW, GW, 54°, 58°, Putter... I'm working with the 4i on the range, and the 7w still may very well replace the 3h... But the 7w is sort of a last resort, but I still haven't really hit it yet. But if I play 7w, I will also have the 4h in the bag for light and medium rough and such. Ive toyed with skipping the 4w and just jumping to 7w... But I'd have to see how the 7w performs.