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It was Callaway Demo Day at my local golf club. With the stock graphite shaft, Edges and Razr's...........you can have them. Terrible feel and launch angle for "me". Did not like them at all. Now this has to be quantified in that they did not have anything except standard length and lie. I liked he Edges more then the Razr's. Callaway Edge irons with +1" and 2* upright DG S300 shaft......Sweet club.....awesome launch angle........I'd buy them over the standard Razrs'. Though I did hit the Razr Pro with a DG S300 shaft standard length and lie. Much nicer feel, I would buy this club,too. I also hit the Callaway Diablo Edge 4 wood, standard length, graphite shaft, 17*. Yuch.....low launch, thus way to much loss of distance compared to my custom Sonartec, Grafalloy Fairway S flex shaft, +1". The Sonartec is a great club with a high launch angle, which is what I need to get the right launch. I have a tough time with low launch angles. This club flies further then the Callaway 4W total distance. I'll be keeping my G10's with DG S300 shafts, +1", 4 1/2* upright and my Sonartec 17* FW. Totally great clubs. As you can tell, I have to have custom clubs, length and lie adjusted. There's just no way I can use an off the rack club so take the above comments with a grain of salt. Ping was here a few weeks ago and had a launch monitor. Callaway did not have one set up.... : (

Did it this afternoon.........zero birdies, 36 putts and shot a 79. Even had 2 penalty strokes in there, 2 one putts and 2 three putts. Putted horrible : (

I'll agree with the 4i/4h thing. Drop either of the 2 and go with a 3h or 3i, then add a lob wedge. This is exactly what I have....the 4i, 3h, 3w and a lob wedge.

Good round anyway, even you didn't break 80. A tip to break 80 as you have the game. DON'T look at the score!!! DON'T figure out what you NEED on the last few holes. DON't even think about it. Play each shot on its own and you'll break 80 easily. You KNEW what you needed "just" to break 80 on the last few holes......don't do that. Don't think about "needing only a 6" on the last hole. Concentrate ONLY on the next shot NOT your score. BTW - you can break 80 without a birdie. I do it all the time. No penalty strokes, no 3 putts, nothing more then a bogie on the card.............Lots of pars : )

Interesting, I've not read Rotellas book, that I don't measure the length of putt, nor do I even estimate it. Before its my turn to putt, I stand near my ball and stare at the back of the hole. My mind now knows where the hole is as I line up the putt. I then take 3 practice swings while, again, staring at the hole. Then I just choose the line and putt away without much more thought as my mind knows the distance to the hole. Seems to work for me.

I'll second the Ping G10's. I've used them since mid-summer this year and they are great irons. Long enough, very easy to hit, very forgiving. I find it easy to fade a ball (righty) and a tad more difficult to draw a ball with these clubs, though I CAN hit a nice draw when needed. My normal shot is straight on line. I lowered my handicap about 5 strokes when I bought these clubs, though my old clubs were an inexpensive starter set (Slazenger) They are quite accurate in distance from shot to shot, so it allowed me to trust the distance of each shot. I use the G10 4I through 60* wedge (10 clubs).

When I start hitting fat shots I no longer "look at the ball". I start focusing on a spot as much as 3-4" in front of the ball, I don't "look" at the ball. This MAY change your impact point just slightly ahead of where you were hitting the ball and allow you to hit the ball and groung at the same time. I adjust my "look" with each club I swing. My 60* is 4" in front, my mid irons are on the grass "just in front", my long irons and woods are "on the back" of the ball. This changes the bottom of my swing arc just enough with each club. Your "spots" may vary : ) I have zero idea if this will help you.

"I bought my Sonartec 2 hybrid off..................." I just purchased a custom made Sonartec LS 99 3 wood. Its a high launch shaft and head combination. Should work great to reach a few long par 5's or controlled tee shot on short par 4's. Have not hit it yet, but I'm headed to the range in a few minutes to try it. I currently carry a 4 iron as my longest iron and a 3 hybrid (also custom). I have a nice Walter Hagan 3 Wood but I can't hit it off a fairway. The Sonartec 3 wood will replace the Walter Hagan.

I find the same thing...its actually easier to hit a 4 iron then my 4 hybrid or my 3 wood. I've been laying up on some par 5's that would be reachable if I had confidence in a 3 wood from the fairway. Hopefully this new 3 wood will allow me to reach those par 5's.

My new 3w just arrived. I had it built custom. +1" Grafalloy ProLite Fairway stiff shaft in a Sonartec LS-99 17*, with Lampkin midsize grip. This thing is light. Low profile face and 2* more loft then my current 3 wood. I'll be heading out to the range and play 18 tomorrow. I'll let ya know how it works. I'm keeping my figures crossed as this is more expensive then any club I own : )

LOL...................... I went to Phoenix a few months ago to play in a 4 man scramble tourney. I spent the day before driving down and practicing on the range. After a few buckets of balls I went into the cafe and had a meal and ONE beer. So I go back out on the, range and start hitting a few more balls to waste some time. Holy sh*t, Batman....I couln't hit a d*mn ball without a shank. I must have hit 100 shanks in a row. I tried everything, PW, 8 , 6 , 4, hybrid, every club in the bag. So I go to bed that night figuring I'm gonna suck really bad and I warn my team (we ended up with only 3 players) the next morning about the SHANKS. We ended up shooting a decent 66. I think we played about 55 of my own shots. We played 16 of my tee shots. I played really really well. Hit every fairway and only hit 1 bad approach and 1 bad shot on a par 3. ZERO SHANKS.....go figure.

: ) The fool thing..... I thought I was the only one! When I start shanking I start looking around to see who saw that sh*t swing : ) I do look like a total newbie swinging like that. It hurts!! God, that swing and result is ugly : ) I think I'll take up "putting" instead of golf!!

"My current explanation, is that I put tension in my forearms, which makes me extend them slightly, shoving the club away from me just enough to introduce the hosel to the ball instead of the clubface. " It took me a few months, beleive it or not, to learn how to hit a 40-60 yard pitch with a pitching wedge. I shanked literally 100's and 100's of golf balls on the range. I had zero idea what the heck I was doing. I then found that I was "trying" to keep the face square instead of rotating on the back swing. Once I rotated on the back swing and held the club loose enough that it felt as though it would fly out of my hands everything was fine. I no longer have the shanking booboo with the pitches. YAAA! Come to think of it.....when I get hit by the shnaks on the range, I do 2 things. 1- back off and hit a few PW 40-60 yards 2- be sure I grip the club super light This does seem to work, though I'm still scared to death until I hit about 10 shots with the d*mn shanks coming back : )

The shanks will hit me at about 1 1/2 buckets of balls. Up til then I can be hitting the ball perfectly, having fun, hitting shots left/right and right/left, high, low, with many different clubs......and POW......I start hitting shank after shank. The only way I can stop it is go back down to a PW and start hitting a few pitchs of 40-60 yards. By then though I'm scared to death!

I can shank or thin a shot in a heart beat while on the practice tees. I have absolutely no idea why. As you stated and its the same for me, I never do this out on the course. I find that I do this alot with my mid irons on the range : ( I'm really interested in the comments : )

I hate hitting a 3w off the fairway. I don't do it, period. Off the tee is a different story. The hardest part of my game is getting the correct launch angle from all my clubs. I tend to hit the ball pretty darn low, hense the Ping G10's for more launch angle and being sure I hit "up" with my 10* driver. That said, I do practice the 3w on the range so that maybe someday I can try it on the course. While on the range really the only thing I concentrate on is turning my hips....I have no idea why this works, but it does. I just don't have enough confidence yet to hit it on the course. I'll either lay up or hit the short par 5's with a 3 hybrid. If I turn my hips and imagine hitting the ball with my hips then I get the correct launch angle and hit the ball ok. I just ordered a custom 3 wood 2 days ago. It'll be here on Tuesday and hopefully I can get to the range this coming week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can hit this darn thing. As an above poster mentioned......hhhmmmmm.....practice hitting with your eyes closed. I like that. I might just try that with a few of my clubs just for fun.

Only IF you want to be sure the club is not a fake. There are fake clubs out there.

I believe I saw this on eBay. They said they don't give out SN's. I'd shy away from that, even though he did state it is a valid number and would be confirmed by Ping AFTER you win the auction. I have no reason why he wouldn't give out the number. Sounds pretty shady to me.

I'm a 5.5 hcp, 55 years old. Been playing just short of 3 years, zero lessons, zero fitting, nothing. Hit on a launch monitor for the first time 3 weeks ago at a Ping demo day just for fun. Callaway demo day is in 2 weeks, so I'll do it again just for the fun of it.

interesting article. Small sample but interesting. It will almost tempt me to try a blade at the range.

Short answer is ......... maybe. Shortening shafts could easily lead to lost distance. If you were healing your clubs and the toe was "up" it sounds as though the problem could have been the "lie angle". Could have kept the length of the club and had the lie angle adjusted a tad flatter so the clubhead layed flat at address.

I use the Callaway Diablo Edge 10*, Reg flex, 45" shaft. Great driver, straight, good distance, easy to work left/right, but no right /left (could be me though). I demo-ed a Ping K15 3 weeks ago......holy sh*t, Batman, .....the ball jumps off that face. I had a natural right/left draw on that thing. Longer then the Callaway by 10-13 yards, more carry. He had me hitting the K15 with a 46.25" shaft, stiff flex, in a 12* head. Yep, I am a tad taller then most with long legs. All my clubs are +1". If you like to try different stuff, go ahead and demo some new drivers. But, don't buy at the first demo, try the clubs on different days, since most peoples swing can change from day to day. What feels and goes well today may be crummy tomorrow. BTW - I did not buy that K15 : )

I don't see that as correct. If the club head is laying flat on the ground and you cut the shaft shorter, the lie of the club head is still flat on the ground and has the same clubhead/shaft angle at the hosel, therefore the lie angle has not changed, just the length of the shaft. Now the "effective" lie MAY change due to a shorter shaft, depending on how the player sets up to the shorter shaft, but the "actual" lie angle remains the same. yes? no?

Road Dog....All good points. I play any number of length of courses. In fact some of my better scores are from the back tees since it makes me think about shots and the course management more then just pounding away. I can see a blade having a tighter shot pattern when hit correctly and on the screws, so to say. But if I'm not hitting them, on the screws, and hitting them just off center, will the GI irons make my shots better and not loose as much distance or accuracy? I think so, but I've not hit any blades though to see the result of my bad shots. I've been playing for 3 years this coming March so the thought of off center hits with a balde scares me.....why bother if I can play well with a GI. Once I'm inside 160 yards I don't have much problem hitting shaped shots. I can shape a shot with a fade easier then a draw though. I can also hit a high or low shot with the GI irons. My regular launch anlge is lower then normal so the GI irons help alot with this by keeping the launch angle manageable. I may be limiting myself in the future using GI instead of blades? I'll have to think about the return before I change clubs to save a stroke or two in a game I view as a hobby, fun and allows me time all by myself.

A golf vest and 1 dozen Bridgestone golf balls with our company logo - Casa Sedona Bed and Breakfast Inn - on them. Oh, and another bicycle that arrived a few weeks early. Specialzed Tarmac. Awesome bike, super light, comfortable ride and FAST!!