rusty

I think that is the biggest thing that has people worked up. They said it would be at least a $25 grab bag and from the reports, most weren't. I'm not sure how you can say bags would be worth $25 and then send a bag with a few mojo rocks or a top flight hat no one will ever wear and not expect people to scratch their heads and think they were misled. There is so much decent random golf stuff out there for $25 or less that it boggles my mind that they send all this junk to people. Their own site is selling Callaway tour balls for $20 a box, titleist umbrellas for $25, etc. Not bad deals at all -- they presumably could have sent some of those items as the grab bags and people would have been happy. Instead it looks like they went and rounded up a bunch of junk...and their payoff is multiple nasty threads full of complaints that will forever pop up whenever someone googles "Shotly." Whoops.

I didn't do this deal but had a very underwhelming experience on a few test orders with these guys. Signed up as a premium member for free shipping and ordered two ~$25 orders within a few weeks of each other. After nearly a month after the first order, I e-mailed to see what was happening. No response. Follow-up a few days later, no response. Finally I got a response after that when I threatened a paypal dispute. Miraculously, a few days later my order is drop shipped from a golf store back east (despite their website saying my order was shipped weeks previously). I did eventually get my order, but after a huge headache. To their credit their response was apologetic and they offered a $20 store credit, but when I e-mailed about how to use it I got no response. I haven't bothered to follow-up. Seems to me they are a one or two-man operation that are in way over their head. This whole grab bag debacle and Matt's responses in the other forum seems to confirm it.

I have an old shaft without a clubhead thats probably one of the best tools I've used. I have a few drills I do to swing as fast as I can and work the fast twitch muscles, and also a lag drill to try to release as late as possible. Without a clubhead you can really whip it through. Sometimes at the range I'll just flip my driver over and make a few swings to remind myself what really good acceleration and lag through impact feel like.

I really like Golfshot. First time I played with it a buddy in my group had his laser rangefinder and we were within a yard -- so the accuracy is great. As others have mentioned, the battery can drain very fast, but I've never had trouble finishing a round. There are also plenty of mobile battery boosters to get it charged back up if thats an issue. The app and website has great stat tracking, charts, great presentation, etc. that far exceeds anything else I've seen. There is also a great companion app that analyzes your game using the stats from the Golfshot app and gives you tips and drills with videos to help fix what you need to work on. One other unintended bonus is not seeing the scorecard. I put in my score and stats for a hole and I'm on to the next. The last hole -- good or bad -- is behind me. This has helped me a lot with not thinking about my score during the round, lingering on bad holes, etc. and just focusing on the shot that is in front of me.

I faced the same decision recently. I have a set of the Adams Watson wedges that are 52-56-60 that I've been playing for 5+ years and decided to replace them this year. I almost pulled the trigger on a couple ebay auctions but got nervous about fakes. At $60 under retail for the auction you posted, the piece of mind of buying from an authorized retailer is worth it in my opinion -- just save up and get what you KNOW is the real deal. Lots of shops online will ship free with no tax. On the combo - I went with 52 and 58 so I didn't have to buy three clubs. The 58/12 has a grind that lets you open it up for the bounce, or close it up hitting it off a tight lie. I figure those two clubs will let me do everything I need to from 100 yards in. I was rarely hitting my 60 except for occasional flop shots so I think the 58 will be a little more versatile. We'll see.

I often have a similar problem. If I start missing drives, I push it right. Big Don's suggestion above is one of my swing thoughts when it starts happening. Another thing I also do sometimes is over-emphasize an in to out swing path during a few easy practice swings before hitting a drive. That is, I'll take the club back very upright, then let my arms loop back and fall into the slot to swing through VERY inside out. Seems like when I go back to my normal swing, my muscles retain just enough memory to straighten it out or even hit a little draw.

I think CG is spot on. It just goes to show you how many high quality clubs are out there. With all the fantastic products, I really think the decision comes down to "feel" of a club. How you feel hitting it, the look of the driver at setup, sound at impact, etc. I think some clubs and shafts give better results for different swings, but if you are demoing clubs with a launch monitor then you are seeing the hard data. All things being equal, it will come down to the "little things" that give you a preference of one over another. I recently had a similar experience buying a hybrid. I must have demoed nearly every hybrid out there and, with only a few exceptions, they all hit the ball fantastic. Some had a different feel, or launched the ball slightly higher or lower, and many had a different "look" standing over the club, but they all went about the same distance and I would have been happy buying any one of about 6 different clubs. How did I pick the one I bought? It had a great feel at impact and seemed to give me a little more feedback. But we are talking a small nuance here -- the fundamentals of all the clubs were great.

I had been playing with a cheaper set of Adams Tight Lies Irons I bought 4-5 years ago. This past weekend I ordered the Taylormade R7 TP irons and got custom fit. Demoed nearly every club in the store and the R7s seemed to have the perfect blend of feel and forgiveness. I still shoot in the 80s, so some forgiveness on miss-hits is still appreciated, especially in the longer irons.

Shoot - wish I had seen this. I would have loved to join you. Did you get a foursome together?

The 2006 Nike One's are on sale. Seen them online and in the local stores for around $24.99. Played a few rounds and I really like the feel around the green.

How accurate is putting in my own measurements and ordering clubs online versus having a local clubfitter do it? I went into a local brick and mortar and basically got the run around. First it was that I should get a more forgiving iron, then the attitude was the normal set was fine for me and I wouldn't get much benefit from being fit. It was frustrating, to say the least, and I'm contemplating just ordering from golfsmith and crossing my fingers. I'm currently playing with a set of Adams Tight Lies irons that I bought 4 years ago. I've worked my game to where I shoot in the 80s and feel that I hit my irons fairly consistently. I'm thinking of upgrading my irons as I work towards breaking 80 and I am looking at the Mizuno MP-60s. According to the fitting wizard on Golfsmith.com, I should get 1 degree upright. It gives a whole bunch of shaft options and I'm not sure how one goes about narrowing down the choices there...

This past Sunday. Par 5 - hit a good drive, then a decent second shot with my 4i hybrid. Third shot was a little pitch from about 15 yds that caught the break just right and curved in for an eagle. First eagle ever!! :)

This is an interesting topic. I recently found that I've played my best rounds when I had a tune going through my head. I think it may be calming - better to be humming along to a song than over-thinking about my swing. So...lately I've been listening to anything with a catchy tune or repeating chorus that I can get stuck in my head before a round.

I think part of the problem is that courses do very little to educate the public on the issue. Few courses give out repair tools or, if they do, they sit in an unassuming box next to the scorecards and pencils in the pro shop. I played one course that had a little informative sign in the pro shop that asked people to repair their ball marks and had a little drawing to show the proper way to do it. Cheap - easy - and it seemed to be at least somewhat effective. I think most people simply have not been shown how to do it or didn't know they were supposed to.