Saks

So true. I am one of the bigger hitters in my club. (when the bl**dy thing stays straight!). We have a 250 metre (275 Yards??) par four which plays from a massively elavated tee. Usually into a head wind. If I absolutely crush one it will land in front and bounce on (no wind). Never past it! I have only seen three other people drive it or drive past it. One plays off a scratch and is looong. One off a 4 with a killer drive and the last claims to drive it over 300 metres. his came up short both times I saw him drive it. The first two guys might reach it if it was flat. Maybe. The 300 guy would have no chance.... Guess you cant believe everyone aye!

Over here we have a product called voltaren. It is potassium diclofenac. (spelling?) Not sure if you can get it in the States or what it is called, would be interested to know if anyone uses it. This works really well as it relieves pain and loosens you up (anti inflammatory). Not good for the stomach (and plenty of other nasty side effects) and a good indicator for me that my back strength is falling away when I have to start taking these to play... However, I will go from hardly being able to walk to being able to play within half an hour!

There is that too! Doesn't effect the driver though... Luckily the mats we have here have like a longer softer material in the hitting zone. If you hit behind the ball it takes so much out of your shots. Tends to make me "pick" the ball a bit more than I do on grass, instead of hitting down more.

I agree. Another theory I have come up with is how different the range balls fly compared to normal. At the range with crappy range balls and driver I hit anything from dead straight to a nice fade with my normal swing. As soon as I hit a titleist on the course, It is a fade bordering on a slice. Is this due to the extra spin qualities of the pro v compared to the range balls?

I see on some advertising for clubs, the offset is stated for each iron. Where exactly is this measured? Cheers

Thats what makes them affordable! Cant justify $1000 on an iron set right now! Would be nice though. 2005 technology is more than enough for me I'm sure. Have you used any of those clubs?

Bump ^ Someone must know about these irons...

Pauatahanui golf club, Wellington New zealand. http://www.pauatahanuigolfclub.co.nz/ Full membership (128 men, 20 women) $525 a year and can play all year round. Never a problem getting a tee time!

I have been using Tommy Armour Silver Scot cavity back Irons for the last 6 months. My handicap has been falling but mainly due to chipping and putting. These clubs are really nice when I hit the sweet spot but have only a small cavity and are pretty unforgiving if I miss just a little. I like them but feel I could still be getting a bit more from my clubs untill I start being a bit more consistent. Have been eyeing up some taylor made rac os2's and lt2 (good pricing, particulary on the os2's) lately and just wondering what they are like? I like a little bit of ofset but dont like thick top lines like big berthas. I really just want a more forgiving cavity back club that doesnt feel to harsh. Really like the TA's forged feel but prepared to go cast if I can get some more forgiveness! I have a pretty quik swing (stiff shafts) and hit the ball quite high, Bit worried I would just ballon it with the os2's... Any thoughts?

Ok. I wasnt at a range. And it was on two different holes in different directions. It also did it on a third hole on another occasion. Dont know enough about my swing to see if it matches jcrews description above. What is a pull? Im thinking that as its starting out right and drawing back fine, it is a bit of an illusion as it stops drawing and keeps going up (like i said I hit it real high) making it look like its coming back... Any other theories?

Have developed a strange ball flight with my short irons (6-9) Trying to hit a draw, Starting just right of the target, the ball starts drawing ok to start with, then when it looks like its going to draw too much, the ball has been inexplicably then fading back onto target again??? Im not complaining, I'm certainly getting some close to the pin now but its hard to allow for a ball thats going both ways! It was dead calm as well tonight when this was happening! So not a wind issue. For interests sake, the rest of my clubs: 5 iron - draw, 4 iron - fade and driver a mix of push, high fade or high draw. Any ideas? I also hit the ball quite high as well. Cheers

For interclub match play, there is no grading, the teams are picked by the clubs. The advantage of having a small club (our membership for men is 140!), the captains know the level of all the players. Our top team plays the next clubs top team etc. We have three teams. I am in the second one and end up playing guys from about a 12 handicap to a 19 or 20. But its all of the stick anyway. When the divisions are graded eg handicap must be between x and y, you run into the same problems. Our club champs are graded (match play no handicap). But once again being a small club we know what people should be playing off and make sure they are! I can imagine how out of control it would be in a big club. How many members do you have in an average club there?

Nope, wasn't in a tournament but I get what your saying. The guy who "miraculously" shoots way under his so called index whenever he plays a tournament etc is the one to watch out for. My handicap is rapidly falling (1st year of golf) so I expect to have really good rounds mixed in with more realistic (according to my handicap) rounds. Eg last 5 rounds are 86, 87, 89, 91, 82. I aim to shoot low 80's. Some days it will blow out into the 90's as I'm still a bit inconsistent, but I am also well capable of going under 80. The great thing about most tournaments here is that they are not played off handicap!

I shot an 81 (par 72) when I was a 19 handicap. I am now a 16.7 and threatening breaking 80. Isnt that just what happens when people improve? You shoot a low score and your handicap drops some more... No mulligans, no gimmes, no footwedge. No improvment of lie either. When it gets boggy in winter and your ball ends up with chunks of mud from the fairway, some clubs allow lift clean and drop. Thats all.

I have always used a pull cart but as my back is getting strong again I have decided to carry. I actually find it easier than a pull cart (probably cause I took all the crap out of my bag when I switched) and you can cut across the edges off the greens to save miles! Not many motorised carts over here.

Tiger (obvious), Angel Cabrerra (seems like an interesting dude and hits it looong), Michael Campbell (a kiwi like me) and Gulbis for eye candy!

Had 89 today. For the second time. Can feel it all coming together for summer (hopefully, have only been playing for 6 months.) Had 6 doubles so heaps of room to improve!

That makes sense. Its funny, my back swing is so slow now (compared to what it was) and it feels like the whole body is working better as a unit. Have to get used to new distances now! More ideas?

Have finally got my swing on an inside out path with a resulting much better ball flight (for the irons anyway!) Still working on the driver... I seem to be getting a heap more distance now. I'm hitting it at least a club further, maybe one and a half. What is the reason for this? And not a slice to be seen. Great day

Sounds like a classic case of a prolapsed disc. It wasn't so much the back pain but the leg pain...It is almost undescribable. When the doc said before the operation that the worst case scenario was that I would lose feeling in my legs, I would have accepted that result! Incidentally, I would like to know where that 18% success rate figure comes from. My surgeon has a 9 out of 10 success rate for people regaining their normal life after surgery. I believe alot of the success (assuming of course that the surgeon does the surgery correctly) comes down to how you get through the rehab period. I had a strict month of nothing, then a month of walking and general house bound activities and finally a month of 4 days a week in the gym with progressive loading. This was all based on being able to play a physical sport again. This was all at the governments expense as well...gotta love the free health systems here in New Zealand. My problem with chiropractors is this. In most cases a misaligned spine will cause a suspect disc to push onto a nerve (this is for serious back pain). So you get your back "cracked" back into line and the pain goes away. Great. So then you do pretty much anything and that causes the spine to go west again. Back to square one. So, off to the chiro again. Sounds like a license to print money if you ask me. What do they charge over there? Back problems are 99% caused by a weakness in the back or a surrounding area. So unless the area is strengthened, the back will always slip back into a bad position and cause you more pain. My problems all started with tight hamstrings which caused me to end up with a funny angle in my back. This was combined with a job that was hard on my back (mechanic). Massage can give excellent relief as it loosens up the muscles and allows your back to get in the right areas. However, it like a chiro will not fix the underlying problem. As with anything, prevention is the best cure. If you get onto back problems before they get out of hand, then massage and strengthening exercises will help. Also look at your daily activities. The amount of youngsters I see lifting the wrong way is amazing. I just show them my scar and they get the message pretty quick!!!! Clubswinger, make sure that your new doc organises an M.R.I scan. From there you can make a decision as to the treatment. If the disc are just bulging the the future is bright. They will settle if you take it easy for 3 months and get a proper rehab programme. Bulging discs do settle if you are lucky and find out why they are bulging (something will be causing misalignment somewhere) and get everything sorted. If one or more are ruptured then it could be another path. Sounds like many people on here have had success with operations. All depends on the surgeon and your rehab I guess. If you were in New Zealalnd I could recommend an excellent one! The point made about stretching is vital. It will increase flexibility and build muscles. Both these will lessen the chance of a back injury. Maybe I should write a book on this!!!

Incorrect. I am not a doctor but am someone who has had back surgery. I have gone from being unable to do anything more than hobble around in extreme pain to: 3 months: running around, 6 months: playing top level cricket (much harder on the body than golf) and now 3 years later I am an avid golfer having played for 6 months. While I am certainly not advising that everyone goes straight under the knife but there are definately situations where medicine/surgery is able to fis a problem. It all depends what is wrong with your back. I had 1 prolapsed disc and two bulging. The bulging discs (which is what most people with "real" back pain suffer from can be resolved by massage therapy and strengthening exercises (dont get me started on chiropractors!). However, when the disc has prolapsed and squashes the nerve only sometimes will you get lucky and have the disc retract and harden away from the nerve leaving you pain free. Think of the massage versus surgery debate like this...If the club head and shaft part company while you swing, no amount of rubbing is going to put it back together, it will require surgery (of the club repairer kind!) I understand your need to knock surgery as there are a lot of horror stories out there but, as I say above, certain conditions will really benefit from surgery. I was 25 when I had my operation and 3 years later on have never felt better. The 3 months recovery was hard work but beneficial to mind and body. In saying all this, I dont think I have been as scared as I was being wheeled in for the operation but it has changed my life for the better! Clubswinger, what is actually wrong with your back? Do you get pain down your legs?

Is this actually illegal? Or just unethical/shouldn't be done? Cheers

Had my lesson tonight. After the case of the slices my back swing has reduced to about 1/2! Thought as much. My problems were: tempo to fast (he said it will be something to always be watchfull of. I'm a cricket player which involves having a very snappy backswing!) Need a bit more wrist bend at the top of the back swing, and my hands were in front of the ball at impact. The wrist bend has helped me start the hands at the top, now just working on getting the timing right at the bottom and letting the hands rip through. He said A fade should be my standard shot. It has to go one way or the other and it suits me better. Just got to work on that timing at impact and get it a consistent amount. It is now typically between about 5 metres (good) and 30 metres (that horrible s word again!) but no more of those horrible ob tainted massive slices! Lets just hope it works at interclub on Saturday!

Hi. How about one with Michael Campbell? Cambo! Link to a good pic: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8277928/ Thanks in advance.

Really? Thats good news! I dont think I have ever hit as crisper shots as the two I tried with that grip. Might have also been that I was fuming that I hadnt hit the ball well all weekend and actually swung my proper swing speed instead of trying to hit it soft (at least if I hit it soft it would slice and stay in bounds instead of disappearing!). I have a lesson tomorow night so will run it past the pro. So a strong left hand grip is common?