tdinneen

MP-32's!!!

Nicklaus North up in Whistler is a must, the course itself is straight forward but the surroundings and club house are awesome. It is Whistler though, so it's 2 hours min at the moment given the road works for the Olympics. +1 for Northlands, great course, hilly though but the beer dolly and her cart usually hang around the turn which helps. 30-40 mins from downtown. Fraserview is nice, worth playing. 30 mins from downtown. I quite like Langara as well, short course but the greens are tricky. 20-30 mins from downtown. The University Golf Course isn't bad but it can get boggy if it's wet. 20 mins from downtown. Greenacres is a bit further out (past the airport), nice course. 40-60 mins from downtown dending on traffic. I haven't played anywhere else so can't comment.

Tour-Tempo-Secret-Finally-Revealed

Thanks for the insight boodaboy16. I have the 585.H 21 in steel and absolutely love it. My 3W is also steel and love that. I generally just prefer the extra weight of steel, lightweight graphite shafts just put me off... maybe it's a tempo thing?? I bought the 906 with graphite 'cos from reading the specs (and also no steel in the shop the UST V2 has a similar torque and kick-point to the Dynamic Gold's. Thought I'd give it a shot and see how it would go. Distance is great, slightly longer than I was looking for though, it's encroaching on my 3W a bit, so steel is probably the way to go anyway to bring it back 10-15 yards or so. Thing is my consistency with the graphite, sometimes it draws when I want a fade and vice versa. I just can't seem to get the timing right unless I really hold back on the throttle, in which case it only goes as long as my 585.H hybrid.

Just bought a Titleist 906F2 5W. Wanted to get it with a steel shaft but they only had graphite in stock, had a few shots with it and liked it enough to buy it. Got the UST V2 shaft. After playing a few rounds with it I'd like to switch it to a steel shaft. Anyone had this done before? not necessarily the 906F2 but has anyone had a wood reshafted from graphite to steel? I presume it's a no brainer as the 906F2 is available in steel. I also assume moving from a 86 gram shaft to a 130 gram shaft (assuming a Dynamic Gold S300) will require shortening the club a bit to maintain swingweight. I'm guestimating a 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. Any advice, thoughts?

On the backswing, you start with hands, arms and shoulders all moving together, by virtue of the fact that the human body is articulated the hips will automatically turn to follow that shoulder turn. You don't actively rotate your hips on the backswing, it all happens. Note you must keep your right leg braced, it almost doesn't move on the backswing, it's the left leg that kicks in a bit to accomodate the maneuver. At the top of your backswing, your right left is bent the same amount as address and the knee is still inside your right foot... ie. it hasn't straightened or collapsed to the outside of your right foot. This is how you build up tension / power in the backswing. Those big back muscles are the engine of the swing, not your arms. The downswing is different, you want to unwind the other way around, so hips release first and they keep on turning... the hips lead the shoulders through impact. This is how you get a nice inside out swing, leading with the arms is one sure way of coming from the outside and slicing!!! You also mention that you keep your weight on your front foot. At address if anything you should have more weight on your back foot, 50/50 is ok though. You should accompany the backswing with a weight shift to the back foot, the release of the hips accompanies a weight shift back to the front foot. Once you release your hips, keep them turning all the way through the swing, your shoulders will eventually catch up just after impact.

Sorry to steal this thread slightly but can't find this info anywhere. The 906F2 18 degree is 42.5" in length. Anyone know the length of the 18 degree in steel? it's not on the titleist site I assume it's 42"?

39-40 on medium sized greens, I use a Scotty Newport 2. I normally hit 5-6 three putts a round. In short my putting sucks my best ever is 34, my worst 42. I should really be better but I don't practise it that much, maybe 15-20 mins every two weeks. Oh, and for some reason I always seem to three putt when I manage to get a GIR

OK, not exactly the cheap option but worth adding the Mizuno's MP-57's to your list. Had a look at them the other day in the local golf store and they look quite nice. They are basically cavity backed forged blades. I didn't hit them but from what the guys were saying they are quite forgiving but look like a muscle back at address which is what you are looking for.

Nothing wrong with a push like that, Ben Hogan would be proud you need to rotate those wrists more at impact to square the clubface up. A push of 20 degrees with a square clubface will get you a nice push draw... which looks cool and will get you more distance over trying to hit it straight (or at least more straight as no one can consistently hit the ball straight, most tour pro's have a slight push draw to there swing). Also noticed that your plane on the backswing is quite flat. Have a look at you video, pause it when you left arm is parallel to the ground on the backswing. Your shaft should point to the "ball to target" line or just inside that line (towards your feet). Your shaft is pointing a meter or so on the other side. Getting that plane more upright with your current swing should take that push out of the equation but again nothing wrong with a push albeit it should be accompanied with a nice draw / square clubface.

Here's an article that explains everything... http://golf.about.com/cs/componentsc...wingweight.htm

Yep, you'll need to add weight to the head to compensate. If you look at the Scotty Cameron's, take Newport 2 for example as to how much weight is needed. The 33" is 350g, the 34" 340g and the 35" 330g. So Scotty would add roughly 15 grams to a 35" Newport 2 shortened to 33.5". So guestimate the headweight of your putter and add rougly the same percentage weight. Alternatively find someone with a swingweight machine

I've recently started pendulum swinging before every shot. So setup and make a practise swing and go straight back into another swing (so it's a continuous swing down the target line, swing back to a 3/4 turn with wrist cock and swing again). It's pretty quick to do, just as quick as making two full practise swing but it helps to get that feeling of wrist cock, weight shift, late release, outside-in swing plane etc.. etc.. quickly. Maybe on the first swing working on wrist cock on the backswing, wait till you get that feeling, then move onto swingplane on the downswing, wait till that's a nice inside-out, then start gooving a late release and roll over. It might take 10 quick swings to start out but after a few hits you only need 4-5. Takes less than 10 seconds to do. Then go ahead and hit that shot. You should do this on the practise range and take it to the course. I find it really helps get the feeling. It also helps taking the range game to the course. At the range it takes a few shots to get into it but then you hit a groove. On the course you hit a ball, walk for a few minutes then hit another ball, and after you hit your ball you realised something was not quite right but then it's too late I also to this for putting. Instead of taking two practise putts. I pendulum swing a few times to get the feel of how much backswing is required to make the putt + 17".

Nice reply Iacas, you beat me to it. As Iacas has pointed out the iPod is a great example, there are many music devices out there and most have the same hardware underneath, from the drives to the flash memory, to the controller chips and DAC's etc.. what makes the iPod different is the interface. It's easy to use and straight forward. Sure there are devices out there that have more features, more space, their equivalent shuffle has an LCD screen etc.. etc.. but the combo of click wheel and software on the iPod wins. Same for the iPhone, which I think is what WhiplashSmile's argument is missing. Sure the iPhone costs $500-$600 bucks and you can get similarly spec'd hardware for cheaper. But they don't run OS X which is what the iPhone is based on. Just as Hogan 'found it in the dirt' so too should you 'find it in the software' that after all is what the hype is all about!!!

If you hold up your wedge bringing the clubhead to eye level. Make sure the shaft is at 90 degree's to the ground (so it's straight up). Notice that the trailing edge of the sole is lower than the leading edge. That height difference is the bounce angle. More bounce helps the club dig less, less bounce allows the club to dig more. Generally you'd be better off with more bounce if you are a digger, ie. take a big divot and less bounce if you take little or no divot.. a sweeper. Where bounce really comes into play is in sand traps, where one would put a different sand wedge in the bag based on conditions. More bounce for soft sand... you don't want the sand wedge to dig, less bounce for harder / heavier sand. As for the Ping's having more bounce that the MP-60's. Think of hitting a ball fat with a club with lots of bounce, if you sweep it (as most beginners do) the trailing edge is more likely to hit the ground first rather than the leading edge, so the club is more likely to 'bounce' up off the gound rather than dig into it. So you'd normally see more bounce on game-improvement clubs.

+1 for getting fitted, but get fitted either at a range or launch monitor where you can see the ball flight. The process involves hitting a couple of different irons with different shaft flex's, pick a couple that you like. What they initially look for is trajectory etc.. if the shots are going too high then maybe the shaft is too flexible for you swing tempo. The shots may also balloon 'cos the clubs have a COG (center of gravity) that's too low, ie. they are too much of a game improvement for you. Then narrow it down to one or two irons that you like the best. Then hopefully they have a fitting bay for those irons? The fitting bay will have the same head in different lengths and lie angles. They put impact tape on the front and under the clubhead. What they look for is hitting the sweetspot, but also where on the flange you hit the ground with, centered, more towards the toe or heal etc. that's where lie angle comes into play, you may or may not need more or less lie to make sure you are hitting the middle of the flange. Note than even if they don't have a fitting bay for the iron set you like, then buy that set and any good shop should be able to take lets say take the 7 iron and put different length shafts and change the lie on that club to find what's right for you. Once they find what's right for you they can adjust the rest of the set. As for the clubs you are looking at, they are all good clubs. I've played a round with the X-20's, pretty nice but to be honest I'm not a big Callaway iron fan (just find them too big and they hit a bit high for me), having said that I loved the X-Tours Love Mizuno's in general, have a set of MP-32's which I absolutely love. Tried the MX-19's and 25's. The 19's are nice but again hit too high for me (also they are cast and not forged, so they don't really have the super nice Mizuno feel, but pretty darn good for a cast cavity back). The 25's are well nice, I'd certainly recommend them. Didn't try the r7 CGB's but did try the r7 TP's which were well nice, again a little high and maybe a little big looking for me?? Tried the Titleist 775 CB's, liked them but wasn't sold. For some reason I don't get along with Titleist irons???? no idea why but I've never had much luck with them, maybe it's mental 'cos they sure look like the kind of club I love. Funny as well 'cos I love Titleist woods. Their 585.H's hybrids are awesome IMHO. Anyway, good luck, take your time (over a few weekends) and get fitted take notes as well, also don't necessarily go for the clubs that hit the longest (pay attention to the fact that loft and club length may vary across manufacturers, Callaway are always up to this, dropping a degree and giving 1/4" more, so you pick up there 6 irons and low and behold you are hitting it 10 yards longer than your old 6 iron , go for the clubs that hit roughly the same trajectory and same distance each time.

OK, I pilfered this from somewhere, can't remember where, so apologies for not referencing it. But it's a good discussion and just what you are looking for.... "Dynamic Gold is a very tip and mid stiff shaft that is soft in the butt section. It is a constant weight shaft, but it is worth looking into frequency fitting for optimal results. This contributes to a low ball flight overall and is a good fit for strong high ball flight, high spin players who typically release the club very late. Although it's the number one shaft in golf, it's not a good fit for a majority of players. Flighted Rifle is stiffer in the butt but softer in the midsection and tip than dynamic gold. They usually fit better into smooth swingers who have a mid to early release of their wrist cock and a longer smoother swing arc. The softer tip and midsection contributes to a higher ball flight overall and all things being equal, more spin due to the softer tip. These are also about 7-8 grams lighter than Dynamic Gold. The "flighting" idea of variable kick points is essentially a soft stepping of the long irons to create a softer tip so it is easier to elevate the long irons. Project X is another animal entirely. It is a constant weight shaft that is softer in the tip than dynamic gold, but stiffer than rifle. The butt section is by far the stiffest on the market. So stiff that some people feel Project X is a "boardy" or "harsh" shaft. Because of the stiff butt and tip, Project X typically plays about a 1/2 flex stiffer than stated. It basically combines the best of both worlds, the low spin of dynamic gold with the high initial launch of the rifle. This creates a high but flat ball flight that many advanced players crave. I play Project X and absolutely love them. They also have recently come out with a set of Project X flighted which incorporates rifles flighting technology to create softer tipped long iron shafts for easier elevation. Unfortunately, it remains to be seen what the fate of Project X will be under the True Temper umbrella. Project X High Launch is a much softer tipped version. However, the tip is so soft I feel it's nearly uncontrollable for an iron shaft and hardly ever recommend it to my customers. Black Gold is True Temper's counter to Project X. It has a softer butt section than Project X which some people find more playable and smooth feeling. It is an outstanding product with the same ball flight as Project X, but with a smoother overall feel. I would definitely look into this offering as well. Hopefully this gives you a starting point as to what to expect from each shaft. Before making your final decision, get to a competent clubfitter and see which shaft they believe will help match your swing and ball flight needs. Whichever shaft you choose, I would strongly consider demoing as much as possible. Also, the shaft you choose is only as good as the installation."

My pro has been trying to get me to swing the same way with my wedges as my long irons. So a push-draw, even for chips. Albeit there's not much of a draw for chips, but he wants me to have the same swing with all clubs. So he gets me to open my stance by 15-20 degree's to counteract the 15-20 degree inside-out path.

A mate of mine has MX-19's and I've hit them, very nice clubs and good game improvement irons. For me (and this is my experience, so it may or may not be the general case ) is that with game improvement irons you have to exaggerate the effort required to draw or fade the ball but they will draw and fade just as well as players clubs... so rest assured what you have is prefect for your first foray into working the ball. When I ever learn something new, it feels quite exaggerated anyway, with time and experience it becomes subtle. If you were to start with players clubs the ball would probably end up going all over the shop ('cos closing or opening the clubface even 2 or 3 degree's would impact the ball flight). With game improvement irons you have a bigger window so to speak (well 2 or 3 degree's will impact the flight as well, just not as much, it all has to do with an increaed MOI (perimeter weighting) and a COG further back from the clubface). At least this is my understanding/experience, I'll leave it to better golfers to correct me if I'm wrong.

Yeah, I'd agree with the previous two posts. As soon as you're consistently getting the ball in the air start playing with it, so hitting a draw (so clubface is closed relative to it's path, ie. you hit the ball on the right making it spin counter-clockwise) and hitting a fade (clubface is open relative to it's path, so you hit he ball on the left making it spin clockwise). What you need to look out for as well is the path of the club, 'cos it's really how open or closed the clubface is relative to this path that makes the ball spin one way or the other. So do you swing inside-out (which is ideal, or at least that's what my pro tells me, and pretty much every book I've read). What you are looking for is a 15-20 degree inside-out swing with a slight draw. Swining the club inside-out like that will push the ball, but the draw will bring the ball back to land on the target line. As the previous posts mentioned, taking out one side of the fairway makes is so much easier to plan your approach and reduce that error factor (trying to hit it straight and sometimes it goes left, sometimes right). Also, you do this for all clubs, from driver to lob wedge. My short game used to suck (well it still does ), but I've recently moved over to this inside-out push-draw with my short game and it's making a big difference. Along with hitting down and taking a divot it's giving me heaps of confidence over the ball.

I'd agree with Iacas, used to try and hit the ball straight. Then got lessons, now I always push-draw the ball (so the ball lands on the target line, well that's the intention ) Much more consistent and repeatable, not to mention I can hit it further with less effort. Now if I'm having a bad day then the ball will either go less of a draw or more of a draw but it's always a draw.

Yeah, Mac's kick ass. For anyone wanting a computer to browse the web, do emails, make movies, handle photo's, not get virus's etc. then the Mac is the only choice. Having said that, the game support is not great. As Iacas mentioned you can use BootCamp ( http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/ ) which is an Apple product that allows you to install Windows (including Vista) on Mac computers. This means that you can restart the computer into either Windows or OS X (Mac's operating system). The other choice is Parallels ( http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/ ) or VMWare. Parallels allows you to run Windows whilst OS X is running. It's pretty cool, but doesn't have great support for 3D acceleration (they have added some to the latest version, but it's flaky, does't support more recent games etc.. it only supports a subset of DirectX 8.1 I think??) In short get a Mac and use OS X for day to day use and reboot into BootCamp when you want to play games.

I bought a 21 degree hybrid (DG S300 steel shaft) to replace my 3i (21 degree DG S300). Hit my 3i about 205 yards in the air. The hybrid, although the same length and loft gets about 10-15 yards more carry for me. So I'd have to label a 21 degree hybrid more like a 2i.

There's just something about a well hit 3W off the deck that does it for me (my hybrid has to fill that gap at the moment, 'cos my 3W is in another country, it's nice but not quite the same). Although a nice 5 iron that bites the green from 180 out is a pretty nice feeling as well.

iacas, just a question on the distance gap between your 17 degree and 19 degree 585.H's. Is two degree's enough? or do you not play both but take one out depending on the course?