bamadoc

I really learned a ton watching the Pebble Beach AT&T; and how they managed their game on Pebble versus how I played it months earlier. I was way too aggressive on on several holes. Partly due to not having a caddy and not knowing the smart play, but I was still way too aggressive. Length is the strongest part of my game, but it gets me in tons of trouble when I rely on it too much. I will say that I still hit my driver on most holes, but I have learned a little 2/3 low dead straight ball. It still goes 260 or so. I will swing fully a few times a round with the driver but not as much as I used to. The other thing is don't get too cute with hitting cuts, draws, and different ball flights unless you are playing just for the fun of it/practice. If you want to score well, hit what you hit 98% of the time. I hit a 5-10 yard draw(when playing well) because that is what I hit consistently. The other thing as said above is to take more club and don't base your yardages on your clubs based on what you hit a club with a 100% swing and 100% flush contact. I hit a 7 iron over 190 yards today on the range with a vein popping swing and a perfect strike. How is that going to help me on the course? I hit a seven iron 165ish with an 80% swing and solid contact. Don't try to be macho with your friends and hit a club that you really shouldn't hit. Hit what you can realistically hit.

I agree. I play my best when I am drawing it 2-5 yards with irons. Once I got my alignment right, I see that I have been cupping my left wrist at address causing me to pretty much line up 4 degrees left of any body alignment I take. Basically, I now feel like I am just hanging arms vertically making sure I don't put any downward pressure on my hands. This is one of my main things I fight. I shot 2 under on nine holes yesterday and only missed one green. I also three putted a par five. I actually putted well but nothing would fall. It is really funny, but I had a lesson from a very good instructor when I was like 16 which was 15 years ago. Many of the things he told me in that hour remain to this day great things to go back to. Thanks for the help.

Well, I don't know how quick of a study I am as that afternoon wasn't quite as great. I was able get my path a few degree closer to straight, but I just couldn't keep the face square. It was 3-5degrees closed 90% of the time. I was stubborn, but I am going to weaken the grip a little. Then, I will see if I can flatten my wrist. Everyone says that usually causes more of a slice, but I think for me it is causing me to flip at the ball a little. I don't know, but I will work on it at the range. The thing is I am scoring best I have in a while playing the 10-20 yard draw/hook as it is long and consistent.

Just got back from hitting again. For those curious, the monitor is a Golf Acheiver. I wasn't quite as good this afternoon with the tweaks. 80% of my shots were 1-4 degrees inside out, but my club face was consistently 5 degrees shut. I just can't keep it open. I will go hit some balls on the range to get it figured out.

Thanks, mvvac. I agree. I as four degrees in to out with the club face square to target but still closed to swing path. So, my fall would start right at flag and draw 10-30 yards. Fixing my swing path to more straight by changing my body alignment from 10 yards right to parallel to target line didn't only fix my swing path but also changed my club face angle to going from 4 deg shut to swing path to being dead square without really altering anything other than body alignment. Sorry if that was confusing. As far a drawing/fading, I was talking about setting up 10 yards left for fade and keeping face the square to setup and just counting on the outside in swing to fade the ball. Sorry if I was unclear. I would definitely not put the clubface square to the flag as I would just start at flag and peel away. I was just wondering what the best way or most reliable way to go about fading and drawing now that my thinking has been changed due to new swing rules I have just discovered. Thanks and feel free to correct me if I was incorrect in any of my thinking. Thanks.

Wow! I just got back from working on the launch monitor. I am amazed at how the new swing concepts changed the way I tweaked my swing. As I said, my old swing was a inside/out 4degrees with around a 4 degree closed face. Now I see that my 4degree face was square to target line. All I did was change my setup. I was aiming 10 yards right. Doing this instantly cured my inside out 4 degrees to dead straight or 1 degree from the inside. I quickly went from 15-25 yard draws to 3 yard draws consistently. It also got my ball flight and distance more in the 170 range. Before I would come in with the shut face and inside out causing me to deloft it and hit the 7iron 185plus. I have played golf for a long time, and I am shocked I am just now discovering this. I have been trying to mess around with opening my club face more thinking that was the problem. I see why that wasn't really working. Another thing I was amazed at is how much draw I put on a ball with just 1 degree inside/out swing path and one degree closed face. I assume it is just due to higher swing speed, but I was till surprised that a near perfect swing started directly at target and drew 12 yards. Now that I know this should I just keep my clubhead square for all shots and just change stance to produce fade or draw? Just curious as the old way would have me change the club face angle along with stance.

Also, I had a question about the launch monitor readings. Say I swing inside out 4 degrees with a 3 degree closed club face. That three degrees is closed relative to a straight swing path, correct? Or is it closed 3 degrees from my inside out path?

Thanks for the tips. I was using a demo 7i instead of my seven iron. I will hit today with my seven iron. The demo felt fine, but you know how that goes. I will try getting a video up sometime. Thanks for the tips.

I have gotten my handicap down to a 4. I have a golf shop next to where I work, so I get to hit balls on the launch monitor frequently. My typical swing with a 7 iron is inside out 4 degrees with a closed face of 3-4 degrees. Having read the new swing laws/physics, I am trying to rewire how I look at my misses. I am a little confused because the new laws say that the club face angle is the main determinant, but my shot is telling me it is my swing path because the ball is starting at the target line and drawing 15 yards or so with my irons. Maybe I need to look at my initial ball flight closer now that I know how to interpret it with the new laws. I guess what I now need to do it feel like I am coming across the ball without trying to fight keeping my clubface closed. I guess it is going to feel like a pull hook, but it should be fine if my face angle was actually right all along and it was just my path. The only thing I am confused is how just a mere 4-6 degree inside out swing produces a 10-20 yard draw with a seven iron. I just assumed it had to be face angle primarily. I am sure I have confused most of you, but I just wanted advice. Thanks. Another thing is produce a fair amount of clubhead speed/driver 115mph and 90% seven iron is 85mph as I don't try to kill my irons. The thing is my seven iron is going way too far right now with this bigger draw. My average is 170ish, but it will get up to 185 way too often. I will say that out of 50 7 irons I hit yesterday 49 were at or left of the pin. I would say 90% fell 10-20 yards left. I really feel like they are starting initially at the pin, but I will look today to really see this as I know this will be crucial to tweaking my swing. Any thoughts, tips, or corrections are welcomed.

It is a ProLaunch Red by Grafalloy.

Thanks, Spyder. I am now getting my dad and brother to go and get my guys to get them dialed in since they also bought a driver off of the shelf. The problem is if you are a solid golfer you can alter your swing and still get what you think is a great result. I was just playing the hard draw with a 270 carry. I finally started wondering what was going on because the rest of my clubs are pretty much dead straight to maybe a 2-3yard draw. You don't know what you don't know. I can't wait to go out to the range and then to the course to see how legit the launch monitor numbers truly are.

I just got a new shaft put in my new G15 driver. I believe it is a 45" shaft, but I don't know what the original shaft lenght was? I thought 45", but I could be wrong. Regardless, I have noticed a huge difference with a properly fitted and higher quality shaft. Go for it.

I was shocked at the swing speed change as well. I really was trying to swing both shafts with the same swing speed. Maybe the stiffer and properly fitted shaft was allowing me to let it go a little more than I was before. I really don't know. I am going to stay skeptical at the numbers until I take it out on the range this weekend. One thing I am confident is how much straighter I am hitting the driver with this new shaft. I am still shocked they would put such a cheap shaft in a nice driver like the G15.

I purchased a G15 driver earlier this year from a local shop. The guy put me on the monitor and I hit 6-7 drivers and picked the best one. I came on here starting a thread about how important it was to be properly fitted. Well, six months later, I went to a custom golf shop that is close to where I work. I took my what I thought to be perfectly fitted driver and hit some balls on the monitor. My swing speed average was around 108. Out of 10 shots, 7 would carry 275ish. The problem was 3 of 10 would only go 240ish due to a pretty bad hook. Well, then we experimented with several different shafts. We found 2 shafts that I was just killing the ball with and I wasn't snapping any of shots with the new shafts. I was also carrying it around 300 with a swing speed of around 114-116. Finally, he said let me see that shaft. He put it on this meter that measured the stiffness or lack there of. It measured a 257, which is way too flexible for my swing speed. This is what was causing me to snap it, and it was keeping my swing speed down. I just figured my swing speed was around 108. So, we kept fine tuning what shaft we wanted and how stiff we wanted it. We ended up around getting it at 272. The final differences were as follows: My G15 with what I thought was a perfect shaft was giving me a swing speed of 108ish, carry 275ish,launch angle 15 degrees, maximum height 60 yards. My same G15 with the newer, stiffer and perfectly fitted shaft gave me a swing speed of 114ish, carry 300, launch angle 13 degrees, and maximum height to around 50 yards. I am curious to see if the launch monitor is actually accurate when it tells me I am hitting it 35 yards longer. I am of those people that laugh at how many people say they hit it 300, including myself. The main advantage to the new shaft is even when I miss it left, it goes 12 yards left, not 30 yards left. Finally, I will say again to make sure you are being properly fitted when purchasing a driver. Take your time and hit as much as you can. You will be amazed at what a difference it can make. Another thing is to watch out for shops like my original one that sold me a G15 for a great price, but they put a crappy $20 shaft in it. My new shaft is $100, but it makes a huge difference.

I can remember arguing this with my uncle when he tried telling me about this. I was nine, so you really shouldn't need a physics degree to figure this out. It obvioulsy doesn' go dead straight and then take a 90 degree turn at the high point. High handicappers would do better to just react and not think....I think. The best thing any golfer can do is to take a few lessons on putting and not just their full swing. I love driving by our course and seeing how rare it is for me to see someone make anything over 4 feet.

I just got a Wishon 775 18degree a few weeks ago, and that thing is awesome. Very solid. My first shot with it was from 237 and put it four feet away. It was the first eagle I have had on that particular par 5 in a long time. I have also loved hitting it off of the tee and out of the rough. I don't think my shop changed the lie to what I need, so I am glad I looked at this thread.

Play with some nicer irons and see if your ball striking and score improve considerably. I have played my entire life. I am not a gotta have the new stuff. I played the same irons for 15 years and the same driver for over 10. I have to say that I do hit the new clubs much better. I am hitting both much further than before with fewer mishits. With that said I could play with my old clubs and not have it make but a couple of strokes difference in my score. The reason...putting is where it is at.

I had the same old Ping driver for the last 10 years that I bought used. So, I went from 12 year old technology to current technology. That alone had a ton to do with my length and accuracy improvement. I had a stiff shaft in the old one. I ended up with a stiff in the new one as well, but you will find out during your fitting there are a ton of other things to consider besides regular, stiff, or x-stiff. Out of the 5 or 6 drivers I hit, I hit 4 of them well, one of them horribly, and one of them was awesome. I played a course I haven't play today in a few years. I was amazed at how much of a difference the driver made. Things to avoid: -don't go in biased against or for any brands -don't go in trying to swing harder than you normally would to artificially get your swing speed/distance higher on the monitor than it really is -if your swing speed is 90 and the fitter says you need a regular flex, go with it. I have a friend that refuses to swing anything but a stiff shaft even though his swing speed is way slow. He can't hit his driver worth a dang.

Update: I got talked into going with a 21 degree Wishon 775. I love the club. My fitter told me that we could lenghen the shaft an inch or so to get a little extra distance. I hit 20 balls on the monitor with it today. I hit them really well, but my carry range was 222-228. I am really wanting to be able to consistently carry it 230, so I am no so sure this is going to work. I also let them record me hitting my 3 iron. I was hoping that maybe I have been overestimating my 3 iron carry of 215, but I was hitting it 215-218 carry according to the launch monitor. I will take them out to the course this weekend, so I can get it figured out one way or the other. Worse case scenario is I tell them that I need to have it changed from a 21 to a 19.5 degree. It sounded like they would have to send the head in to change the loft. I would have thought this would be something the could do in house. Any thoughts?

If you are hitting the other clubs well beside the driver, it is obvioulsy the fit of the driver. Many places will fit you for free if you purchase the driver from them. You can get a nice driver for $200-$300 total. It is also more complicated than just going from regular to stiff or stiff to extra stiff. There are many other variables that come into play even between five drivers with a "stiff" shaft. I bought my first new driver a few months ago. I got five of my favorite drivers. I hit three of them nicely. One of them I was killing dead straight. The other one I couldn't hit worth a flip. It wasn't my swing, but it was the varying shafts. You also don't have to use a launch monitor to get a great fit. I could have taken those same five drivers out on a range and come to the same result. I do think you will get your best fit using a launch monitor. Good luck.

Thanks, WUTiger. I definitely don't want anything to promote a draw. I hit a 2-7yard draw on average. I will also try getting a hold of a 5W to see how they all compare.

Thanks again. I think my 3iron is 21 degrees, while my 3wood is 15 degrees. I am thinking 19 will do nicely.

Thanks, Larry. I think bending the 21 to around 19.5 will get the 230 carry I am wanting without having to swing too hard. I will go back to the monitor to dial it in with the correct shaft. How are they out of the rough? Do you know what the prices are on these?

Anybody have any opinions of Wishon. I hit a Wishon 775HS on the monitor today. It was a 21 degree. I was carrying it 217-224. I was still hoping to get more like 230 carry, since this would leave a smaller gap between my 3wood(260ish) and my 3 iron(215ish). I really liked the feel of this club, but I think going to the 18 degree is going to cause me to lose to much of the height. I want to be albe to have it come down softly. I will hit the 18 degree, but I am going to keep searching for the perfect fit.

Thanks for the tips guys. I guess I have been missing out when it comes to the hybrid technology. I am thinking the Adams is going to be the way I am going to go. I just need to hit them to figure out if I need to go with the 18 or 19 degree. I would like to go with the 19 for the added loft, but I am not sure if I am going to be able to get 235 carry out of it with a 90% swing. I have tried to swing 85-90% this year, and it has helped me become more consistent even though I have lost a little distance. The one advantage the 18 is that I would be able to use it off of the tee on narrow holes where I want to just get something in play. I will take some out to the range and see what ends up being the best. I played the course today that has the two 230ish par 3's. I killed my 3 iron on one of the holes carrying it the 230. The other one I didn't quite catch it flush and it into the water. I am really looking forward to adding a hybrid to the bag to help with these holes.