AndrewM

That is a good strategy, but its important to understand that at your handicap and consistency level, every ball should perform pretty much the same. The chance of you gaining an *actual* benefit from a different ball is pretty slim. Personally, in your situation I would choose the ball that you hit the farthest.

Thats not even a question lol If I had to guess... Based on tiger's natural athletic ability and the amount of size he has put on in just the last few years. I would guess he could bench 200# in the neighborhood of 25 times

I've never played in a handicap championship... Every one I've ever been in, everyone played at scratch. Whats the point of being the "over 15 handicap club champion"? If you didnt beat everyone else in the tournament, then you didnt win... unless I'm missing something....

I posted this in another thread and it is important. Consistency in your equipment will reward you as you improve. Additionally, depending on how much you play and how you treat your clubs, I advise checking loft/lie at least once a year for an avid player. Especially if you are playing any forged iron.

I thought everyone on ebay started in 99 or so like I did

IMO trying to make that swing is akin to devoting articles to Jim Furyk and trying to swing like that... At its base, it is not a sound swing. A sound swing is based at the very least in proper weight shift. You cant base a philosophy on the prescious few with natural ability enough to make it work...

IMO no matter what sport you are pursuing... General full body fitness will always be best. Concentrate on Squats, Bench, Rows, and Deadlifts. Throw in some cardio for fun. When you are strong at those 4 lifts, then you can alter the workout to be sport specific. Tiger is Very fit and therefore can be much more specific in his work outs. check this website for a good place to start with a strength training regimen. Better than anything you'll find in Mens Fitness or the like: http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow...Linear_5x5.htm

For the guys with new irons... Absolute first thing to check is the loft and lie of the new sticks. If you are hitting them many times better than your old ones right out of the gate, then something is different. Usually it can be attributed to wacky lie angles. Often times when you pick up 5+ yards with new irons, it can just be a loft difference or the clubs may actually be longer. Always check specs to make sure you are consistent as you tinker and try different things

I picked up Ecco's on ebay for 90 bucks shipped... Best shoes I've ever owned. I also have a pair of Footjoy Classics that are pretty darn comfortable however, just too dressy for day to day wear. I tried the Powerbands but they were too stiff for me I thought... Tour Metal's were nice though

I have to guess elevation there... As for what people *think* they hit their drives... the only thing that matters is carry, after that its all gravy. Low average carry on the PGA tour is around 260-265, that is straight from the Trackman rep that does most Tour events. Saying you hit 320 on the internets doesnt mean much, especially when this time of year most courses are dried and baked out which means 50 + yards of run. Here in Orlando, if I get 10 yards of roll im thrilled!

That google earth tip rocks! My old home course doesnt show up (very rural area) but Metrowest Golf Club here in Orlando does. If I say that according to google earth... I actually hit it longer than the GPS says... will anyone believe me lol I know the GPS in the carts is wrong on one hole, the first par 5 on the front shows very short yardage and no one knows why.

Or as was the case at my two courses I grew up on... The course is rated and played from the whites (mid tees) on the front and blue (back tees) on the back. In the case of those two courses, several of the holes actually changed significantly. I can think of two holes on each where the tees could be up to 100 yards apart.

Did anyone else notice how UNBELIEVABLY slow some of these girls were?? Most notably Morgan Pressel on around the 8th whole took about a minute to play a straight away shot to a green with almost no trouble and no wind.... It was painful to watch

I may soon be on the hunt for a new 56* wedge myself. Currently playing a 588 that was ground and weigthed after lots of trial and error and which I am reallly hesitant to give up. Grooves are starting to wear out though :( I may just hunt ebay for a 588.

my feedback... completely ridiculous cost! Edwin watts had fairway woods for OVER $300, which is insane to me. Buy a nice sonartec and spend the extra on lessons if you need to fix a slice :)

Ive bought from those two as well and both transactions were flawless. Globalgolf was one of my first purchases back around 2000 or so

I disagree with that point. Many avid golfers like to try out and change equipment often but cant afford to just let 3, 4, 5 or more new drivers sit in their garage so they ebay what they dont use. I was one of those folks for a long time and had great success with it. In fact all my buddies (who werent ebay savvy) had me help as well. IMO, better deals are always to be had from those folks because generally they arent trying to cover cost, plus overhead, plus whatever... They just want to get what they can out of their stuff to move on to the next thing. I've had great experiences from businesses as well, so not knocking them, just saying they arent the only way to go. Best advice is to email the seller, ask about the club, and always CHECK FEEDBACK! When I leave feedback I try to leave specific notes about what I received, versus the standard "good item" blah blah... that way anyone looking at my remark will get an accurate feel for what transpired in my case. In addition, dont be afraid of used equipment at the local shop. The golfsmith here in Orlando has decent used equipment at good prices, plus you get to look at and feel what you are buying before you drop your dollars.

I would also like to add, that as I mentioned earlier, if the swing isnt consistent it is near impossible to give a good fit. So if the fitter gives the customer a club that is designed for a better motion, that to me does them more service than giving them a club specifically designed to mask their flaws... but that is just my opinion

I have to defer to that as the basic reason :) lol

If he is proposing that he fits a guy as a 20+ handicap who is just starting out... then he fits the same guy as he has improved to a 3 handicap, and its the same.. i beg to differ...... IF we are using DYNAMIC fit... if we are static fitting the person, then no, the changes wont be dramatic because static takes into account almost 0 movement... only body size, hand size, arm length etc. Unfortunately, I believe static fitting is flawed because it doesnt take into account the dynamic action of the golf swing... of course dynamic fitting is a much less sound fit for a high handicap because of the lack of consistent swing dynamics.

Best mid-priced ball........... Used Pro V1's on ebay (or any other good used ball for that matter, Callway HX Tour etc) I just picked up 6 dozen (3 dozen pro v1's, older version, and 3 dozen HX Tour) for a shade over $1 per ball shipped.

IMO, anyone that doesnt benefit from that line is making a subconcious error in their stroke. If you can roll the ball purely, end over end ON your line, then the line on the ball will help. If you take your set up, THEN adjust your line and face angle, the line on the ball becomes useless. In addition if you have a hard time adjusting that line on the ball, to your line on the surface consistently, the it wont work for you. You HAVE to be able to trust that line. Which wont happen if you dont make square contact with the ball. If you regularly push the ball (and you can still be a good putter doing that) or similar unorthodox movement, the line wont work. The fact is, after about 5 or so feet, the only thing that matters is speed. If you can consistently putt the ball straight and purely for 5 feet, then you WILL make putts. If the line isnt helping for those first few feet, i can absolutely guarantee that there is a hitch in your stroke, an alignment issue, misfit putter or some combination of all of those. Like I said, that doesnt make you a bad putter by default, but it does mean there is another issue at play that stops the alignment tool from working for you.

Shaft flex has definitely changed over the years... As has been mentioned already it is really more of a function of ball flight dynamics created by the shaft and head combination than it is about the absolute specs of the shaft. It is important that you pick the flex (and the shaft in general) based on how YOU hit YOUR clubs. Getting fit for a set of clubs can easily result in worse ball flight or a blanket masking of a flaw. The problem with getting fit to mask a flaw, is that as soon as you make a better swing, you can be penalized for it, because your club is built to a poor swing rather than a good one. In addition, the shaft that works for the guy standing next to you with the same swing speed and same set of irons, may be the worst one in the world for you. Assuming you can generate somewhat of a consistent swing, then the shaft and head combo has to fit YOU. Dont buy on flex alone, material alone, name alone, buy on results. Additionally "flex" is so transient from shaft to shaft, the only way to really compare flex is on a machine that measures cycles. Every club fitter should have one so that shouldnt be an issue.

As I was coming up through the golf world in HS and through college... My goal was to play blades. I thought just having them in my bag would make me a better player. I went from Ping ISI-k's to a Mizuno progressive set, and was I ever happy, great feel, especially around the green and much more pleasing to the eye... I was about a 4 at that point. Fast forward 3 years and I was trying my hand at mini tours... I noticed that A LOT of players were hitting callaway irons... so i tried a set... less than a week later I swapped out my mizunos for callaways... I was carrying a "handicap" of +4 at that point. I immediately noticed a difference in ball flight (higher) and forgiveness... and since my main goal is to hit the damn thing straight, those were exactly the things I needed. And since working the ball is a function of the blade being open or closed, you can work the ball just as much with a cavity back as a blade. IMHO, anyone that isnt making millions playing the game is doing themselves a disservice playing blades if their goal is to play their best. If there goal is to play with challenging equipment that is more traditional, with the understanding that their equipment could cost them strokes, then blades it is :) btw: slightly off topic, but I also believe most players shouldnt carry over a 6 iron. Hybrids these days are so easy to hit and effective from different lies, that they make long irons obsolete. Personally, I carry the original Taylor Made Rescue mids (circa 2002), i use my 21* for 220 and my 25* at around 205.... Could I hit a long iron that far, probably not, and surely not as consistently as I hit those hybrids, especially with the spin and height I get out of them.

The Explanar is a great piece of equipment. Quite a far bit removed from the old PVC hoops (I owned one of those too!) The most important aspects of the Explanar are: The Power Roller The Plane Fin The Radial Stance Mat & The setting of the hoop The old hoops had no where near the theory and scientific research to back up their usage that Explanar does. Set to the optimum biomechanical swing plane, the Explanar allows you to produce a swing that is truly "on plane" versus one that we *think* is on plane. Feel free to email me directly with any questions and I would be happy to help.