HytrewQasdfg

I'm of the opinion that practice nets have a negative influence on your game. What's the point of practicing if you can't see the results? The ball hits the net just a few feet away from you. You have no idea if it was a slice, hook, high or low? If you are swinging with a flaw, all you are doing is turnig that flaw into an ingrained bad habit. What good does it do practicing with a net all day, only to get to the course and find out you spent all of the previous day practicing how to hit the perfect HOOK? If you have a limited amount of space, you're better off using a limited flight ball. At least it will give you some indication as to the quality of your swing.

One big advantage of hitting off a platform is you can mark it. I have vertical lines marked with: My shoulder width, Left armpit (driver ball position), Center (short iron ball position), 1/2 way between armpit and center (long iron ball position). I have several horizontal lines marked that I used to square my stance. I also have my "setup checklist" written down the right hand side. Now when I'm practicing I at least know I'm in the correct positon.

To throw my 2 cents in (for what it's worth.) I have a friend that has done club repair/building for Golfsmith for 9 years. According to him, when you are talking just about manufacturing quality, Mizuno is the best. Not other company is even a close 2nd. He uses the Mizuno clubs to double-check the calibration on his loft/lie machine as they come out of the factory spot on. Even the best of the other club makers don't do better than a +/- 1 degree manufaturing standard on their club (which can be a big deal if the #5 is +1 degree from standard and the #6 is -1 degree from standard.) He said Mizuno is the only company that makes sure the gains on the metal heads all run in a specific direction (I didn't even know metal had grain, but he ensured me it does.) Most importantly (to me anyway), he said they get fewer compaints form customers about Mizuno than any other brand. I know that wasn't one of your two picks, but since you are looking to drop a bundle on clubs I thought I should help with your confusion.

This is going to sound really stupid, but it does work (and is cheap.) Get the head off a push-broom. Lay it on the ground birstle side up, and hit off of it. The bistles are stiff enough to support the ball and club, and it allows you to hit down into it like you are taking a divot (unlike mats.) The downside is you have to build a platform to hit off of (about 3 inches) and you look really stupid hitting balls off a broom head. The upside is you don't have to worry about damaging your clubs by pounding them into a mat, or altering your game by subconsiously avoiding taking divots practicing on a mat.

As a tall guy (I'm assuming you are too), my advice is play the shortest clubs you are comfortable with. Bigger people tend to be stronger than avg. size people, and your longer arms will give you a bigger arc on your swing even with regular length clubs. Swing speed won't be a problem for you. Control is another matter. Every extra inch between your shoulders and the clubhead reduces your control. As a tall person, you are at a disadvantage when it comes to control. The extra length on the graphite shafts is there, because with the lighter shaft people can get more swing speed (but it comes at the sacrifice of control, even for avg. height people.) Distance hitting has two parts: swing speed & hitting the sweet spot on the club. It doesn't matter how fast you swing the club, if you don't consistently strike the sweet spot on the club you won't drive very far. On the other hand, even with a moderate tempo swing you can have good distance if you consistently hit the sweet spot on the club. According to some of the online charts, I should be playing a club 2 inches longer than regular. I play 3/4 inches over regular. I've found I'm comfortable with that length. If you can't get club fit, then go to someplace (like Golfsmith) where you can try out various length clubs and see what you are comfortable with. You may be surprised that longer isn't always more comfortable (even for a tall person.) If you are looking after the longest length possible, because you think it will increase your swing speed and help your distance, don't do it. Just get ultra-light shafts, but don't make them extra long. The lighter shafts will help your speed, and keeping them shorter will help your control. That combo will give you a better chance of CONSISTENTLY hitting long drives than extra long shafts will.

Golfsmith is good advice. I just took their 1/2 day club building class at one of their stores (free if you sign up for their player rewards program.) It was a 4 hour class. The first three hours was on club fitting. The differences between equipment, how it works together, and how to pick the right heads, shafts, and grips for people. The last hour we put together a sand wedge, which they let me take home (a snake eyes viper, $30 bucks on their web site.) They also give you promotional code that is good for 15% off of club building supplies (heads, shafts, etc...) for 30 days. Turned out the guy giving the class had retired 9 years ago from the company I had worked for, and had taken the club repair/building job at Golfsmith as a retirement job so he could stay busy at something he enjoyed. This guy has worked on just about every brand, and according to him Mizuno is far and away the best quality club from a manufacturing stand point (he even uses Mizuno clubs to double check the calibration on his lie/loft machine, their quality tolerances are that tight.) There is a big gap in quality after Mizuno. According to him, Golfsmith's high end components are as good or better quality wise than any name brand club (save Mizuno.) The point is, when I ran the numbers (buying components that are already on sale, using my 15% discount, and putting the clubs together myself) I figured for about $350-$400 I could put together a full set of clubs that quality wise would be equivalent to a full set of Pings or Callaways (which new would run you a grand or more.) Now they aren't going to have much resale value, but the savings up front make up for that (imho.) Plus, because you are picking the components separatly (heads, shafts, grips) you end up with a set that is more customized for you. The shafts and grips you would get through Golfsmith are the same brands name brand clubs are made with (UST, Wynn, etc...) so the only question is are the heads of equal quality. From what my friend said (who works on both Golfsmith and name brand clubs) they are. If nothing else, take that free clubmaking class. It's free, you learn a lot, and they give you a club!