lipout

thanks for the reply. I think, now that I have been through all of this, I think that fitters should make it clearer that you are making a choice. Perhaps I ought to have known more, but I was definitely thinking at the time that I was simply getting the single best driver. In the previous reply to this post, Lucius mentions that Tiger prefers a lower flight. Not that I am preferring it for anything like the same reasons, but I now much prefer the lower flight too. I get better distance from the roll almost all of the time and less loss of distance into the wind. I do notice I don't get quite as big a boost from a tail wind, because the ball is lower, but that is OK for me, because the ball is going longer anyway.

thanks, that was a very helpful reply

I was fitted for a driver some years ago. The weapon of choice turned out to be a 10.5 deg Ping G5 with a Graffaloy prolaunch blue 65 regular shaft. About 2 years ago, I went back to the same fitter for another fitting. I was told to save my money because none of the new drivers were any better for me than the club I had. The fitter has the latest and greatest launch monitor set up, is the largest pro shop in the region, and you pay for your fittings, so you get a properly trained person who gives the fitting full attention. This fitter has been recommended to me by more than one club manufacturer. My swing speed measures at 95 mph with the driver, so the G5 fitting seemed perfectly reasonable. Early in 2011, after unsuccessfully trying even more drivers including the R11, Cobra and Titleist, I decided to do some research on line and found articles describing launch angle and spin rate. I took more notice of the ball flight I was getting with the G5 and noticed that I was not getting any roll. I mean almost none on flat ground unless it was bone dry. Basically my drives would climb and drop, stopping where they landed. From the articles, it seemed clear to me that I was launching with too much backspin. I looked into how to improve this situation, and the recipe seemed to be a lower lofted driver hitting more on the up swing. I also looked on the Graffaloy web site where they talk about kick points. The Proloaunch Blue has a lower kick point which aims to help you launch the ball higher. Graffalloy also offer shafts with higher kick points, that give a lower trajectory. I decided to go to the opposite extreme to see what happened and went onto ebay and bought a second hand Ping G10 with 9 degrees of loft, a prolaunch red shaft in stiff. In other words this was an "anti fitting", a lower loft, a stiffer shaft and a higher kickpoint to the spec from the fitting. I was expecting to find it very hard to hit this club. What actually happened was that I immediately gained 15- 20 yards because I was getting some roll. The trajectory looks really nice, it is not a low growler. I did not seem to be losing any carry either, certainly into the wind. Against my regular golf buddies, I moved from being the short hitter (with the fitted G5) to a solid average hitter (with the "anti fitted" G10). I emailed Graffaloy but got no answer. I emailed another ultra high tech fitter and he gave me a super reply, but it basically came down to the idea that trajectory was a "matter of preference". I was shocked by this, because I thought it was pretty obvious that most ordinary golfers would take the view that the trajectory that they prefer is the one that goes the furthest!!!! Surely the whole promise of launch monitors is that they optimise the trajectory? I now think, based on this experience, that if they optimise anything, they optimse carry. I find it hard to believe that my ebay G10 is the best it could possibly be, but I am worried that any future launch monitor fitting will simply optimising for carry, not total distance (carry plus roll), so really don't want to go and buy anything else on the basis of a launch montor. I would buy yet another driver if I could get another 10 yards, but no longer feel confident in fittings. If there are any experts out there, I would welcome your views.

I don't think Utley gets enought credit for his idea on using the bounce for pitching. I have a pile of golf books and they all talk about "hands forward, descending blow, ball first, divot later". If you have ever had that horrible fat shot, where you stick the leading edge of the wedge into the ground a fraction behind the ball and totally flub the shot, you will know how damaging that can be. Next shot, you are as likely to thin over the green because you are worried about the previous flub. I had a terrible bout of hitting fat wedges, it was ruining my game. This was particularly difficult for me because my home course is clay based soil and the ground gets very wet in the winter, making fat shots really easy. I had never heard of usng the bounce in the way that Utley describes. Frankly, when I first read it I was reluctant even to try it, it was so counter to everything I had been doing or had read. If anyone has trouble with pitches from 10 - 40 yards, try Utley's method. In my experience, you have to stick at it until you also get the rest of his method, it is important to use the correct hand and body action, especially the pivot around the left leg, but once I got that, the difference was astounding. I am totally converted.

I bought Pelz's book about 3 years ago, and Utley's early in 2011. Utley's clearly works better for me. Looking at some of the other posts, I would like to add that the arc in Utley's method is natural . The arc is what naturally happens because you are standing to one side of the ball. If you are somehow working on creating the arc, then you are not benefitting from the simplicity. Utley's point about Pelz is that square to square is not a natural action, it has to be created with fine muscle control that is not that easy to repeat, particularly if you don't spend lots of time practicing. The benefit of Utley's method is that there is less to do and so less to practice and less to go wrong. The other key aspect of Utley is how he uses the hands to power the putt. He emphasises moving the putter head, not the grip. For me, this was the key thing. I was very prone to pushing the putter through, where the grip moves quite a long way. Utley could be confused with wristy, and it takes a while to become clear about the difference, but once I got it, the increased feel was substantial and distance control improved a lot. After a whole season, I can say with 100% confidence that I am putting better now.