limoric

I do agree with the 100 point system, but I don't think it would have made much of a difference in last nights fight as 2 of the judges were likely ogling over their Rampage Jackson action figures. The big problem with judging is that many judges don't understand the sport, they need more education and training. The sport is too political, the states control judging and refeeing...whereas I think the promotion should have more say...

Penn has gone back to his old training camp, no more super workouts, just fighting, I see him making a run in either division... Jackson vs. Machida was a no brainer, when Jackson's jaw hit the mat after the decision and then he immediately offers Machida a rematch even though it would not be his preference otherwise, it tells you a lot about who really won. Machida clearly landed more strikes in the first round, even though Jackson was the aggressor. Second round was close and could have gone either way, even though Machida again landed more strikes; Machida annihilated Jackson in the 3rd. This was the worst case of a fighter being robbed than I've ever seen. It's not like the first Machida Rua fight, where fans where divided pretty evenly. How does one judge score 30-27 Machida and the other 2 29-28 Jackson, were they watching 2 different fights??? The message the judges sent was; a fighter cannot have an elusive style (essentially his Karate background), they all have to be white knuckle brawlers (risking injury) to get their vote...rediculous, It's happened a few too many times lately...Total BS

I've played both the Cleveland LDI and currently the Titleist 503h, I would say the LDI's are much closer in design. I've also played the Adams A3 Hybrids. Pros of going with the driving iron/hybrid - Easier to work the ball - I felt I got much greater distance off the tee. Con's - Much less forgiving off the fairway and rough, you are rewarded with good shots that make your friends jaw drop and you are heavily penalized with bad shots. I'm now looking into a more conventional hybrid, Idea Pro or Titleist 909h. I will keep my Titleist 503's though, some courses call for a driving iron and this club is a dream off the tee!!

I would say that at that time, you where right between stiff and reg. I was the same way 3 years ago. I switched from DGR300 to Project X 5.0. I gained distance with all my irons. 5.0 has more flex than Reg, but a bit less than DGS300. Now I'm playing 5.5, which is a little more stiff than DGS300. Of course I'm only comparing the 2 shafts because of my experience...the 2 shafts even near the same stiffness are apples and oranges...It's a matter of what ball flight you are looking for... You could always soft step your shafts, they'll still play firm, but you'll get a bit more height which could translate into distance. Shaft stiffness and kick point can have a big influence on ball flight. When I switched from 5.0 to 5.5, I gained a full club length (the new irons made a difference too though)...

Pros are Pros because they can take a little off without being punished, but they are not taking a lot off; pros amd good players do not significantly reduce their SS, there's no reason to do this. If they take a 3/4 swing, a 95 MPH long iron might be 90 MPH. Pros Generate SS at impact, taking a bit off does not mean swinging slower, it means swinging shorter... Not saying you don't fit into DGS300, but if you purposely swing slower, the shaft is not going to do what it is supposed too, not at 75 MPH...

Still, your shot came up short of 125, so you hit it like 110-115. With DGS300, your're going to loose some distance At 75 MPH, especially if it's cold... Very interesting online distance calculator...I find it to be pretty close, especially from mid-iron down... http://www.csgnetwork.com/golfclubdistancecalce.html

I think shaft and launch angle is also going to play a roll. As for my average 8 iron, I should have stated plain distance (not average); I think we compare pretty close...with a perfect lie or off the tee, my 8 iron is 150, so I guess I'm 145-150. I would guess that your 8 iron is around 80-82 MPH and you are hitting it 140-145...makes sense, I've read 2 yards per MPH...

I Play Furry Creek G&CC; most of the time. http://www.golfbc.com/courses/furry_creek Same course where Bob Barker kicked Happy's ass . I can't really think of a favorite hole, the course is built into the side of a mountain with an Ocean backdrop...every hole is spectacular. Hole 14, a 211 yard par 3 is the signature hole; being able to play the ball right to left is essential for this hole, If you normally play a fade or slice, you need to take the ball over the ocean which means clubing up big time, especially if the winds are comming in from the north, I've seen some guys slice a driver over the ocean and not make it...

It also depends on where you live. I'm at sea level in a city that ranges in temp from 50 degrees to 90 degrees during the golf season. Outside of warmest months, the temp probably averages around 70 degrees. My 8 iron is around 85-87 MPH, distance averages around 145. At 2,000 feet I'm a full club longer... I would guess that 75-80 should produce 135-140 (except at sea level) and with a mid to high straight flight.

Your left arm has way too much flex in it, you're loosing a lot of power. With a very flexed left arm, you're going to use that elbow to square the club, causing the ball to go out to the right. Straighten that arm and you'll be forced to release at impact, producing a more penetrating ball flight and eventually allowing you to work the ball... Nice rotation though...

I was fit by a Ping fitter 4 years ago, ironically i was fit into the latest model driver "Ping Rapture"...I guess the G5 wasn't good anymore (it was also cheaper)... You're a 36 handicap, buy any 460CC driver that is pleasing to the eye and has a firm or stiff, mid kick shaft. You will not benefit anymore from the K15 than you would the G2 (6 year old technology). You can get the first generation Callaway i-mix components brand new on Ebay for under $125, as your game progresses you can switch out shafts and heads. Nickent has an adjustable driver setup for under $150 new. You can also adjust these clubs for the season (cold winter more flexible shaft, warm summer stiffer shaft, etc, etc)... Don't put money into technology, put it into lessons...I can still break 80 with persimmon woods...

I doesn't really matter, you won't want to re-shaft when he grows out of them. If he picks up the game, put him into a more conventional set at 14 years old. My 15 year old son is playing muscle back irons now (small head), with little offset. This was his 3rd summer playing; when he went to the players irons, his game improved substantially, breaking 100 within 3 rounds (he played 110-115 before that), I would be really surprised if he doesn't brake 90 in the new year. You can't get good playing with game improvement irons...that's why most of the single digits on this forum are playing "players" irons... Sell this set for $100 bucks in 2 years and start all over...by then you'll be able to customize something more specific to his needs...

looks like you have a winner with the Slingshot 4D...they are 1.25 inch shorter than standard so they might only last 1 or 2 seasons...but for the money...who cares...go for it. http://www.golfalot.com/equipment-re...haft-iron.aspx

BTW...when I said cut down 1/2 inch, this was just a general guidline, attached is a chart that can help you measure your son. You can allow some length for him to grow into, but he will need to choke up a little...no more than an inch. http://www.golfspyder.com/golf-club-length.html

4'11" is too short for standard clubs...even choking down.

That's like saying it's OK for them to do it (because you expect it). Here's some food for thought, If we don't expect people to behave improperly and call them on it when they do, society will uphold a better moral standard. Yes it could often result in conflict, but that is why we have peace officers and why we pay tax. No way in Hell I will deprive my children from experiences I enjoyed as a child... Too many people bite their lip to prevent conflict, it only sends a bad message...

Think of it this way. An iron set gets longer from PW to 3 iron. The length is not adjusted from the butt end, the shafts are tipped to match the weight of the head, your PW being the heaviest. The butt end is trimmed too, but it has little effect on shaft stiffness. When you pull a 3 iron shaft and put it in a 5 iron, you not only lengthen the area of the shaft that bends, the club head is also heavier, so the combination of both produces more flex. Stepping refers to the steps in the shaft, the more steps the more flexible, a 3 iron has more steps than a 5 iron, but the head is lighter, so the flex remains consistent. Typically, 3 steps equals a full flex, so if you soft step a dynamic gold "stiff" 3 times, you'll have a regular shaft. Many club fitters will buy blank shafts, they are all the same size, tipping the shaft will determine the flex, they can create any flex they want. I could get more specific and discuss frequency and such, but it is not important. Soft stepping a shaft produces greater flexibility, it can also change the kick point, the spot the shaft bends the most, this can have an effect on ball flight (lower kick point higher flight and vice versa). This is not really important for what you plan to do, bottom line, soft stepping a regular shaft for your son will produce a slightly more flexible shaft the produces higher ball flight. Because the shaft will be a bit shorter, the club head will feel lighter (think about swinging a ball and chain, the longer the chain, the heavier the ball will feel) Hope this helps...

That makes sense...my average carry is 250 and I'll see roll out to 270'ish (at about 75-80 degrees). I hit a 325 yard drive in Whistler this summer; it was 90 degrees and of course Whistler quite a bit above sea level compared to Vancouver. I was playing Pro V1x. From what I understand, 80-90 compression balls reach their peak around 80 degrees...from 70 degrees to 50 degrees, I'm only going to see 15-20 yard difference in drive...5-6 Yard for long iron and not much in the short irons...

Then you were playing a low or Zero compression ball (like the Wilson zip). Or the ball you played was room temp before you started your round, but it still should have been effected over the round. Temperature effects the compression of a typical 80 compression ball; you cannot change the physics simply because you did not notice...

Well if you normally drive the ball 250 and now it's only going 200 (carry), you are about 20% short of normal...so you might hit a 7 iron 120 instead of 150. This would be an extreme example, say 30 degrees weather. The guys in England might have been playing in weather that reduced distance only 5 or 10%, of course sea level and air pressure will make a difference too. I think the temp rule would mostly apply to playing in the same neck of the woods. It's 40's and 50's where I am right now, my 5 iron is only going about 150-160 vs 185 on a warm day (I do rotate warm balls in my pocket though, so I'm not seeing a big difference in this case) I read in the same research article that it takes a ball 2 hours to acclimate to new temps...so you could play most of a round rotating balls in your pocket without much difference. I've also heard touring pro's say their caddies keep balls in their pocket on cold days...

Get fit for length and lie only, you don't even know how you'll swing the club in a year. Unless you already swing a driver 100 MPH, just about any regular steel shaft will do for now. Spend $150-200 on ebay Even better, buy these. http://www.rockbottomgolf.com/cosmo-...et-steel.html# Yes they are very cheap at $49, but you need to know the story behind the company. Cosmo Golf was a leading components maker in Canada until they went belly up 2 years ago, they were around for more than 20 years and many pro shops used them to custom fit. These are a knockoff of the ping i5/10 series, but the long irons are more like the G5/10 (wider sole). 17-4 steel is used by many of the big brands. The shaft in these clubs would cost you $200 to buy separate at golfsmith. My first set 9 years ago was this same brand, I broke 80 with them within 5 years and moved on to players clubs. Spend the other $550 on lessons and you'll take 2 years off your progress as a player...

Another option would be to buy the heads from golfworks or golfsmith, you can get a good intermediate head (don't do the junior thing), for $10-$15 a head. Buy some pulled shafts off ebay for $25-$50 and some grips. Cost at the end of the day will be the same, but the work will be easier and you can do it all yourself (if you're interested in the project) Start a thread asking the guys what they think would be nice "clean" intermediate head from Maltby or the golfsmith lines and go from there. The respective website also have some pretty good detail as well. Go for less offset, your son does not need it as he's not developed any flaws yet. As for shafts, you can step back any regular flex shaft. Buy a standard weight though, because you will be shortening them, you will be reducing the swing weight anyway... Of course the easiest thing to do would be to buy the irons I mentioned, drop them off with the driving range pro and pick them back up in a week

You got it now. You need the proper tools to pull the heads off, It's not too difficult. You can buy a heat gun for $25 and a shaft puller off Ebay for for under $100. These 2 tools are essential if you are going to save the shaft; the tips can bend very easily under high heat, so if you just heat up and twist off, you will ruin the shafts. You may be better off just paying a driving range pro to do it for you. I have the tools because I like to tinker (and I have 4 kids). My driving range pro re-shafts for $5-$7 per club and and re-grips for $0.50. If you do buy the tools and do it yourself, there are some great tutorials at golf smith. I buy a lot of my components from GolfWorks, which is actually where I bought the grips you asked about. I bought my son these... http://www.golfworks.com/product.asp...HMS_A_cn_E_694 . They're really easy on the hands, but still firm. You can cut steel shafts with a miter saw no problem, just tape the shaft up first. Re-griping is also very easy, you'll need a vice and shaft protector. Golf smith also has tutorials for this too. The precision clubs will be great to work with as they require no ferrule.

I did not buy my first set of new clubs until this year (9 years of playing); all clubs were slightly used off ebay (one demo set from club pro shop); my first set was new from Golf Town, but they were a gift. You can get a new or almost new set off ebay for less than $300. The set I just moved on from were Cleveland CG2's (still played by a few touring pro's), they cost me $180 and were near mint (new they would have been around $900 CAN). You should get measure for what would be a typical set-up for your wrist measurement to the floor. You might be plus minus a degree (or 2) lie angle. Then look for any intermediate set that fits the bill on ebay or RockBottomGolf. If you measure anything other than standard, deals get even better... With a used set, you'll have some resale value and switching from set to set as you progress will be very cheap. I'm on my 5th set in 9 years...

Yes, do not cut down the womans set, the swing weight will be so off that he'll not be able to learn proper tempo. If he does get bigger and stronger at age 13, he'll likely swing as fast or faster than an amateur woman anyway. Stepping back a steel set gives you more options as he grows...