SwinginCaveman

Just ordered a set from them a couple days ago. Acer XK High Trajectory. Should be in sometime this week. I'll keep you posted.

I've always had problems with consistency. When my game was on, I played very well. When it was off, I couldn't hit a ball straight to save my life. I'm undergoing a major swing change this spring in hopes to gain some consistency. I have a tendency to have too many moving parts in my swing so a buddy of mine told me to try the Stack and Tilt. I'm still very new to it, but here's what I've gathered from it so far: -Most of your weight never moves from the front half of your body -Body doesn't move behind ball during backswing, arms swing slightly inside. -During backswing, back leg stays straight. -Turn shoulders down and around your body. -Keep hands and shaft slightly in front of the ball both at address and during the swing. I was working on this for a little bit but need some guidance as far as the keys to making this work. I've already noticed that I'm hitting more consistent. They aren't beautiful shots but they are consistent. I've also noticed that this swing gives me a natural low draw (I'm lefty). I'm not sure if I'm leaning the shaft too much at address and closing the face or if I'm not releasing the club because it's a new swing. Any help/tips would be appreciated. EDIT: I also read that this swing is tough for amateurs because they already put enough weight on the front foot and have trouble swinging from the inside out. That's exactly the opposite for me. I tend to hang back and swing from the inside naturally. When I try to move weight to my front foot, I top the ball. So I keep more weight on the back foot and I hit it fat. I could never find that happy medium.

The way I play, if it were to emulate anyone's swing, it would probably be smart to watch a guy like Freddie Couples. So simple and pure. Sweetest swing in golf IMO. I tend to think about too much and focus on too many things during my swing. Simple is good in my game, irons in particular. Steve Stricker is another player that comes to mind when talking about a simple swing. I wouldn't try to emulate Bubba's swing for my entire bag. I don't think I would want all that stress on my body anyways. Driver and maybe 3 wood would be the only clubs I could see that being consistent with.

I was reading a breakdown of Bubba's swing in the Master's Preview issue of Golf Digest. After looking at it for a while I have some thoughts. 1. There's a good deal of athleticism involved in his swing. 2. There are a lot of moving parts but he keeps them all moving in good harmony. I might be underestimating the difficulty of his swing, but it seems if there's enough athletic talent and enough practice, one can IMITATE his swing. I wouldn't expect to be able to reproduce it, but maybe emulate it. Rhythm would definitely be the big factor. I'm 20 years old and I've been a 3 sport athlete since I was in 5th grade. I might mess around with this concept for a little bit at the range. I think I have the athletic ability to do it but the rhythm would be difficult. Not optimistic about being able to do it, but I'm a 15 handicap in the midst of a major swing change so it couldn't hurt. Anyone else experiment with this?

When I talk about my poor shots I mean they are absolutely hopeless. I usually hit it thin and it never gets above my head and ends up 20 yards short and left of the green. Those I can chalk up to poor concentration and being lazy, which is why I'm stuck in the hole I'm in. A GI iron MAY help me avoid doing that but if I can eliminate those shots then a forged set would be perfect.

If I bought it brand new then you would be right. I bought the club used and admittedly didn't take great care of it so it's on it's way out. I'll have to go up to Golf Galaxy and try some out. I just wanted some ideas on which ones to try because I don't want to have 8 clubs taped up and ready to demo.

I know what you guys are saying about it being difficult to go from a blade to a GI. I used a set of Tommy Armour blades for the last year and a half and tried going back to my Nike CCi's without much success. I figured it was more the club not fitting me rather than the type of club it was. The way my game works, and it's the reason my handicap is now probably around 16 or 17, is consistency. It's hit or miss with me. Either I hit a really good shot right at the green or I miss badly and waste a shot playing from the rough 40 yards away. That said, when my game is on, it's on. When it's off, there is no club that can save me. My hopes were with a GI iron that I can find a happy medium between the good shots and bad shots. Maybe it would just be better to stay with something like an MX-25 and get some lessons?

I'm trying to rebuild my bag this year as I'm going to buckle down and get some time in on the course. I have a set of Tommy Armour blades but they aren't consistent enough for my swing yet. Companies like Mizuno and Ping offer different types of game improvement irons, from an "ultra game improvement" to a simple "game improvement" and everything in between. I would prefer not to go with the ultra game improvement because I will grow out of those very quickly but there's a lot of choices in the game improvement department. Some of the choices I've been looking at: Mizuno MX-200 Ping G5 Titleist AP1 Cobra S9 Callaway Burner Not really sure which way to go. Thoughts? Suggestions? I know it would be best to go out and try them all but I'm left handed and finding a store that has even 2 of these in stock at any given time is a long shot.

I've been playing an R7 for the last 3 years that I bought used; needless to say it's seen better days. I wanted to replace it this past year but didn't get out enough to spend the money. I'm glad I waited. There's a plethora of great drivers that have dropped below typical $200 mark for year-old drivers. This years crop includes: Taylor Made Tour Burner Nike Sumo 5000/5900 Cleveland HiBore XLS Callaway FT-i and FT-5 Callaway Hyper X Taylor Made Burner Ping Rapture I'm going to make an effort to get out once a week and my old R7 is not gonna hold up to that much play. Plus I'd like to get fitted for a driver for once. What are your guys experiences with these and other drivers below the $200 mark? Preference?

I have 2 sets of irons. The first is a set of Tommy Armour Silverscot blades and the second is a set of Nike CCi cavity backs. I've been using the blades for a year or so because I like the feedback I get from them. While not always good, it lets me know when I do something wrong so I know better for next time. As was said earlier, it doesn't matter what kind of club you're playing, if you make a bad swing you're going to get a bad result. Forgiveness is only going to help you so much. The only difference is a cavity back will put you on the edge of the green whereas a blade will put you in the bunker.

That makes sense. Like I said, I was a baseball player for a long time so standing away from the ball and having a flatter swing just feels more natural to me. I always felt that when I stood too close to the ball it forced me to compact my swing and that's what didn't feel quite right. I haven't made any full swings yet but I managed to find a comfortable position at address where my hands are much closer to my body, about a fist length away. Now I just have to work on it.

I also tried to relax my shoulders a bit but since I prefer to stand a little further away it just feels like too much of a reach. Maybe longer clubs?

This is just something I've observed but I tend to make more consistent contact with my longer irons, despite all the movement. I don't feel comfortable standing too close to the ball, I'd prefer to be further away. Also, as weird as it sounds, it feels a lot more comfortable to lift up my front foot just a little bit; probably because I was a baseball player for a long time. I can hold a follow-through without falling off balance but is that something I should address regardless?

I don't have one right now but I plan on making one sometime today. Is there a way to edit my original post so I don't have videos scattered all over this thread? EDIT: for now, I have a video of a 4 iron from the same camera position. I went out today with intent to keep my lower body more still and it worked well with the driver but when I tried it with a 6 iron all I did was hit it fat (like the divot goes further than the ball fat). I can't post the video because I used a few choice words but I'll see if I can get a better one tomorrow.

I'll have an iron video up as soon as it uploads to youtube

I took a video of my swing in hopes that you guys could give me some tips. The first video was with the driver and the second was with a 4 iron. A couple things that I took note of: 1. My right shoulder is significantly lower than my left in both videos. (I'm left handed for those who don't watch the video) I can understand it with the driver but I've never seen it done like that with irons. Clubs too short? Standing too far away from the ball? Habit? Not sure about this one. 2. On the backswing, my right foot comes up, but I think I can explain that one. The shoes I had on were not really meant for that outdoor grip, and the grass was also muddy from melting snow, so my feet slid around a little bit; probably won't happen with golf shoes. As far as anything else I'm not sure. Any comments or suggestions on things like backswing, grip, impact and/or follow-through? EDIT: I uploaded them to youtube but the links aren't showing up right. Anyone know how to host videos for this site?

Man 5 replies and already I have more than enough things to try out to diagnose the problem. Thanks guys. I'll have to get a tripod for my videocamera so I can watch my swing for myself. I think swaying is definitely a problem. I make too much of an effort to move towards the target and my hands are probably way in front of the ball. Spine angle may also be a problem. I was watching Tee It Up With Tiger and he mentioned spine angle. He said he was always taught to look under the shot, but to make sure that his head lined up with his spine on the followthrough. If it wasn't then his spine angle was off. Thanks for all the help guys! If anyone else has any ideas please share.

I have a mostly mental and partially physical block that makes me top the ball with irons off the fairway on occasion. Mentally, I feel like if I hit down on the ball then I'll hit it fat and hit a divot further than the ball. Physically, I'm not sure how to approach hitting down on the ball. I was always the type of person who tried to hit under it and that's probably what's holding my handicap where it is. I have tried making my first move towards the target, but when I do that, the club lags behind and I hit it fat. Any ideas? Tips? I don't get the mental block until I hit a bad shot, then it sticks with me for the next few holes.

The one I bought has an Aldila NV green 65 shaft. I've used it before and it has treated me really well so it shouldn't be a problem

So, after more than 2 seasons my R7 has finally had enough. I'm undergoing some swing changes so i didn't want to get fitted for a $400 driver if it's not going to work for me. I found an MX-500 on Callaway's pre-owned webiste for $85 in BRAND NEW condition. It has the same specs as my R7 with a shaft that I have had success with. I figured, hey, give it a whirl. I'll be honest and say that I haven't read a whole lot about this club, nor have I even hit it, but when I saw them in the stores I thought they looked pretty nice. Thoughts/opinions?

They finish about the middle of the pack in most comparisons that magazines do. Instead of getting a gold medal, they'll get a silver, but it won't be a bronze. A lot of it is because they say the performance does not justify the price, not because it's a bad club.

So on off-center hits, there was a net 4 yards difference between a cavity back and a muscle-back. Seems to support the notion that the gap between the two is closing. I'm willing to bet that if you took a blade from 15 years ago and tested it against a modern day cavity back then that margin would be near, or above, double digits.

Which is why I think so much of golf is mental. Riddle me this: You have a lower handicap than I do, but you're adding a set of cavity backs and I'm just getting rid of a set. I actually have the CCi's as well. I replaced them with blades and I could not be happier. I really don't notice much of a difference in forgiveness. If anything, the blades fly better on off-center hits than the Nike's do. The Nike's always gave me a bunch of trouble and now I feel that I'm a better player after making the switch. Like someone said earlier, blades get a bad rep because of how they were 10-15 years ago. Technology has advanced and don't think that it left blades behind. Just like hybrids, movable weight technology, interchangeable shafts and heads, the entire game is evolving. That's how sports are. They change with the times. I don't think blades are as hard to hit as they used to be. Granted, this is my experience and everyone will have their own, but they just didn't do it for me. Good luck with them, though. They're great clubs.

I'm not sure what happened with my game, but I used to play a set of Nike CCi irons and switched to the blades that I have now and I actually feel a lot more confident in my golf game. I think a lot of it is mental and I think that improved confidence will lead to better scores. For some reason I couldn't hit my Nike's well so that played in my mind during the swing and led to some poor shots. I think you should play whatever gives you the most confidence. With the technology in golf nowadays, blades are becoming easier to hit for average players anyways.

I bought my Taylor Made in my bag for $32. I'm not good enough yet to feel a big difference between my putter and any other high end putter with an insert.