TheSnapHooker

Thanks guys! Do you remember which shafts you tried?

I have decided to buy a set of Cobra S9 irons after hitting with the 2008 model and reading the reviews. However I saw that the 2007 model was Golf Digests editors choice, and I heard that the two models are different. Has anybody played with both models? Can you please give me any info or opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of them? The 2007 model is $100 cheaper so if it is as good I would be happy to get them. Also, I have tennis elbow which sometimes flares up when Im golfing, particularly hitting of mats at the range - and as I am in Japan, thats all I can afford to do most of the time! - so I was thinking about getting graphite shafts for the first time to make hitting balls more comfortable. Has anybody hit a set of s9s in graphite? Stiff or Regular? I have heard good things about Graphite Design shafts. Thanks in advance for your help!

I just bought a TaylorMade RAC wedge on the bay, and only after winning the auction did I read this fine print: *This item is FIRST QUALITY. It was returned to the manufacturer who resold it with No Warranty stamped on the hosel. I am now a bit worried - does anybody know anything about this kind of thing? Why would it have been returned to the manufacturer in the first place? Please ease my mind! Thanks

Some good replies! I especially like the crying babies analogy...

Thanks guys! I will give all these tips a go at the range tomorrow. I think I do have to come inside to inside more, rotate as I would on a full swing. Will try closing the face a tiny bit too and getting hands more in front of the ball.

Hey guys, I am a new member who is just getting back into golf after a few years of very sporadic play. I went own to the range for the first time in ever yesterday and hit 200 balls (im stiff today!). After I while I could hit the ball straight again - I can hit the ball very straight with no hint of fade or draw if I concentrate and get my four key components right (light grip, rotate hips, smooth swing and follow through) - of course that doesn`t always happen, and when it doesn`t the result is usually a nasty hook , but at least I CAN hit it straight and when I don`t I usually know what I`ve done wrong. However, when I take a shortened swing I slice the ball every time. It isn`t a bad slice, more of a strong fade, and it consistently fades the same amount every time, but I CAN`T hit it straight unless I take a full swing. This goes for all my clubs, from Driver to PW. Anybody got any ideas? Please help!

I get bored very easily at the range, so I imagine I`m playing a course I know very well. I hit my first shot with my driver or hybrid if it`s a short par 4, just as I would on the course. Then I imagine where the ball went and play the next shot accordingly. When I figure I`m on the green, I add two shots for putts and take that score. I take a one putt if I hit a VERY straight approach or accurate chip. I play all 18 holes and have an imaginary score at the end! It`s a good way to practice all shots, including low draws around imaginary trees This routine also has the advantage of replicating whats going to happen when you actually go for a round - your first shot of the day is likely to be your tee-off on the first hole.

I was at the range yesterday getting back into the game, and to the left and right of me were two guys hitting with new, planet-size drivers. What a terrible sound! CRACK!! CRACK!! in stereo. I had actually planned to buy a Sumo2 Sasquatch driver. I had a hit with my mate`s Sumo and I hit it longer and straighter than I can with my old Great Big Bertha - but then I realised that I didn`t actually enjoy HITTING the ball with that beast. I enjoyed the result, but the dead feel and horrible sound on contact was no fun. When I smoked it it didn`t feel any better than when I didn`t really catch it. Now I`m not dissing the clubs or the golfers who use them, I would almost certainly shoot better with one of the new beasts in my bag - but I play the game for fun and so I`m gonna stick with my old weapon which feels and sounds like a golf club. So carry on booming it past me with your new massive drivers guys....just please don`t stand either side of me on the range!

Anybody in Japan, anywhere at all?

Interesting replies guys! I am going back to New Zealand for a holiday next month, will be playing for the GolfTreeKillers championship with my mates (very important and prestigious tournament) so I will stick to righties till after that - then I will have a serious attempt at switching. I will let you guys know how the transition goes - should be fun/frustrating! It will be cool to hit a bit longer for sure! Habersham Golf - I may be joining you on the right(left?) side of the ball before too long

I don`t think so, for one main reason - the greens!!!! The holes are ridiculously long, so even if you were to play them like they were +1 par per hole i.e. try to get on a par 4 green in 3, you then have to two putt to make your bogey. Ever putted on glass before? There would be too many 3,4 and maybe even 5 putts to break 100.

I am left-handed, but when I first started playing golf I had access only to right-handed clubs so I used those. After a while I got decent with them (down to a 14) so I never bought a lefty set. When I played with a lefty mate I would sometimes have a whack with one of his clubs, and I could hit it further than my righties, though not nearly as straight. I was unable to chip with them but I could putt with a lefty putter. Occasionally after a particularly bad round with my righties I would vow to pick up a cheap used set of lefties, go down the range and become a decent lefty, but I never did. I just bought a beautiful used set of RH irons (see sig) to get back into golf with, so I guess I wont be changing my dexterity anytime soon. Any other natural lefties out there facing the wrong way over the ball!?

Hello, this is my first new thread! I have just bought some clubs (see my sig) and am going to get back into golf after a few years off. I live in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan and I was wondering if there are any SandTrap members around here? Cheers!

Sadly I have cheated a few times, though not for a few years. If somebody else was recording the scores and said, what did you have, a bogey? when I really had double, I have been known to say `yeah a bogey`. Not for a while though!!

http://www.pngolf.co.nz/index.html - my home course from the country with the most courses per capita in the world (New Zealand) and the region with the most courses per capita in NZ (Manawatu). Nice course, fairly tough, membership inexpensive. Everybody plays golf in NZ! (or tries to)