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A better contact with the ball is going to compress the ball better even with less swing speed. And better ball compression means hitting the ball further. There is a calculation for it but I can no longer find the golf digest article. It explains why Brad Faxon was able to hit the ball reasonably far despite a slower swing speed than his peers because he was focused on better ball striking.

Or ball impact stickers. Pinnacle golf balls used to give them away for free or get a few from the custom fitters.

Shit. That's true. Didn't think about it. Thanks for reminding.

+1 Callaway used to name its 13 degrees 3 wood a 3+ . Now just every manufacturer makes their 3 wood 13 degrees strong. A higher lofted club is still the best option for forgiveness and some distance loss is inevitable.

I would personally die for a power fade. But there are so many reasons to a fade. The swing technique is usually the reason but so too could be the lie angle of your club. Like the guys here have said, having your swing looked it by a certified golf pro is the way to go.

I think there is still a lot of life left on your wedge. But if you spent all the 120 rounds in the bunker then it is another story. Most times a player is unlikely to smack a wedge at full force so the grooves tend to last a little longer. A bit of rust on the sweet spot of your wedge makes you looked like a seasoned PGA player as well.

I don't think any golfers need defending. They are big enough boys and most of them are over 6 feet. Poor people, oppressed people, victims of crime and those who do not have the ability to stand for themselves are the ones that need defending. That said, I prefer golfers with a bit of attitude, could rouse the crowd or entertaining. I'd rather watch Sergio than many other golfers rank higher than him.

Looked like that to me as well.

Did Tiger drop his ball at the point of entry or line of entry?

Did you break them at the neck and hosel? If so , then it is quite possible that the torque of the shaft was too high for you. The tensile strength of the particular shaft could not sustain the twist of the head. But low torque graphites are very expensive, much more than steel. Can I suggest you speak to a certified club fitter and get their opinions too? Then you can make a more informed decision especially since you like the feel of graphite. I do find KBS steel shaft having the soft feel of graphite so you may also like to consider those.

This is pretty rare. Greg Norman, Phil Mickelson, KJ Choi had all won tournaments with graphite shafts. I suspect that it was the quality of the shaft and perhaps age plays a part as 845 were pretty old clubs and I presume you have not re-shafted them since. Even if they were steel, the rust would have also weakened them by now. If it were due to being graphite, you would have broken them when they were new, and not now, unless your swing speed have increased exponentially over the last 15 years

Ace. +ve rep from me for the analogy of the year. And freaking funny to boot as well.

Yes, it was from the Aaron Baddeley Golf Digest article. Oh dear, I really don't want to step on anyone's toes but I am struggling to understand the mechanics so please pardon me if this sounded ignorant. I have to put my hands up and say that I understand very little, if at all about Stack and Tilt but I still couldn't reconcile that it isn't a reverse pivot. If the head stays in the same position for the backswing, how could the spine be straight when the upper body is rotated? This was a copy of the picture and an excerpt from the article from 2007. Body stays centered The spine should be vertical at the top , which makes the player feel tipped over the front leg. This tilting toward the target happens continuously during the backswing. At the top, the weight on the front foot has increased slightly . The head stays in place, so the ball remains centered in the player's vision. If the head shifts, it has the same effect as the ball moving and inhibits solid contact. Read More http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2007-06/stackandtilt1_gd0706#ixzz2Sw6BmVvx

Just an illustration of how Michelle Wie has fizzled out. I have completely forgotten about her since Ernie Els called gave her that cringeworthy name that appeared all over the press. I don't even recall when was that.

BostonBrew. Understand how you feel. I get confused these days too when how with every new clubs were meant to go longer and hit easier stating it was state of the art and made with alloy composite that can only be found on Mars. If that was the case, I should have been a club pro by now. Golf clubs design and technology has not changed much over the last 10-12 years. I looked at the new golf clubs such as the new Mizuno MP-H4 with a niche club brand known as Zero Tolerance from 10 years ago. The design was very similar. However, I do believe shaft technology has improved tremendously. For the OP, go for what you feel good when setting up and looking at it every morning. Most clubs are so well made these days that even blades has become quite easy to hit.

I am old school. I prefer hearing woods than metals. So if a pro uses Ping Eye 2 (illegal I know), what is the commentator going to say? "He is hitting with Beryllium Copper"? Poor form from the commentators trying to create a fag.

I have a soft spot for Vijay mainly due to his work ethic and getting to where is he today purely by his own. Nothing put on his plate. He was wrong to sue the PGA Tour and should have just let it go but I don't see how bringing up the scorecard incident is relevant in this case. Unlike many privileged golfers, Vijay came from a pretty tough background and I can understand why he felt so vindictive about it.

Thanks for correcting me there. If using your recommended ration of 65/25/10. For the 65%, how would you divide it between driver, 3 wood, long and short irons?

Completely agree with you and SoundandFury. As I pointed out, that was before designated tee-time. I reckon Tour players would spend a huge amount of time for Drivers and woods during practice. In the end, they won't be where they are without practising hard. Vijay Singh for example was notoriously known for wrecking a few gloves every practice. But by and large, their overall practice time for each club would probably be proportionate to the chances of the clubs being used on a course. For eg, 26 strokes for putting, so putting time = 26/72 = roughly 35%.

I must be living in a cocoon and I just knew about Stack and Tilt from an old copy of Golf Digest. I am not sure if this was from TGM as some say on this forum. I have been learning from a TGM instructor since 2009 and I was never taught Stack and Tilt. Looked like a reverse pivot if you ask me.

Good swing. It is hard to judge looking at the front as we wouldn't be able to see your swing plane and swing path (in-out or out-in). Can I suggest you also video your swing from the side to give yourself a better view of the swing?

Yes I would be quite careful with golf analysis by golf editors. Prefer to talk to through with a golf pro. You don't know if something was the cause or the effect. One thing quite obvious when I saw Adam Scott in person was his left hand flip to the right quite deliberately in his takeaway. I thought that was the biggest difference between him and Tiger even if they shared very identical swing. It is less obvious now compared to 3-4 years ago. I also don't think there is much anyone could fault about his swing.

Agree 100%. It was something I was told to do at the range to fix my my cupped wrist and over swing. Would never never want to try or be seen doing that on the course. I would die from embarassment.

Ok, I hold my hands up. I have done it and I was asked to do it by my coach. He was correcting my over-swing (causing my arms to bend and the shaft passing parallel. Also failed to keep a flat wrist). I was asked to pause, check where the swing plane was and also my wrist. And then initiate the down swing and strike the ball. Doing this wouldn't affect the distance or ball striking. However it was butt ugly to look it.

I share the same sentiments as Gerald. Pitching Wedge - Absolutely as it is a natural progression from 9 iron. Sand Wedge - Absolutely necessary. And for a beginner the higher the bounce the better. Oh wait, what about those flop shots?! Explained in LW. Gap Wedge - Preferable. As Gerald has said, the gap between a Pitching Wedge 48* and Sand Wedge 56* is too wide. You need something in between as you may not be confident on a 3/4 Pitching Wedge shot and you don't want to start kicking yourself for not buying a gap wedge. Lob Wedge - Can do without and preferably so. Lob wedge are normally 4 degrees bounce to sliding under the golf ball. That is hard to execute with very small margin for error and if not done properly, you are going to get fat or thin shots. So what do you do with 20-30 yards in? Choke down on a sand wedge and give it a full swing. Obviously as you progress, you could start playing with LW with varying degree of bounces. LW can be extremely useful for some courses but as a beginner, it wouldn't harm to keep in simple and play percentage golf.