bukifvr

I'd definitely go the used route. I was at a small golf shop the other day and saw some nice used Ping's and Cleveland irons for $150.

When going through the fitting process they measure the distance of your wrist to the floor, then there is a table of recommended driver and 5 iron lengths. Knowing these measurements you figure out how long the other clubs should be. It is standard to have a 1/2" difference in length between each subsequent club. For example a 2W is 1/2" shorter than a Driver, a 6 iron is 1/2" shorter than a 5 iron. If you tell me what your wrist to floor measurement is, I can look up the recommended Driver and 5 iron lengths. This is from Golfsmith's Basics of Clubmaking book.

Just living with the scratches is one way to go, but here's a couple of ideas if you want to try to repair those scratches. 1. Do it yourself with automotive touch-up paint 2. Take to an automotive body shop and see if they will paint it for you. 3. Golfsmith use to have a service where they would repaint clubheads. I don't know if they still have this service. It use to be listed in there Clubmakers catalog.

LOL! Sorry, This is just sad.. Unnatural love? More like mutual respect!

Well, I did not know that, I realized that they weren't muscle backs, but I did not think they were true cavity backs either. Anyways 2 clubs with similar model names is pretty confusing.

Totally agree, I'm new to this forum and I have already noticed how often people ask "What clubs should I buy?" I wonder how many threads on this forum start with something like that. Ultimately, you just gotta put the time in and go out and hit them, and make your own decision.

First of all, Congratulations on losing all that weight. That takes alot of hard work and tremendous discipline. I don't have any ideas to help your swing, but if you work on it like you did losing weight I'm sure your golf game will be back to form soon. Good job.

Lie Adjustment is important, but you really need to develop a consistent and repeatable swing for it to really be beneficial.

It works for me, it should work for you. Let me know. And they say Buckeyes and Wolverines don't get along. GO BUCKS!!! :)

Standard length for drivers used to be 44", but recently manufacturers have been making drivers longer and longer so they can boast improved distance. But longer shafts are harder to control and may result in more mishits and lost distance and poor flight path. Its better to play a slightly shorter club and hit the sweet spot on the clubface consistantly. That will give you better distance and keep you in the short grass.

Sorry but I think you got your path backwards, If the ball starts straight down the target line and then curves right, then the clubface would be square at impact and the path would be out to in. The ball would fly straight at first because of the square clubface but then the sidespin would take over because of the out to in swing path, which causes the ball to curve to the right.

The Titleist 690 CB irons are nice clubs, but they are blade like irons, and more of a Players club. What I mean is they are designed with an accomplished golfer in mind. These clubs might be difficult for you play because they are not very forgiving. Playing golf is challenging enough without you having to struggle with the clubs you have. My recommendation is to find a set of used cavity back irons. Because of their design, they have more perimeter weighting making them easier to hit, get the ball airborne, and more forgiving on mishits. All major manufacturers make cavity back irons.

To hit my driver lower, I adjust my ball position about 1 ball back in my stance and tee it lower. By doing this I change the point in my swing where I impact the ball. Instead of impacting the ball on a slight upswing, I impact it more level therefore my clubface is delofted and the ball flies on a lower trajectory.

Thanks for the link to this thread, I've only scanned it briefly, but it looks like what I have been talking about above. Thanks again.

This is an interesting thread. Not so much for the cupped left wrist or the laying off of the club, but more for the getting the right elbow in front of the right hip. I've struggled for a long time with inconsistent ball striking as the clubs got longer, and a backswing that is too long and wrists that collapse at the top. I asked myself why do I hit my pitching wedge better than my 5 iron. After much thought my conclusion was that when I swing a shorter club my right elbow feels more connected to my right side. I paid attention and I noticed that with longer clubs my right elbow would extend away from my body like a batter in baseball pumping his right elbow. I looked at the swing sequences of several tour players and noticed that none of them had this kind of position. Rather their right elbow seemed more tucked in and their right forearm more vertical. So made this my swing thought, to keep my right elbow more tucked in, more connected to my right side. By doing this I noticed several effects on my swing. First I noticed it encouraged my upper body to rotate more on the backswing. Second, it shortened my backswing and my wrists don't collapse at the top. Thirdly, it encourages my clubhead path to be more in to out, as opposed to out to in. I think I was casting my club, And lastly, after reading this thread, my right elbow is at or more in front of my right hip on the downswing, which I'm guessing by this thread is a good thing. Anyways, the result of all this is that my ball striking has improved a great deal with my longer clubs including my driver. SO to me the right elbow is really important in my swing. I don't know if all this makes sense, but that's how it seems to me. What do you guys think?

Well said

Your calluses are really just a consequence of rubbing and friction between your hand and grip. So it could be because of how you grip the club, or the texture of the new grips. Or those could be just fine. There's a reason why most golfers where a glove, and if you've ever noticed, many golfers will tape certain fingers when they play. I don't get calluses, but I do tape my left thumb so half the tape is over the nail and half on the skin. For some reason, even with a glove, the skin gets pulled away from the nail and gets sore and tender for a couple of days after a round of golf, Using tape while I golf just eliminates that problem.

I think some kind of rangefinder(whether it be a laser rangefinder of a gps system) is a great idea. Its difficult to select the proper club if you don't know the distance to your target.

Jaysquared and bjwestner, congratulations on your vast improvement of your golf game. When it comes to iron selection, I wouldn't worry about whether its a blade or cavity back. The most important thing is that you like the look, and feel of the club, and of course its performance in your hands. If you select a club that is ill suited for your game, you might struggle, get frustrated, and your game might suffer. Take your time, hit lots of different clubs, and get fitted for the irons you select. Good luck

OOOO, you can get lead tape at a golf store too.

Yeah, I'd definitely take some lessons and try to develop a more consistent swing, that will make picking a driver easier. Also try to find some demo days in your area. That's where a golf club manufacturer(s) make their clubs available for the public to try. Nice thing is the manufacturers rep is there. Even if you are not interested in buying their latest and greatest club, you can glean professional input as to what shaft and flex might be appropriate for you. Its usually free, and though they want to sell you their club, they are aware that most people just want to check them out. I think its really fun, and educational for your game.

All the major manufacturers will have a game improvement iron. One way you can get a list of them is to check Golf Magazines Clubtest, or Golf Digests Hot List. Personally I play the Mizuno JPX-825 Pro irons, which are considered Game Improvement irons without the bulky looks. Very nice irons. Mizuno also has the JPX-825 irons which are considered even more forgiving than the 825 Pros, but it is a cast clubhead as opposed to forged, and they are bulkier looking. I like the look and feel of the Pros better.

I would guess that you will need a lie adjustment; however, your lie angle is dependent upon the dynamics of your swing and may not match up with your static setup position. The only way you can know for sure is to have your lie angle checked with a dynamic fitting process. But you already knew that.

Assuming you are asking about impact tape, you can get it at most golf stores. It comes in 2 shapes, one for driver club face, and one for the iron clubface.