GangGreen

Finally broke the 20 mark and officially at 19.5 today...bogey golf here I come...hahaha!!!

Ditto, I played the Callaway SuperSofts last fall when the weather started getting cold and liked those so I tried the Chrome Softs early this season. They were fine for the most part but I couldn't stand them on the green either, just could not get a feel for them off the putter at all. Probably just in my head, but my putting seems to have improved since I've gone back to my normal ball.

Crazy good day for me yesterday, shot a 40/41 - 81 at the home course (it's a par 70 course). Never scored this well before (a good day for me is low 90's with the rare dip into the high 80's), just played out of my socks. Only thing I can figure is my last 2 rounds were at 2 extremely difficult and new courses for me so maybe getting back to a familiar course helped, but still it was insane. I've been hitting my irons and putting relatively well all year but have been getting killed off the tee. Yesterday was the first time the driver behaved. Stat-wise, 43% fairways, 39% GIR's, 34 putts. Started off on the back nine with a par-birdie-bogey-birdie and was +4 at the turn. Came back to reality somewhat on the back nine (the course's front nine) with a +7, although I did par 4 holes in a row on the back. Like I said, crazy day, it'll probably be a long long time before I get close to that score again, but going to enjoy it for now.

90% of my chipping/pitching is done with my PW (45) or GW (50). The other 10% is probably split equally between an 8i and my 56 degree SW. My thought process is to try to get really comfortable with one or two clubs around the green.

I srtarted taking lessons again in mid-February. The place I go to happens to also have an indoor facility so I thought it would be a good way to knock the rust off and start the year with getting the fundamentals back under my belt. It feels great to swing a club again, only downside is I really can't practice what I'm being taught much between lessons. I figure its better than nothing though.

This may sound stupid, when it comes to my score it's all about how I'm hitting my irons/wedges without question BUT when it comes to how I feel about my round more often then not it's how I feel I was hitting my driver (if that makes any sense). Put another way, I'm usually loving life when I'm hitting my driver well but I've also found that my best rounds almost always more closely correlate to how well I'm hitting my approach shots (even when I'm having one of THOSE days with the driver).

+1 for Eagles Landing, played there last summer, great course and the staff was fantastic. Would play there again in a heart beat. Only downside, no driving range.

Yes I do (unfortunately...haha). I use a phone app to keep track of my stats during the round and afterwards I try to replay each hole in my head to see what I did well and where I could improve. My recall is better on my home course, though, since it's easier for me to visualize each hole in greater detail.

I use a golf app on my phone (Golf Shot). I enter my score/stats after each hole (usually on my way to the next tee). I use a pencil/scorecard as a back-up too.

Physically speaking, I'd have to say I'd max out at about 3 rounds a week, especially if I threw in one or two range sessions a week on top of playing.

I've had this before too, for me it seemed to be the constant impact of hitting off harder surface driving range mats, especially early season when it's cold and my wrist are already tight. 2 things seemed to work when I had flair ups, one is to take more time off between driving range sessions (body needs time to recover and constantly swinging is just going to aggrevate it) and second was to wear wrist bands for a few weeks while I practiced until the pain went away. Your situation may be totally different then mine so take it with a grain of salt, worst thing, though, is just to keep trying to swing through the pain. Again, just my opinion, but I've found when I try to do that I inevitably (and unknowingly) end up changing up my swing to compensate for the pain and before I know it my swing has gone to heck.

FINALLY got out to swing some this weekend! Had my first lesson of the season scheduled on Saturday and it was just warm enough that we we're actually able to hit some balls outdoors for half the lesson. Sunday was also warm enough to hit the range. Felt great hitting some balls and I was pleasantly surprised how well I was striking it given how long its been. Sadly, the cold weather is back so this weekend was just a tease. Oh well, spring will be here soon enough.

I'm very interested in hearing how the instructors on the forum use technology with their students. Do you generally use the data to "see" tendancies in your clients swings or to determine how the things you've been working on with them are affecting the swing (or both). I took a good number of lessons last year with a great instructor. I've got my first lesson of the new year scheduled with him this Saturday (CAN'T WAIT!!!) and it will be indoors and with a flightscope. This will be a first for me so I'm just interested in knowing what to expect and/or what I should reallly be looking to get out of the session/data.

I did last year during the offseason and it really helped my lower back. Never went to an actual class, just used the free sessions offered on demand through our cable provider. This year I've decided that I need to work on building more strength so the yoga's been replaced with light weight training although I mix in some yoga every now and again for flexibility.

Thanks! Maybe I'll give the 7w a try, we've got a golf expo coming our way in a few weeks. It'll be a good chance to try some clubs out side-by-side.

I figure whatever you feel comfortable using is good enough for me. Personally, I carry a driver, 3w, 5w, 3h, and 4h and typically all of them get used at some point during any give round depending on the situation and how I'm hitting the ball that day. The driver and 3w are my go to clubs off the tee but I'll occassionally use the 5w or one of the hybrids for shorter par 4's. The 5w or hybrids get used for approach shots between 180 - 200 yards and the choice usually comes down to the lie (I hit the hybrids much better than the 5w out of the rough, but LOVE hitting the 5w out of the short grass). I recently purchased a new 4h (to replace an older one) and now debating whether I also replace my 3h or retire it for a 7w instead. For me, I think either club would cover the same distance gap but I'm leaning toward the 3h since I tend to find myself in less than ideal lies more often than not.

I'll let you know in about 2 months (when the season starts up again for me). I started some light weight training this offseason primarily to help my endurance on the golf course. I hit a lot of balls last year between lessons, practice, and rounds and felt totally beat-up by the end-of-summer and the soreness/fatigue definately affected my swing as the season progressed. I'm hopeful that being in better physical shape keeps my swing "intact" during rounds and through-out the season. If I can get an extra 5-10 yards more, all the better, although I tend to think the real gains will come more from continuing lessons and improving my ball striking. Where I think the improved fitness/strength will help is those late season back 9's when the body is screaming "no mas" and the swing starts getting sloppy as a result.

Good luck to the OP and, personally, I've found that any new club (or ball for that matter) that I purchase comes with a honeymoon period. They usually last for about a month, then it to come back to reality. The only club that hasn't happened with is a new 5W I purchased last year, I just can't seem to mishit it but, unfortunately, there aren't alot of instances where I can use it. I do think a lot of the honeymoon effect comes from focus, I find a new club feels strange and, as a result, I tend to be much more aware of my swing, etc. Eventually I get accustomed to the feel/look of the club and revert back.

Dropped the clubs off to be regripped this weekend...my way of officially ending the season...ugh!!!

Ignore my post, didn't see there was further discussion on this topic.

Interesting, I'm wondering how this translates to use of a heavier swing trainer, like the orange whip say for general use and/or pre-round warm up.

I'll probably do a little putter and hybrid window shopping this off-season. Not becuase I need them necessarily, but I'm just a sucker for shiny new toys! Would love to get fitted with new irons this off-season but will probably hold off until I get a little more use out of the one's I have now. I bought them when I got back into playing 2 years ago without a fitting, they're OK, but I just feel as though if I knew then what I know now I probably would have gone for something different. Hard to justify swapping out an entire set of irons that are only 2 years old though so I'll probably just stick with getting them re-gripped for now.

Weather was decent here in the Philadelphia area yesterday so I dusted off the clubs and got a round in. Hadn't played in about a month but still had the best day of my life off the tee, hitting 10/14 fairways, which is absolutely unheard of for me. From that point on, though, the rust showed and I was all over the place, especially my short game, so I ended the day with a 101. Despite the score, was thrilled to get out again this year.

In order: 1) Get in better golf shape 2) Keep up with the lessons 2) Break 90 3) HI at or below 18 by season's end

I'd go with the US Open for the same reason stated above.