Foot Wedge

I've tried to work on turning my right shoulder more through impact as was recommended, but mainly just with mirror work and hitting some wiffle balls in the attic. Haven't had the chance to hit real balls till this Saturday. No video since I was in a bit of a rush and forgot my little tripod but I wish I had documented the shank clinic I put on. My miss is towards the toe so to hit probably 20 of them was just comical. Not sure if trying to open up my chest more is pushing the club (and hosel) towards the ball more, some decent strikes were a touch heel side. Might have to set the hitting net back up and take some video.

I always thought this was about shooting haha or am I thinking of "slow is smooth and smooth is fast"

Overrated. That's why people recommend lessons, not a shrink.

What exactly is the cause of the blowup hole? It's important to ask several iterations of "why?". You generally don't need to ask "why" more than 5 times to get to the origin of a problem. Example: The hole went to hell after I went for it...Why? Landed in a hazard...Why? Hit a worm burner into the creek 50 yards ahead...why? I suck at hitting my FW off the turf...practice with the FW. OR The hole went to hell after I went for it...why? Duffed the 40 yard pitch I had left into a nasty bunker...why? Decelerated on the downswing...why? I can't gauge my partial wedges...practice partial wedges. Not doubting your experience, but just providing a different point of view. Addressing the root cause of the blowups is going to help more than just saying screw it, I'm laying up. The second example is from personal experience early on where I used to follow the silly notion of "leaving myself a full swing into the green" on par 5s to avoid those "tricky" in-between ranges.

Yes, air is denser. At ~40*F, I take one more club.

I got relatively lucky last year in that Chrome Softs were on sale (I think they had just come out with a new generation or something) so my mother in law ended up getting me premium golf balls with the 'not the cheapest, not the most expensive' mentality. However I don't play premium balls and I still had a bunch of e6's left so I haven't used them yet.

And some male golfers are ego-driven jabronis. My friend smokes his 7 wood and stumbled upon it once he gave up on trying to figure out how to hit his hybrid. He just uses what works for him, stigmas be damned. It's a good debate especially in this particular segment of clubs that is extremely personal. At this range of the bag (higher lofted FWs, hybrids, driving irons) people get so picky about looks, length, feel, needs based on courses/player ability, etc etc that it's really tough to objectively say what is best for someone. In my opinion it's a fun segment of the bag.

It was fine for me since I hit 5-7 irons 90% of the time, though that extra foot of space would have been nice. Especially if you're taller than I am (and most people are) and have a wider stance. My back foot was very close to the back edge since the tee was in the middle of the mat. Roofing nails, they have a wider head, but a staple gun would probably work much better. Yup, just wood screws. I raised it to get it flush with the mat. It's close to 2.5" thick so I needed three layers of plywood just to get it about flush with the mat when it's sitting on bare concrete. Even then I cut up a box and put a layer or two of cardboard under all the wood to really get it even, which might not be necessary if you use thicker carpet than I did. Mine was paper thin. If I'm understanding what you're saying correctly, the mat would sit on top of the first layer, which would put it close to 1.75" above your standing surface, FYI. I didn't, it just sits in the cutout. I cut it pretty close to size so there isn't too much play. Hope this helps. If you want I can whip up a little diagram and PM it to you.

My exact setup, works like a charm. I found that 3 layers of (i think) 3/4" plywood with some cheap patio "grass" carpet on top was almost exactly flush with the real feel mat. First layer is the platform, bottom 2 are the supports. Basically I got a 8'x4' slab of plywood, cut out a 4'x4' "platform" then cut up the remainder into (4) 1'x4' strips. I made 2 stacks of 2 strips and screwed the platform on top of them as supports. But if you've got spare lumber around I'm sure there are plenty of ways to get it flush with the mat, that's just how I did it. I think there are a couple videos in my swing thread that show the platform. One tip though, when you cut out the rectangle, don't center it like I did, have it forward on the platform. There's a hole for a tee in the middle of the mat, so if you want to hit driver you'll end up standing way back on the platform.

Sure, I agree with that. They, and amateurs, make adjustments based on course conditions like saying "I'm against the wind, I'll club up" or "I've got a jumper lie, I'll club down", that much is obvious. Not too much number crunching going on otherwise you'd just slow everyone down. But again, that's not what OP or any of the responses were talking about, the topic is choosing a set of irons.

Shit. Learn something new every day I guess.

I (and most people) also agree with the old "indian not the arrow" belief. And yeah it's common sense that you have to adjust to real world course conditions. If I decide to play in 35* weather weather with 25 mph winds I won't be saying "damned numbers were off" when I inevitably play worse. That's not the point I was making, I was talking about club design and playing what works best for you. The "numbers" really just add up to what the ball does in the air. If you're testing 3 different sets of irons and one of them is producing the best results out of the three, wouldn't it be beneficial to go with those irons? Yeah because they, like all humans, are capable of having a bad day. Even with the equipment that is meticulously optimized for their needs. Not what I was talking about. No disagreement there, never said they couldn't. Again, indian not the arrow and not what I was talking about. But it's funny that you use Tiger as an example since he is one of the most detail oriented and picky when it comes to equipment. He'd probably feel weird about your driver at address and complain about hitting your irons too high all while shooting said 65. Since we're starting to veer off topic, OP: hit them both and go with what you like.

No. some club designs prioritize consistency over across the face forgiveness. Anyone should know what the club is going to do. And getting the results you want from a club is good for everyone. For example, even though I suck, I don't need clubs that maximize distance since there's no point in having a PW that carries like an 8.5 iron and leaves me with a 35 yard gap to my 50* wedge. That's just one factor. Weight is also important. I carry shafts from light weight stiff flex to heavier weight regular flex. If you mean that having the right shaft is important, then yes I agree.

Learn something new every day!

Is walking more physically demanding? Sure. Should there be different handicaps? No. The main reason I don't have a handicap is because I prefer to walk 9. That's my choice. The very few times I have walked 18 I crap the bed the last hole. Maybe I'm a little fatigued because of the walking. But I don't need another handicap, I should just try to play more 18 hole golf and get used to it.