MConstantineJr

Don't hesitate. I have played a 3 in the past. As good as anything out there. Make sure the shaft is what you want.

Top Flite Gamer (2 dozen for $30) and Top Flite Gamer Tour (2 dozen for $35) both at Dicks. Great balls. They also have Pro V x outs in the low $30 range for 1 dozen.

I'm in the camp of answering these questions in terms of degrees. I hit my 39* 8 iron from 150 out. I'm sure most others 7 irons (again assuming as I see about 80% of players playing modern lofts) are on average 32* and 8 irons 35*. I used to hit a modern standard 7 iron (at 32*) 150 yards and that was on a great swing. But through about a year of dedicated practice am now hitting a bladed 8 iron from that distance +\- 10 yards depending upon conditions and feel. Practice practice practice. That about all I can say. I didn't see significant progress until a about my 10th month of relentlessly working out my swing.

I've been there. Tried the same thing. I'm not one to tell people don't do this and don't to that because everyone is different. I can say however that the style you are speaking of was just like my old crap swing. Works some days and doesn't work some days. I went away from it after half a season. Pounded balls at the range for 2 years until I had a natural feeling and no gimmick swing. Went from super strong grip and all ball positions forward in stance to fllattening out my swing tremendously. Found a solid constant grip and constant set up for all clubs. The power I have added is tremendous with a flatter swing (former baseball player so it feels natural). I used to be a 10 finger grip guy but now interlock and my ball position is constant middle for irons and hybrids while driver and 3w is off left heel. Long story short, do what you have to do but make sure you find the swing plane that fits you, get a good consistent grip and a good consistent set up. Without those 3 you are set up for failure.

The Banquet of beers. The real Coors. Not that Coors light crap.

Whitherspoons Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey neat with a La Palina Goldie #2 cigar. Pretty decent bourban. Killer cigar.

Driver - Callaway Xhot 10.5 4 wood - Callaway Xhot 17.0 3H - Maltby KE4 ST-H 4H - Maltby KE4 ST-H 5-Gap - Maltby TE Forged 54 & 58 Cleveland RTX Oddysey Versa 90 Sabertooth 35 inch

It took 5 years to knock my 17 degree 3W 2009 Cleveland launcher out of my bag. The club to do it was the 17 degree 4 wood Callaway X Hot. Off the deck is a breeze.

Crap! Good eye. Alright I have some work to do this weekend. Still pretty happy with the steps I've taken. Also, my target is also to the left. So I guesss I set up closed.

Looking at the golfer to the right he is a little flatter at the top which is an easy adjustment for me. I also think that with the more verticle backswing I tend to ever so slightly start my downsng with my right should a tad OTT but I correct it in time for contact. I just got a little more verticle here because it eliminated my hook. Shifting my weight forward with my recently old super flat swing was a breeze. I will mess around with this theory too. I'll make sure to take a front view video as well as get a better down the line view. I think that view was a little off center giving the perception I was pulling the ball. My target is not visitble as is far off in the distant about where your red verticle line drawn through my head is.

Touche indeed! Okay, the right foot turned out is a breeze and I will implement that ASAP. Actually I used to have a very turned out right and left foot but for some reason I have gone away from that. I am assuming that tip was in the video which I have not yet been able to watch (work lap top sound is out). I will start with this change as well as the right hand neutral grip change and post a few swings this weekend. I will also make a conscious effort to get a bit deeper in the down swing, of course assuming the right foot turned out helps me turn a bit more. One more thing I noticed is that I could probably have my shoulders more centered over my knees with less hunch in my back. That may help with my wieght shifting forward as I feel like in the swings above I am out on my toes when I finish. What do you think?

Also, at what point to I concede to physical limitations in the backswing? I am to the point where if I get any more turn I will feel uncomfortable and things will feel forced quite a bit. I am generating some really good power with the swing above driving the ball 240-260 (with a scattered 270-300 here and there), 3 wood 220-240, hybrid 210, 5 iron 190 and 7 iron 160 (all laser range finder verified w/slope adjusment). I am parallel with the shaft at the top which I have never been able to do and I am parallel again with a decent triangle formed with my arms before I begin extension. This feels more like a baseball swing to me than anything and I played quite a bit of ball up through college so I think that is def helping me. When I get a chance I am going to take a couple screen shots of what I am talking about and post to get your thoughts.

Thanks mvmac. I appreciate the time you took to help me out. A few things about where I stand with my current swing. I understand what you said about my hook being a pull but I assure you that my pull is really not an issue. When I pull it's only about 5-10 yards left which for now I am willing to deal with. When I get too flat I tend to hook by coming too much from the inside, but I did a good job of not being too flat on the backswing in the above video so I did not produce any hooks. I had THE WORST OTT move in the history of golf for the past 3 years. No matter what I did I could not shake it. I had a super strong grip with both hands (hence the right hand being strong in the video) and would half swing my way to a score of anywhere from 88-104 on average (not 94 as I posted). I have finally shaken that dreaded OTT killer move. The swing above is a nuetral left hand and strong right hand with a 10 finger grip (I won't ever give up the 10 finger). I will however see if I can turn the right hand a bit more neutral and see what that does. Believe it or not the swing above is the biggest breakthrough for me in about a low guestimate of 5,000 range balls hit over the past 3 months. Just as recent as yesterday I was at the range for 4 hours endlessly hitting balls and nothing was consistant. It always came and went and never felt comfortable. I hit 5 buckets today at about 90 balls a bucket. I hit rougly 80% of those balls good to great, 10% hook, 10% crap. My usual range sessions are 80% crap, 10% crappier, 10% good, and those 10% good I am only speaking of crisp contact and not necessarily the direction I intended them to go. I will surely pocket this helpful info you gave me above as I know can always improve and am very dedicated as noted by my endless hours of range time this summer. I am not sure how much more I want to mess with my backswing as I am not sure I have the ability or flexibility to turn anymore without distrupting my balance. I think however I can get a touch flatter on the backswing which allows me to create a bit more turn without producing that hook I speak of while also allowing me to product more depth on the downswing (am I far off base with that thought). Also, I know I can do a better weight transfer and that is something I will slowly work. As for the SoCal outting, I was all set to join but I am relocating with my company to Texas in Janauary and I will be doing some business there the first two weeks of December so I am unfortunately not going to be able to make it. I was really hoping for an early November or mid December date. Empire Lakes is a course I play often and it is a fun and challenging course.

I've been Playing Golf for: 2 years My current handicap index or average score is: 88-94 My typical ball flight is: High and straight The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Hook I'm hitting a Maltby TE Forged 5 iron at 27 degrees to the blue and white target 200 yards away. My average was about 195 here. Not looking for advice or tips per say. Beginning of this summer I was horrible. Couldn't get an iron off the ground. I've put in countless hours of work. [VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9My2DdahNYk[/VIDEO]

Either one is good but the Mountain is what I would recommend.

I go about it two ways depending on how much club head club-head control I have that day. I either put the ball back in my stance and make about a 1/2 swing with a lower lofted club or I put the ball forward in my stance (if I'm feeling good control that day) and catch a lower lofted club thin promoting a lower ball flight. I prefer catching it thin as when I put it in the back of my stance I can sometimes come down too steep popping it up too much to stay below the obstacle.

I hit the range about 8 times to every 1 outing in which I usually hit 200 plus balls per range session. I start with my Gap wedge. When I'm grooving that I move to my 9 or PW. When I'm grooving that I move to an 8 or 7 and continue this throughout the bag. When I get through the back I grab the scorecard and play a mock round with whatever energy I have left if any. Once in a while I'll start with my long irons and work my way down to Gap and then my woods and hybrids. I may actually switch to this method as I find it easier to start grooving long irons right off the bat than I do short irons for some reason.

Angel Park is a good option.

Thanks guys! This is all good stuff. The primary reason for doing this is that with the sale of my house I can pay off my wife's student loans that are brutal, allows my wife to stay at home and raise our son and future kids, and it allows her to go to nursing school which she has always wanted. We can both tolerate the humidity being from the upper Midwest so weather isn't really a concern. I've never heard of the environmental factors south of Arlington until Desmond mentioned them. I'm sure glad he did because we were pretty set on Mansfield or Midlothian. I have a feeling we have 1 more move in us before our kids start to really go to school so I'm pretty content not spending an assload on a home and making some compromises. I've found some nice places in Flower Mound and everything I've read has been awesome. Guess I'll wait and see if and when the time comes to look for a home. I'll have a free 7 days to explore all areas. Also, if someone can expand on the air pollution thing that would be great. I'm gonna hit Google now and see what I can pull up.

And need some solid advice. Narrowed it down to 4 towns that have great schools. We have a 5 month old son and working on another soon. We are both from small towns in the Chicago and Wisconsin areas respectively. Looking for a similar small town feel but close enough to shopping, golf, etc. Our final choices are Flower Mound, Keller, Mansfield, Midlothian. Home prices don't matter. We stand to make a good sized profit on our current home. What we do want is a pretty good sized back yard and house that doesn't have neighbors right on top of us. So taking price out of the equation which town would you recommend and also which is less trafficky into and out of Arlington between 7am and 7 pm? And most importantly if anyone has any input into either Walnut Country Club or the Trophy Club CC or any CC for that matter I would gladly like to hear it. Thanks gents! Oh and convince me to either stay in SoCal or move to Dallas area. We still have time to accept or reject the offer.

My dream is for some day for someone to listen to me and build themselves a set of Maltby TE Forged. They are butter, cut through the turf with ease, and are the most forgiving forged iron I've ever hit. I wish I found them years ago.

My 7 iron at 37.25" and 35 degree loft is between 155-165 yards. That's plenty enough for me. I'm a huge opponent of jacked lofts. I think from the 6 iron down it makes the game harder for higher cappers. Swinging a 5 iron can be like swinging a 3 iron and they have no idea why it's so hard to hit a 5 iron. Sure when they get a hold of 1 they marvel at the fact they just hit a 5 iron 200 yards. But in reality it was most likely a 3 or 4 iron. To clarify I'm not against GI or SGI. I just hope that when those buying a 3 iron badged as a 5 iron that they fully understand they are really buying a 3-9 or 4-P not a 5-Gap and that the 5 and 6 may be tough to hit.

Maltby TE forged. Anyone from scratch to 30 can play these. I'm a huge fan and wouldn't consider anything else after much trial and ultimate error with Mizuno, Nike, Wilson, and Adams. They are that easy and forgiving. I promise. And the cost is about $280 shipped new which is a steal. If you want stronger loft by 1 degree over the traditional TE get the DBM (Or DMB can't remember) which have a black finish. Have a buddy who usually is around par. I wish I found these years ago.

My driver swing is completely different than any of my other clubs. With my irons, hybrids, and woods I have verticle swing path keeping the butt of the handle pointing between my toe line and the ball in the backswing. I cannot hit those clubs any other way with consistency. My driver I get a lot flatter and rotate with the butt of handle pointing at the far backside of the ball on my backswing. I have a very strong grip with my driver, woods, hybrid and a slightly strong grip or neutral grip (depending on the day and how I'm grooving it) with irons. It works for me. I've put in about 5000 range swings this summer and come to this conclusion. Don't care what anyone says. I'm not trying to go pro. Just trying to enjoy myself. If it takes different repeatable and easy (for me) to execute swings then thats what I'm gonna do!!