ChrisWev

Thanks Lihu/ Jameson, I opt for the playing on course whenever I can which is when I finish work early enough and it's decent weather. The weather recently has been pretty crap over here in the UK (a lot of wind and rain) for the last week and I've only just got the SkyTrack so making best use of the time I suppose. To be honest I've learnt more about my swing messing around with this in the last couple of weeks than I have all summer on course (as far as the full swing goes). I'm a bit wary about going to the driving range as not sure how much of an impact range balls have, even the guys that run them don't have a clue if they're 100% balls, distance balls, 70% balls or whatever. Saying that, all the testing I've done previous on GC2 has been with the same range balls. I'm going to make some sort of base and a mat which I can peg to the grassed area at my course, so I can practise the alignment better to flags, rather than aiming at a stone 4 feet in front of me. Just by using the sim and face tape I am much better equipped to recognise a poor shot, and can often call where it's hit on the face before I look at the face tape (when using face tape that is). I'm much closer to centre now and get a lot more "pure" strikes and I think my swing speed has gone up with the extra confidence. I hit about 60 9i's yesterday (using the Z-star ball) that felt great but I was surprised why they were carrying only 3 yards further on average (124) than my PW (121), even though there was a large increase in my ball speed and much better strikes, over the previous set of 9i's. The absolute furthest carried 130, which is short of my old maximum. It didn't make sense until I realised it turns out the mat I was hitting off was loose (and having a wave/ ripple like effect before and after the ball which was adding way more spin). Hit another two after I fixed the problem and was up to 131 already, and they were not even great strikes, I reckon that average good strikes will go up to about 133, with a max of about 140. Lesson learnt in ensuring everything is set up correctly!

I also carried out some ball tests with the wedge, based on some suggestions from a previous thread I created: I wasn't swinging great for the TaylorMade's in the middle but the spin numbers looked good and 20% higher than the Z-Star. It's just a case of seeing if they're too high and what they're like with the driver and around the greens. The Bridgestone e7's were going about 4 yards further, but for the sake of them being very low spinning with wedges, the distance is just not worth it for holding greens.

Following on from yesterday, I've added 30 yards average onto my 5i carry (compared to a week ago) after my test today, just by setting the ball up slightly towards the toe, moving the ball slightly further forward in my stance and standing a bit more upright. I've gone from my 5 and 6 iron carrying the same as my 7i (150y) to gained distance with all, much cleaner strikes and miles better gapping Quite impressed with myself, especially the 5i that I got out to 189 carry, that one really felt sweet! Looking forward to putting this to test on the course when the weather stops being so crap!

It's on my reading list(along with a lot of things), but the only chance I ever get to read is pretty much on the spur of the moment when I'm out and about on my day job and get delayed for one reason or another. It's not really practical for me to be carrying a book around with me everywhere I go and I'll never get chance to read at home. I tried to get Broadie's "every shot counts" too, but that was only available with a us apple i.d and us payment card which is a bit stupid. E-books should certainly be the preferred option nowadays.

Is this (or will this) book available in .pdf or other digital format so I can read it on my iPad or iPhone? I wouldn't mid reading this but don't really bother with "physical" books now.

I've been carrying out some investigative work over the last month to figure out why my irons were bunching together distance wise, especially on the course. ie sometimes my 9i was carrying 140 yards, my 6i was carrying anywhere from 120-160, I've been reluctant to use my 5i and haven't even taken my 4i on the course. The "pure" strikes dropped in percentage with each longer club. Overall prior to my test I would estimate overall that my PW was drawing 15 yards 9i drawing slightly less, 8i pretty much straight (I guess this one was hitting centre of clubface more often, generally my best iron on course), 7i would sometimes fade and then a 15 yard fade with the 6 and a slice with the 5! I put some face tape on a couple of different clubs last week and my suspicions were correct, the longer the club gets, the more the strike has been going towards the heel which has been killing distance and having big gear effect issues. 4 July - 6i was carrying 147 yards average and never feels "pure", 6i was carrying less than my 7i! 7 July - 6i was carrying 151 yards average, changed a few things in setup. Got one out to 161 which felt "good". 23 July - 6i was carrying 153 yards average, started standing a bit more upright and aligning slightly towards the toe 25 July - 6i was carrying 162 yards average, put face tape on first shots were still way in the toe, so adjusted slightly and got shot pattern it to just inside the centre of the clubface. 6i started to feel like a club I could actually use! 27 July - 6i was carrying 171 yards average, adjusted ball position slightly further forward and got shot pattern to centre of the clubface with good grouping, bad ones were bottom groove. Really hit some good clean strikes. I'll be aiming to try this with the 5i now and see what happens and also quick check my pw,9,8 and 7. Once I'm getting better grouping near centre with all the clubs I'll have to re adjust where I'm aiming to account for the draw. I bit of 6i data from the last few weeks. Spin numbers are probably about 1500-2000rpm lower due to the face tape. The face tape is reducing spin, increasing carry but it's also probably having a small effect in reducing the spin loft too. I've checked the flightscope trajectory optimizer and my numbers without the face tape would carry about 5 yards less. Overall I've gained about 20 yards in a month, really happy with that. Don't read too much into the dispersion as I've not been paying much attention to the alignment. I've also moved my hitting area into the newly cleaned out garage (which will be my temporary swing room until I move house). It's much less noisy for the neighbours than when I was hitting in the garden and it's permanently set up with my skytack now so I can get a quick practice in more often. I've also been working on my putting for an hour or so every day, I've now got a putting mirror so I can check my eye line above the ball as well as my shoulders and been sticking more with the SBST (or very, very minor arc) pendulum approach to putting which I find much easier than the arc method. Distance control had been a major problem for me with the putter so I've put lines on the mirror so I can gauge how far I need to travel my club head back to putt for certain distances (I just guessed every putt before). This is helping massively as I've now easily figured out how much difference there is with my office carpet (v fast), practice green at the course (v slow), greens on course (medium), my carpet at home (medium). The problem I'm having now is it's hard for me to estimate the long putt distances over 20ft as the club travels too far back to use any estimated reference travel point on the ground.

What I meant by that is Dan is pretty scrawny by the looks of things. He even describes himself as less than average height and weight and only carries his driver 245, and hits 40% of fairways (based on last trackman stats when he was a 6 HCP). Statistically over time this isn't going to get you on tour, when the average swing speed is at least 10mph faster. ZJ is still probably swinging a good 8mph faster than Dan. Obviously I agree that Dan's swing needs looking at too. I may be incorrect but to me you need to get your swing speed up to tour average (113mph?) by the time you get to scratch (providing it's within your possible scope etc) to stand the best chance of getting/ staying on tour. I know it's not the be all and end all but a slow swing speed improvement along with any other improvements will make a massive difference. 10mph is about another 30 yards for total driver distance and if the S/S is in the tank you can always loft up to improve accuracy, Dan can't afford to do that to get to where he wants to be, which is probably one of the reasons he misses a lot of fairways. I would say it wasn't a big deal years ago (Drive for show, putt for dough etc), but now it obviously is or you just get left behind.

I think with him doing gym work and course time as somebody above mentioned it's more like 3,000 hours. Over 5 years with a couple of days off a week that's about 2 hours a day. I would say a lot on here wouldn't be far off that, in fact I'm pretty much mirroring what he's doing (I'm a year older). At my rate I expect to break 80 next year and hopefully to be playing at less than 10 HCP. With my rate I would need to go 10>5>3>1.5>0 just to get to scratch in 5 years which would be very difficult. He'll need to get to +5 and by then he will be 37, I would say Dan has more chance, 3,000 hours is not enough. Saying that, I think the gym work would be very important (Dan not doing that and being too weak has proven that) but it is going to tire him out. Thing is if he works on the right gym work for the golf swing he should be able to hit it miles, especially form the 15 HCP head start.

From experience with a lot of my mates that are just getting started: Take them to the range a couple of times when it's less busy so they don't feel nervous. Let them try a 5 wood, 7,PW and SW(ie don't get them started on the 2 iron). Then have a go at a par 3 course and some cheap 9 hole muni tracks. I wouldn't bother taking them on a "decent" 18 hole course until they're going to score 120 at the very most (I would say more like 105). With regards to technique I wouldn't go too heavy at first, if you have them thinking about the 50 things to do in the golf swing they will just get confused, cock it up, get mad and quit. Just get them to hit down on the ball. With regards to grip, let them do it how they want (probably baseball grip), whatever feels comfortable to them. It's easy enough to change this down the line. Don't bother teaching putting or chipping past a very basic level, they can sort that later. I would try to get them to not collapse (keep straight left arm) in the backswing as I've found this extremely hard to get out of. Keep them to 3/4 swings. Alternatively put them on a "get into golf" course, loads of instructors do these and they're used to teaching absolute beginners all the time.

I can only really count my best front 9's, which area quite a few 41's. I usually play late on an evening so hardly warm up and cock up the first hole and usually end up rushing the last 4-5 holes if I want to complete the 18 (which is never good for me). This usually inflates my 18 hole scores a fair bit. I've had a few 55's from 12 and then been gutted I didn't have time to do the 18 :( Think my best 18 is an 87, I know I'm better than that. I think I'll get a 39 for 9 holes before the end of August, which is another step on my way to breaking 80.

That's what I want, to be able to hold greens rather than blasting through, which happens too often :~( I've checked the Flightscope trajectory optimiser and I won't loose any carry from more loft, but can really reduce the roll. I'm going to try some softer balls to see how that helps and I'll be aiming for higher launch with the new clubs I think. There's something up with club deliver too I suspect. This summer I've transitioned my shot shape from a slice to a draw which starts straight and goes 10y or so left (as I've not figured out how much draw to play yet), maybe that is effecting spin, having the clubface closed and taking loft off.

Hi, a bit of help if any of you can explain or offer any advice? What would be typical examples of "good/ typical" launch angles for PW-5I, ie the second the ball leaves the face? The reason I ask is my launch angles (from SkyTrack, which are the same on GC2 HMT) don't seem to differ the amount that the lofts change with each club. Should they? I know spin should increases with more loft, expecting spin loft/ dynamic loft for an eventual higher launch but my spin numbers don't vary that much form 5I - PW (all spin numbers look low to me, might this be the ball type?). I use Ping G20's at the minute and Bridgestone E7 balls (which all tests are done with), both of which will be changed out soon. Data: Ping G20 Lofts My LA My BS Carry Back Spin PW 45 30 93 120 5000 9I 40 27 94 127 4400 8I 36 22 103 139 4800 7I 32 19 107 149 4500 6I 29 19 110 160 4500 5I 26 16 112 155 4000 Tests based on hitting about 10-15 shots, pretty much taking out the top two and the crap and averaging the rest. I've had some 5 Irons get up to 170-180 carry so there's something not right in there. I don't hit my 4 Iron, my 3hy launches at 12 deg and carries around 175 but I don't like that either, the shaft feels like an elastic band. I typically play the 7I in the centre of stance and then move to ball forward/ back half a ball length(ish) per club as this has seemed to get the most consistent strikes, but I'm not sure if I'm getting the best out of the lofts and obviously don't strike my 5I well. I don't really use my 5I often in all honesty. I know the gapping may look "right", but these are based on the better average so to speak, in reality the 5,6,7,8 and sometimes 9 all bunch up at 135-150 carry (or seem to on the course anyway). I know I should be hitting down with my PW and 9I etc but how quick should this be levelling out? should I still be hitting down with the 5I, which would improve the strike/ loft? It sometimes feels like I catch the 5 and 6 a bit thin (strike doesn't feel great) and these clubs are the only ones in my bag that sometimes fade, rather than 90% draw. I only have GC2 HMT data for the 7I which says I hit 5 degrees down with that, which apparently is ok? I'll post a vid once I set up my swing area the other way round (the way it's set up at the minute doesn't leave much room behind for the camera, or anything else for that matter), can't do a face on at the minute or I'll be whacking balls down the road .

Not 100% sure how USA handicap works but in the UK you would probably be closer to 15 HCP I think, your last round would have took you from 20 to 17 alone. You would be one of the few whose US handicap would be higher than a UK variant I would think. I would say you've got room to reign your swing in a bit to improve accuracy, you might score better?

"Wild" :-) I would agree, a bit bizarre how half go so well, yet half go miles left/ right :-O How many drivers do you have?? Looks like the Ping G25 goes miles further than the Biocell and nike driver. Good last round apart from the couple of blow ups!

I use Golfshot and Game Golf. Golfshot is free and has everything you will likely need. Game golf is if you want to go far deeper into stats and analysis, but is a lot more involved time and cost wise.

Be careful with game golf, my numbers are probably higher than my average "good" shot average on there as fliers from the rough can go miles and skew the stats, but equally knock downs can too. I had an 8 iron go 192 yards on a level surface with no wind a couple of weeks ago, not sure how, but the yardage was correct. My average 8i on a launch monitor is more like 140 carry, no way an 8i rolls 50 yards(this one didn't). If your average drive is going 260 (I take it these are total distances? Carry would be more important) how do you play off 20 HCP? Surely nearly every par 4 averaging 350 yards would be a "simple" 1/2 wedge to the front of the green and then another two shots from there? Where do the extra 18 shots per round come from? What's your GG profile?

Depends how much of a beginner you are, but starting from total scratch: Watch some YouTube or read some threads on here about what you should be doing (technique) and hit some balls at the range. Once you're happy enough there (probably a few weeks) then go find a field and hit some balls off the grass, or go and play the cheapest local course their is in you area. There will be loads in your situation. I started playing really late evening or really early on a night so there was no pressure. When you're ok with this, join in with others and have a beer afterwards etc, works wonders. Last thing you need when starting is to have four balls all around you when duffing them short of the ladies tees (everyone has done this, so don't worry about it). Don't use decent balls unless you're rich and don't bother with the better courses for a few months. In the UK tons of high handicappers play really late on their own, I've even seen people putting in total darkness with a torch!

Keep your chin up, think how Rory feels ;-)

Ahh ok, I've not looked into launch angles for pros with 3w, but I've heard amateurs with driver should be aiming for about 17 degrees launch? I know what you mean with common 3 woods (fairway woods) being low launch and hitting down when on the deck, what I'm thinking of is basically just setting the driver to 17 degrees etc, same COG, just launch it higher and less slice due to changing the D-Plane etc. Sorry I miss wrote that about the slice thing, yes you're correct (same as what I meant to write) less loft = more danger due to D-Plane etc. Haha, you've not seen me putt or chip . I would bet $50 that from 25ft+ and 1m into the fringe that by me putt-chipping with my SW I'll score better overall. I rarely chip from the fringe from 10-20ft though. I'll put this to the test after I get back from holiday.

List of shots you don't need to hit anymore (my interpretation, from no statistics whatsoever ): 1: If you used a 15-17 degree club but with the same size head as the driver would this not help? Launching at 22 degrees as opposed to 17 for a basic test example (not sure if it works out like this) this has better carry and the same total on FS trajectory optimiser (based on 130mph ball speed). Less loft on the club is less danger/ slice as far as D-Plane goes? Obviously you're not going to get the roll on the odd one. Will the reduction in smash factor kill this theory or would strike improve keeping the SF up? 2: Yeah "favourite yardage" is a load of crap, get as close as you can if it's safe to do so. No point hitting a Wedge to leave you 100 out when you can hit a 7 to leave you 50 out (if you can hit your 7 ok, that is), which is usually a safe area of the course. If you're not better from 50 yards than you are from 100 there is something wrong. 3: If you're not great at irons or miles away aim for the middle or lay up if it's dangerous. 4: I chip better from the fringe than I putt (if it's more than 20ft), easily. Saying that I do use a sort of putting motion with my SW, not sure what to call this shot.

1: I can drive further than I was a couple of month back, and accuracy has stayed the same with this increase (still not great though). I'm not sure whether it's better to keep trying to increase distance whilst on course or just tame it back and hit more fairways. Could be to practice and train for clubhead speed and knock it back a touch on course. 2: Yep! 3: I would say this is the best asset of my game, always room for improvement though 4: Yep! Last test I was 90% from 3ft out of 20 attempts, but I don't get that on the course. this si the closest I get to the pro's stats, then it gets messy from there. 5: I don't chunk par threes but I sometimes shank them. I've no idea why, I don't do this anywhere else

I've tried a couple of the cheaper nets and in all honesty they're not great. The decent looking nets are just too expensive. I've changed to hitting into a sheet which has worked well but was a half baked attempt to get me by, it lasted way longer than the cheap nets, but is now starting to tear at the edges where I cut it to suit. Next try is a builders dust sheet which I'm going to double over and wonderweb together, these are dirt cheap, massive and look like they will do the job well. Photography screens are also pretty cheap but not sure how strong they are. If this doesn't work I'll think about a heavy duty screen or thick curtain.

Good luck :) My putting is really bad, the figures are masked as I chip better than I should, so get lots of chips to within 3 ft and end up 1 putting, I do this as much as I 3 putt, but those 3 putts are often from 15-25ft, which is poor. It's not often I'm putting from more than 30ft, so it would be hard even for me to 4 putt etc. An average bogey golfer would save 3 strokes per round on me playing from where my ball lands on the green. I strike the 3w pretty "ok" from the deck (they go very low mind) but just don't like using it from the tee as it's a really small head (to me), I should practice this. I would be better with a main driver and a 3 wood with a big head and 15 degrees of loft for tight holes. I might look into this. With regards to some earlier posts: Checked my swing this morning with some face tape on the 6i and 7i, yup the 7i is slightly in the heel and the 6 very much in the heel! Hit a few shots after, once the tape had disintegrated (was pretty wet) and got some to carry 161/162 with the 6I and still think I can improve on this as even then it didn't feel "solid". Dispersion went to 10y left (I always aim centre and draw it), rather than the 10 right it was on Saturday, which is more like it. Had some ball speeds up to 112mph with the 6 and my average launch angle went higher, this kind of explains a few things!

1: It takes 17.5 to keep a steady head? Saying that, you are probably right, but I think I stopped doing this at about 22 level I think, but below average areas of driving and putting were responsible for having me at that level. A lot of people I play with sway around all over the place. If anything my head raises up an inch but goes back to where it was on downswing. 2: I don't think I'm far off with this (probably because I don't turn back much) but this will need looking at to get me to 90% 3: Don't have a clue 4: I don't think I'm bad at this, but you lot seem to rate yourselves low, so maybe I'm misunderstanding 5: Certainly not good, but what is classed as success?

Thanks :beer: I play and practice probably more than most so I would expect to get the easier strokes off quicker and will be taking lessons every month along the way. I've had a lot of years swinging a field hockey stick to what you would call state standard (I imagine), and had one of the hardest shots so should have some power in the tank, just need to harness it and get confidence swinging near max, I think it's coming though :) Good luck with your goals.