EMC2144

That's true, I just feel so tight which is why I ramp up. My starting 5 or so are like half or three-quarter swings in terms of speed but exaggerated turn (which is saying something because I have a VERY long swing and a large amount of rotation). I just hate to see people that get upset with themselves at the range but are just aimlessly smacking the ball, without care for what's going on or even aiming. Whenever I practice I like to try something new. It could be learning how to punch and slice a 4 iron, or intentionally hook an 8 iron. You never know when you may need something so you may as well give it a go. Yesterday I tried driver off the deck, since my 3 wood is on it's way to me but I need to close the gap between my 5 and driver. Worked amazingly well considering I was just guessing.

That's an interesting concept. Most people seem to start with short irons or wedges. Personally I start with a 9 iron. I don't actually carry hybrids, so I couldn't, but if I did I would at least give that a try. The point of this thread, besides my own curiosity, was to give people without a good routine, or looking for a new one, some new ideas on practice and how to maximize efficiency and learning each time that they practice. So thank you everyone for the feedback. Keep it up.

I'd love to have a golf simulator but can't afford anything. However, I did find that the Optishot 2 is pretty cheap, does anybody have any opinion on it? Is it a good practice tool, or just for fun? My understanding is that it is just a sensor underneath but does not track the ball, so how would it know if you would catch it thin or can it read attempts to shape a shot? I have a garage I don't use so I'm debating about turning it into a home gym or practice area, or possibly both.

So I recently I just corrected my shanks (and with the correction gained 15 yards on my irons and 30 on my drives). I found that if I felt as though I was putting weight towards my heels and brought my shoulder blades together (opposite of rounding them), I got rid of it. Then I concentrated on keeping my head "up." What I mean is giving more room for my shoulders to rotate below my chin. Now I have a beautiful draw or dead straight drive, and my iron ball striking has improved immensely. At first with these changes I was playing a pull-draw (and a heavy draw at that). Now that I don't have to exaggerate it for my brain to remember to do it subconsciously, I can balance it out and 90% of my shots are what I want. Although my short game has suffered a bit, I'm now hitting 40% of greens or more in every round. So all in all, exaggerate some corrections. But have you been playing baseball or anything? That's where my issue started, when I started playing corporate softball. Good luck though, I almost quit for a few months to forget about it, I was that frustrated. So don't do that.

So I'm just curious what other people use for their practice time. Recently I've been doing my standard 40 shot warmup where I hit five 9 irons, five 7s, five 5s, five 3s, five 3 woods, 5 drivers, and 10 various wedges. Then I mentally play a round of a course I have somewhat memorized. For example, first tee at my normal course is 360 dogleg right, so I hit 3 wood. Then estimate my distance to the green and how I should hit it. If I slice a tee shot, I practice a punch. Obviously it's hard on a range to do rough or uneven lines. Anybody else have a routine they like, or an opinion on if what I'm doing is good or bad?

I'd like to put Cobra in for most under rated manufacturer. Everything they produce seems to be good and they actually make changes bit just release a new product for the sake of releasing. And the adjustability is the best in the industry.

I used to believe it wouldn't make a difference. Until I started to understand touch a little better, and started to feel the ball off the club differently. Now I'll pick up lost balls, but only play something similar to mine on bad days when I've lost some good ones. I have hit Pro V1s and Pro V1Xs, but just can't justify even the $2/ball for the best quality ones on lostgolfballs.com. I have seen that comparison, and it amazed me because of the Pro V1X has less spin on the driver, and more on wedges, why does anybody play the regular Pro V1. The X literally is the ball everybody seems to want. Just for quite a price tag. I also am curious of the difference between older generations and the new. If I bought like 2014s on lostgolfballs.com, would they be worse than 2016s?

I'll have to give them a go. I really need to fix my swing rather than a lower spin ball, because I play some heavy doglegs that require good shot shaping with irons off the tee, so getting something that would hurt me there might not be a good choice. The benefits of a higher spin ball outweigh the negatives if I can just fix my slice on my driver. It's the only club I have it. Have a nice draw naturally on everything else, and can shape every club with relative consistency.

The e6 intrigues me, especially with the whole "straightest ball in golf" thing. But from my understanding it's for lower swing speeds. Is that so? And is that Snell similar in it's properties?

I have a similar issue. I have a high swing speed, but a low bank account. Most golf balls made for higher swing speeds are more expensive. I actually found that I liked the Nike SuperFar for some reason. Not a great ball, but it was working. Was getting them cheap at Dick's up at school, and was playing my best golf. But came home, couldn't find them, and tried the Nike PD Longs and PD Softs, but hated both. Found a great deal on Slazenger Raw Distance, and got one of each pack (was 3 doz/$30), but they felt like I was hitting a marshmallow. So I went to Golf Galaxy before I played on Sunday and asked one of the men working there and he recommended the Titleist Velocity, which I played decently with. It felt good off all clubs, and I could even get the ball to spin back with my 7 iron occasionally, which is nice to have for me. But I'm slightly willing to sacrifice some spin on my irons to reduce it on my driver. When I hit a good drive, it goes forever, but my problem is that when I slice one, I SLICE it. As in, I contemplate ignoring the ball because it's too embarrassing to be that far over. Even the Velocity, which I believe is Titleist's cheapest ball, is pretty expensive. I have thought about buying from lostgolfballs.com, but I'm not sure if I want to commit to buying online in case I don't like the balls. I really just want to have a ball I can get for cheap but still actually have a quality little white ball to put in the little white cup 400 yards away. Because for some reason I find doing something that in concept is so frustratingly stupid, so amazingly fun. I just don't want to be upset when I put one in the water that some doofus thought would be a good addition to an already difficult sport.

Has anybody tried the Superstroke grips for clubs besides putters?

Is it similar to the Ping crossover club? I tried a "3" and wasn't hitting it amazingly, but rarely had bad shots. I just don't understand the point. Is it just a hybrid for people that prefer the iron look? I seem to hit hybrids better but I'm not really sure of the benefits between them. Sadly, Golf Galaxy never has cobra stuff ready to test, and won't remove the plastic, which is really annoying on the grip. I love my Cobra irons, wedges, and driver, but can't try the other stuff because they don't have any unwrapped. Really annoying.

At a course in Central PA called Toftrees that I played once, there were lots of little bunkers. Not recalling exactly how small, but I feel like I remember being in a bunker where I had to stand with one foot outside it with the ball at the far end. So maybe 2-3 foot diameter? I also remember that hole being a disaster.

I love a reachable par 5 (but still decent length (500-520ish maybe), maybe downhill with water in front of the green. Love taking a wood to go the green. There's a course near me where 18 is 530, with a slight dogleg and two fairway bunkers to clear. Then the green is across a decent sized pond with the green and water well below you. Most people are laying up but I gave it a go last time with a great drive and a 3 wood, which was on the green. The interesting part is actually laying up. The fairway drops off on a hard slope from about 150 out up to the water at 70-80. So no matter what you can't leave yourself an easy (well, short) shot, unless you hit into the water and drop.