alisdair

Immediate impressions: the MP-68s are awesome, but I really don't like the look of the 58s. The logo-printed insert makes that 5 iron look almost like a hybrid. Clunky. I wonder what it looks like at address on the long irons. Are we looking at about September for these?

I have a fondness for the simple designs of irons I played when I was growing up. So much so that I picked up some second-hand DCIs to get back into the game (they're awesome). Tommy Armour 845. I learned with these. So easy to hit straight: Titleist DCI Gold. I only played a couple of rounds with the pro shop demo set, but bought a 2-iron and it became my favourite club: Mizuno MP-14. Did a bag swap for a couple of weeks with a friend who wanted cavity backs, and can't forget how good it felt to hit these: I still think the original DCI Golds are the best looking cavity backs ever made.

Thanks for the replies. I guess I knew the answer before I posted. Getting it reshafted sadly isn't really cost-effective, so I'll just pick up a second-hand or ex-demo 3 wood next time I'm at the range. The easiest way is to insert a small copy of the image as normal, then select the generated (IMG) code and insert a link to the larger copy of the image. The result is something like: (URL=http://host.com/picture.jpg)(IMG) http://host.com/picture-small.jpg(/IMG)(/URL ) but with square brackets instead of parentheses.

I just noticed a crack in the shaft near the hosel of my 3 wood. Here's the best picture I could get of it (click to zoom): The crack goes 180° around the shaft on the leading side, and there's a 2" hairline crack coming off of it towards the grip. Any other club and I'd just take it out of the bag, but I can't play without a 3 wood. I was planning on playing a few more rounds before upgrading my equipment, so I don't really want to buy a new club unless I have to. If I use the club on the course or the range, is it likely to be dangerous to me or other people? Would you play with a cracked graphite shaft on a wood?

You are probably hitting down on the ball too much. This gives you a lower launch angle and lots of topspin, which means that the ball balloons. Are you finding that you get hardly any roll on drives? Whether it's a good thing or not is up to you. Is it affecting your scores enough to fiddle with your swing?

There are lots of reasons for hitting fat, as you can see from all the different suggestions above You mentioned pulls. What are your other misses? Slices? If so, you may be swinging on too steep a plane. If you can take video of your swing down the line, do so and watch for your right elbow leaving your hip on the downswing, or the clubhead outside the line just before impact. You might notice your divots are going left as well. Try swinging a little more from the inside, on a flatter plane. You should feel your elbow is a little closer to your hip after your start your downswing.

Fixing my posture (back too slouched, legs too straight), and correcting my massively vertical swing plane. I have no idea how I ever hit a good shot with this swing. Practice time! I had no idea that video was so useful. I would probably never have worked out my problem without down-the-line video, or a pro telling me what was wrong. As soon as the instructor showed my the playback of my flat backswing looping to a vertical downswing I cringed.

I'm in Glasgow city centre.

95 (par 69). It's my first round in 8 years, so I'm not too upset. Plenty of room for improvement! Positives: only 35 putts, even after three unnecessary 3-putts late in the round, and my short game in general was pretty good. When I caught my other shots properly, I got good shape and distance. Negatives: everything else. Blocked shots, slices, and hitting fat is a real problem. Only PW, LW, and putter were working properly. I cut my swing down to 3/4 on the back 9 and did a lot better, but still a bit inconsistent. I had a real problem with short-iron club selection. Either the yardages are short on this course (Lenzie) , or I'm hitting a clean 7-iron 160 yards, and a 6-iron 180 yards (with a 10ft drop).

I'm coming back from a long break and don't expect to get good this season, so I have some fairly modest goals for 2009: Get back to consistent ball striking. I want my short game to be the problem, not the rest of it! Join one of my local clubs Obtain an official handicap again Play 20 full rounds before the end of the year, keeping score and stats Plan for improvement in 2010!

I'm a post-doctoral researcher at the local university. After almost ten years as a student, I've finally got enough time to get back to golf!

Balance. I've just started playing again after 10 years off (I'm 28), and my focus is getting back to striking the ball consistently. I'm using the good old feet-together drill, trying for a clean impact and staying in control all the way through the swing. After a couple of hours at the range every day this weekend, everything hurts. I'm getting old