gilwood

I'm just wondering what various members do to test out a set of irons. I'm shopping for a set and when I go to the little range monitor in the store, I'll look for a few things: How I generally feel about the swing of the club (is it heavy, is it light?) Do I like the look of the head at setup? Then hit a few balls does it feel soft or harsh? How straight did the monitor say it went? Is the distance / dispersion consistent? I usually hit 3 balls for each club I'm testing. Am I on the right track?

according to the chart above, with a 95 mph ss, you should be solidly in the X-stiff range, unless your tempo is a 2. 5 more mph and you'll be off the charts.

FYI - The average club head speed for an 8-iron is 87 mph on the PGA tour: http://www.andrewricegolf.com/tag/clubhead-speed-on-pga-tour/

This was with a 7-iron. The assistant said I had a fast swing speed.

I recently did the shaft optimizer and got the pictured results. They suggested a stiff shaft, but I was taught that if you are in between stiff and regular, you should go with regular. Can anyone help? Also, I've been seriously thinking of going to a graphite shaft since I like the lighter feel of an iron with graphite.

I'm a big fan of Nike's UV stripe polos which are made of polyester & about 10% spandex. They are soft, stretchy and wick sweat like there's no tomorrow. Unfortunately, I don't really like their designs & coloring too much. Also, The 100% polyester ones feel a bit scratchy & artificial to me. Anyone know of other brands that are made of polyester & a little bit of spandex?

So I have 1 more year left to go in a contract. I'm making some good $$ & not spending any. If I play my cards right I should have a pile of cash by next year. Where would you guys go if you had about $50k in cash? I'd like someplace warm, cheap and maybe play a little golf. I also need some "excuse" to put on my resume for when the cash ran out. I'm thinking - rent an apt in Thailand for a year, live it up there, whilest remotely working on a PhD. Thereby I could live cheap, have a blast & still have a respectable resume. Any better ideas? Costa Rica would be nice too...

carabiner - came with the sunblock.

I've been doing some swing analysis with various software such as v1pro. That leaves the question as to how to setup a camera to record yourself. There are some mounting solutions on the internet that are pretty expensive. I did find a solution with just a spider tripod (~$5) that works great! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16830996745 You can even carry around the bag and the mount doesn't come off. The only issue is that you need a taylormade bag or other bag with a top handle. It's just a matter of twisting the legs around the handle the correct way. Here's some pictures of my mount:

I went from playing the Nike Slingshot Irons last year to playing the Mizuno MP-52 Irons this year. Right off the bat, the MP52's felt heavier, but when I caught the ball well, it flew straight and long. It was a great feeling, but about 5% - 10% of the shots were horrible shanks that went into the woods. I've played about 25 rounds with them and tried everything to make the shanks go away. I never shanked like this before. I could even make it go away for a few rounds, then it would rear it's ugly head at random times. I really believe the weight of the club is an issue. I've scoured the internet looking for weight specs on the Mizuno MP-52's (regular steel shaft) and came up with nothing. Can someone recommend a lighter cavity back iron. I shoot in the 90's despite the shanking.

I have this strange problem where I tend to shank my long irons and toe my short irons. I always setup so my right arms hangs straight down. I think it might be some sort of plane issue? Anyone have an advice?

Can someone point me to a good full swing golf DVD? I have the mickelson short game DVD and it's done wonders for my short game. I also have the Hogan's 5 fundamentals of modern golf book, which has improved many things in my game.

I've also heard a lot of talk about the Bobby Jones hybrid on this forum as well. Anyone use them with the mizuno's to some success? I'll test out some of the mizuno hybrids when I get a chance.

Can someone suggest a good hybrid to go along with the Mizuno MP-52's? Right now I'm using the taylormade rescue mid graphite shaft #4 and #3 to replace my 3 & 4 iron regular flex steel shaft. But I notice the significant change in weight going from my 5 iron to the 4 hybrid. I also can't seem to find a weight chart on the mizuno's.

I went ahead and bought this model. I'm very happy with it overall. The slots are more than spacious enough for all my clubs and the pockets are well thought out. Two of the pockets have smaller mesh pockets within them that are very useful. I haven't tried any of the FAST Accessories yet. It also feels a lot lighter than the 4.9lbs suggests. The only strange thing is the water pocket sleeve. My usual waterbottle falls out of it when I drop it on the ground to extend the legs. Two purchased waterbottles seems to fit well, but I prefer filling up a nalgene bottle or such. Anyone know of a canteen or something that would fit well?