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?

Any got any opinions on the Taylormade Pure Lite Stand Bag? I'm looking for a walking only bag. I play twice a week and I haven't been in a cart in 2 years.

I'm thinking of buying a new Taylormade Pure Lite or Titleist Lightweight Stand Bag. Both bags have huge logos on the side. I was wondering if anyone had replaced or covered the logos somehow? I would prefer to have my own name on the side of the bag rather than some company's.

You got them from a store or from ebay?

I noticed that clubs were going for pretty cheap across the summer, then there was a huge spike in prices around september. Now, it seems that it's dropping again. Maybe it has something to do with the economy?

I've been playing much better this year with my slingshots and hitting the ball fairly well. I'm still shooting in the 90's, but mostly because of my crappy putting. I'm getting sick of the dead feel my slingshots have. I'm thinking of switching over to the Mizuno MP-52's or MP-57's. I have a MP-52 6-iron that I take to the range and I've been hitting pretty well with. I love the buttery feel! The distance is comparable to my slingshots. Is there much of a difference between the 52 vs. the 57? I can't decide which one I should go to.

Is there a way to calculate how far the next club up or wood up should go? The reason why I'm asking is that I've had such great success with my Rescue mid #4 at 22 degrees that I'm considering getting rid of all my woods and getting the #3 or #2 to replace them. Currently, I'm hitting my Taylormade Rescue Mid #4 at 200 yards on the dot. So how far would the #2 rescue mid go if it's 16 degrees? Any way to calculate this?

I think I need a new putter since 3 putting is pretty common for me. Maybe I just suck, I don't know. What do I look for in a new putter? I hit some at Golf Galaxy and sometimes I sink some from different distance, some times I don't. Later I come back and I can't sink anything with the same putter. Some weight more, some have a different look at them. What do I look for?

Just to resolve this thread, I took it to another place and had it cut down to 44". I've been hitting all my balls exactly in the center of the face. I can't miss the fairway now in the last two rounds. I only hooked it once hard left once on this long drive contest trying to kill the ball. Quick question: I know where to place the ball normally, but if I'm trying to add some extra power to my drive, should I place the ball further forward??? I did and yeah, monster hook.

Wouldn't reshafting with a lighter shaft give me a higher swing weight? Then the head would be heavier relative to the shaft like a wedge. Note: This is all new to me.

I choked down on my driver and was hitting great shots at 44" and even better ones at 43". So I took it to my local pro shop to have it cut down. He only cut it down to a 45" saying that was G2. If I went down to 44" it would become a G0. I have no idea what this means. Why can't I cut it down to the length I want?