Pyranha

Marty.....Another Pittsburgher here (Cranberry Township actually). Jim Cichra out at the RMU Island golf complex is pretty good, and of course the facility there is indoors. -C

Absolutely LOVE the tour yellow Z-Stars. I carry a case of both the regular Z-Star and the Z-Star X in the car and vary which I play depending on course conditions. As far as spin goes, Pro V > Z-Star > V1X > Z-Star X, but both Z-Stars are a LOT more durable. I've played multiple rounds with both, while I can't ever remember getting more than 9 holes in with a ProV before it was shredded. And the color is soooooo visible. My home course has a ton of fescue, and those suckers have to be really badly buried to not find them. -C

Hinge and hold. Not usually a huge Phil fan, but that's one tip from him that's helped me immensely. Haven't bladed or chunked a single ship or pitch since incorporating that advice. -C

What were your misses like? Were you off on line, distance, or both? I'm guessing with the 3 and 4 putts that distance control was the major issue. A drill I love for distance control is to put a coin on the flange of the putter right behind the club face, and then practice making strokes without making the coin slide off the putter. Any jerking of the putter or use of your wrists at all will have the coin sliding off immediately, and keeping the coin in place will ingrain a good smooth rhythm. On course I even try to mentally keep the image of having the coin on the putter, and it helps me immensely. -C

Put this ball in play for the first time this weekend, and it's now definitely going to be my primary ball from here on out. Great distance off the driver, good feel on the irons, and really felt great on/around the greens. It had maybe a tad less spin for me than the V1x, but not enough to be all that noticeable. Oh....and I LOVE the visibility of the color. May not be for everyone, but count me converted! -C

A pull (shot that starts right of the target line in your case) is caused by an out to in swing path. If your swing is coming from the inside you can still hit a hook, but a classic pull is always the result of an over the top move. To combat the pulls I concentrate on almost feeling like my swing is two separate pieces, and that I want my shoulders to stay turned until my hips are well into their move. Sounds kinda weird I know, but works for me. -C

On the 4i it's pretty obvious that you're losing your spine angle, and it looks like you're pushing your hips in towards the ball as you approach impact (which causes you to get more upright). Take a close look at the slide your hips thread...definitely don't want them spinning out or pushing in towards the ball. -C

Between the two I'd say ball for sure, but I don't look at either. Once I'm over the ball and have the putter aligned I pick a spot about 4-5 inches in front of the ball on my target line and concentrate on rolling the ball right over that spot. I seem to get much better contact and distance control that way, probably because it takes my mind off of my stroke mechanics and allows me to make a nice natural stroke through the ball. -C

That is most definitely not true. Look at almost every single one of the photo sequences that Iacas posted waaaay back on the first page of this thread and you'll see that at impact the hands are still leading the club head. Even with a driver having the hands lead the clubhead into impact is still a HUGE key for consistency and distance. -C

Unfortunately semantics are important, especially when we're trying to help out folks that are relatively new to the game and may not understand the terminology we use. It's always useful to state whether you mean swing or target when talking about path, especially in a thread like this when posting advice for newer players. And since in my four years here I've missed the threads where Iacas has implored us to use target line as some sort of baseline, I guess I'll just have to defer on that one....... -C

Swing path determines the line that a ball will start it's flight on, but has ZERO bearing on whether the ball will fly straight, hook, or slice. The spin which causes a ball to move in a certain direction is caused solely by the angle of the clubface at impact. An open face relative to the swing path (NOT the target line) causes a fade/slice while a closed face causes a draw/hook. This is an absolute based on the laws of physics and your statement that you hit a draw with a 6 deg open face is a physical impossibility. Now, I agree that swing path should be the first thing that any golfer should try to fix when attempting to correct a consistently errant shot. Coming over the top and striking the ball with a face that's square or closed to the SWING PATH is obviously going to cause misses to the left unless the golfer intentionally manipulates their setup to aim right of target. But face angle plays far too important a role in how a shot moves to simply dismiss it....any golfer that wants to learn how to shape shots must pay attention to face angle relative to swing path as that dictates how the ball moves in flight. -C

A slice is caused by one thing and one thing only......an open clubface relative to the clubhead's path at the point of contact . If the face is perfectly square to the path at impact then no side spin is imparted and the shot flies straight along the line at which the clubhead was traveling. If the face is open then left to right sidespin is imparted and the ball fades/slices. If it's closed then right to left spin is imparted and the ball draws/hooks. These conditions are true REGARDLESS of the path of the swing (flat, over the top, or down the line). So stating that an over the top swing causes a slice is incorrect. It may be true that the mechanics of an over the top swing may make one more likely to have an open face in relation to swingpath, resulting in a slice. But the simple fact of an out to in path (swinging over the top) does not in and of itself cause a slice. And so as not to be completely off topic.....a couple of things for the OP to work on to increase clubhead speed : 1) Grip pressure: already been mentioned, but worth repeating. It's very hard to get a full and proper release with an overly tight grip. 2) Width: Work on getting your hands as far away from your chest as you comfortably can. A good drill is to swing to the top with only your left hand on the club (assuming you're a righty). At the top make sure your left arm is fully extended and then place your right hand on the grip. This will show you how wide you're capable of getting and give you something to work towards. -C

+1 on the C-130. It's my cart bag and I couldn't be happier with it. I walk mostly (my carry bag is a Sun Mountain Four 5), but love the C when I play someplace that requires a cart. -C

Loved my Gemini, but I was one of those that suffered a cracked face. Definitely a long and forgiving stick. -C

Mine were easily the most comfortable golf shoes I've ever had. Their durability was horrendous though....half a season and they were beat to crap. I'm not terribly hard on shoes either. My current Ecco's are entering their 3rd season. -C

Like the fit and feel of both, looks maybe a slight advantage to the 4.0s. I can pick up the LTDs for $129, while the 4.0s are still full retail ($179) almost everywhere. Any compelling reasons to go with the 4.0s? -C

As you can see from my sig I play KZG's forged blades. Had them in the bag for 4 seasons now, and I can tell you that they're fantastic clubs. As with any soft forged club they show wear pretty quickly, but when stuck well they feel sooooo sweet. As with any club, get fit and make sure you find a skilled fitter to take care of you....makes a world of difference in the finished product. -C

Best bag I've ever owned, and just for reference I have 5 bags in the garage at the moment: 1) Sun Mountain C130 (cart) 2) Ping Outlander (cart) 3) Sun Mountain Four 5 (carry) 4) Nike Sasquatch Tour (carry) 5) Mizuno (cart) -C

Over the last couple of weeks my iron play has completely disappeared. I'm hitting my woods better than ever.....been over 80% on fairways lately, but every single iron I hit at the moment is toed. Every.....single.....one. Even teed shots on par 3s. The shots are online, so it doesn't seem to be a path issue, just 20+ yards short of my usual distances. Wedges are mostly OK, and the problem gets progressively worse the longer the iron gets. I'll try to get some swing video this weekend, but any suggestions would surely be welcome. -C

Glad one of the children will be going home today. What a bunch of jack asses. -C

Are these guys all still stuck in 5th grade? Yeah Andrew is annoying, but for some reason they all have a man crush on the guy who throws clubs, shouts profanities every time he screws up, and bitches constantly about other players. Yeah, that makes sense. -C

I play this the exact same way Eric does. Often when I see people play this shot off the back foot they tend to not get their weight forward enough and they struggle to make the solid contact you need to really get the ball to bite. Seriously.....try playing the ball center or even a little forward, open the stance a bit, get your weight forward, and make a good descending blow. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how low the ball stays and much spin you generate. -C

07 Infiniti G37s for me and 09 Audi Q5 for the wife. Definitely have to take the Q when we both want to golf! -C

Just be glad you get to pick the set (and control how expensive it will be). When we went out to get my wife her first set, of all the sets we looked at (3 different stores mind you) she picks a set of Mizunos. The Tava's are nice, but a grand for her first set......yikes! At least she has good taste in clubs though. -C

Yes, the dividers on the four five are full length. I also compared it with the Sasquatch and surprised myself by choosing the Nike. It might be a TINY bit heavier, but the difference between the two is pretty darn hard to detect if you pick them up back to back. The Nike is an excellent bag and is definitely worth a look if full length dividers are a must have for you. -C