DavidNJ

Where do you position the ball in your stance when hitting 50+° wedges? To avoid hitting on the clubs leading edge, I've had to position past the middle of the stance, resulting in a slightly forward tilt on the shaft. It seems strange. And, what is the biggest gap in the clubs? I have a 46° PW, a 50° AW, and 52°, 56°, 60° wedges. The gaps from 46-52 or 50-56 seem to leave holes between 50-100 yards. Some of that may be because the 50° AW is a graphite shaft, wide sole, game improvement head and the 52° is a high swingweight, steel shaft, muscle back head. Thanks, David

Thanks for the advise. So you are proposing 5w, 4i and 5i hybrids? The handicap is a little decepetive. I'm hitting straight a high percentage of the time, now around 200-220 on the drives. Last week I had one day when I made 6 of 7 fairways. Today I made 3 of 4 (including one were it carried a hill and rolled dead center in the fairway around 110 yards from the hole.) I've been a having disaster after disaster inside of 50 yards and inside of 10ft. More 5 putts than 1 putts.

I have available a 19° 5w, 22° 7w, 20° 3i hybrid, 23° 4i hybrid, 26° 5i hybrid, and 26° 5i thin face wide sole iron. Hit them all, with decreasing accuracy as the lofts drop. There is a 16° 3w in front of them and 30° 6i behind them. As expected, the fairways are longer than the hybrids are longer than the irons of similar/equal loft. However there is only space for 2 or 3 clubs in this group. I can't see how you can give up the 4i and 5i. Although the extra distance of the fairway woods is so nice. I tried the 7w instead of a 4i today, and it left me along side the green (not on) where the 4i would have been decidedly short. What do you do? Thanks, David

In a hybrid, 22-24° is usually considered (marketed as) a 4i, 25° would be a 5i. What is the loft of your 5i?

One book I left out: The Only Golf Lesson You'll Ever Need: Easy Solutions to Problem Golf Swings by Hank Haney I've seen mixed reviews, but don't know why. It is the most methodical book I've seen to diagnosing problems and finding ways to fix them. And it concentrates on fixing them, not silly drills. David

Is there a grip that is better for a wedge? Pelz sells a grip that is made my Winn, slightly longer and with less taper. However, it looks like other Winn simulated wrap grips. Has anyone had a preference for any grip other than their regular iron grip on their wedges (which I will define as clubs above 50° loft). Thanks, David P.S. 6 out of 7 fairways today on 9. On the seventh, the ball rolled onto the fairway.

I've seen all three uses. 1020 seems most common. Wishon uses 304. And there have been brass wedges that claim great feel (at one time many putters were brass). The only clubfitting book that seems to mention it is Summitt/Jackson; and they say it makes no difference. What are the advantages of each? Which do you play? Thanks, David

Sounds good...won't work. Each club is a different distance, baring bad shots. Since adjusting club lengths, all hit about the same except for distance and dispersion (greater at a longer distance). So, at this time, that isn't a solution. I don't put a lot of power in my swings (I'm a pretty strong guy). And I believe I have the tempo pretty slow. Both giving lots of room to add distance later. Right now, the things I'm working on are: improving aim (which may be a large part of the dispersion), controlling putting distance (aim is decent, using a PinShot to work on distance), and hitting the wedges (which where fine until I changed my irons when my bag was stolen; I may buy another set of the old wedges). After that, reading breaks (probably costing 5-10 strokes/round) and improving chipping and pitching. As the full swing becomes more consistent and the aim better, I will add distance (otherwise it is distance into the rough or woods). To achieve this weekly practice has been playing 9 holes or so 3-4 times, hitting 400-600 range balls, 200 or so wiffle balls in the yard, and 200-300 putts on the PinShot. BTW, the cold weather has seemed to make the greens very fast which is taking some time to adjust to.

You just end up with different brands when you build it yourself from components. I had a Golfsmith Lynx putter I loved until my bag was stolen from my truck. I must have tried 30+ putters in the store before settling on my choice. The Dyncraft heads were a lower cost temporary solution after my bag was stolen until the various '07 models come out. However, they feel pretty good and might stay anyway. I've also tested 3-4 different shaft brands/models before deciding on the SK Fiber (to me, they simply feel better). The A-flex fits my swing and speed. I tried 3 grips (Wynn, GP New Decade, and the Lamkin Torsion Control); the Lamkins are my favorites by a bit. Bulding them up (it is an M58 grip on butt built up to .640 with buildup/masking tape) just lets be hold the club with a looser grip.

Wishon talks about the "second longest wood": the club you hit for the second shot on a par 5. Four times per par-72 18, not counting bad tee shots and those with shorter drives on long par 4s. To Wishon, its loft should be what you can hit off the deck. Pelz emphazies a strong short game with multiple wedges (with different bounces) that you can hit effectively and consistently. He strongly feels an extra wedge--which can save a put--is more important than a long iron which you might use once per round. To Pelz, not having that long iron (leading to a 2-putt) leaves you with short wedge shot leading to a 1-putt. I only count 13-clubs in your bag. So adding the 3 or 4 wood shouldn't be a problem. I would also try replacing the 3-iron with either a 20° 3-hybrid or a 19° 5-wood. Whichever you hit better (distance with acceptable accuracy).

This is a slightly old thread, and I'm a rapidly learning high handicapper (5 of 10 fairways today on 13 holes). This is what I've found helpful: Books: Swing Like a Pro by Ralph Mann. A thorough analysis of the full swing, supported by the ModelGolf.com site, with some useful insights and drills. Short Game Bible by Dave Pelz. I don't think I can add much to what has already been said. Tour Tempo by John Novosel. I'm not sure is measurements, based on a 30-frame/sec camera are that accurate, however the analysis is. Moreover, the Y-drill and L-drill in his book really help mapping the feel through impact. I also have books by Hogan, Nicklaus, and Watson, which were not as helpful as Swing Like a Pro . I have recently bought Pelz's Putting Bible , Utley's Art of Putting , and Jacobson's Practical Golf . However, I haven't read them yet! On training aids I've been less successful. One thing that has helped a lot is an electronic device called 'PinShot'. It reports putting distance (not aim) and had various games and drills that bring you from 4 to 40'. It allows you to set the green speed (fast/medium/slow or in stimps), and has a mirror like the EyeLine device. The EyeLine full swing and putting alignment aids help also. Using the full swing aid, on the driving range, my aim is significantly better. However, I haven't been able to fully transfer that to the course yet. The long putt alighment tool was also helpful. I find the metronome helps keep putts more consistent. The Medicus clubs (I have the 5-iron and driver) help practicing a one-piece take-away and smooth transitition. For me, they hit most of the time like a regular club (a least they new now). Lessons have been a mixed bag. I was killing a few hours at a driving range on a trip to Virginia, and saw a pro who seemed to be giving effective lessons. I got a 30-minute lesson from him (and we talked for another 30 afterwards). He showed me ModelGolf.com. Later I took a lesson from an affiliated training facility in NJ. Those were far and away the best lessons I've had. I've also started building my own clubs. Hitting wiffel balls with the ungripped clubs, I decided on a length and cut to that length. The resulting clubs dramatically improved my consistency, reduced bad shots, and reduced my dispersion. BTW, the lengths seem to be 1-1.5" longer than standard; equivalent to a 2-3° upright lie change). David

I like doing the $10 M-Th twilight at some Somerset County courses, which is now at 4pm. To me, the equipment and range time (also not cheap) is to make the expensive course time more productive. David

Well, you play at lot more than me. Five or so courses handles 90+% of my needs. I find the map very usefully, using the Pocket PC pointer I can move around and determine my drop zones for each club, how they relate to hazards and bounds, etc. It does what I was looking for: give me the information to club the next shot. The only thing better would be elevation; but apparently accurate topographical maps with sufficient detail are available. I'm not sure how you gain access to 30+ courses. Around here that gets expensive. Just the travel would be more than the $20 map cost. Courses without membership here will set you back the better part of $100 or more. If you are spending $10k playing, $500 (there is a discount) does not seem out of line. The new courses may be problem for StarCaddy though. They use satelite photos to map the course. Generally, they are at least 2-3 years old. So a brand new course may not be available. Anyway, it is 80-90% of what I was looking for in course management. The other GPSes and rangefinders were not above 50%.

If any of those actually had a course map it wouild be an interesting comparison. Intelligolf is probably better at keeping score. However StarCaddy shows you the whole hole--fairway, rough, hazards, trees, green. You can use its measuring tool to get distances between any two points are between your location and a point with the distance from that point to the green. Maps are pretty accurate and they fix errors. Assuming you already have the Pockt PC, for the cost of StarCaddy, not counting the subscription, you could buy a GPS and the software with maps for 16 courses. How many do you play? The $20 is so small compared to the cost of playing golf I can't see it as an issue. The Intelligolf score keeping is interesting. Like StarCaddy it runs on a Pocket PC. You could run both, although only one could access the GPS.

If you like that, try StarCaddy . I have that one and it works. Next software update should even be better.

The watch is not a metronome. It has a tri-axial strain gauge accelerometer. Using that it should be pretty accurate in timing the backswing and downswing. The angle of the backswing will represent the forearm, not the wrist or club. And that is my concern on the club speed. It has to integrate to determine the velocity, which it probably does accurately. However, I don't see how it can allow for the release at all, and the velocity calculation is extrapolated to the club head (based on club lengths you enter). However, it can't determine the angle of your wrist, and so couild have an error there. I will call them tomorrow. However, finding someone who actually has it would be nice. David

So, I just finished reading Tour Tempo and went to their website. Other than a very expensive metronome ($100), one of the products was a watch, the Sunnto G6 , that claims to measure swing speed and tempo. Not only does it claim to measure tempo, but it says it can divide the tempo into backswing and downswing and report their time and ratio. That ratio is at the core of Tour Tempo . The technology seems to come from a company (Dynastream, www.dynastream.com ) that builds motion sensors for various purposes including running where it models the entire stride and not just the pace. Apparently included in products from Nike and Polar among others. A computer interface allows you to provide it with parameters, such as club length, and upload results. However, I am sceptical about getting this information accurately from a watch, even a $400-500 watch. Has anyone here used it, seen it used, or have other first or second person experience with it? Thanks, David

Ok, I'm not about the join the PGA Tour. However, I do have a degree in mechanical engineering from a fairly reputable northeastern college. So I've tried 4 shafts: an UST Competition 75 in a GS HS300 7-iron, a Grafalloy ProLaunch in a GS HS300 8-iron, a SK Fiber Tri Tec in a GS HS300 6-iron, and a Wishon ZT in a Wishon 785 7-iron hybrid. All were A-flex except the ProLaunch, which was an R-flex. All with Golf Pride New Decade grips. To make a long story short, three of the shafts felt rather similar. The third had a smoothness that feels a little like the you'd image the damped movement of a luxury car cup holder. Like a Porsche in a field of Pontiacs. This in turn made it seem a little easier to hit. The only other thing that was different on this shaft occurred during spine alignment. This one really snapped to a distinct point, indicating a significant difference in stiffness between shaft axes. The others had a softer response. And this wasn’t the 8-iron; it was the 6-iron, presumably the hardest to hit. Has anyone else had similar experiences with SK Fiber shafts? Is this the same for all their shafts or is this just a fluke? Thanks, David

Swingweight is traditional, MOI has its advocates, nothing is an option.