Smiffy

I got fitted for some Mizuno MX200's a year or so ago, results were telling me that I needed 1 degree flat. Having spent a year not really getting on with them I recently swapped out for some new Ping i15's. The online fitting suggested I needed 2 degrees upright!! Went to my pro who had some i15's in stock and I purchased them. Black dot, regular everything. He said to try them for a month or two and if I wanted anything altering to go back and see him and he would sort it out with Ping. I've been playing them for 2 months now and won't be going back. I hit them beautifully, much better than my Mizuno's. I was pushing the Mizuno's when I got them. Everything was going right. Which indicated to me that they were too flat. But what do I know?

Walked into the pro shop on Thursday, came out with a brand new set of Ping i15 irons 4-PW. 56/10 TOUR W on order. Hitting them for the first time this morning...

Does anybody know where you can buy Ping wood headcovers with a "sock" attached for protecting graphite shafts? The ones that come standard with Ping woods over here are next to useless as they offer no shaft protection whatsoever. Thanks in advance Rob

You'd love the 16th at Carnoustie. 245 yards Par 3, stroke index 13. It's great playing it as a 12 handicapper

Depends what you are trying to achieve.... Reduction in handicap? If you hit the ball reasonably well, practicing and improving your chipping and putting combined with good course management will see your handicap come down fairly steadily. New clubs won't do this. New clubs will make you feel good because a) You've spent some money b) You feel that you will play better The honeymoon period will soon fade and you are back to square one within a couple of months. Shortly after I first started playing, I went through a slump with my driving and iron play. Couldn't hit toffee. Tried all different things and it made no difference. So I practiced my short game. It was the one thing I could do where I saw an improvement. And I started winning games again. My friends couldn't believe how one minute I would be out of a hole but was suddenly back in it because I had chipped very close to save par or even chipped in for birdie. And my confidence grew again. And then my long game came back! My handicap dropped from 23 to 14 in a few short months. I kept the same irons throughout. Set yourself a golf, say getting down to 15 handicap. And when you've reached it, then treat yourself to the new irons. You deserve them....

Having lessons always messes you up to start with. You stand on the tee where once upon a time you had no thoughts in your head other than to smack it up the arse and get it down the fairway. Now your thoughts are different. You've got things to think about that the pro has told you. You're not sure of where the ball is going to go, you're not even sure of your swing anymore. I guarantee it will get better. You are just experiencing the storm before the calm.

Ping G15 Driver....£210.00. Things are a bit more expensive over here

Have you checked your alignment? My address position was progressively getting more and more closed and I found my irons in particular were going nowhere compared to a few months ago, and my divots were aimed sharp left where I was having to cut across the ball to get back into an impact position (of sorts). I spent a while on my alignment and things seem to have got back on track for the time being at least. It could be any number of things as have been mentioned, but check your basics first. Rob

Been struggling the last few times out. The swing hasn't felt right, lack of distance with my irons, drives which were normally dead straight were either pulling left big time or I was hitting big blocks right and during a game last week I had lost 3 balls before I even stepped on to the 5th tee... I've played loads of games where I haven't even had to hit a provisional, let alone lost a ball. Something wasn't right and I felt like chucking it all in for a few months. Played with a couple of good friends during last weeks round and they both commented that I was standing quite closed at address. I hadn't noticed it, but they had. So I spent a long time on Saturday watching videos specifically aimed at alignment, trying to remind myself of what I should be doing. Didn't get a chance to practice before Sundays game but made a deliberate effort when I stood over the ball to line the clubface up to where I wanted to go and then set everything up square from there. Simple thing I know, but sometimes it's the simple things we forget. Result? My best round for absolutely ages. 37 points with 4 "blobs" (N/R's) two of which were due to finding greenside bunkers on par 3's that saw me thinning shots out of due to lack of sand in them. Only two N/R's were due to bad drives, and even then I would have taken the bad ones during the previous round on the Thursday. My divots with my irons were going nice and straight again, rather than showing and out to in swingpath and the ball was pinging off the clubface. Two birdies and my playing partner (who plays off 3) was basically a passenger as we beat our opponents 3&2. Not bragging here, but just a reminder to check the basics. The fault had obviously been creeping into my game over the past few months and I hadn't even noticed it. Feeling a lot happier and now looking forward to getting out again rather than dreading stepping onto the tee...

The only G15 club I have in the bag is the Driver, and I haven't checked this out against the Rapture. Mine was a direct replacement for the previous G10 model. The G15 is taking a little more time to adjust to than the G10. Despite what my pro (and others) say, the G15 does seem to sit a little more closed at address than the G10 did. I'm finding my bad shots with the G15 are straight pulls, whereas the bad shots with the G10 were fades. Same shaft, same swing (I think) so it's got to be the head, hasn't it???

This article might help a little bit in explaining the effects of torque... http://golf.about.com/od/faqs/f/torque.htm Hope that helps

If you want to have a fairly "high" trajectory, go with the Ping shaft. If you want a slightly lower trajectory go with the Seranno. If you want to go slightly lower still specify the Prolaunch Red from the WRX options list. I find the standard Ping shafts to be a little too "whippy" for me. The torque figure relates to the shafts tendency to twist during the swing. The lower the figure, the less "twist".

With your handicap of 12 I wouldn't worry about it. If you are put in a group with 3 other golfers, the chances are you'll be the lowest handicapped player there....

I can almost guarantee it's a small piece of adhesive (used to stick the shaft into the head during the manufacturing process) that's broken off inside and is travelling up and down the shaft. Happened to me with a Callaway driver and my current "reserve" Ben Sayers Driver is the same. Nothing to worry about, just a minor irritation. Your club pro could take the grip off and shake it out, putting a new grip on afterwards. Would only cost a small amount I guess. I have heard of some pro's heating the heads up so that the adhesive becomes tacky again and it re-attaches itself but I'd rather go for the grip off, new grip on method myself Rob

A friend of mine has his hands positioned a long way in front of the ball at address, which does in fact "hood" or "de-loft" the clubface. This results in a very low ball trajectory when he hits it. Hence, on par 3's where I would be hitting a 7 iron say, he will only need to hit a 9 iron to effectively play the same shot. He often comments that he is a longer hitter than me, but he's not. It's his set up. Put him on a course where he has to play a lot of high shots, or clear big expanses of rough or heather off the tee and he really struggles. 200 yards carry with a 7 iron is verging on "pro" distances. Hope that helps Rob

I play MX200's and love them to bits. Those yardages seem a bit long to me, unless you are really hooding the club face. Most of the guys I play with average between 140-165 with a 7 iron, 155 being about the norm. Having said that, you could just be a big, strong lad....

45.75" according to Ping. Too long, according to most "experts" in the field.

I purchased a pair a short while back but they pinched me across the toes. Bad enough for 18 but impossible to wear for 36. I have just sold them to a friend of mine who has slightly smaller feet than me and he is getting on with them fine. I also have two pairs of FootJoy AQL's which I have never had a problem with. Wore both pairs straight out of the box with no pain whatsoever. The only other make of shoes I have ever worn apart from FJ's were Adidas and they crippled me. FJ's for me, no question.

We bought the Wii shortly after it came out....hardly play it at all now. The PS3 is superb. Plus you've got a Blu ray player to boot!

I decided to go the Mizuno forged route earlier this year and after seeing the full range on display was torn between either the MP57's or the MX200's. I tried out both clubs over the course of a couple of weeks, and my initial findings were that the 200's were better for me. I was hitting the 57's "ok" but felt more confident at address with the 200's. Don't know why... Went for a fitting session at Mizuno's HQ in New Malden, Surrey where I tried both irons again....and the results confirmed my initial thoughts. I purchased a set of 200's and absolutely love them. Take your time, try to narrow it down to a couple of choices and then see how you get on. Your first impressions will most probably be right.

You might find that the shorter shaft has been helping you all along.

You can have some from my course if you want them!! Suffering badly from lack of rainfall in Southern England at the moment and my home course is bone dry. I hit a ball the other day and nearly broke my wrist the ground is that hard and bare. It would have been easier playing the ball from the floorboards in my dining room... Looking forward to playing again at the week-end but will play "away from home" on a course with a bit of grass on it.

When I first started having lessons my impact position was terrible, no "zip" at all and subsequent lack of power. The pro who was teaching me got an old tyre (tire) from a greenkeepers tractor (the smaller front tire MINUS the wheel!!) and got me hitting that. It was amazing the difference it made, and really got me feeling where my hands should be at impact. He got me hitting it time and time again until I could feel what I should be doing, and when I done it right the tire would move a foot or so. It sounds painful, even like you would break your wrist, but it isn't and you won't. Then when I replicated that move with a ball instead of the tire you should have seen that ball go!! I think this method was used by Henry Cotton, or some other famous golfer of his era. I think the same result is achieved by using an impact bag today... http://readygolf.com/Callaway-Golf-IMPACT-BAG/5899/ It worked for me Rob

As Deron points out above, a solid contact out of the centre of the club is no guarantee that the ball isn't ballooning. And your low kick point shaft can't be helping in keeping the ball low. If anything, that is going to give you some additional height which to be honest it's designed to do. Seriously, have a go with a driver fitted with a Prolaunch Red shaft which has a higher kick point than the shaft you are currently using. I guarantee you will see a difference. Mate of mine has just bought a second hand Taylor Made driver. Don't know what model it is but it has a regular shaft and he is hitting the ball really high with it. He is happy because he has always hit that type of shot but last week I was outdriving him with my 3 wood because of it's lower trajectory courtesy of the shaft and the roll out I was getting. Before we both changed clubs a while back we were hitting more or less the same distances with our drivers.

The pro at my old club gave me a tip when I was having lessons and that was to put the makers name (Titleist) of the ball at the back of it and keep focussed on that when I swung, thereby encouraging me to hit into the back of it. I still do it today.