Big Don

I regularly go for 9 holes on my own. Better if you go in the late afternoon when there will be fewer large groups ahead of you as you'll play relatively quickly.

r7 Superquad looks cool? I imagine Darth Vader has got one in his bag.

Get yourself a wee 7 wood instead. My golf partners "extract the michael" when I pull it out of my bag but I love my Callaway X 7 wood.

Haven't tried that one but must admit I'm a bit curious to see what its like. They are running a big TV campaign with John Daly featuring these in the UK at the moment. No doubt they'll shift a few boxes.

Best mid price ball?

I have both the Titleist and the Callaway clubs you mention. The Callaway is MUCH MUCH MUCH easier to hit.

Anybody got any info on range balls? The range I go to has Top Flite balls with a red stripe. Are these balls down rated\range limited? I seem to lose 10-15 yards per club.

Thank you all for taking time to reply. You are all gentlemen of the highest order!!! Big Don

Anybody out there got an opinion on replacing 3/4 irons with a 7 wood? Long irons are a bit patchy for me, so I'm thinking of buying a 7 wood to replace my 3 iron. I should get a much better higher trajectory with more consistency, particularly of the fairway. It just feels a bit like a kop out taking that route.

Look like a stunning set of irons. Quality finish and better looking than cluncky thick soled cavity backs.

If you are hitting a slice then the club face must be open when you are hitting the ball (but I guess you know that?). Either you are not releasing the club properly so that the club face is left open, or, you are letting your shoulders get ahead of your arms so that you are swinging out to in, cutting across the ball. If the ball goes left first and then fades right you are swinging out to in and cutting across the ball. If the ball goes straight and then fades right its a problem with your release. To sort an out to in swing, start your downswing by letting the club fall into the slot slightly before you begin uncoiling your body. Giving your arms a slight head start increases the probability that you'll swing in to out towards the ball. If its a release problem you need to focus on really whipping the club through during release so that you don't leave the face open.

Have you looked at the Callaway X460? Its come down in price drastically since the new Big Bertha 460 came out. I got one and I love it. The face is 2 degrees closed at address reducing the potential for major banana balls. If you have a relatively modest swing speed, say 85-95 mph, go for a regular shaft and a decent amount of loft (13 degrees). I've found mine to be pretty forgiving and even I can bomb the ball satisfactorily with this. You might just be surprised at the results.

Well if I can hit them anybody can. Not at all difficult to hit.

Both very nice clubs I'm sure. Either way you won't go wrong. I have got Nike blades and I absolutely love them. Despite the reputation of blades being difficult to hit I've found mine no more difficult to hit than my cavity backs and they have a much softer more pleasurable strike. The lofts aren't particularly strong; they appear to be 0.5 - 1.0 club weaker across the set. There's no better feeling than "piping" a 3 iron with the Nike's when you hit them square; the ball just sails of effortlessly. Great look too.

I've got both the swingsetter and the momentus weighted club. I am not mad on either of them to be honest, although I prefer the swingsetter overall. The momentus just feels too heavy. I'd spend my money on lessons with a PGA professional.

Anybody out their got a good routine to encourage consistent setup?

I really sympathise as a serial "sh@*&ker;" I now how frustrating it is. There is no worse feeling than hitting a Sh%$k, it drains confidence out of your body. One drill that's quite helpful is to place a wooden block about 0.5" - 1" behind your ball. The fear of hitting the block makes you hit towards the centre of the club face. Be careful not to hit the block it will give your arm a terrible jar and might damage your clubs.

No I don't think the ball is hitting the hosel.

My grip was pretty strong and I had a tendancy to hook the ball, most of the time acceptably but sometimes badly. I therefore changed my grip and made it much more neutral. This straightened up my shots nicely and helped make me generally more consistent. However, I've developed an occaissional but frustrating problem of hitting some balls low and to the right since changing my grip. The shot looks almost like a shank, but it feels reasonably clean of the club face. Sometimes I'll hit 30 good balls on the range and then inexplicably I'll get into a pattern where I'll hit 5-10 balls low and right but then revert back to hitting properly for 30 balls. This is really twisting my brain as I can't diagnose whats different when I hit the bad shots. Any suggestions greatfully received.

You may not have won, but at the end of the day you had the ultimate satisfaction of playing the game in the proper spirit following the rules properly. The fact that the others cheated, whether following competition rules or not, is a matter for their conscience.

That's my experience watching good amateurs too. 250-275 yards is about the driving distance for accomplished single digit handicappers. I'm afraid all these guys that claim they regularly average 300+ yards are either waiting to be discovered or are talking out of their hats. The latter is mostly likely.

I constantly read articles about the golf swing that give the impression that one swing fits all of the situations that you will encounter as a golfer. This seems like a gross simplification to me. The technique required to hit a fairway wood is rather different to that required for hitting an iron? The fairway wood requires a sweeping action whereas irons require the player to hit down on the ball. Conceptually these requirements are quite different and do require adjustments to the swing. Any comments?

Not too sure about that? Surely everybody knows its bad manners to point a camera at somebody unless they've previously given their permission first? She was obviously your typical "run of the mill" moron who couldn't resist taking a picture.

According to the latest PGA tour stats your somewhere between Bubba Watson and John Daly then? How long have you been able to swing a club at 130 mph?

My clubs are forged. The recommendation was a 2 degree adjustment from standard across the whole set.