Hollister

Ditto. Buy a used or new blade from the bay and (try to) have fun with it. It will either teach you a little humility or make you concentrate more on hitting the ball right. I bought one 6 iron off ebay last Summer - now I own three sets of blades, which are really tiny compared to my GI irons. And soooo beautiful. Bought them all used, for little money and they do play great. But for a turney I would always go back to a little more forgiving club (I think ). Have fun!

Yes, thats golf. The above is my observation (high-speed cam) and how things work for me. Over the past six months I had a very close look at my mishits on video. I learned a lot and begin to be able to translate the needed fix into a feel that works for me. Hopefully more often than in the past. I usually kill my holes/rounds with mishits often from the tee. A round might begin good with pars and bogeys, but my end at hole six with a big push (block to the right). Then I would try to counter a bad move and begin to hit pulls. Counter them and get slices, pulls and pushes. Luckily it happens only with long sticks - 6i and below swings seem robust compared to the driver. My problem is being too incosistent. Having parred all holes on my golf course, I know I can play decent golf. At least for a couple of holes - around 20 over stroke-play counting is my typical result, Stapleford might be a couple of strokes better.

Last time I looked at the go pro they had no review screens, but came with a wide-angle lens and 60fps and fixtures of several surfaces. The best solution would be to buy a used Casio Exilim FH-25 and a remote (or a FH-100). But other cams with 30+fps work fine in broad daylight, too.

Welcome to the club :D For me it is a arms/hips synchronisation or sequencing issue. (look here downswing sequencing ) My observation for the pull hook is that I rotate the forearms excessively, hence close the club face too fast swinging in-to-out. It happens when I want to hit it far or forceful. Fix: I sort of watch the back of my trailing hand after impact to arms parallel to the ground - the back has to face more down/sideways than up. (for the club face it would be sideways or up). Thought would be hands up after impact, not around the body. I hit pushes when my hips lead and the arms get left behind. Really fast hips often leads to a shank. My fix is to concentrate on my arms and not the hips when starting the downswing. My thought is "back of the trailing hand in front of my belt buckle - hips to the flag". Too fast hips with fast arms and trying not to rotate the forearms can produce nice slices... Well, the above is my thing to fix. To get the right advice, you would have to video yourself and have the guys here or an instructor look at it.

Wow, nice! Congrats to the good choice, Manfrotto gear is always great. I would love to use a remote, but my cam is too basic. Now I have to go to the hardware store before the season starts... (still snow out there at my end)

Here we are again with data for the 6 iron from a TrackMan Range, hit about 10 each with heavy range balls at -2 degrees C (25 F). Distance is completely off, due to range balls, but Pro tells me that the spin should be close to the real values. Hit club no. 1 not that good in the beginning. Club 1: Apex Redline (1988), steel stiff shaft Apex 4, 33,5 degrees Club 2: Apex Blade (1999), steel x stiff shaft Spalding Apex 5, 32,5 degrees Club 3: Apex 50th (2003), steel Rifle Flighted 6.0 shaft, 32,5 degrees Club 4: Apex ftx (2006), steel regular shaft Apex 3, 30 degrees According to these stats, would the club 2 shaft be my choice?

I begin to get confused now. Yesterday I read that mchepp hits it farther with the R1, now you loose 30 yards hitting the R11. Why all the variance? Applying Eriks first post I would expect that you all hit them about the same distance.

It fits, I tried it. I used my standard Casio cam that I usually screw on my GorillaPod SLR. Same size. If you make the trip to the cam store with your trolley, please, please get some photos of yours and your wheeled tripod - fun for everybody. Regarding the swingshot: Nice idea, but I do not see one buying it for 299,- instead of a cam you can use for other things that comes with a playback screen...

Oh, great. Then I go buy a few more lessons, right? Will do. (BTW, Erik sells lessons, not clubs ...) The other day I bought clubs from 1988, because I like the looks. Blades. Fun thing is, they fly the range rock-ball as far as my GI clubs from 2001. The 1988 stick has 3 degrees more loft and stiff shafts and worn grooves and are hard to hit blades. That made me go hmmm. Bought another set I really liked from 1999 for cheap. Am happy now. Really happy. Now I just need the snow to go away and go test those old irons on the course. I admit, the new driver show every spring is very tempting. Adjustability of the heads sounds like a really nice feature. But speed slots, etc.? Or think of those Bridgestones ball fitting events. On bad days I take old balls I found, maybe hit a no-brand bad-looking rock over a pond. And guess what, works like a charm and feels like a rock hit solid. Now I buy e7 balls cheaper with a sponsor logo on them for tourneys. But when it comes to looks, it more and more gets into the fashion thing. White club heads, black wedges. Whats next? Yeah, orange...

Ha, another one: the clicgaer umbrella holder has the same screw-size that would fit in your cam. I just tried it screwing the umbrella holder into my cam. It works, but looks funny :D So everybody owning a clicgear push trolley (and maybe loads of other trolleys owners, too), you already have a wheeled tripod with you. You just have to buy a double-sided screw and a cheapo tripod head.

Between navel and sternum is OK. You can adjust the grip of the Clickgear to go a little higher (or lower) - pretty much perfect. Good for filming on the course. Another solution (better for the range) is to buy a cheap cam tripod for the same price. Is is probably on the bulky side, but the cheap ones are light in weight. It is way easier to adjust and move around (down the line vs. caddy view). I always have to get a bar stool to make videos on the range - I am lucky, since they are present in every box.

+1 Gorilla pod works. Do not buy the SLR version, the screwing is getting on my nerves. The smaller one has a quick cam on-/off plate. So you can fix the arm to the cart and leave them there when you take off the cam and watch the video.

Ha, another victim of an unearthed post. Well, well. But the mat-thing I wrote about is a nice solution - especially for your lawn and the peace with your SO.

Zeph, try buy different grass "carpets" from a company that sells artificial putting greens, like SouthWestGreens. The mat needs to be durable. Maybe they give you cut-offs for free... Screw them onto a pice of wood, but put a cushion mat (polyurethane 5mm+) underneath it.The be solution would be a 90x90cm wood tile you would use for a terrace so you can stand on it, too. You can practice in your backyard or take a small-size mat-only assembly to the range.

Ha, the Aimpoint conspiracy. Below my experience and pointers to a lengthy thread. The concept is really simple, but one needs a proper introduction and the charts or the app. Dont buy a new putter, go to an Aimpoint class.

Well, it is all in the statistics. Just think about your last round and work your way back from the flag to the tee. Pros make around 35% puts when just 10-15 feet away from the flag, at 20-25 feet it is down to around 15%. How good can your shot into the green be, if you are in the bunker, rough or another bad lie? Do you have to hit a 6i+ into the green? Well, just assume we are 150-175 yards away from the green. The best pro gets it to 22 feet average proximity, most pros land it at 26 feet. Classic two put scenario. Or for us weekend golfers an occasional 3 put. So, that leaves us with the driver. Well, we all need our best days (and best weather) to place a 280 yard shot (including lot of roll) in the middle of the fairway... The above numbers are tour pro stats. I doubt that we weekend golfers get close on a regular basis - unless we are single digits handicaps and have a good day. Again, best solution for most weekend golfers is to play the shorter mens tees in order to have a chance to show your best golf. Ball-striking seems to be the best time spend practicing. Stay out of trouble and get the ball close to the flag. For putting, check out aimpoint or similar methods (if there are any).

Thanks for adding up to the good ole mantra: Stay out of trouble. Pro stats clear show that rough or other bad lies gives them a harder chance to score. A course in perfect shape does not help that much when they are too far off the flag. Re. drives, that what I figured out long - get that driver going. Did not make it to work reliable - 3W to 210 in the fairway and I was happy, 240 in the rough or OB was no good. In the end, ball striking is what matters and keeps you out of trouble. Then the putting game where nearly everybody should be able to get good at. Thanks to aimpoint... :D

Ah, no worries. I deleted a sentence like "as a higher handicapper (me), you have to choose the right tees to have a chance to play well". My official handicap is 28, I play between 18 and 28 - no time and no lust for tourneys. I am over in Europe and played a PGA tour prepared course once. I never ever had so much roll. And I never had to hit it three times out of the rough to get closer to the 30 feet away flag. Remember Phils "wrist-gate". Or those carpet like greens. Course conditions matter, right. Just take my 70+ year old uncle. Distance off the tee sucks - but the course is not that long and has a few shortcuts and overrated holes. But he hits it straight, gets to the greens and boy does he know every hump on that stimp 10 greens. And no, no bunckers for him, no water hazards, no bio hazards - but easy to manage rough. And yes, it has to be dry for him to play his best golf. No roll in the off-season. Point is, our day-to-day courses might be a little easier to play - stimp 10, less roll, and what not. But you can play a decent round and go low, because you know where you are. Looking at putting, thats an area where everybody can be excellent. Around the green maybe, too. Iron play is a little harder to get very good at. Distance and accuracy off the tee (yes, both), might be the hardest to get for 10+ handicappers. Looking at: Again, the old mantra: Hit long, hit fairways, up the GIRs, no 3-puts. I do not get much over 210 yards off the tee, hence I have a longer iron or hybrid to get to the green, which equals less proximity to the flag. Same as the pros. Hitting the rough off the tee makes that task impossible - GIR go down. The vicious cycle everybody knows. So the mantra for me is: hit fairways, up the GIRs - the rest will follow. Since your handicap was much better than mine (time before it said bad), I am only wondering if that darn mantra is the same for 10+ handicaps like you?

I did the math today - PGA tour green approach stats If the rough is manageable, you do not have to worry too much about off-fairway hits. Pro tournament roughs really suck - last time I tried them. Stats show that, too. Distance to the flag on the green is a really important: the further away, the lower the chance to hole out. Iron accuracy should have a big influence on the putting stats. The tables show that, too. Again, the old mantra: Hit long, hit fairways, up the GIRs, no 3-puts. Amen. Fix that swing, not the clubs... :D

It is hard to give advice without knowing where you loose power. This could be a starting point for you to read up: Maintaining the flying wedge

Thanks! I am practicing with Apex 3 shafts (Apex ftx and 2003) and an Apex 4 shaft (1988) - and always with the 6i. The Apex 3 2003 ball flight is way too high, compared to the other clubs. The Apex 4 with a 2* lower lofted 6i has the same or slightly more distance than the Apex 3 ftx 6i. That was the reason for this post... Re 3. Oh yes, repeated a shank prone move and stopped trying after the fifth to protect my hands from stupid ideas. Re 4. Maybe. I was amazed that I was able to hit the 1988 Apex Redline clubs at all. OK, hitting the 1i is a different matter... I usually play GI irons with regular graphite shafts (2001 Apex Edge). I am happy then that I survived the blade Apex 4 challenge - I find the shaft playable. Trajectory with range balls seems OK. Dispersion is way less and distance is farther compared to my GI/graphite set. Hmm, I might go try my 1988 on the golf course then. I bought the 1-9 set for $60 to have a few hard to hit practice clubs. BTW, the ftx and the 1988 weigh nearly the same - OK, the 1988 is 10 grams / 0.4 ounces heavier. Huh, trajectory is OK. I hit occasional 15 yard pushes before, now the tend to be 10 yards max. I think I try to get a fitting session (for free) - Spring sales season comes to a range/shop near me very, very soon. And I might try to pick up a 1999 Apex club with #5 x stiff shafts.

Hi Hogan-fans, how does an Apex 5 x stiff shaft from 1998 (on Apex 1999) play compared to up-to-date stiff shafts? Should be a shaft Spalding made or bought... I currently practice with Apex 4 shafts on clubs from 1988 and my 6i travels the same distance than the stronger lofted 2006 Apex 3 6i. Is x stiff from 1998 todays stiff? Like the old 7i loft is todays 8i loft? And yes, I do not know my swing speed...

Arrrrgh - wrong subject for this forum - please ignore the subject. Sorry... Anyways, I practice with regular steel and stiff steel shafts. I get more distance with a stiff shaft. I am about to try a x stiff shaft from 1998. What would typically happen when hitting a stiffer shaft with a too low swing speed? When hitting my regular graphite shafts, my shots get way too much height. A pro seeing my shots instantly came over to talk about new clubs, fitting, etc. Off-season makes creative...

Yes VMAN, I saw the pictures of your green. SWG do an amazing job. I have got their turf, too. Are you still satisfied with the slopes of your green? Would you do something different? Since my green will be kind of longish, it will be limited slope-wise. I am thinking to have one long side flat for straight, long putts - and one end of the other side sloping down at 1 to 2 %. I don't think I will be able to get 3 %.

Your picts are priceless - I saw them a while ago. Due to injury I pushed digging to this fall. Sad, I know. Been thinking about a possible 6 hole course the last months. Two straight par 3s, two par five round-the-house-dog-leg hole (could be a par 6 hole, too) and two par four. Aha, gotta have something to do in the Winter... Well, my green will be behind the house. "Better put a bush there, it will hide your playground nicely." Yep, dear, whatever you say... Did you try to use foam balls? Those rings (BirdieBall, right?) look a little strange and I never saw them in stores here in Europe. I bought yellow foam balls and they play nicely. Furthermore, I am still not sure on how to shape the green - slopes, hole locations. Gotta draft it and up it here soon. Winter is coming, time is running! PS: Thanks for unearthing this thread - good reminder that I am not the only crazy guy out there :D PPS: Here is the most read backyard green thread I stumbled upon so far. Epic. And this green is just great, too. Mine will be a small one like in post #24