flintlock62

I use a retreiver all the time. If someone is behind me, I let them pass or just not pick up unless it is just at the edge and easy to get. I never slow someone else's play. I get slowed down mostly by someone in front of me looking in the woods for their ball, not from someone fishing one out of the water. My course is sometimes relitively vacant during the week and I will pick up many balls that are OB or water bound. I also play many 'found' balls and sell other balls back to the club.

Your're only 5'9"? My God!!! Try being 5'6"! I use standard length clubs, but should be using 1/2" shorter. What you get out of longer clubs is a longer swing path. A longer swing path = distance. A longer swing path also equates to the probabilty of pulling or pushing shots. I choose to remain with standard because I will never make the pro circuit anyway.

Since no reference was made to a particular club (driver, fairway wood, iron, etc.), I have four clubs to mention. Wilson Smooth 9* driver (290~320 yards), Wilson Staff Goose-Neck 8 iron (170 Yards), Wilson Staff J.P Custom Grind PW (110 yards), Tayormade Cb3 balanced putter.

I spin my balls and have a line all the way around the ball. Distracting? No, not to me, and when a hit goes haywire, I find it quickly and know it's mine. It helps on lining up putts too. I have seen tour players with a line all the way around.

I am not surprised a lot of people use Pro V's. It's the balls the 'pro's' use, so that is the ball they must use, even though they have a 20+ handicap. BS! I have used them and admit I am not pro level, but see the handicaps of others using these balls and wonder, why? My coach says 90% of amature golfers should not use them because they lack in three catagories, swing speed, ability to hit down on the ball to generate back spin, and accuracy. Out of the 10%, only 5% actually benefit from them. This comes from Richard Binney, someone who has played on the pro tour. He had to quit because of hip problems. I pick them up (Pro-V) along my club's OB and out of the water, most of them a 'one hit' ball. One of the best 'found' balls I use is the Bridestone B330. In my bag, I keep Wilson Zip and TX4's in my bag because of the way they feel, the distance I get out of them (same as Pro-V), and the price, not to mention my skill level. Not saying to use Wilson, but it does not make sense to me to spend big bucks on a name tag when one can actually get as good or even better results out of cheaper options. (Wilson, Top Flight, Bridgestone, etc.) Go ahead and keep using the Pro-V's if you want to, it does not affect my pocket book!

I have a 9* Wilson Smooth and really like it. It is intresting you know how much back spin you have on the ball! How do you derive at that figure?

I use half-cord grip on all my clubs.

I play Founders Clubs. As you will find out, you will receive as many answers as there are brand names. What is there now, six posts and six different answers? Choose what looks best and forget what everyone says is best. Founders Clubs are inexpensive and I can't tell the difference in them and a Ping G-10, for what that's worth. Just as good as any answer though. It always more how you swing, and not the club, that is until they come out with one that takes itself out of the bag and swings for you. The most important thing is to choose the right flex. The next most important thing is to choose the right ball. Pro V1's are not for everybody.

I Started using these balls recently and am having good success with them. Much cheaper than Titleist Pro V1 and to me, almost as good. My balls check on the greens extremely well. I would like input from others who have compared the two balls.

Wilson Staff Goose-Neck PW and a Wilson R-20 Gene Sarazen barrilium copper Special Wedge. I use the PW mostly and open the face for more loft when needed. I practice with this one club up to and including flop shots instead of keeping extra wedges in the bag and learning them all. I know what my PW will do. On occasion of heavy rough, I switch to the SW.

That is correct. Remember though that there are degrees between stiff and regular. R400 is stiffer than R300, S200 is weaker than S300.

To answer that is most golfers swing all their clubs too hard. They think: "if John Daily could hit a 400+ yard drive, then so can I". "If Phil can hit a 220 yard 5 iron, so can I". It is not just how hard one swings, its HOW they swing. The proper swing should be more of a "brain swing" than a muscle swing. Before anyone else can say it, I am amazed I hit more than ten feet!

Popular at one time with the pro's, Founders Clubs are not seen too much today. Anyone here use them, or have used them?

I agree on the 20 posts, 20 answers. Most of the clubs abilities lay in the hands of the user. The best solution is take lessons. I use Founders Clubs with good results.

You are correct, my friend! Many golfers think that "new club" will make all the difference in their game. A wiser choice is money spent on lessons. By all standards, my clubs are woefully out-dated. I improved my score over 18 strokes, not by buying the latest and greatest, but by listening to what my coach had to say about my swing. My .02

I tend to agree. I used to think I needed x-stiff shafts so I could hit it as hard as possible and wow everyone with amazingly long drives. Some times I did, but it was not always in the fairway. I finally realized that if I relaxed my swing, I could hit much more accurately and only lose a few yards at best and in some cases even gain yards. That and along with some lessons from a very good coach, my scores improved dramatically. Everyone should have his or her swing speed anaylized and choose the shaft that fits. I would also suggest the lessons before customizing shaft flex. In numerous cases, it is possible to hit straighter and farther with a more flexible shaft, but I opt for a straighter flight at any rate. No more "driving contests" for me, thank you. By the same token, one does not want too flexible a shaft either.

One of my past jobs was in R&D; in consumer electronics. Advertising is a vital tool for success. I do not know the sales volume of Mizuno, but there are so many brands of golf equipment and technology is rapidly changing on a daily basis, thanks to sophisticated computer programs. Companies like Taylor Made need advertising to stay competive. How else would you know about the new club that is guaranteed to add yards and hit it straighter than anyone else? Titleist advertises heavily and is the #1 ball, so do they really need to advertise? One would think the name would simply speak for itself. Nike also advertises heavly, and their sales volume show for it. I see a lot more Nike clubs in golfers bags than I do Mizuno. My question would be, why doesn't Mizuno advertise more? Even Toyota and the evil giant Wal-Mart advertises when one would think the point is moot.

I play with Wilson Staff Goose-Necks. I like the longer face they have and can work theball better than I was doing with my CB clubs. Off center hits let my know right away that I came over the top.

It does no good to argue with a fence post. I was not vacationing in any country I have been to. Yes, someone is putting money into their pockets, the board of directors is a good place to start, unless you think they all live in trailers and drive used Yugo's. You need to concentrate on your pimples and leave serious thinking to us adults! You are 17, what do you know about the job market? Move over-seas? Man, are you naive!

That is a very poor answer. It is not what they CHOOSE, it's what they MUST do in order to feed their families. I have been to several third world countries, so I have a lot more knowledge of the people and their governments than you. Over-seas workers do not CHOOSE their work conditions, it's what is handed to them, no choice on their part. They are FORCED to work in sub-standard conditions. This is not a blind assessment. I have talked to several over-seas workers. What part of poor work conditions do you not understand??? It is Nike's responsibility to see that the workers are not miss-treated. Because of our current ecconomy and the fact that my job went over-seas, I am FORCED to take a lesser job. The lesser job I currently hold is to feed my family. It is not what I CHOOSE, it is what I must do. I guess you justify the fact that Nike is growing fat off cheap over-seas labor?

I would like to ask just how many of you have actually been to any foriegn country? Do you really know their work conditions or how they are treated? Does Nike pass anong the savings for the cheap labor along to us, or stick it in their pocket? The .16 cents/hour is about right, so why does a driver cost $400 or a set of irons $1,000?

I have a fairly compact swing. I find that I am more in control when I keep it shorter. Distance helps no one when it is in the heavy rough, so I'd rather keep it in the fairway even if it takes one more iron to get it there. My .02.

I have to agree with you on that.

I will chime in with the Bullseye. I have the heavy blade Bulleye. I have tried other putters and still do not see the difference, so why spend the big bucks, just to watch my ball trickle off to the left of right of the hole? Hey, you missed your putt. Yes, but this $150 putter is supposed to drill the cup!

Curiuos queston here. I am left handed, but when I first started playing golf, lefty clubs were imposible to find, so I started righty. I still predomantly play righty, but have lefty clubs and play them equally as well. I have confused people sometimes, but I can not make up my mind which to stick with. Any lefty's here who has the same problem?