GolfBear

Dude looks like he was hit with a tranquilizer dart! Who sits that way? Oh, Jason Dufner does! :)

My local range sells balls in increments of 35. For me, 35 is too few and 70 is way too many for me. It seems that by the time I get to the 70th ball I'm just whooped. It's probably worth noting, that my typical range session goes something like this: 5 really soft slow sand wedges to loosen up 10 pitching wedges 10 7 irons 15 5 irons 5 4 irons 5 hybrids 5 3 wds 10 drivers 5 pitching wedges

Didn't Nicklaus also start his swing with a slight forward press? If I recall correctly, he didn't he do that with his irons?

Rubch, I tested drivers extensively on the range and only bought the Nike after I confirmed the numbers on the launch monitor. The shots on the range had the right trajectory and distance but I wanted to check the spin numbers. When I bought my new i20 irons I did the entire fitting based on the statics and trusted that if the numbers were right, the irons will be fine.

I was lucky, I was fitted on Wednesday and my clubs arrived on the following Thursday. You would think that something as simple as being an inch shorter wouldn't be much different than choking down on the grip for better control. Heck, I do it all the time when I'm in between clubs. Strangely, when the full set is an inch shorter it changes everything.

I got my i20's last Thursday. To be candid, I've really struggled making consistent contact with them. I seem to be hitting everything on the toe. I was comparing them to my old clubs and realized that they were a full inch shorter than my old clubs. My initial thought was that we either screwed up the fitting or someone messed up when they made them. I took them down to my local Golf Galaxy so I could compare the lengths to the standard black dots on the wall. Much to my astonishment, they were the exact same length. So now I'm thinking, WTF??? I happened to still have my old 5i & 7i's banging around my trunk so I ran out to get them for comparison. Turns out my old set was apparently +1" across the entire set. Moral of the story, I've been playing irons that are one inch longer than they should be for almost 15 years. After two more buckets of balls and a round of golf I'm hitting the ball much better. I had to move what seemed uncomfortably close at first but now I'm getting used to feeling like I'm standing on top of the ball! I played my first full round last night and hit the ball MUCH better. The forgiveness of these irons is just stupid good. Shots hit square on the toe lose about 1/2 to 1 club length but stay relatively online. The CFS shafts are a fantastic improvement for me and any kind of a good swing is rewarded with a high but not ballooning ball flight. Of note, they also feel very soft. I've played essentially a forged blade for the last 15 years and I'm not disappointed with the PING feel. They also feel great and perform great around the green. I'd recommend these clubs for anyone at any handicap level. I think these clubs are just all around solid. I'd HIGHLY recommend these clubs to anyone.

A few weeks ago I was reading something about foot position with the driver and someone posted this picture. From what I understand this is from Hogan's book and it clearly shows him advocated for a more closed stance with the longer clubs and woods. I've been doing this for about a month and I think I've hit one hook in the last 10 rounds. I've never driven the ball better. I'm a believer!!!

Sai-Jin, It's always ok to use score as a motivator. After all, that's the ultimate object of the game, to shoot a lower score. Just don't let the score become so important that it ruins your enjoyment of the game. I keep thinking of additional questions to ask you. Do you plot your misses? For example, this isn't my card but it's how my scorecard (before I started using Golflogix) used to look: I also mark what side I miss the fairways or the greens on. This way I know that if I miss on the left I'm far more likely to card a bogey or higher. If I miss on the right I've still got a shot at making par or at worst, a bogey. Basically then I know that no matter what I do, I can't miss left. I think there are even software packages that will help you with the %'s. It'll help you key in on where your misses tend to be! :)

It really looks like a lot more "checks" than it really is. Then again, I've been doing it for 34 years. I find that when I play my worst I'm playing what I refer to is "brainless" golf. I just walk up to the ball, pick a distance/club and swing. When I play my best I'm actually working to minimize my mistakes. One thing I did leave off though is to make sure you're accurate and honest with your distances. I'm not doubting your distances but it won't help your score if you say you hit your 7i 185 yards when in fact you average 175. We all have those shots that we pure that fly forever but what you've got to find is your average. If you're unsure, borrow a rangefinder and go to the range. Don't trust their yardages, measure your own. Hit 6-10 shots with each club and make sure you're positive about your distances. That alone will be GREAT for your confidence. Try Annika's "Thinking Box" approach! :)

I hit at least a small bucket with almost every 2012 driver. The least impressive to me was the RBZ. I wound up going with the Nike VRS because it had the best combination of feel, sound, distance, & dispersion.

I'm going to approach this from a bit of a different angle. There are a lot of things that need to happen prior to the swing before you can start hitting more greens in regulation. Here's just a smattering of some of the stuff I consider before I even choose my club. All this happens when I stand behind the ball. Once I make my club selection and step up to the ball it's all about making the swing. No more thoughts 1. What's my lie? Fairway, light rough, heavy rough, in a divot etc. Light rough = potential flyer; heavy rough = just get it back on play. Is the ball above or below my feet? Is it an uphill or downhill lie? 2. What's the distance to the center of the green? 3. Distance to the actual flag? 4. Where is the flag on the green? 5. What hazards are protecting the green? Where are the bunkers? Is there water? 6. Where's the wind and what's it doing. Will it help or will it knock the shot down? 7. Where is the least penalizing place to miss? If the flag is tucked left and there's water left I should never ever miss left of the flag. If I do it's because I aimed right and pulled the ball. 8. Finally, once I make the decision on the iron, commit fully to the shot. NO DOUBTS. Doubts in your brain make your body do exactly what you don't want to do! There's a couple of books I read several years ago; Golf and the Art of War and Combat Golf. They talk about the fact that if you look at a golf hole from the green back to the tee you can see how the architect set up the defenses for each particular hole. When you stop charging into the teeth of the defense you'll be amazed at what it does for your score!

I can't speak to the prices but I can tell you this, after about 15 minutes of speaking with a "clubfitter" at my local GG I'd NEVER trust them to do a fitting for me. Your mileage my vary........

They look great but the question will be how they feel. The 1st generation of forged Ansers was a miserable flop due largely to the fact that they felt terrible as compared to other premium irons.

Tidewater and Heather Glenn are two of my all time favorites at MB. I've heard Caledonia is very nice but I've never played it.

One of the things my pro has me do for a drill is to hit 5 irons as low as I possibly can. Much like a punch shot. You can use the back of the range or the tree line as a gage of how low you're hitting it. The range where I practice has a huge net on the right side. I try to hit my 5i below the top of the net. You hit some ugly shots but my ball striking and compression improves greatly after one of those sessions. When you're hitting 5 iron stingers there simply is no way to flip and still hit the shots low.

I was just watching the replay of the AT&T; and thought, damn, "that guy in the blue shirt reminds me of iacas". I Googled "PureStrike" and wound up here again! That's a pretty good price for a 5 dvd set.

While not entirely unrelated, I noticed something during the Open last week. Tiger seems to be hitting everything with an open stance. I was wondering if that was Foley thing or something he's doing to preserve his knee? I think in golf we often become obsessed with how things are supposed to look as opposed to focusing on the actual result. If it helps me hit the ball straighter I'll stand with one leg in the air like a flamingo! :) Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Paul Azinger, Jim Furyk, Rickey Fowler....lots of unconventional stuff out there has won tournaments. If it works, go with it!

I've got one of the original Rapture's. I swapped out the stock shaft for an NVS and I can't seem to part with it. I've hit virtually every driver made yet I can't find anything that feels or performs as well.

I think there's a lot of golfers that leave their driver home and have more success off the tee with their 3w because they're playing the wrong driver. I'm not talking about any particular brand but rather a driver that doesn't fit them well. I think a lot of golfers are obsessed with hitting it longer and foresake accuracy for distance. If you look at the lengths of the modern driver is there any wonder why balls that used to go slightly off line now wind up in different zip codes? From my personal experience, I recently played a round at a course in Las Vegas and I decided to rent rather then schlep my clubs through the airport for just one round. So I wound up using a Nike Driver, not sure which model, but I do remember it had a Fubuki shaft. I was saddened to find out it was 10.5 degrees and only a regular flex. I mentally prepared myself for a bad driving day. I was SHOCKED to find myself hitting the ball longer and straighter than I've hit it in the last couple of years. High straight bombs seemed to be absurdly easy to hit. Fast forward, after a few range sessions with my own driver this week I'm really struggling with the driver and the long high bombs are gone. I'm starting to realize that my 9 degree driver with the extra stiff shaft just doesn't fit me anymore. As much as I hate to admit it, at 45 I'm just not generating the same clubhead speed I did when I was 35 and my 9 degree days might be behind me.

I just read that Ben Curtis won this week playing Titleist AP-1's. For those unfamiliar with that club it's what's considered a "game improvement" iron and is essentially designed to hit the ball straight. It seems like more and more tour pro's are putting more and more GI irons into their bags. Modern drivers are largely designed to hit the balls straight so are we seeing a trend? Is "working" the ball overrated or is high and straight the new norm. Why hit it around the trees when you can hit it over! :)

You know someone has already thought of that...I'd be shocked if they hadn't. I'm betting that bastard Pete Dye will be the first.

Frankly, I'd rather have a course architect just put a giant buried elephant in the middle of the green and force you to make a really difficult read & putt. Putting a bunker in the middle of the green just doesn't seem like solid course design. It made me think of a course I played in Myrtle Beach. There were railroad ties buried in the middle of the fairway with only a few feet sticking out. You could hit a shot in the middle of the fairway and be completely blocked on your second shot. Your only choice was to take a penalty (in the middle of the fairway) because they weren't movable.

Dude you really need to relax, maybe try some decaf? You only need to miss a shot 30 feet to the left to be punished when you have a hazard in the middle of the green. Tour pro's regularly miss greens to the left and right and 30 feet is a relatively mild miss. If you're on the green you should have an opportunity to putt and still advance the ball near the hole. Point is, if you normally miss 30 feet to the left, you're usually either on the green with a long putt, in a bunker or off the side of the green. Two of the three options let you use a wedge to get it close, or perhaps even hole it. If the balls on the green in a donut bunker then chipping, pitching or blasting isn't an option. You're forcing people to take a penalty putt because you can't (or at least you shouldn't) play a wedge from the green and you have ZERO chance of holing the putt. I'm sorry if you disagree but that doesn't make your opinion correct.