bayareamtnbiker

My friend who is a 1 handicap and very long hitter had great results with last year’s Adams light driver, so I bought a 4G UltraLite and played with it today for the first time. Results were good. My drives easily averaged 10 yards longer, and control and feel were good. I have a little Medicus swing speed meter and will measure speed later, but it was likely 3 mph over my normal 102 mph swing speed. I can tell that there is maybe another 10 yards in the club that I can get with some dialing in. I let my playing partners try it out on a few tees, and the one guy hit by far the longest and straightest drive down our 8th fairway he's ever had, maybe 40 extra yards, and he was clearly shocked. It'll be interesting to see what he does now. I GPS-measured one of my own up hill drives, with no roll, at 252 yards. I might've previously reached that far on that hole on a dry warm day with some up hill bounce & roll, but not on wet ground this time of year. Adams says this club is for players who benefit from lightweight materials and better aerodynamics, so I guess I'm one of those guys.

Just ordered one (2 w/BOGO). Hoping to improve both mine & my wife's swings. :)

Salonpas patches work for temporary localized pain relief, like w/a tweaked muscle. Available at most drugstores. Cleaner, no odor, lasts 4 or 5hours. Don't know if Bengay patches are similar.

1 Move to country club, play w/low handicappers, on tougher courses. DONE moved, playing mostly w/ low single digit players, learning from them. 2 Brake 80 at home course. DONE 79 this month w/no birdies, 3 mos to spare. Have reached a higher level at last. 3 Learn finer points from experienced members DOING 2009 accomplishments (3rd year) GHIN dropped from 19 to 12 Won 1 tournament, placed in 3, came in 2nd in club’s “Player Of The Year”. Drives longer, more consistent, more easy GIRs and shorter putts. Shaping works more often than not like desired. Fewer setup mistakes, aiming w/ more consistency and precision, fewer shot selection mistakes (still make 'em, just not as many). Completely changed swing, grip, chipping and putting techniques. More confident, few jitters, good performance in tournaments. Lot's to improve on, but good progress for someone in late 50's.

Move to country club, playing w/experienced low handicappers, tougher course. 1) Brake 80 at home. Did it last year on public courses. Good progress 2) Learn finer points from experienced members. Good progress 3) Take 2nd lesson. Efficiently incorporate changes. TBD 4) Filter out distractions when whacking it. Some progress 5) Keep enjoyment #1 reason for golf. Good progress

I worked 25 years in defense, part of that developing armor and we had a German genius developing some armor technology for us. In the application the steel was deformed at very high rates by explosives and high speed impacts. I tested all kinds of similarly spec’d American steels to try to manufacture the design using US suppliers, but never found one that even came close to the performance of the German steel. Night and day difference. I’m a degreed Metallurgist/Welding Engineer, and I understand metals. Our entire staff of engineers and metallurgical lab people all scratched our heads but could not ascertain why German steel was consistently better. The best we could determine was that the German steel industry uses more precise manufacturing techniques and tighter processes. I wouldn’t have believed the performance difference had I not physically and repeatedly witnessed it. They make some damn good steels over there!! Is it better for golf? I’m skeptical about that but know that sometimes better performance can’t be easily explained.

I’m all Snake Eyes stuff – forged irons now, although started with their cast stuff which were quite nice. Everyone I know thinks SE makes good equipment. The Mamba was an exception, a POS, at least the first version. Even I’m too good for that thing w/ a 14 Index. Got a new Viper TI Tour Black 3W a few months back and love it, enough to be wanting to try the 1W. Clubs are hard to compare, expecially w/ shaft variations. Last week I hit a friends R7 driver alongside my SE600T, repeatedly boomed out an easy, extra 25 yds. Now I suppose I’ll have to try to find out if that was a fluke or a discovery. Maybe 400 bucks worth of discovery? In any case, I'd say go down to a Golf Smith and test out a few SE woods - you've nothing to lose.

Driver, 2” – 3” left of center for upward impact - compression. 4” if need higher trajectory, e.g trees. Long irons, 1” left of center (bottom of swing path), or back several inches for low trajectory. Short irons, just behind center (for a descending blow), back further in deeper lies.

Look for/invent drills where you score yourself, in an honest manner, on various clubs/shots (e.g. 20 shots to a target circle). That way you'll know what needs work, monitor progress (or lack of), and get the most bang for your practice buck. Just hitting at targets doesn't transfer to your handicap all that well.

A 2 index friend had a Momentus driver today at the range, and let me try it. IAW his guidance, I hit only 6 balls, then went right to wedges. Quite an eye opener, clubs felt weightless, hit dozens of perfect short irons, as if instantly grooved. There is something to these things. I’ll try weighting an older driver before buying one, and I know weight must not be too high for one's particular swing speed to have a “hittable” trainer. I’m thinking this will definitely help swing mechanics and reduce warmup time. Other’s experiences? Suggestions?

I think the LW is fun but is less forgiving. I only use it when short-sided, when must have highest trajectory (rare), or going short out of a deep lie. Otherwise, SW is more consistent. Love to practice with the LW though.

A similar thing I've noticed is that after hitting a fantastic drive, I'm more prone to a weak 2nd shot. Also after a weak drive, I'll crank out a great hole-saving 2nd shot. Strange game for sure.

I've experimented, and for a descending blow that gives ball-first contact minimizing turf interference, I aim for the front of the ball, hitting down. I can reliably hit off wood, asphalt, thin grass and usually out of deeper grass this way. In deeper grass, the club might stick but the ball is (hopefully) gone. Contact is below the sweet spot so add 5-10 yards. Even most pros lack the strength required to dig a ball out of heavy turf the way Tiger does.

Playing "all the time" and not posting scores is cheating, whether or not you take money. Of course, assuming people keep score honestly requires a certain amount of naiveté. The old "everyone does it" mentality. http://www.ucgc.org/posting_match_play_scores.htm The posting of Match Play scores is REQUIRED by the NCGA/USGA Handicap System, it is not optional.

13 Snake Eyes 600T, Aldila NV65-S. (Great club, easy 245 yds, but high loft for a driver). On the way in the mail - guaranteed to be venomous! 9.5 Snake Eyes Black Mamba, UST Proforce V2-R.