beung

You could hit a TM 425, it's got a smaller head. You could also just try and choke down on the driver.

I would highly recommend the UST V2 either the High Launch or the regular, it's a great shaft for the money. I had the HL in my 425 TP and it was great, just a bit too much spin and the stiff wasn't quite stiff enough.

Well I'll tell you what, there are 2 sides to golf. One is the fun part and the second is the score. With that said a person with a 36 index (not sure if that is current for the OP) you're bascially playing double boggie golf. So in reality you can take 3 shots to get on the green and 3 putt for your "par", anything better then a 6 on this hole and your saving yourself strokes as it compares to your handicap - that is the score part of golf. Infact to break 90 all you have to do is boggie every hole, that sounds easy or hard depending on how you look at it. So you have to approach this hole with the intent of getting a 5 not the expectation of getting a 4. If you play this hole with the intent to get a 4 you're doomed before you even make a swing off the tee. The water is probably an automatic 6 for most golfers, the bunkers is probably a 5 maybe a 4 depending on how good the lie is and how good you are. Taking a smart 4 or 5 here is going to give you 1-2 strokes to play with on a hole which you can bomb the driver on. It's going to make the hard par 4s easier because you have some stokes to play with, heck even taking a big number like a 7 on a hard hole doesn't hurt so bad when you have a 4 or 5 to offset it.

Damn, that changes things, I was going to fly the water, aiming at the middle bunker at 53 out and play a bit of a fade but that's out now. From the white tees, I would hit 5i to the trap and play a fade. That should leave me with about a 9i or PW to the pin. With those clubs in my hand I am usually aiming no more then 15 or so feet off the flag. For a handicapper like the OP I woud tee of the exact same way. I would play a club to get to on the fairway without getting me into the bunker, so aim left even the bunker is better then being wet. If you can fly a 7-pw iron to the green then go for the middle. If not then layup and play to your boggie handicap. If you think about it a par for you here is like a birdie to a scratch golfer. You don't want to make a double here trying to make a "par".

I used to have TM RAC LTs with Rifle flighted 6.0. I now have switched to MP-67s with PX 5.5. The balance is amazing with this head and shaft combo, they feel solid and very in control during the swing. They are the non-flighted and I think at times they can spin and balloon a little more then I would like. If you hit a high ball anyways this is going to make them balloon up a bit, especially if you play an iron that has some other get it in the air features. You may want to go with the flex that is a half higher to help keep the ball down.

This probaly depends on what your misses are.... Do you have problems with distance or with getting the ball started on the line you picked out? I don't see the long putters being anymore helpfull in getting the weight right, in fact the opposite could be true in that the long putters are harder to judge distance with. If you have problems with getting the putter through on line and the face square. Then I would think that the long putter can help, since the butt end it anchored you your body (which is why I think they should be illegal, but that is another topic). But if you have troubles with both line and distance then the long putter may hurt you more then help, at least until you get the distance figured out. So only if I had problems beign steady and getting the ball on line would I move to a long putter.

For me I will hit drive unless the driver is too long. If the driver has a chance to get me into the trouble because of length, then I use 3wood or 5wood depending in the distance to the trouble. I am not any more consistant or straighter with my 3wood then my driver. The 5wood I have though is very consistant club for me. I was playing lastnight with a friend who was tempted to tee off every hole with his 7i because he just couldn't make any sort of good contact on the ball with his driver. Just think if you hit 7i 160 yrds, you could bascially hit 7i twice, hit wedge into the green give yourself a chance at a 1 putt par. This of course only works if you don't have to hit over anything longer then 150 yrds or so. But really if the point for you is to score good you have to put your ego away because you know there is usually a risk shot and a safe shot. The safe shot isn't typically going to let you get back any shots but it isn't going to cost you any either.

Although 29 and 31 putts are not great, it much better then my 32-33 or so average. I did make a small putting change, my left hand grip. I put the putter a little more in the palm of my hands instead of it being too much in the fingers. Putting is all confidence and once you start making then they all seem to go in....just take a look at your avatar :) lastnight I had a good mix of some decent length putts made and some great approach shots that just left me with 2 tap-ins for birdie. The eagle putt I made was about 15 feet down hill with a slight right to left, before the putting change I would be happy with leaving myself a makable birdie putt, lastnight I knew it was going in. That eagle was the giant cherry on an amazing bridie, birdie, birdie, eagle scoring run....by far the best I have every done. My index started out at 5, more like last season ended at 5. It quickly climbed to just over 7 and now is has dropped to 5 in the last 2 weeks...I was exactly a 7 index on July 30th. My highest handicap score is 7.7, so I should stay where I am unless I keep up the great score as of late....maybe to beat the lowest I have every been which is a 4.

So I played lastnight and shot one over, I played last Sat and shot 2 over. Both are similar scores but the journey to get that score are completely different. On Sat, I hit 12 greens, 29 putts, 1 three putt, 4 birdies, 9 pars, 4 boggies and one double. Lastnight I hit 11 greens, 31 putts, 3 three putts, 1 eagle, 5 birdies, 4 pars, 8 boggies. Those 8 boggies are really bugging me and especially the 3 three putts! Now in an effort to hit more greens you're going to find that your putt total goes up because instead of just being off the green you are just on the green leaving long putts instead of chips. The only good thing about the 8 boggies is that none of them ended up as doubles. I can take some consulation in knowing that I took my medicine and played for boggies instead of trying some amazing shot and "save" par. I play tomorrow at a pretty tough course so we'll see how my score holds up, hopefully I can get it in the red.

My understanding that, especially in putting, having for dominant eye closer to the hole is better. Thought being that if you are right eye dominant you have to look across your whole body/face to see the hole with your dominant eye. If you are right handed, swing the club as a right hander and right eye dominant go grab a left handed putter and try putting some putts basically lefthand cross handed (it would be like putting the ball with your back swing). The face will probably look open at address but you will be very surprised at how good you are and how much better you can see the line. FY: Tiger is left eye dominant and a right handed golfer.

One of 3 things I can think of.... 1) Timing issue, maybe something is out of sequence. 2) Setup, this happens to me all the time, its usuall ball position. I starts to creep too far back in my stance and so I trap it too much or I have to flip at it to square the face up, which usually leads to over flipping and a closed face. 3) Too much wrist action. This is kind of a result of the first two possible causes. Sometimes I have too much wrist cup in my right hand instead of rotation. Sometimes it's a timing thing, sometimes it's because I have to flip at the ball.

Kind of depends on what your natural shot is....I am guessing you play a draw as your natural shot? Two reasons for that guess, one being that because the trouble is to the right but off the green and a right pin is an obvious call for a fade. The other reason I say this is because many of the higher single digit caps I know, including myself, all have a draw that usually are hard to control. The really low single digits I know generally have a fade as their natural shot. If your natural shot is a fade, play the fade. Aim middle and let the natural fade bring you closer to the hole. Hitting it left, straight or too far right you should be safe. If your natural shot is a draw, play the draw. Aim somewhere between the flag and the middle of the green. I sometimes will hit a block or even a fade when trying to my natural draw so you want to leave yourself room on the right for that so I wouldn't aim at the flag. Also I sometimes draw too much and so sometimes aiming middle of the green isn't enough to keep me on the green.

I must confess that my post has zero statistical backing, it was more of a personal opinion. I just wanted to draw attention to the possibility that the rule will declaw some of the personalities on the tour. I don’t think for a second that the large, very large majority of the golfers out there would benefit from deeper or sharper grooves in their wedges, no matter how deep or sharp they were. What I do know is that they don’t have “top 10” shows about the safest shots, the most consecutive 2 putt pars or the most fairways hit streaks. They may mention it during a broadcast to emphasize how important it is to hit fairways or to simply hit greens in regulation but when you watch the highlights of the whole round you generally see them attempting tough shots, shots that usually aren’t from the fairway. They do have shows that glorify the triumphs and failures, which usually are a result of having to perform a shot(s) that seems impossible to pull off, yet when they do, you cheer at their skill and you can actually relate to them when they fail because you have probably been in that situation. I guess it depends on who you ask but what is less dull, Tiger’s win at Hoylake or Phil collapse at Winged Foot? I can truly appreciate Tiger’s strategic reasoning for not hitting driver very much but I don’t want to see him hit long iron off the tee each and every week. As for Phil, his whole weeks work (and probably more because of prep and practicing) was ruined because of one hole and more specifically a sequence of Van De Velde-esque shots. That makes me want to watch golf, just like watching Tiger sink a 15 footer at the US Open this year to force a playoff, even without the knee drama.

I don't like the rule all that much, for a couple of reasons. One, I don't know, maybe it's just me but I've seen the rough on TV, from what I can tell when the rough is like 3" high, does it matter how deep or sharp the grooves are? Is the bomb and gouge really driving down the scores on tour? Is this going to really lower the scores on tour, for some reason I don't think this will effect the tour players very much but it will effect the general golfing public. What makes it harder for professionals is bound to make it much harder for amateurs. Isn't reducing the opportunity for great recovery shots hurting some of the appeal of playing or especially watching golf? For me, watching some guy hit 12 fairways and hit 8i into each green and 2 putting for par is kind of boring. It's one thing when they have to do it four times a year during the majors but each week seeing the winning score being barely in the red isn't all the appealing. Part of the appeal of watching a spectator sport, is to witness something out of the norm - how many NASCAR fans are at the edge of their seats hoping for a crash? When you remove the risk/reward element it loses some of it's appeal. I want to see Phil hit it in the long stuff and see him gouge it out to 4 feet...or at least see him attempt it. Is he going to succeed everytime, no but those kind of shot define a player. You would rather see him punch in out sideways onto the fairway in the hopes that he can stick a wedge in close for a one putt par? That's Furyk, not Phil Then again, making that recovery shot that much harder could add to the appeal but if the intent of the rule change is to make the player hit safer drives so they don't just bomb it and go into the rough and gouge it out, then for me seeing the shots go from the fairway to the middle of the green each hole is great when you are playing but not as much when you are watching a pro do it.

I hear Nike is coming with some new Pro Combo Tours, some forged CB/MB for next season. I have always liked the Pro Combo Tours, might have to look into them next year.

These retail stores are in the business of selling you goods NOT services. I would rather pay the extra money and send my stuff to a place which specializes in custom club fitting, not selling shoes, clothing and accessories. More times then not, the big retail stores don't do the job right and you have to get it done again, just send to the right place and get it done right the first time. Their fitting "pros" are probably graduates of a weekend course on how to install grips and shafts....now I am just getting mean :P

I hope you do and they give you your money back for ripping you off...you don't believe me read it from the SST site itself. http://sstpure.com/media/meng0008.html

Umm, the process of having a shaft pured or spined or whatevery you want to call it has nothing to do with the quality of the shaft considering every shaft, good or bad can be pured. So a pured OEM shaft is no worse then a pured aftermarket shaft. If you think only aftermarket shafts can be pured or the process makes them special, you are misinformed. An OEM shaft can be pulled and pured just as easily as an aftermarket shaft. Nothing is done to the shaft when puring, it simply takes the spin of the shaft and aligns it to the target line so the bend is straight and not influenced by the natural bend position.

If you place the lead tape on the heel of the club, this will allow you to close the club face quicker because there is more mass on the inside for your swing arch. Be warned that lead tape or any use of weights to alter ball flight has it's limits and if you have a huge slice there isn't enought lead tape in the world that can "correct" that boomerang. You may also want to consider a heavier shaft, you may not be able to swing it as fast but the heavier shaft should make your shots easier to control.

There is nothing junk about OEM stock shafts, infact many of the OEM shafts are the same as the aftermarket shafts and some are the same shaft that are co-developed by the club manufacturer and the shaft manufacturer. Depending on what driver you bought many drivers have shaft options that are not just limited to the ones at your local proshop, it's just that many are too impatient to order the head and the correct shaft option they want. The question in the title is not the same as the one you asked in the actual thread. Is the shaft important, yes very important. Is the OEM shaft good enough for you, more then likely yes. If the OEM shaft performs fine why swap it out for an aftermarker one?

I would say that you just have a bit on an alignment issue with your woods. Try taking your address, then hold the club parallel to the ground pointing straight out infront of you. Where is the ball in relation to your feet and where are your shoulders pointing your upper body in relation to the placement of the ball. With your club pointing out in front of you make sure your shoulders, hips and feet are all aiming at the same spot. Then also make sure the ball is forward in your stance. I had the same problem as you and sometime I still do. I think that the my shoulders are square and the ball in forward in my stance but when I do the check with the shaft of the club I see that my shoulders are too closed and the ball is too far back in my stance. Once I square everything up all my shots have been right on as of late.

I have one piece of advice for you and it has nothing to do with how to swing. Although I commend you for practicing fades and draws, I would suggest that you have a go-to direction, weather it be a fade or a draw. Work on that shot and perfect that shot and have it as a no-brainer shot. If your index is correct I think you are doubling your work by trying to prefect both shots at once, when really all you need is a go-to direction on nearly 90% of all your shots and then the opposite direction on 10% of your shots. I would personally work on a fade and use it even on shots that ideally call for a draw, there are very few shots that you absolutely can not play your go-to direction. To me it just doesn’t make sense to spend half your time working on a shot that you only use 10% of the time. It makes more sense to practice and prefect your natural direction and then work on ways to hit the opposite way as a shot to have in your bag when you absolutely need it.

I have some, I wear them throughout the season.... On our first round of the season, since where I live the season isn't all year round, it's our way of saying hello to the golf season. On our last round of the season, to say goodbye to the season. On a tourney I put on during the spring and to many other scrambles me and my friends enter. Personally for me even if you choose to go the "clown" route I would rather see that then some of the jeans/sweats and t-shirt/tank-top outfits I have seen.

You have to ask yourself what benifit is a new shaft going to give you? More distance, more control or a lighter wallet? What about your current driver are you not pleased with? These are more important factors to consider rather then what handicap you are. I have always used stock shafts right up until a couple of weeks ago and the only reason I changed it because I bought my driver used and the shaft just didn't complement my swing. It's always time to get stuff that fits you and works for you but you have to be able to justify the cost vs the benifit. You could spend $200 to get re-shafted but will it improve your drives and if so are the improvements worth the $200?

Your swing looks similar to mine about 2 years about, especially the upper body. Your back swing looks great, you probably don't go passed parallel but I can't really tell but what I can see is that your your club is across the line at the top. That is to say your club is point to the right of the target line at the top of your swing. This is usually caused by too much rotation at the hips. This makes your shoulder come from the inside too much during your downswing and your club comes too much from the inside causing the big hook.