quick

hmm i would have to disagree with the mishits. i could definitely feel the mishits but they still generally went straight in the direction i intended and with no noticeable distance loss. it was mainly the trajectory that deviated from a pure strike. it seemed this was the case throughout the 5 bladed irons i hit. i love that immediate feedback i get on mishits to help me improve my striking but it doesn't seem as punishing in the result as i would have been led to believe by other people's accounts on blades.

hello, i started playing golf two years ago and have been pretty obsessed for those two years and play as often as i can and have worked my ball striking to what i think is adept. im 22 yrs old, 6'1 and 200 lbs. my 5i goes about 200 on a good strike. i still have my first set i got two years ago (tommy armour 845 silver scot) that i got for $150 new. i just graduated university and im looking to buy some new irons. i was at the range the other day and a buddy had some cleveland cg1 blades. i hit a couple of them and fell in love with the way they looked, felt and the ball flight. so yesterday i went to the range and asked to demo all the blades they have. they gave me a 6 iron from the titleist zb blades, nike blades, titleist 755, mizuno mp-33 and mp-60. i struck all of them very well and loved the sound and flight. i really didn't see much difference in them but im sure there was some slight trajectory/distance difference but it was windy so i couldn't really tell. all i ever heard was that blades are difficult to hit and you have to be a really good player. am i stupid for wanting to get blades and should i just get some cavity back irons?

hey so im going to houston, tx for a job interview and ill be done on friday at noon. they couldn't get me a flight back home until saturday at 1pm so i basically have 24 hours of time to do whatever. right now im in kentucky where its currently freezing raining and the temperature is below freezing. houston is supposed to be near 70 so i definitely want to take advantage of that. but i don't want to bring my clubs mainly because i don't have a travel bag and don't really want to go through the hassle of lugging them along. is there any way to rent clubs or something to play a round or even just go to a driving range? i want to hit balls so badly and also kill some time while im in a city knowing no one with nothing really to do. could i maybe ask to demo some clubs and hit a bunch of balls with them or would they even let me take them on a course? thanks.

im going on a 15 hour plane right next week and might read a book or 4... i just started playing golf last summer but am addicted now and im sure theres some good golf books out there. please recommend your top 3 or so. im not sure if i want a purely instructional book or just some nice golf anecdotes by famous golfers. hopefully there are some books that are a nice mixture of both? the one book that came to mind was tiger's book "how i play" or something along those lines. i saw it at a proshop not too long ago and i thumbed through it and it seemed interesting. any opinions on this book?

longest: 506 yd par 5, 120 out = 386. good 10-15 mph wind behind me but flat fairway. longest carry: 340 in the air, landed and stuck in a uphill lie. best drive: drove the green on a 342 yd par 4 (birdie)

well i was around 27 when i signed up, i can usually break 90 now. well with the 905R over this weekend, i only hit it over 300 in the fairway once. on the range, 300 isn't marked so i don't know how far i hit it there but with my launcher, ive hit plenty over 300. my longest is 375 downwind and i drove the green on a 342 yard par 4 last week. just because i can hit it far with driver doesn't mean my scores should be low. my game isn't very consistent but i can definitely hit the ball far.

well i really wanted to love the V2. i hit it at a demoday and i thought it was a great fit. i read all about how it was made for faster, more aggressive swing types and that confirmed my suspicions even more. i will admit that the sound is a large factor is my dissatisfaction with the club. even on well struck balls and went over 300 yards, the sound was depressing and i love hearing a good drive. it sounds so bad, the thought of it being a fake club head entered my mind. i can't believe anyone could actually like the sound of this driver. at first, i thought i was just spoiled by the loud crack of my launcher but after hitting over 200 balls at the range and playing 36 holes, i just can't enjoy this club. is there a way online to check the authenticity of a club? it has a serial number of the hosel. i got this club off ebay so no returning it.

so some of you may remember my thread a week or so ago about buying a driver i had never hit before: http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6521 well ive hit it for 3 days now and i don't like it. first the performance, on good hits it is shorter than my launcher by a noticeable amount. and on decent hits, it seems to have insane amounts of backspin because it goes so high in the air. its a 9.5 degree and still touches the stratosphere... my 9.5 launcher doesn't go nearly as high. i don't know if this is the shaft (V2 stiff 76g) because i thought i loved that shaft from my demo day session hitting a 907D2 but i don't know, i just don't like this driver. maybe im not good enough to wield it but it just doesn't suit me. the other thing, as i mentioned in my previous thread, the sound is TERRIBLE. it sounds like the driver is dead and sounds so dull and lifeless. even when i hit it right in the sweet spot very hard, it sounds like doodoo. now if the performance was great, i wouldn't mind the awful sound but the subpar performance coupled with such a dissatisfying sound put me over the top and ive put it back on ebay. back to the performance of the club, is it primarily the shaft that is causing the backspin and possibly the loss of distance? i have a fairly quick swing (around 115mph swing speed) and definitely like the feel of the heavier shaft. i thought i was losing distance/consistency with the aldila nv65-stiff but im definitely longer with it than the v2. i guess i really need to hit both heads in the same shaft but i always thought the shaft makes up the vast majority of driver performance. theres a adams and cleveland demo day this week at my driver range so ill try and head to that to see if they can recommend a shaft for me.

well i just went to my range and demo'd a 905R with v2 stiff. the only difference is that the demo was a 10.5* and i bought a 9.5*. i love everything about the driver but i mainly think im in love with the shaft. the v2 just feels so much more solid consistent than the nv65. im guessing its the heavier weight and the stiffer shaft and also that its a bore through head. i was hitting it very well and it just seemed easier to swing it. i swung my launcher between swings with the 905R and i can hit it well but i had to focus more worked harder to keep it on plane whereas with the v2, i could just pull it back and rip it down the center. the big disappointment is the sound of the driver. coming from the launcher 460, the 905R basically has a silencer on it. my launcher was so loud and pingy and if i hit it perfectly hard, it would make such a sweet sound but the 905R sounds more dead and dull. anyone else's thoughts on sound comparison of the cleveland launcher and the 905R?

yeah i just bought a driver off of ebay and ive never hit it before. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...8727&rd;=1&rd;=1 right now im using a 2005 cleveland launcher 460 ti with aldila nv65 stiff. i hit it decently but i think the shaft is too lite and not stiff enough. when i hit it with a fast swing, it tends to fly low and then balloon up. thats the shaft right? also the head of the driver is kind of getting old and banged up. i swung the 907d1 and d2 at a demo day and got fitted for the proforce v2 76 gram stiff shaft. it felt really good swinging the heavier shaft around me and i didn't have to work as hard compared to swinging the 65 gram shaft if that makes any sense. any thoughts on my new driver and shaft combo? ive heard a lot of good things about the 905r and hope its comparable to the 907d2 which i hit pretty well.

this is what i ended up doing. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150135979781

im an idiot and i left my wedge on the golf course today. :( it was a cleveland 588 60* wedge. i don't feel ill right now because i bought it a year ago on ebay for like 35-40 bucks. i still feel so stupid for leaving it. i called the proshop and they said no one turned anything in which doesn't suprise me one bit. so now i need advice on what to get to replace it. my current wedge situation is pitching wedge 47* and gap wedge 52*. before i lost my 60*, i wanted to get a 56*. now my predicament is whether to go ahead and get a 56* along with a replacement 60* or to find a middle road and get a 58*? i loved using my 60* for those close flop shots but it did get me in trouble sometimes. im thinking with a 58*, i could still hit that flop shot and also use it as a sand wedge for bunker shots and what not? im a poor college stupid so i can't really go and buy a new titleist spin milled vokey so i will probably be scouring ebay for some used clevelands? my 52* is a cleveland cg10 that i got for around 40-45 on ebay. ive always heard cleveland made good wedges so ive stuck to them. basically i need suggestions as to whether i should go the 52, 56, 60 route or 52, 58. it would boil down to spending more on a nicer 58* or getting decent 56 and 60.

alright i bought that titleist sc65 for $135 at dicks. it seems to have everything i want but we'll see tomorrow when i put it on a cart and see how it fairs. the only problem now is that i left some stuff in the bag that i returned (the titleist x76). i left my tee pass as well as a new bag of tees. hopefully no one buys that bag and i can go get my stuff tomorrow.

ok i know i started a thread last week asking about the best stand bag. i actually went out and bought the titleist x76 bag and walked a round with it yesterday. it was miserable. the bag was pretty heavy with all of my stuff in it and the straps really hurt my shoulders. the legs were terrible and my 2 year old $70 walter hagen bag had better legs before they broke. the pockets were nice but the dividers sucked on the titleist bag as well. there were only like 3 full length dividers so my club grips would get stuck constantly. overall i was displeased with the bag that i paid $140 for so i returned it. i also realized i don't really want to walk a round with my bag strapped to my back. i would rather ride in a cart or use a pull cart if i walk. thus, please give suggestions for the best cart bag for the money. im sure most will have plenty of pockets and good dividers. so im looking for durability, appearance and cost. i would like to spend less than the $140 i got back for the titleist bag but i could possible spend 10-20 bucks more. i did see a bag at dicks sporting goods that i liked. it was the titleist sc65 which i think is an older model that seemed to not look as big as a regular cart bag but it had everything i wanted and somewhat light. anyone have any experience with this bag?

im still using my first golf bag (walter hagen stand bag) and im starting to realize how terrible it is. i bought that bag before i even started playing golf and didn't know what to look for in a bag. the club dividers suck and my grips get stuck on them when i try to pull a club out. the legs get stuck on the metal bars 80% of the time. the pockets are so small and i have to use the apparel pocket to put my stuff in. name a good stand bag at a decent price. i don't want to spend over $150. i have looked at some of the ogio bags and i didn't feel too good about them.

lol you say that as if before i tee each shot, theres a computer screen with a map of the hole and i click on the screen where i want my ball to go. i obviously want my ball to land in my fairway but im not a perfect golfer and can't command my ball. i guess you just place the ball precisely as you command? maybe i should just use putter from the tee... i could probably keep the ball in my own fairway

haha yeah thats not bad at all. i don't usually play new titleist nxt tours. the reason i had them was because i was about to play a round and just realized i only had like 4 balls left and knew i couldn't get through a round with only 4 balls. i went into the pro shop the cheapest i saw was some titleist dt solos for $23, there was probably cheaper but i just picked something quickly. at the counter the guy says for $2 more i could get a better ball and a chance to win a TV. only 3 people had bought the nxt tours so i had a good chance of winning it so i said what the hell. i usually buy used balls off ebay so i don't know what the hell i was thinking buying these balls. maybe thats part of the reason i was mad cause i actually bought some expensive new balls and he just stole two of them.

lol i actually almost got hit twice today as well. the first time i was walking into the club house and i hear fore and the ball bounced RIGHT in front of me on the concrete and then hits the awning above me right over my head and then bounced behind me. the second time we were on a fairway and i was pointing out my partner's ball to him and a ball whizzes past my arm. no fore yelled this time. its hard for me to get mad at stuff like that. i miss hit balls all the time and you really can't control your ball. yelling fore should be expected but sometimes i hit a ball and have no idea where it went. its the deception and lies that anger me. yeah i realize im lucky in that ive generally played with gentlemen on the golf course but i was hoping that golf would bring out honesty in most players.

i didn't say there was anything wrong with hitting two balls badly. i had been hitting poor shots all day. in this case i had a bad shot on the first ball and wanted to just swing again right away to see if i could straighten it out but i would play the first ball. as for identifying the ball, i told him i was playing titleist and then he drops a ball in front of him and says here it is and its clearly not my ball. i tell him its not mine and he walks away. there i no doubt i could have identified either of my balls had he shown them to me but i didn't ask him to clear out his pockets. i hadn't been in that situation before so i felt awkward about asking to clear his pockets without 100% assurance. it was only until i walked away from him that i was certain. in my year of playing, he really was the first prick ive encountered. everyone ive met on the course and come in contact with has been polite and helpful if i asked about my ball. oh well i guess now i know *******s are on the golf course too.

yeah i never mark my balls but i know exactly what my ball looks like, it had a brown scuff from hitting a tree and green on certain side. i would know if its my ball was absolute certainty if i saw it so it wasn't an issue of identifying my ball. ive just never been in that situation and at the time, i wasn't 100% certain he had them until i walked away from him. in addition to the fact all 3 of us couldn't find either ball in a small area after searching for 10 minutes further reinforces my suspicions.

ive only been playing golf for about a year but ive never been so mad on the course. and it wasn't because i was playing bad. i was on the 10th tee and hit a shot into the adjacent fairway. i hit another one off the tee just to see what happens and the same thing happened. these balls should be pretty close to each other. i drive over there and the guys behind us are coming down the fairway and i think i see him picking something up and walking forward. i didn't think too much and kept looking for either of my balls. i found nothing and he said something and i said i was playing a titleist so he points to a ball on the ground. i go over there and its some shitty HP distance ball and i was playing new nxt tours. and then hes just staring at me all nervous and fidgety. i knew something was up and i searched that entire area for 10 minutes and found nothing. its not like the rough was so high or there was some other reason i couldn't find my ball. im POSITIVE he took both my balls. a few holes earlier, the play was super slow and we were just talking in the shade and the group ahead was on the green when they rolled up and they made a smartass comment about us driving the green. i wanted to call him out but i didn't really have any evidence but everything about the situation told me he took both of my balls and dropped the shitty titleist ball right in front of him. i wanted to fight this guy for taking my ball. i know thats stupid but why would you just steal my balls? i played terrible after that cause its all i could think about. plus the entire afternoon was ridiculously slow. it took us 2 and a half hours to play 5 holes. this anger is probably silly but its so ridiculous that he sat there a lied to my face about my balls and even dropped a decoy ball to try to fool me.

ok so i started playing golf last september and never had any lessons. i was always very inconsistent and would go through phases of hitting slices and then hooks and sometimes straight. earlier this year i was kind of straightening my shots out and it was longer than average but still very inconsistent. ive read tons of magazines and watched golf channel and other videos and information on the internet and i tried to implement all the things ive been told and read but it was missing the most crucial part, the shoulder turn and rotation of the hips. just last weekend i started doing this and my shots are longer and straighter than ever and the key part, i can hit it consistently. my swing was basically all arms and a lateral weight transfer. right before i started the shoulder turn, i would have a huge slice and i spent everyday at the range for a week trying to figure it out. i tried every possible thing ive seen and read on slices but nothing helped. now that i turn my shoulders and rotate hips, i don't have to think about anything, i just turned my shoulders and uncoil and my clubhead magically gets square at impact and i generate lots of speed. it seems too easy and i wish someone had told me this earlier but i can probably blame myself for not taking lessons but i never really see people making a big deal about shoulder turns in magazines or other material ive read.

dude the same thing is happening to me! i can't seem to post new topics so here is my story. ok ive been playing for about a year with no lessons. before my first lesson, my low score was an 89. i had my first lesson last monday. it was actually just a clinic where there were about 13 people and 3 pros. it was only supposed to be an hour long but i was there for 2 hours and the head pro was actually helping me individually in this extra time. i was hitting the ball pretty well going into the lesson and was seeking consistency. during the lesson i hit the ball well and the tips and instruction of the pro helped me hit the ball cleaner and it did seem to help with consistency. the next day, my buddy and i went to play a round and i had the best driving 9 holes of my life. i hit the fringes of the green on two par 4's and hit a 375 yard drive on a par 5 with about a 15 mph downwind. best drive of my life. i was hitting the ball great the rest of the 9. the back 9, we paired up with some people we didn't know cause of a very slow group in front and my swing fell apart. i tend to get nervous when i play with strangers and i guess thats what happened. i was still on cloud 9 from the front 9 and didn't think anything of it. i didn't swing a club again until friday when i went to the range and had the worst range session in 5-6 months. every drive was a slice. EVERY SINGLE DRIVE. im talking 100+ yard slicers. 80% of my iron shots were slicing. only my wedges went straight. i had just gotten out of the gym and didn't get much sleep the night before so i thought it was a fluke session. i just got back from the range today and while i did improve a little since friday, im still slicing like crazy and something just feels terrible. the thing is, i haven't sliced the ball like this since i first started about a year ago now. when i miss-hit, its a hook and has been for at least 3-4 months. this slice came out of no where. is this common after having a lesson? ive heard a couple stories of friends having a lesson and playing horrible for a couple weeks afterwards. have i lost my swing? i felt like quitting this game after these past two range sessions.

for me when i hit driver, i think take it back slowly and then the most important thing for me is to lock my left elbow and strong grip with left hand. i have a tendency to let me left arm bend during my swing and that causes all kinds of grief. when i keep it straight and locked, i knock it long and down the middle. i think its also that my right arm gets too much action during the swing so it will pull it left and cause hooks. so on takeaway, i let my right arm pull it back and left arm initiate downswing. actually today at the range, i was fooling around trying to hit it as hard as i could and that helped me lock my left arm since i tensed it up and it went the furthest and straighted ive ever hit it. so im going to try that now :P

lol that chart just goes to show you that distances not mean much... i just started playing golf last september and according to that chart, im a male touring pro and 'very long' i played in my first tournament yesterday and shot a 98. i hit 10 drives that were 280-290 in the fairway but screwed up short shots that was under 50 yards. it is such a nice feeling to hit a long drive and have the people you're playing with go 'wow' and stare in amazement.