I have been reviewing my clubs to see if I need any changes. It's pretty much my dream set now. I had a Taylormade Superfast 2.0 10.5* driver but my friend gave me his old 360 Ti. I tried it out and was amazed at how easy it was to hit straight high trajectory shots. I went back and forth because even though I hit it better, it seemed I should be using the Superfast. In the end, I had to take what I played best even though the 360 is 5 years older. It pretty much eliminated slices and cranked up my fairway percentages and lowered my scores.
My home course is an executive 18 hole without a lot of long holes. I chose to have just a 4 wood instead of the traditional 3 an 5 woods so I could carry an extra wedge. I have the 16* Rescue Mid, but don't carry it since the distance is about the same as the 4 Wood.
I put the 22* Rescue Mid in the bag for a rescue club. It's great off the tee or the rough. They are pretty old clubs, but, again, I hit it so well, it had to go in the bag. I had a pair of Adam's A3s but couldn't hit them well at all, so I went ahead and kept the old Rescue Mids for now. I kept a 3 iron so I would have that option for longer shots in wind or plugged lies where I need to really dig the ball on a steep angle of attack.
The R7s placed my old Adams Assault VMI set from the late 90s. When I took the game back up, I didn't think the equipment could really make much of a difference. Now I know sometimes it's the arrow, not the archer. Switching from cavity back blades to a game improvement club was awesome. I shoot straighter and longer with the R7s. I have read a lot of reviews and no one seemed to get much change from the R11s, so I am sticking with my R7s. I am keeping an eye on the new RocketBalls though.
Wedges are a personal choice and, in my opinion, they are the most critical clubs in the bag. There are so many options in how many, what lofts, what grinds, and what bounces fit an individual golfer. I started with my pitching wedge at a loft of 45* and selected lofts that keep even distance gaps. I knew I wanted Vokeys or Cleveland 588s and went with Cleveland to keep my set well matched. I play a Srixon ball which is also made by Cleveland.
I currently have three different editions of the 588 so I can play the different grinds and see what fits my swing and my course. The lob wedge is a Tour Action with 4* of bounce and is wicked within 20 yards of the pin. I find I can lob the ball close to the pin better than chipping. There isn't much rollout so it stays close. I should really practice my chipping but when I try dropping a second ball and chipping in practice rounds, I leave a longer putt than with my lob wedge. The lob is also best for me from green side bunkers. Conventional wisdom says to go with a high bounce club in the sand, but that's really only true for fluffy sand. It keeps the club from digging in as the bounce glides through the sand. On my course the sand is pretty well packed and the low bounce lob works better for me.
The sand wedge is a Dynamic Sole Grind (DSG) with 12* bounce. The grind is very curved with relief on the toe, heel, and trailing edge. I though this would be better in the sand, but the Tour Action wins hands down. I sometimes blade the ball in bunkers with the DSG. I find the DSG excels when hitting out of rough and use it exclusively 20-60 yards out.
The gap wedge is the latest 588 forged from Cleveland with average 8* bounce. It shoots well and I like the heavy swing weight. I use it 60-85 yards out with no complaints. I still have not been able to choose between it and the DSG. Since these are longer shots, I might replace it with an R7 gap or one of the new ATVs. Taylormade's ATV are much like the Cleveland DSG which isn't made any more. I need to just log more hours practicing with the wedges to decide what's best. Currently I am liking the options I get from playing a mix of grinds, so I may just keep it all as is.
When I took the game back up, I was using my old generic putter with a balata face insert. It is really forgiving but softened the impact so much I was constantly leaving it short. I picked up I Never Compromise NCX-Ray because I thought I would like the insert. It was really hot off the face and too much the opposite direction for me. Finally I picked up my Scotty Cameron Red X and never looked back. The feel is like butter even though it's a steel face. My distance is tuned and I always leave the ball within 2 feet, even on ridiculously long lag putts. Directionally I was doing well but have been off lately with pushes and pulls. My golf buddy and I think the grip is worn out and also on a little crooked. I will be replacing it with a Dancing Scotty Cameron cord grip. I like cord and will be re-gripping all my clubs with Golf Pride New Decade Multicompounds so the cord will keep a continuous feel between all the set.
Driver 12*, TaylorMade 360 Ti, TaylorMade Ultralite R-80 .405" tip, Taylormade grip
4 Wood 17* D-9, TaylorMade Superfast Burner 2.0, Matrix Ozik X-Con 4.8 Stiff 45g, B11 Winn Lite 25 grams
3 Iron 20* D-1, TaylorMade R7, TaylorMade T Step 90 Reg .355 taper, Taylormade grip
4 Hybrid 22*, TaylorMade Rescue Mid, Taylormade UG65 Reg Soft Tip .335, Taylormade grip
5-PW 25*, 28*, 32*, 36*, 40*, 45* D-2, TaylorMade R7, TaylorMade T Step 90 Reg .355 taper, Golf Pride New Decade Multi-compound grip
Gap 50.08* D-5, Cleveland 588 Forged Chrome semi-C grind, TT DG Spinner Wedge Flex 124 gram .355 tip, .60 grip, Golf Pride Tour Velvet grip
Sand 54.12* D-6, Cleveland 588 DSG (Dynamic Sole Grind) 2006 square grooves, True Temper Dynalite Gold 103 gram .355 tip, .60 grip, Golf Pride Tour Velvet grip
Lob 60.04* D-6, Cleveland Tour Action 588 RTG 2005 U grooves, Dynamic Gold Stiff 130? gram .370 tip, .60 grip, Golf Pride Tour Velvet grip
Scotty Cameron Red X5 340g, Titleist Baby T 70g grip
8.07.2012
Posted with Blogsy
8.05.2012
Golf Swing Analysis Made Easy
One of the best training aids I have found is video swing analysis. I bought a mount that fits on the handle of my golf push/pull cart for my iPod. I capture video at the range or during a casual round and then transfer to an iPad for larger format viewing. An app for the iPad allows me to run the swing in slow motion, pause , and mark and measure angles and positions throughout the swing. I had been slicing my drives and through video analysis I saw I was bending my wrist at the top of the backswing. After correcting to, the slice was gone.
With SwingReader, the swing can be played back at any speed and paused. Using gestures, the video can be advanced or rewound just by sliding fingers across the screen. At any point in the video, it can be marked up. I like to mark head and shaft positions to see if I raise my head or if my shaft is retracing the plane properly. It's also great to measure angles like wrist cock, supination, spine angle, etc.
SwingReader also has a cloud storage feature. By editing the video frames on the iPod first, I keep the file sizes small. I use the cloud storage feature to upload the videos to my account and then pull them back down to the iPad. SwingReader also has a community aspect where videos can be uploaded for public comment and other member's videos can be viewed. Some users publish tutorials through the cloud feature.
It comes with pro swings preloaded and supports video overlay to compare two swings including pro swings with your own.
With the free SwingReader app and a inexpensive cart mount, you can be doing easy swing video analysis on or off the course. It's very discrete, easy, and does not slow down play. Partners in my foursome have asked me to record them too and email the videos.
"I've spent most of my life golfing. The rest I've just wasted." Anonymous
For the cart mount, I bought a two piece unit from Bracketron. One part mounts to the cart and the other slides on and snaps in place. It holds the iPod. On the course, I simply position the cart behind or to the side, start the iPod camera and make my swings. It will also hold a GPS when not being used for the iPod.
After the round, I import the video into SwingReader. SwingReader can either import from the iPod video library or it can be used to directly capture the video. Once a video is in SwingReader, the frames can be edited to remove time spent walking to and from the camera. Multiple swings can be extracted from a single video clip, so the camera only needs to be started and stopped once per session.With SwingReader, the swing can be played back at any speed and paused. Using gestures, the video can be advanced or rewound just by sliding fingers across the screen. At any point in the video, it can be marked up. I like to mark head and shaft positions to see if I raise my head or if my shaft is retracing the plane properly. It's also great to measure angles like wrist cock, supination, spine angle, etc.
SwingReader also has a cloud storage feature. By editing the video frames on the iPod first, I keep the file sizes small. I use the cloud storage feature to upload the videos to my account and then pull them back down to the iPad. SwingReader also has a community aspect where videos can be uploaded for public comment and other member's videos can be viewed. Some users publish tutorials through the cloud feature.
It comes with pro swings preloaded and supports video overlay to compare two swings including pro swings with your own.
7.31.2012
iGolf Neo GPS (aka Bushnell Neo)
It's odd how many Golfers don't use GPS but don't hesitate to ask for distances when we play scrambles together. I picked an iGolf Neo on eBay for ten bucks, downloaded the nearest 10-12 courses and hit the links. The iGolf is discontinued and replaced with Bushnell Neo at iGolf.com but I still see them on eBay.
I attached it to the handle of my push/pull cart so I can see it when selecting a club without any extra effort. It's allowed me to figure half and quarter swing distances for key clubs I can use when under a tree canapoy or in high winds. Although it has advanced features such as those that will allow a golfer to map out new holes and add points they encounter on a course that's not pre-mapped, I just use it for the basic center, front, and back of the green readings. Quick and easy. I like it so much I may get a GPS watch soon. The Neo's one limitation is when I don't walk, I need to carry it around as another item in my pocket. I usually just leave it in the cart and take an estimated reading from there before I grab a club and head to my ball.
I attached it to the handle of my push/pull cart so I can see it when selecting a club without any extra effort. It's allowed me to figure half and quarter swing distances for key clubs I can use when under a tree canapoy or in high winds. Although it has advanced features such as those that will allow a golfer to map out new holes and add points they encounter on a course that's not pre-mapped, I just use it for the basic center, front, and back of the green readings. Quick and easy. I like it so much I may get a GPS watch soon. The Neo's one limitation is when I don't walk, I need to carry it around as another item in my pocket. I usually just leave it in the cart and take an estimated reading from there before I grab a club and head to my ball.
7.30.2012
Swing Speed: Medicus Power Meter
I only use a few training aids. I have always been more like Kevin Costner in Tin Cup when he chastises the doctor who puts on these crazy looking training aids, but then tries to use them himself later. I have found a few that are either cool enough for other golfers to admire them and not snicker or discrete enough to use with drawing attention or feeling conspicuous.
One of my first is the Medicus Power Meter. This attaches easily to your club and the club length and golfer's height are entered. It will display the swing speed after every swing and automatically reset for each swing just by the momentum of each swing. No user intervention is needed after its attached and turned on.
Knowing swing speed is key for a new golfer. Although you should go and get fitted, that's not an expense many new golfers want to make. The Power Meter let me get my driver swing speed easily (96 mph). This helped me get a static fitting online for the right shaft flex for a new driver. When a golfer self fits using the Ping static fitting guides, ball fitting on manufacturers websites, shaft fitting, etc swing speed is usually an input required.
I kept reading about ball selection based on compression designed for different swing speeds and techniques for more power, but I did't really know how fast I was swinging the club and was happily surprised to see it on the high average range. This made my training plan much better since I no longer felt the need to try and increase my swing speed. I switched to focus on my short game and saw my scores start to drop.
It's a great discrete training aid that will surely help your golf. It can be used in regular range practice to help evaluate the quality of each shot.
One of my first is the Medicus Power Meter. This attaches easily to your club and the club length and golfer's height are entered. It will display the swing speed after every swing and automatically reset for each swing just by the momentum of each swing. No user intervention is needed after its attached and turned on.
Knowing swing speed is key for a new golfer. Although you should go and get fitted, that's not an expense many new golfers want to make. The Power Meter let me get my driver swing speed easily (96 mph). This helped me get a static fitting online for the right shaft flex for a new driver. When a golfer self fits using the Ping static fitting guides, ball fitting on manufacturers websites, shaft fitting, etc swing speed is usually an input required.
I kept reading about ball selection based on compression designed for different swing speeds and techniques for more power, but I did't really know how fast I was swinging the club and was happily surprised to see it on the high average range. This made my training plan much better since I no longer felt the need to try and increase my swing speed. I switched to focus on my short game and saw my scores start to drop.
It's a great discrete training aid that will surely help your golf. It can be used in regular range practice to help evaluate the quality of each shot.
Welcome
Funny, yesterday I decided to start a golf blog. I felt current instruction over complicates the game. As a software architect, I believe I can identify the core design patterns in the swing to simplify the game. Then I found this article on Sandtrap.com and got the kick in the pants I needed to start the blog.
I am going to post a few articles on golfing. I decided I am at a point in my architecture carer where I need to start building social networking skills. Golfing will give more 'out of the office' opportunities with the executives I work with.
I am going to post a few articles on golfing. I decided I am at a point in my architecture carer where I need to start building social networking skills. Golfing will give more 'out of the office' opportunities with the executives I work with.
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