The golf thread - 2019

[thebraketester]

I would love some new bats, but sadly its me still hitting them

[Noodle1982]

soupdragon1 said:

The M1 irons are quite a poor feel compared to the mizunos I had, but I'm gaining more forgiveness so a bit of a trade off. It feels a bit like cheating using irons like this, bad shots still end up fairly decent. You just don't get that lovely feedback you feel from the Mizunos.



Golf buddy GPS


Bag and trolley

A friend had a set of the M1 irons and after a few rounds the face on the 7 iron and 9 iron had caved in. TM replaced the full set. Fast forward a few months and the face on the 6 iron had caved in. At this point TM had stopped making the M1 so replaced the irons for a new set of M-CGB irons.

Good customer service but poor build quality regarding the face inserts.

[soupdragon1]

Noodle1982 said:

A friend had a set of the M1 irons and after a few rounds the face on the 7 iron and 9 iron had caved in. TM replaced the full set. Fast forward a few months and the face on the 6 iron had caved in. At this point TM had stopped making the M1 so replaced the irons for a new set of M-CGB irons.

Good customer service but poor build quality regarding the face inserts.

Gosh - thats really bad - I may get to the range and hit a few hundred balls and see if I can get mine to cave in and get a set of P790's or something

On another note - managed to game all the new clubs together for the 1st round yesterday. I went down early to hit a bucket of balls to practice with them but range was closed. So straight onto the course with no warm up. Starts with a tough par 4 and made a complete hash of it. 8 blows to get it in the hole. 2nd hole is an easy one - 290 yard par 4 so took the big dog out and hit it pretty well but drew a bit with some right to left wind in the air and ended up in a bush - penalty drop and a bogey 5.

Par on the next 3 holes then bogey, d bogey, bogey. Then the game finally came alive - over the last 10 holes I had 8 pars, 1 birdie and a ding - the best stretch of holes I've had in quite a while.

The Callaway Rogue is an interesting driver combined with that Hzrdus shaft. Sort of a dull thud when you hit it - comes out with a nice flight and the majority were an unintentional draw which I just went with rather than try to adjust. Just aimed right edge of the fairway most holes while one or 2 ended up going straight, most had a light draw on them. I wouldn't say its a boom stick compared to the R15 I had, but its plenty forgiving and with the weight towards the back it feels like you can get away with the odd ropey swing where I think the R15 would have had me in trouble. Had maybe 3 ropey drives that still went a fair distance and still found the fairway so very pleased with that - they didn't feel like good shots but I still walked down the fairway.

The M1 irons are too easy to hit - the feedback off the face isn't great but its like point and shoot and your roughly going to be in the vicinity of where you want - again, even with not so good swings.

Can't wait to get out again and see if I can replicate the back 9 performance from yesterday, stretch it over 18 holes and get rid of those 2 snowmen 8's

[Fordmoore]

Noodle1982 said:

My thoughts exactly.

Get a lesson, get fitted.

One man's straight driver is another man's slice machine.

Got a lesson booked in as well - the thing is, all my other clubs so my rescue wood, irons and short wedges are fine, play a really nice draw with all of them but get the driver in my hand its a slice so I do think the main issue is the driver itself but got a lesson booked in anyway so can explain to the pro and hopefully get it sorted!

Thanks for the advice anyway

[Blue62]

I am thinking about buying a Skytrak and setting it up in the garage, with a suitable net, matt and other bits and bobs it will cost around £3k and I'm wondering if anyone else has had any experience before I shell out?

I enjoy practice and with winter coming I thought this might be a good idea, Mrs Blue plays (h13) and would also get some use out of it, but I'm concerned that it may not live up to the billing.

[Blackpuddin]

Anybody got any clever psychobabble that would help me transfer my field practice play (which in ball striking and accuracy is very good) to the course (where it is not any of that)? It's doing my head in a bit.
PS Just looked at a Skytrak, wow!

[bodhi]

Blackpuddin said:

Anybody got any clever psychobabble that would help me transfer my field practice play (which in ball striking and accuracy is very good) to the course (where it is not any of that)? It's doing my head in a bit.
PS Just looked at a Skytrak, wow!

I had a similar issue earlier in the season, was striping it on the range, but when I got back out onto the course results were a bit more variable. Bob Rotella's books helped a little, but the biggest help for me was to go for a 9 hole playing lesson with our Head Pro. I learnt 3 massive things:

- Whilst my swing was mostly good my alignment was awful - typically aiming much further right than I thought. I had been lining up at a point in the distance, he suggested I focus on a spot 6 - 12 inches in front of the ball and line up off that, as it means you aren't trying to aim at a target 300 yards away out the corner of your eye

- Pre shot routine - I didn't have one of these, so never really planned in my head what I was trying to achieve. I now stand behind the ball initially and plan what I'm trying to do, breathe out to focus my mind (stretching my left hand works as well here, no idea why), then move up, address the ball and pull the trigger. This has been a big help, and helped me keep calm on recent good rounds coming down the stretch

- Identify exactly what swing issue is causing you the most problem on the course, then look to fix that. I was turning my body perfectly on the way back, then getting stuck and just using hands and arms on the way through, ending up in a massive shot costing hook. I've focused on working on that with pretty decent results.

[Alpinestars]

Blue62 said:

I am thinking about buying a Skytrak and setting it up in the garage, with a suitable net, matt and other bits and bobs it will cost around £3k and I'm wondering if anyone else has had any experience before I shell out?

I enjoy practice and with winter coming I thought this might be a good idea, Mrs Blue plays (h13) and would also get some use out of it, but I'm concerned that it may not live up to the billing.

I have a simulator in the basement, and it’s been great for my game. I’d even say you could see some good improvements without any software/hardware other than the right net/screen. You’ll see your hooks and slices from the way the ball comes back off the screen. It’s a good way of keeping your swing in the groove. Obviously no substitute for playing.

[soupdragon1]

Blackpuddin said:

Anybody got any clever psychobabble that would help me transfer my field practice play (which in ball striking and accuracy is very good) to the course (where it is not any of that)? It's doing my head in a bit.
PS Just looked at a Skytrak, wow!

I'm a firm believer in getting to the range and putting the mat at funny angles plus not trying to aim down the middle all the time, mixing it up left and right.

The mat along with the square hitting area in a range are basically alignment aids if you think about it. I take those aids away for large parts of a range session.

My last session started off with a warm up, followed by half a bucket of balls of 'golf'

I would imagine the 1st hole fairway is in front of me, select the club (hybrid for my course) and hit the shot. If I pulled it left into the trees (which exist on the course but not on the range) I would then hit a low punch shot down the range to replicate the shot I would need if I was on the course. For me, it helps focus the mind and I go through my preshot routine for every single ball.

Its like getting 2 rounds of golf in half an hour. It puts a bit of pressure on me to get the shot right 1st time. If i pull an 8 iron and make a mess of it, i don't try it again...I write it off as a probable bogey. Works for me as otherwise, I just hit balls like I'm half asleep.

[soupdragon1]

Blue62 said:

I am thinking about buying a Skytrak and setting it up in the garage, with a suitable net, matt and other bits and bobs it will cost around £3k and I'm wondering if anyone else has had any experience before I shell out?

I enjoy practice and with winter coming I thought this might be a good idea, Mrs Blue plays (h13) and would also get some use out of it, but I'm concerned that it may not live up to the billing.

I used the optishot....cheaper but not as good. Got good info like clubhead path, clubhead speed, open/closed angle at impact but no ball data.



One of my favourite aspects was the floor material....like indoor bowling green material. Measured about 12 on the stimp meter and with a camber on the floor, had slight uphill and downhill putts. Worth thinking about putting too if you go full scale golf sim.

Its great for winter and heading out at 10pm in your jammies with a couple of beers and knocking it around the likes of Bethpage black in 45 mins always brought a smile to my face

[Blue62]

Blackpuddin said:

Anybody got any clever psychobabble that would help me transfer my field practice play (which in ball striking and accuracy is very good) to the course (where it is not any of that)? It's doing my head in a bit.
PS Just looked at a Skytrak, wow!

Get a copy of 'Golf is not a game of perfect' by Bob Rotella and then move onto his later book, 'Your 15th club'. They deal with the mental side of the game and coping with pressure, which is why most of us suffer with exactly the same issue. Honestly recommend his work, I play off 7 and reckon he's helped me get there.

[Blackpuddin]

Thanks for the input guys, I've got two Rotella books, Not Perfect and his putting one, will give Perfect another read. I suspect it's something to do with my desperation to score. Trying to control/steer shots instead of just trusting it and letting it go like I do on the field where it 'doesn't matter' and the strike quality seems a lot easier to achieve - although not consistent accuracy if I'm being totally honest with myself. I do get out to the field every 2-3 days and on the course once a week in addition to the two regular weekly rounds I do but I probably just need to do more focused practice and plenty of it.

[CustardOnChips]

soupdragon1 said:

Blackpuddin said:

Anybody got any clever psychobabble that would help me transfer my field practice play (which in ball striking and accuracy is very good) to the course (where it is not any of that)? It's doing my head in a bit.
PS Just looked at a Skytrak, wow!

I'm a firm believer in getting to the range and putting the mat at funny angles plus not trying to aim down the middle all the time, mixing it up left and right.

The mat along with the square hitting area in a range are basically alignment aids if you think about it. I take those aids away for large parts of a range session.

My last session started off with a warm up, followed by half a bucket of balls of 'golf'

I would imagine the 1st hole fairway is in front of me, select the club (hybrid for my course) and hit the shot. If I pulled it left into the trees (which exist on the course but not on the range) I would then hit a low punch shot down the range to replicate the shot I would need if I was on the course. For me, it helps focus the mind and I go through my preshot routine for every single ball.

Its like getting 2 rounds of golf in half an hour. It puts a bit of pressure on me to get the shot right 1st time. If i pull an 8 iron and make a mess of it, i don't try it again...I write it off as a probable bogey. Works for me as otherwise, I just hit balls like I'm half asleep.

I hated going to the range, so would alway prefer playing a few holes or going to the practice pitching area instead. Hitting off matts is not reprasentitve in any way hitting off turf. That said, on the occasions I did go to the range I would do the same.

The trick I had, was to treat every shot and every round the same. So it didn't matter whether I had a chance of winning a big club comp or I was playing 9 holes on my own. On my way to the ball I decided what club and shot I was going to hit. Then when it was my turn I pulled the club and hit it. There is far too much over thinking in golf. It used to infuriate me watching someone spend ages trying to decide between 2 clubs, when they had only a rough idea how far away they were and how far they hit each club. And then they would just duff it anyway.

Tee it up.
Hit it.
Go find it.
Hit it again.
Continue untill finished.
Done.

[Blackpuddin]

Yeah, I've stopped going to the range for the reasons outlined above, ie the mats aren't representative, especially if they're worn which they generally are. I'm lucky in having a sports field near me that's ideal for practicing striking but of course it lacks targets, other than my stand bag on the 'return' shots.

[Blue62]

CustardOnChips said:

I hated going to the range, so would alway prefer playing a few holes or going to the practice pitching area instead. Hitting off matts is not reprasentitve in any way hitting off turf. That said, on the occasions I did go to the range I would do the same.

The trick I had, was to treat every shot and every round the same. So it didn't matter whether I had a chance of winning a big club comp or I was playing 9 holes on my own. On my way to the ball I decided what club and shot I was going to hit. Then when it was my turn I pulled the club and hit it. There is far too much over thinking in golf. It used to infuriate me watching someone spend ages trying to decide between 2 clubs, when they had only a rough idea how far away they were and how far they hit each club. And then they would just duff it anyway.

Tee it up.
Hit it.
Go find it.
Hit it again.
Continue untill finished.
Done.

While I get where you’re coming from, any pro will tell you that a consistent pre shot routine is a must. I’m pretty good on this except when it comes to putting, I seem to lose concentration and the results are usually average at best. I probably spend no more than 20seconds on my routine.

[CustardOnChips]

Blue62 said:

While I get where you’re coming from, any pro will tell you that a consistent pre shot routine is a must. I’m pretty good on this except when it comes to putting, I seem to lose concentration and the results are usually average at best. I probably spend no more than 20seconds on my routine.

I don't disagree to a point. But we're not pros.
I haven't seen what I would consider an improvement in the quality of club golf since a pre shot routine because fashionable 10 years or so ago. What I have seen, is rounds taking longer and a ridiculous amount of time spent faffing about before every shot. A pre shot routine doesn't need to take forever. You can analyse the wind, distance, pick a target line and club all whilst walking to the ball. Pull a club, have a practice swing (not 8) if you must and hit the ball. Also. Put your bloody glove on before it's your turn to hit.

The time I've spent watching someone with a high handicap consulting a yardage book or range finder, then deliberate over a club, only to fat/thin/top/shank/hit it OB is crazy. All they are doing is putting pressure on themselves. It adds a significant amount of time to each round when hitting 90 plus shots.

You shouldn't need more than 30/40 seconds to go once it's your turn.

[Leithen]

There are few things more enjoyable than a clear day, an empty course, hitting the ball straight and completing 18 holes in two and a half to three hours.

[thebraketester]

Great morning to be out playing golf. Sadly only managed the practice area. My chipping has gone through the roof, really pleased with it.... sadly my driver is shocking. No consistency at all.

[SpeckledJim]

thebraketester said:

Great morning to be out playing golf. Sadly only managed the practice area. My chipping has gone through the roof, really pleased with it.... sadly my driver is shocking. No consistency at all.

If your chipping is going through the roof, I'd say that's actually more of a pitch. Maybe a flop.

[thebraketester]