Tags: Non conforming club, driver
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Would you use a non conforming club???  I have 4 drivers that I use.  A ping G5 (conforming) a Nike Sumo2 Sasquatch (Conforming), a Krank Red Hot Chili Pepper (Conforming infomercial special), and a Cleveland Hi Bore XL (Non Conforming).  Can anyone guess which club I use the most?  Wrong! it is not the Non Conforming or the infomercial special it is the Ping G5.  Why? you ask.  Well because that is the club I have had the longest and practiced with the most.  Don’t get me wrong I will take the other drivers to the range or play a round with them but I always go back to my trusty G5.  It is a little heavier than the other clubs and I use that one the most because Johnny Miller gave me some advice on light clubs.  Johnny Miller said “the biggest load of crap the golf manufacturers have been feeding us is that we need light clubs, we need a good swing with a good heavy club.”  My Ping G5 isn’t that heavy but it is a Normal weighted club for me…not too heavy, not too light.   So what is moral of the story???  Get yourself a driver that you are comfortable with and if it is too light then put some lead on it.  Oh, and don’t cheat either. 

Tags: taylormade, driver, taylormade burner, present

I got my man a new driver for Christmas. Because he really needed to be fitted for it and I wanted to make sure he liked how it hit, and for a few other reasons, I gave it to him early. I didn't want to - but it would of been impossible to get it to where we'll open presents without him knowing what it was. That and now he'll get to use it on Sunday in the Pine Isle tourney. :)

After an hour working with the pro at the local sports store, he ended up keeping what I picked out, a Taylormade Burner 460. He tried a Callaway Big Bertha and hit that a little farther in the test range, but he was more consistent with the Burner, so decided that was better. Both clubs really felt good to him, so it wasn't too easy a decision.

Now I need to find a driver for myself and upgrade my Taylormade Burner Bubble ...

Tags: course, practice, golf, range, driver

So here's my dilemna. I'm at the range and have been for the past few days. Been working on my short iron game. Things are going great for the most part. I think I got my wedges figured out. So I thought I 'd try and work on another part of my game. That's when I got to thinking.

See, I can hit my driver a mile. Problem is, my drive usually ends up further from the hole than when I teed off. So obviously my drive needs some working on. So I reach for the big dog and I pause for just a moment. And I thought to myself about all of the articles I've read about Driving at the range. And how it's frowned upon. And how the real practice is with your short irons. I didn't want to be "that guy" at the range.

My question is don't I have to be? Isn't that the point of the range? To work on what needs working on? Well my driving needs working on. And I don't necessarily think it's such a bad thing.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you see "that guy" at the range, you know, "that guy" that looks like he's out there just to have fun, "that guy" that looks like he's not really practicing, "that guy" that could've just stayed home and accomplished just as much on his Wii, well, if you see that guy, give him a break. "That guy" just might be me. And gosh darnit, that guy just might "really" have to work on his drive. And he might "really" be trying to work on his game. Just try to remember that there's more to the game of golf than just short iron play.

Tags: equipment, driver, loft, shaft, MOI

Here is the latest chapter in my continuing search for the perfect combination of 14 clubs in my golf bag.  This has been a three year adventure with some success and some failure.  All has been well worth the while as I learn more about my game and what I need to improve.  I will keep make/model information out of this blog as best I can.  But if any of you wish to know any details on equipment, I will be glad to share.

I have struggled with too high a launch angle and excessive backspin.  I have a fairly slow swing speed of about 88mph.  My typical launch angle was about 15-17+ degrees, while my backspin numbers are well over 3700rpm.  This leads to a fairly short overall average driving distance of only about 220-240 yards - realistically. Luckily I am fairly straight with a spray of only about 20-30 yards each way, mostly left now.  Still the challenge of finding a few extra yards has led me to trying out all sorts of adjustments to my equipment.  I have tried a variety of different drivers.  I started with experimenting with different lofts. 

I started a 410 cc 10.5 degree driver with a stock regular flex shaft three years ago.   I went with a 400cc 12 degree loft  game improvement "knockoff" driver with a custom stiff flex shaft.  Obviously, this didn't work all too well for me when it came to distance, but it help me with hitting more fairways.  In my search for the magic super long driver, I possibly went too quickly to a much lower lofted 460cc high MOI 8.5 degree driver plus regular flex shaft to gain some additional yards of carry and roll.  The regular flex matched my slower swing speed but I had trouble squaring up the head.  That led to a downward spiral of rights and lefts as I pushed and pulled my tee shots every which way.  It was a frustrating experience where I lost all confidence in my swing off the tee.  I resorted to three woods and hybrids off the tee much of the time.  I almost took a long break from the game - I said almost. 

I found a new 460cc tall face and low/back CG 9.5 degree driver with regular flex shaft that had two weight ports late last year.   It really helped bring back my confidence as I found more fairways and got to a more acceptable driving distance.   In March, I was lucky to play Spyglass Hill in Monterey, California and found 10 fairways on this very challenging layout.  I was hooked.  I believe the weighting, MOI and face height fit my eye and swing best.  I still see bigger hitters in my foursomes, but I have resolved myself to knowing I won't be the longest ball out there.  The faster I try to swing, the more trouble I put myself into.  If I swing too hard, I get lazy hands and keep that face too open at impact, typically. 

For kicks this spring, I tried carrying a second driver - like Phil.  One for normal conditions and one for the windy days.  Number two was a traditional pear shaped 460 cc 9.5 degree driver with a custom lower launch regular flex shaft, but couldn't keep it straight.  So number two sits in my garage waiting for a better player to find it.  I even borrowed a 9.5 degree 425cc, 4 weight port version of the driver I was already using to see if I could get a more penetrating ball flight for better launch conditions and more roll.  That worked better, but not dramatically better than the trusted original.

So two weeks ago, I thought I would make the change in shafts to the driver head that I felt the most confidence with.  The shaft manufacturer boasts a lower launch angle with lower backspin tendancies.  The RSSR rating also matched my 85-90mph swingspeed in their regular flex model.  My hope is that this brings my launch angle to a 14-15 degrees and reduce backspin to less than 3300.  All else being equal, I suspect that this will add 5 - 10 yards with the same control right to left as before.  Let's hope it does. 

My next post will describe my equipment solution to a two year issue with the dreaded shanks.