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I'm going with all irons.....

Played 18 today, lowest score in quite some time. Like 7 years I think, although I really haven't played much in that time. Shot 44-36 for an 80. 6500 yd tees. Left the Comp EZ 1 and 2 irons in the truck. Just don't like the high offset. Went with MP67 2 iron today. No penalty strokes off the tee. Just for the record, I play the ball down and putt every thing out. Just like I would in AM Tour event. I'm not one of these 10 hdcp fellows that are really a 20. So today's round was an adventure. I tripled a Par 5 on the front. Just a disaster of a hole featuring 3 shanks. Funny thing is my ball striking overall was off from the get go warming up on range. I was tense, arms disconnected, wasn't turning through, couldn't stop using my hands, tempo was quick. I sprayed it all over on the front. Short game, my putter, and some luck kept it from getting really out of hand. On the back I still wasn't striking it well as I have been lately, but it was better. I started hitting fairways and greens. Birdied 16 and 18 draining 15 footers on both. I was really proud of the way I played the back 9. In the past, after a disaster like today on the front 9, I would have mentally mailed it in and started drinking heavily! LOL. Today though, I stayed in it. Found my rhythmn and smoothed it out. Next thing you know I finished strong and posted a nice score. Even with the triple bogey 8 on the par 5, I still could have easily broke 80 had I not lipped out 2 other birdie putts. I also chunked a pitch from 10 ft off the green on the 4th hole. So overall, I really didn't play very well, but still shot an 80. That is progress. Not having to add 6 penalty strokes a round from crappy tee shots is really making a difference. I'm on my way back for sure. I'll be in Houston for a soccer tournament this weekend, so it will probably be Monday before I play again. We might play late Sunday if we get back early enough. 80 is going down here pretty soon, I can feel it.
 
That is great that you have worked out a system that has you scoring well, and looking forward to the 70's. Great job on the self-awareness and discipline you have.
 
Finding a rocketbladez/speedblade 3iron is proving to be harder than I thought. Might have to go UDI 1 and 2 to give this experiment a shot myself.
 
Going play tomorrow, finally getting some dry weather starting today. Looking forward to maybe getting a little run out for my 2 irons off the tee.
 
Didn't get to play yesterday, but played 9 today. Pretty rusty after not touching a club for 8 days. Wife and 9 yr old son was really annoying today. I struggled for the most part. I played like crap. The front 9 has my number!!! Again no penalty strokes off the tee. I did hit 3 approach shots very poorly that went in hazards. Birdied a par 3. Shot 45. Did I say the wife and son were really annoying??? I played with my J33 CB's today. 2-LW. The trajectory is so much lower than the MP 67's. The one positive thing is that the course is drying out. A lot more roll out off the tee. I even crushed a 2 iron 262 yds. LOL! Just a little 10mph tailwind. It must have hit a little downslope off the subtle mounding. Our course is very flat, but has some gentle mounding in fairways. I absolutely flushed and crushed it though. Been teeing them up about 1/2 off the ground. Getting them up a little higher in the air. It would have been 245 even without the kick. I actually had to club down to 4 and 5 iron on a few holes due to the extra run out. With normal conditions, I don't think distance is going to be a problem at all.

i need a good long practice session to get sync'd up again. Going to try and go practice in the am.
 
Hit about 70 balls and tried to play today, but was rained off the course after 7 holes. Was +3. Threw the MP67's back in the bag. I just hit them better than the J33 CB's for some reason. Trajectory wasn't as high as I'm a tad shallower coming down after practicing a bit. Divots are not as deep either. MP67's will stay in bag from now on. I continue to get good distance off tee w/ 2 iron. Hit 2 over 250 yds. Leaving short irons into long par 4's. I really don't see the need to even touch the woods at this point. I did hit two nasty tee shots with a 3 iron. I'm struggling all of a sudden with my swing. It's like I've forgotten all the things I was doing before I had that 8 day break. No consistency at all. I'm going see my Pro for a checkup. I'm a little bummed bc I was going to try and play an AM Tour event this coming weekend, but I'm not doing that until I can break 80 twice, then I will be ready.
 
I have to say, although it only happens a few times each time I play/practice, that I enjoy the feeling quite a bit of flushing a blade 2 iron. I don't know if there is any other club that brings on that feeling for me. The sound and feel at impact, the beautiful low mid boring trajectory, the pace at which it moves down the target line, all of it is very pleasing to me. It feels even better on the first tee in front of puzzled strangers who are gasping that I dare try and play without a Driver, much less any woods. The Ricky white belts are shooting snickering looks at each other with their eyes and there is a condescending feeling that permeates the air..... Then I just throw a ball down without teeing it up, didn't even touch it, just played it where it stopped rolling, and proceeded to flush my 2 iron past all of their drives by 15 yds. LOL!!!!! That was very enjoyable to say the least. That one moment was worth all the crappy shots and embarrassment I've endured over the years with my tee shots. Several holes later, the older guy (mid 30's) of that group, said loudly as we were walking off a green, "I guess when you can putt, chip, and hit a 2 iron like that, you don't need a Driver". One of the best and most satisfying compliments I've ever received on the golf course. Of course, on the next tee shot, I proceeded to hit a finger stinging nasty thinned pull slice with my 3 iron and all my "brilliance" vanished in an instant.......LOL!!! It was fun while it lasted.....
 
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NNwSfz0_KDM#t=0

Anyone struggling with their swing, this video describes the changes I've made in my swing, which has produced the best ballstriking I've ever experienced. All in the hips. Pretty easy to do and repeat, but for me, apparently hard to remember...... I got back on track today at the range when I remembered what I was doing before I had those 8 days off.

Dare I say it...........but I actually thought about bringing the 3wd out with me tomorrow......don't know if I will, but I did think about it for a minute.
 
I ended up playing in the AM Tour event today in B flight. Finished T8 w/ 82 (43-39) I hit 11/14 fairways with my 2 iron, no penalty strokes. Unfortunately, I was a little nervous early and missed 4 short putts. Otherwise, could have had a decent round. I'll take 82 in my first tourney back though.
 
Thought I would update:
Messed my ankle up pretty bad and haven't played much since Sept. I swung the clubs on Saturday and tried a R15 driver, SLDR 3wd, and my Ping hybrid. It went well enough that I'll keep 'em in the bag. I feel comfortable with them now. Hope it stays that way.
 
When was the last time you hit a wood on the course or range? Was it a while ago, and you just grabbed them this weekend after a layoff? I'm curious to know.
 
I tried the 3wd and hybrid twice right before I tore up my ankle. Which was the two previous rounds I played, about 6-8 weeks ago, and it went horrible, basically after 3rd hole just went back to 2 iron. My friend wanted to try my 3wd, and he loved it. I tried his SLDR and hit it pretty good, so we just swapped. While I was laid up with my ankle, I bought the R15 online. Used it Saturday for first time. Played w/ my 9 yr old in the Father Son 2 man scramble at my club. I only hit 5 fairways, so it's not like I'm any better off. The important thing was that I wasn't scared to hit them and was actually sort of comfortable looking down at it. If I was to play in a am tour event right now, I would just take the irons.
 
CRB357 said:
Writing this all out in public seems to be good therapy for me. I don't feel as pissed off now as I did when I started the thread. LOL
I'm sort of rejuvenated to at least go practice the driver/woods. Not going to play with them for a while, but will keep working at it. So thanks to all of you for listening to me.

I did some mirror work today inside my house with an aiming stick shoved down the end of the grip of my driver. Just took real slow motion swings. Keeping the stick against my left hip/body on the way back and pointed at the target line at the top and down swing. This drill really keeps the hands out of the take away for me. I was able to see what was on plane and how it felt at all the normal positions. Felt better. It always does though when there is no ball in front of you...
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I'm glad you did this thread, because I've been having almost the same exact issues as you've described and I share your viewpoints. I'm a new golfer, and so I get that my game is evolving, but I used to consider my hybrid old faithful. I was confident with it from 205-225 out. Not any more. I'm much better with my irons. Always struggled with the driver....but the very last hole I played, I nailed one 285-290 to left middle fairway. I have no idea how, because I had hit three OB previously in the round.

So, I'm not going to totally quit my driver....but I'm playing a four iron, and a TM RSI which is really loft and length of a three.....and a controller driving iron off the tee. I just put them on launch monitor and got 230, 237, and 243 respectively. I'm seriously considering a UDI in 18*. Here's a link to a driving iron like the one I'm playing...like 15 bucks on ebay. FWIW.

LINK
 
I will add that I won't hesitate to remove the woods if I don't improve with them b/t now and middle of February. I'm fine at 6500 yds with 2-LW. I'm optimistic though, bc I got my shoulders working more vertical and that really worked well for me Saturday. I actually hit the 3wd pretty well the few times I hit it. Probably keep 3wd since 2-LW was only 13 clubs. Driver and hybrid would stay in closet if I had to post a score. Only used hybrid once and pulled it into a hazard. Driver was either pretty good or pretty bad. Bc of the scramble format, I had nothing to lose hitting Driver off most tees. My ankle held up surprisingly well, so I will get back to playing now when weather is good.
 
mike1950 said:
I think I could probably score as well as I do with just irons.
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Nahhhhh......... never give up on the driver.

Most folks will not admit that they are swinging their driver too hard to be consistent with it. This sounds like it is your case if you are cranking on a 2 iron the way you are right now.

This might sound a bit crazy to you right now, but even a "crutch slap cut driver" burning the tops of the grass will give you better results overall than a 2 iron.
 
Knot Right said:
Nahhhhh......... never give up on the driver.

Most folks will not admit that they are swinging their driver too hard to be consistent with it. This sounds like it is your case if you are cranking on a 2 iron the way you are right now.

This might sound a bit crazy to you right now, but even a "crutch slap cut driver" burning the tops of the grass will give you better results overall than a 2 iron.
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I completely disagree. So Henrik Stenson would be better off hitting a half swing slap cut driver than his trusty 3wd?? When playing to post the lowest score you are capable of, you play to your strengths and use whatever clubs gives you the best chance. It's a game of how many, not with what and how.
 
CRB357 said:
I completely disagree. So Henrik Stenson would be better off hitting a half swing slap cut driver than his trusty 3wd?? When playing to post the lowest score you are capable of, you play to your strengths and use whatever clubs gives you the best chance. It's a game of how many, not with what and how.
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Well not many of us have the game stenson does, and not many of us are terribly consistent with a 2i. But you are right, do what works best for you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
c.a.eleric said:
Well not many of us have the game stenson does, and not many of us are terribly consistent with a 2i. But you are right, do what works best for you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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That was an awesome shot he made. He hit the snot out of that 3w.
 
CRB357 said:
I completely disagree. So Henrik Stenson would be better off hitting a half swing slap cut driver than his trusty 3wd?? When playing to post the lowest score you are capable of, you play to your strengths and use whatever clubs gives you the best chance. It's a game of how many, not with what and how.
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To each his own I guess.

I went your route for over 2 years back in the early 90's. My driving was limited to a Ping Eye II 2 iron, or a Lynx 3 wood. I played to a solid 7 handicap at the time on the shortish Navy courses. I thought I was getting pretty darn good until I played a few tournaments at Hell's Point, Virginia Beach National, and the Virginia Beach Amateur. I was watching my playing partners hitting simple wedges and 9 irons into the greens, where I was hitting 5 or 6 irons. I was getting beat by 3-4-5 shots a round by the players who I was flighted with, and had beaten before on the shortish Navy courses that I routinely played at the time.

I can honestly say that what you are going through with the driver is very common, even among the better players. The difference is, they continue to work through the swing fault instead of taking the path of least resistance.

The frustration in your posts only confirms my opinion that you want to be a better player.
 
Of course I want to be a better player overall. It is just as simple as this: If I was to come to you right now and say, "I need you to post the lowest score you are capable of today". Are you going to try and "hope" that your inconsistent clubs magically become accurate or are you going to pull the clubs you "know" you can hit the target with? My strengths are wedge play and putting, I "know" I have a better chance of breaking 80 if I stay out of the hazards and going OB off the tee. I "know" my 2 iron will be in play, driver not so much. Getting up and down for par or tap in bogey is better to me than taking double or triple bc of penalty strokes.

I'm back to playing again. Shot 79-80 first two rounds of the year last week. I keep my R15 driver I picked up in Oct in the bag and practice with it. In casual rounds, I use it on holes where there isn't a lot of trouble, just in the name of building confidence/trust and working on my weakness. I'm getting better with it for sure. My swing is improving overall. Still have 2-Lw, as my core. I've been hitting my 2 hybrid on the range pretty good this week. So I'm going to use it today instead of the 2 iron. I hit the 2 hybrid a little higher and further. We will see how it goes. Our Am Tour season starts March 18th. So maybe by then I'll be back to "normal". Ha.
 
Don't give up hope on driver. Sounds like we have very similar issues off the tee and i feel your frustration with having a decent to good iron game, while having very mediocre success in getting off the tee and in the fairway.

As mentioned by Knot Right in post 65 - consider that you might just be going at it too hard with your driver.

Somewhere in another thread i had mentioned coming back from disc issues late last season after almost a year of no golf... i SLOWLY worked my way into hitting driver... I was almost timid with my tee shots, due to anxiety over re-injuring my back. I must say that the met with great success - much straighter and even longer off the tee.

However, as i felt stronger, i started going at the ball a bit harder and accuracy just seemed to fall apart. Hopefully i can take my own advice... I'd like to start and finish the season with a much easier swing and better tempo. I'm also planning a lesson or two as soon as the weather starts to look promising here in the northeast.

whatever you decide... Best of luck and enjoy!!
 
I'm sure over swinging plays a role at times. I've been through all that though, my tempo is pretty constant through the bag. Bigger issue though is that my shoulders fly open. It's the flatter takeaway due to longer club that screws me up, well that plus I'm a basket case about it all. Ha. I've been working on my shoulders and things are getting better. I'm no longer in "fear" standing on the tee with a wood. I'm more comfortable with my takeaway now, so "panic" doesn't set in at the top. So it's coming along.
 
Well that didn't go so well. 85 with 2 triples and a double. I hit the 2 hybrid 7 times. 4 swings were nice, 3 horrible. The 3 bad swings didn't go in hazards, but 2 were topped worm burners that went only 50-75 yards, and the other was a big slice. The 4 good swings actually went just like I planned. That was nice. I did shy away from using it off the tee on the 17th hole where I normally use a 2 iron. Went with 3 iron and hit the fairway. Probably try the hybrid out for another round before I put it back in the closet.

My driver was crap for the most part. Hit 5 fairways, put it in the hazard 3 times, and 4 very close to going in hazards. Pretty demoralizing. I'll keep it in the bag and keep using it for now bc I'm just playing casual pratice rounds right now.
 
CRB357 said:
Well that didn't go so well. 85 with 2 triples and a double. I hit the 2 hybrid 7 times. 4 swings were nice, 3 horrible. The 3 bad swings didn't go in hazards, but 2 were topped worm burners that went only 50-75 yards, and the other was a big slice. The 4 good swings actually went just like I planned. That was nice. I did shy away from using it off the tee on the 17th hole where I normally use a 2 iron. Went with 3 iron and hit the fairway. Probably try the hybrid out for another round before I put it back in the closet.

My driver was crap for the most part. Hit 5 fairways, put it in the hazard 3 times, and 4 very close to going in hazards. Pretty demoralizing. I'll keep it in the bag and keep using it for now bc I'm just playing casual pratice rounds right now.
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I was watching a guy hit on the practice range yesterday and I noticed how "slow and smooth" his swing was. It reminded me that just a couple of days ago, I noticed that my best hits occurred when I took a slow and smooth swing with proper mechanics and follow through. I noticed that when I hit with only 70% of my "power" the shots usually work out better.

So, I was thinking....how do I do this without "overswinging?" I heard the tempo of the sound "swooosh" in my mind, nice and slow, and it's the whole path from top of the back swing all the way through the ball to follow through. I'm trying to practice this technique until I get a consistent swing.

Anyway, I said "nice swing" to the guy and he told me he was just coming off of back surgery and is only now actually able to swing a club. I said that his swing now, looked like a perfect golf swing. So, playing hurt, he's literally doing it perfect. FWIW.
 
I have thought about this for a while and in the same boat. I really struggle with hitting woods, any woods... The best driver I have been able to hit was the SLDR Mini and even then it's a crap shoot. I have a Callaway Alpha 815 in the bag and it pretty much stays there during a round. I went up the other day to demo drivers, just to see if any of the new drivers would help. I hit the Epic, M2, F7 and a couple others including mine and of about 50 balls, I maybe got 4-5 good.
I just picked up a Srixon Z U45 20* yesterday that was brand new for $80 with the i steel 95 shaft. I love it ! I was hitting it out 220-230 or so, the range I was on was hard to tell. But it was constantly in the fairway, I'll take that all day. I will still practice driver but until I can hit it well, it stays in the bag..
 
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