Slacking student wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 11:48 pm
Has anyone on here tried any speed training? I've been using the stack system and have been getting some serious gains in clubhead speed but haven't been able to take it to the course yet (far to wet in darkest wet Cumbria to be outside let alone on the course)
Started off with a clubhead speed of 95 mph and have just topped out at 112 mph giving it full beans so a 17mph gain in 8 weeks. Will be interested to see if it translates to any extra distance
Try Mark Crossfield on Youtube. He's one of the better YT coaches and did exactly this a few years ago, including the Stack weight system and gym work. Trawl back through his videos, he posted quite a lot on his quest.
Each extra mile per hour with a driver should give you an extra two to three yards. Take a look at this YT video too. Danny Maude (another YT pro worth following) has world long drive champion Martin Borgmeir with him. Very interesting and entertaining.
still desperately trying to break 100 - managed 108 at farleigh at the end of December. Some of my friends play more than once a week, which I just can't do, so i am fairly happy with my game considering i play about every 6 weeks or so, but would love to get through that barrier.
kenthammer1984 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 17, 2023 12:13 pm
still desperately trying to break 100 - managed 108 at farleigh at the end of December. Some of my friends play more than once a week, which I just can't do, so i am fairly happy with my game considering i play about every 6 weeks or so, but would love to get through that barrier.
have a butchers at ricks simple tips to break 100
and go through your game. where are the bad shots?
for example when I dont score well (but hit well) I can spot where my game has gone wrong, a couple of 3 putts, a lost ball.. or a tee shot into danger etc etc
cut out the errors
now I lifted this from another forum im on
"So recently I have been playing with a guy who wants to break 100. He is really struggling and goes round in between 100 and 120.
His putting and short game a good enough but the frustration of the rest of his game makes him three putt a lot and get in a mess.
While playing with him last time I made an observation that he was always taking on the most high tariff shots, nearly every time he got himself into trouble, behind a tree, in a bunker etc
I took one of my personal philosophies and explained it to him in a way I had not ever done before:
The Three Goals
We stood on a tee, any tee and I said from here there are three goals to achieve before most players play the shots that make or break their score. Find the fairway, get inside 150, get on the green.
Goal 1- Find the fairway
Pretty simple, play a tee shot which finds the fairway, if you fail to do that play the next shot to achieve this goal and nothing else.
Notes Remember to give yourself nice wide margins for error from the tee or if you miss it and are playing your second, the fairway is a nice big target so don't make it smaller!
Goal 2- Get inside the 150
Once you have done goal 1 move on to this, play your next shot to get inside the 150. It doesn't matter if you get inside by 1 inch or 50 yards, once done the goal is made.
Notes
You can achieve goals 1 and 2 in one shot if you are good enough or on a short par 4 but you don't have too.
On some par 5s you cannot do goal 2 with your second, instead look to get into a place to ensure you can get inside it with your next shot.
If you come up just short or are inside but cannot reach the green then look to lay up in a place to make goal 3 REALLY easy. (we saw this as a nice luxury when it happened rather than a bad thing)
KEY POINT If you hit a bad tee shot but achieve goal 2 with your second shot then the bad tee shot DOES NOT MATTER!
KEY POINT If there is trouble around the green you cannot fly look to lay up in a place that makes goal 3 really easy.
On par 3s you can achieve goals 2 and two in 1 shot, try and leave yourself in a good place to achieve goal 3.
Goal 3- Get on the green
Once inside 150 look how to get safely on the green. This may be via a layup to a safe area and a chip/pitch on.
Notes If you have missed the fairway doing goal 2, cant make the green or there are lots of hazards then play to get into a place to make goal 3 easier and nothing more.
Summary
We started this after holes one and two where he scored two 9s. From then his worst score was one 7 and the rest were 6 or better. He lost most of his shots to putting or duffed chips and we barely looked in a bush or tree for his ball again bar one hole.
Previously he was trying to bash 3 woods and hybrids off the fairway, now he was hitting 6 and 5 irons to achieve each goal one by one. It did mean taking irons or hybrids off some difficult tees to achieve goal 1 rather than goal 1 and 2 together. He also only used the driver twice when normally it would have come out on every hole bar two par 3s.
I play to this same game plan and I shot 87 with two lost balls and no driver in the bag. Like him from hole 2 my lost shots were do to bad swings and not bad game plans. I also managed to make two pars after duffed tee shots!
I do know this game plan probably only works down to about a 12 handicap as you need to be a little more aggressive to score better unless you can confidently get up and down from 60 yards and in on a regular basis.
I thought this was really key, the biggest difference was not in his scores but in his attitude, he celebrated reaching each goal, if he hit a bad shot but could still make goal 2 with his second then the first shot DID NOT MATTER. He used to beat himself up about the bad shots but now he doesn't if he still makes the goals in the lowest possible number of shots.
He will now be using this every round and hopefully he can make his goal soon!"
^^^^Interesting observation about high tariff shots. I read a piece the other day on this, I can't remember it word for word but the gist is watching too much golf on TV is bad for our own game. We see what are in reality extremely high tariff shots routinely played and made and think it's normal. 7 irons drawn round a tree from 190 yards to 10 feet, wedges dropped next to a pin surrounded by bunkers and water. These are not the shots mere mortals should be attempting if we want to get from 18 to 15.
Think about it. A tournament pro scores 2 under in each of his four rounds, he might make the cut. In our four rounds we play to 18, that means he would beat us by 80 shots. Let that sink in. He'd beat us by 80 shots yet we're trying to make shots he thinks long and hard about.
I've posted this before but it's worth repeating. Watch all six parts of this How To Break 100 videos. There's no swing instruction, it's about strategy and mindset, and well worth watching.
It's been about 4 years since I picked up a club now. Whilst I don't miss the unbelievable frustration and (what felt like) wasted days, those Rick Sheils videos are a great watch.
In terms of breaking 100.....I'd suggest just working on shots from 30 yards and in (i.e. short game, approach, putting) and leaving anything stronger than a 6 iron at home, apart from maybe one longer club, a 5 wood or something
After the shaft in my 6-iron snapped, today I went for a fitting for new irons. Any excuse. I tried Callaway Paradym X, Mizuno JPX 923 Hot metal, Srixon ZX4 Mk2 and TaylorMade Stealth. The fitter was excellent (Jamie at Silvermere) and twenty grands worth of GC Quad launch monitor came in useful too After trying quite a few head and shaft combinations we settled on Stealth heads with Recoil ESX 460 regular shafts, a £14 upcharge per club. I was surprised to be fitted into a regular shaft, I was convinced my age, slight build and a gradual loss of distance all pointed to senior flex. Indeed, we started off with those and although I got back a goodly amount of lost distance, the launch monitor showed with the Recoil regular flex contact on the face was much more consistent, a smaller circle of dispersion around the middle of the bat.
The Paradym X was actually longer but I preferred the steeper descent angle of the Stealth, it gave more consistent distance and better stopping power on the green. I never thought I'd say this but I didn't like the feel of the Mizuno, it was also a good bit shorter. As soon as I picked up the Srixon I remarked how heavy it felt, a feeling reflected in swing speed.
After I warmed up with my current irons (Yonex eZone XP 2013), my swing speed (7i) was around 72mph, right in the overlap of regular and senior flex. Swinging the newer clubs at the same speed gave me around ten yards or more extra distance, give or take a bit. Technology moves on. I'm now waiting for them to be built and looking forward to getting them on the course. It'll be nice to get decent distance (for me) without having to lean on it and hope for good contact.
My current 7-iron averaged 125-130 yards carry on the GC Quad, the Stealth was 140-145 (back to where I was years ago) and when I really gave it a go it was carrying 155-160, nice but I wouldn't risk it in a round. Roll on the summer.
havent picked a club up since december - cant wait to get back into it - just need the weather to pick up a bit and to get some dough in - money has been tight these last few months and cant warrant the cost - or rather the argument it would cause indoors - might jib on to Belfairs this weekend just to get some practice in
I collected my new clubs this morning, can't wait to use them in anger tomorrow. They're very shiny, both head and shaft, which although being graphite is electrically ion plated for some reason or other, and is a sort of smoky steel colour.
Johnny Byrne's Boots wrote: ↑Tue Apr 25, 2023 2:35 pm
I collected my new clubs this morning, can't wait to use them in anger tomorrow. They're very shiny, both head and shaft, which although being graphite is electrically ion plated for some reason or other, and is a sort of smoky steel colour.
How did you get on with the new clubs yesterday? Hopefully you loved them.
Any noticeable uplift in club performance, distance, dispersion etc. Though trouble is it's always hard to know if you're on a good day or if it's the clubs! Guess will take a bit longer before you know.
They're long and straight and feel very good. Nice high ball flight with a steep descent angle so it stays on the green. Even though they're forgiving, I can tell where on the face the strike was. Get it anywhere near the middle and off it goes, straight and high. The "Speed Slot" on the sole looks like it works too. Hit it off the bottom groove and it still gets nicely airborne with not a great loss in distance. Towards the end of the round, when I was a bit more confident with them, I found myself taking on shots I wouldn't have contemplated with the old set, and mostly succeeding.
Distance is at least a club longer than my last set, maybe longer. The twelfth hole measured 164 yards, normally I took a 5i or hybrid. I'm 67, 5'7" and nine and a half stone, the polar opposite to John Rahm. Just for a laugh I tried my new 6i on it. I really leant on it and it finished pin high on the left fringe. I wouldn't normally hit irons that hard but it's nice to know it's a possibility.
Johnny Byrne's Boots wrote: ↑Thu Apr 27, 2023 12:08 pm
I'm having to recalibrate my distances
They're long and straight and feel very good. Nice high ball flight with a steep descent angle so it stays on the green. Even though they're forgiving, I can tell where on the face the strike was. Get it anywhere near the middle and off it goes, straight and high. The "Speed Slot" on the sole looks like it works too. Hit it off the bottom groove and it still gets nicely airborne with not a great loss in distance. Towards the end of the round, when I was a bit more confident with them, I found myself taking on shots I wouldn't have contemplated with the old set, and mostly succeeding.
Distance is at least a club longer than my last set, maybe longer. The twelfth hole measured 164 yards, normally I took a 5i or hybrid. I'm 67, 5'7" and nine and a half stone, the polar opposite to John Rahm. Just for a laugh I tried my new 6i on it. I really leant on it and it finished pin high on the left fringe. I wouldn't normally hit irons that hard but it's nice to know it's a possibility.
Technology has definitely moved on. Well pleased.
Yeah it's defo moved on however mainly they have just made lofts stronger, but because their more forgiving it makes it easier to hit
My Pw is 43 degree which is old money nearer a 9
Tigers pitch is a 50 , this constantly strengthening of lofts has created a gap wedge lol which is 50 degree in my case as my sand is 54 degree
Im all for getting rid of iron numbers and printing lofts on the club like you do with wedges and hybrids ..
Like when someone says wow hit an 8 there look at that distance.. but they use game improvement irons and other person has blades the lofts are nearer that person's 7 iron
Does give the average user more confidence tho .. I mean if 7 was the go too when things are ropey as you know easy to hit .. really your using a 6 and getting better distance
The lofts have certainly become stronger but there's more to it than that. My new 6i is 24°, one degree less than the 4i in my old Taylor Made RAC OS irons. If I were to hit the TM I doubt I'd get it very high off the ground, any distance would be mainly run and it would probably hurt my hands a lot Using newer materials, and in the case of my new Stealths hollow bodies, has allowed them to reposition weight lower down and further back, both of which help the amateurs' favourite shot, hitting it off the bottom groove, get airborne. Add in springy, AI designed faces and the game becomes not easier, but certainly less difficult. This tech allows an iron with lofts a club and a half stronger than traditional to achieve the distance the loft would indicate with the flight of the number stamped on the sole, all with a more forgiving club.
You mentioned Tigger and lofts rather than numbers on the clubs. The fitter told me that there's an eight degree difference between the 7i of Bryson and Tiger! Ben Hogan used to put lofts not numbers on their clubs, something they changed a while back. Sadly, as of last August, they are no more.
Johnny Byrne's Boots wrote: ↑Thu Apr 27, 2023 12:08 pm
I'm having to recalibrate my distances
They're long and straight and feel very good. Nice high ball flight with a steep descent angle so it stays on the green. Even though they're forgiving, I can tell where on the face the strike was. Get it anywhere near the middle and off it goes, straight and high. The "Speed Slot" on the sole looks like it works too. Hit it off the bottom groove and it still gets nicely airborne with not a great loss in distance. Towards the end of the round, when I was a bit more confident with them, I found myself taking on shots I wouldn't have contemplated with the old set, and mostly succeeding.
Distance is at least a club longer than my last set, maybe longer. The twelfth hole measured 164 yards, normally I took a 5i or hybrid. I'm 67, 5'7" and nine and a half stone, the polar opposite to John Rahm. Just for a laugh I tried my new 6i on it. I really leant on it and it finished pin high on the left fringe. I wouldn't normally hit irons that hard but it's nice to know it's a possibility.
Technology has definitely moved on. Well pleased.
Nice, glad that the new clubs are delivering for you. Sure it's making you keener to get out and play and see how much improement they can add to your game. I've been thinking about getting myself a new set of irons as i have had mine now about 12 years. I've held off as I figured that it's not my clubs holding me back more lack of ability! But you make some good points that the newer clubs are giving better ball flight and it's not really just about adding distance etc. Cartainly something to think about.