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nerdz posted:
I can't imagine something harder for a beginner to hit well than a club with a heavy X flex steel shaft. I'd keep the jpx EZ, which are absolutely not game improvement irons. Look up something like the ping g430 irons, or worse the ping g730 irons. They're massive heads with tons of tungsten weighting.
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# ? Mar 22, 2024 02:13 |
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# ? May 10, 2024 01:56 |
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Based on description etc the EZ feel like the easy pick here. Given you're more of a range rat working on mechanics (hey, go you) I would honestly not go *too GI* because you do need a club that at least communicates your mistakes (even if its forgiving enough to not punish you too much for them). When you toe a hit or catch it thin with the EZ's do you immediately know what happened?
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# ? Mar 22, 2024 03:34 |
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nerdz posted:Thanks for the input! I haven't played either but mizuno irons are super solid, seems like whichever you prefer will be a fantastic starter set. My only tip would be to regrip them as they likely need it and fresh grips make a huge difference (though of course you can wait until after you choose a set and know you won't return it.) Regripping is very easy to do yourself as long as you are okay working with solvents, but you can usually pay a shop to do it as well for a higher price.
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# ? Mar 22, 2024 03:51 |
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nerdz posted:Thanks for the input! I wouldn't recommend either one of those one sets for someone brand new to golf but if you're picking one of the two, the set with the standard shafts will at least allow you to get the ball up in the air better than extra stiff shafts. However $200 for a set of clubs is basically free and picking wrong equipment is very much part of the golf journey.
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# ? Mar 22, 2024 08:40 |
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Urethane posted:Regripping is very easy to do yourself as long as you are okay working with solvents, but you can usually pay a shop to do it as well for a higher price. Agreed it isn't hard, but it can be even easier. Do note that big grip changes (like from standard to jumbo) can significantly impact swingweight, but do little to affect MOI, and how much it matters is a frequent forums argument/discussion (at least with people who understand MOI balancing). Shrapnig posted:picking wrong equipment is very much part of the golf journey. Evergreen tweet
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# ? Mar 22, 2024 12:46 |
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Thanks for the advice, I already knew I was overstepping with the more advanced clubs but having anything at all will tide me over for a while. I'll let you know how it goes at the sim. as long as I can actually swing the clubs and stay injury free I'm good until I feel ready for a proper fitting. I was supposed to get an almost complete Callaway rogue x set for free but I got ghosted after the donor realized their value, oh well.
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# ? Mar 22, 2024 13:49 |
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Urethane posted:I haven't played either but mizuno irons are super solid, seems like whichever you prefer will be a fantastic starter set. My only tip would be to regrip them as they likely need it and fresh grips make a huge difference (though of course you can wait until after you choose a set and know you won't return it.) Regripping is very easy to do yourself as long as you are okay working with solvents, but you can usually pay a shop to do it as well for a higher price. Yeah the golf pride MCC align grips on the 850 are pretty much in mint condition and feel amazing, I can actually hold them for several minutes without getting sweaty and the visual cues are pretty useful. Whichever clubs I end up with I'm definitely regripping them with those.
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# ? Mar 22, 2024 14:00 |
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get something like these Ping G25 irons and have a shop re-grip them to your liking.......also stick the 5 iron in the closet and pick up a G25 5 hybrid. https://www.ebay.com/itm/1762625390...ABk9SR7SZ1_TMYw
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# ? Mar 22, 2024 18:56 |
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Awesome thanks, I'll definitely look into those as there's a lot of time to test all these irons before deciding which one I'll keep. If anyone wants to suggest more models that would be good for beginners and last me at least the first year I'll take any and all advice, it's a lot to take in at once.
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# ? Mar 22, 2024 19:18 |
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Honma irons from their failed attempt to break into the us market around 2019-2022 are usually a steal and were well liked by reviewers. TW-X (forged hollow bodies player's distance, in my bag), TR20p (forged-body pocket cavity), TR20v (forged player's cavity), TR21x (hollow body players distance/GI). Also good if you want to have something different than most folks at the range and on the course. For folks who were advocating against starting with a more player-oriented iron, i get it if the user is focusing on getting out on the course asap, but why recommend this if the person states they are focusing on swing mechanics and range work? I feel the latter would want clubs that communicate as much as possible. Would love to hear folks' thinking on this.
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# ? Mar 22, 2024 20:05 |
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nerdz posted:Awesome thanks, I'll definitely look into those as there's a lot of time to test all these irons before deciding which one I'll keep. If anyone wants to suggest more models that would be good for beginners and last me at least the first year I'll take any and all advice, it's a lot to take in at once. I'm new to golf and here's my observations from my first year and a half of consistent play, and this isn't really club talk, but mental/game talk: I suck at golf, i have irons that i probably shouldn't be playing, but they felt good to me, and that's what mattered, i could make contact, and when i hit it well and pure it went straight and was satisfying. My shafts are stiff, but my swing speed is limp... I'm tall and my irons are extended. I'm 100% positive i lose distance because of how big i am, and how i need to get better with moving the big muscles and not my arms. I need to get fitted, but right now what's going to matter most for you is: can you hit the ball, does it go forward, and are you having a good time? I struggle mentally with the game. If i'm having a bad day, i implode and will never play well. I'll top, dig, get too in my head, focus too much and play awfully. Even when i play like poo poo as a new golfer my goal is to have a good time. When i'm having fun i won't give two shits about playing poorly. I'll say oh well, move up and take my next shot, hoping to get outta the poo poo and keep it rolling. It's hard to get out of being frustrated, but when you learn to let the previous shot go you'll always have a better time. Remember you're there to have fun and this isn't for money, we pay for the privilege to go out on gorgeous courses and play golf. Outside of blades vs players distance vs game improvement talk, any time you get to golf should be considered a good time, regardless of equipment. So when you get those clubs and you're gonna test them out: take the 7i or whatever your club of choice is, and hit balls. if you're satisfied with those x-stiff blades and that 7i goes straight, then play those. If you get the other set and it turns out you get some more distance, hit the ball easier, and straighter and get good feedback, and you like how they feel with regular shafts? play those. Anyone telling you that it's gonna be harder for a beginner to play the X-Stiff shafts is correct, it's 100% gonna be harder, it's gonna suck more, and you're not doing yourself any favors... unless you're having a good time doing it, then you do you and have a good time doing it. My first set was my dad's old 1981 mcgregor tour forged blades. The grips were 30 years old and rotted, i had no idea how to swing a club, and i had blisters all over my hands from the range, but i had fun, and until i got a set of more modern hand me downs, i just tried to learn using those. Like another poster said, part of the journey is buying the wrong clubs. When you get on the course no one really looks at your clubs and no one outside of you really remembers your lovely shots unless you're making it memorable by throwing a club or cussing loudly or not keeping up with pace of play. If this happens pick up your ball and move it up to your buddy that's been playing for 20 years and drives it 250+ straight every time, drop there, and play that shot. If you're super focused on score and it's making you fall to pieces, instead of keeping score, do the smiley and frowny thing on each hole. You hit a solid drive, your approach shot was good, but you 3 putt? did it make you feel good to get up to the green in 2? smiley that poo poo. On the next hole did you hook a ball into the woods and then slice into water with the another, so you dropped with your buddy and then skulled your wedge to get up and down? put a frowny face, and then just keep rolling. Every single person on that course that's a low handicapper, or consistent golfer has been there, done that and played exactly like you are gonna play. They're also gonna have the same shots you have more commonly for you, but rarely for them. They will 100% fat an iron and watch it bloop 30y in front of them, or top the ball. So if you're like me and nervous about your first time on a course, do your best to just go and do it. Just step up, set up, take your shot, and play, and have a good loving time because you're on the golf course with people trying to have fun just like you, and you're not at work.
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# ? Mar 22, 2024 20:39 |
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to devil's advocate myself, it could happen that I end up making friends at the range and someone invites me for a round and I have to either refuse or just ruin everyone else's fun instead of playing with clubs of my level. though right now I don't know anyone and the people who took the training program with me never reached out so
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# ? Mar 22, 2024 20:40 |
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nerdz posted:to devil's advocate myself, it could happen that I end up making friends at the range and someone invites me for a round and I have to either refuse or just ruin everyone else's fun instead of playing with clubs of my level. though right now I don't know anyone and the people who took the training program with me never reached out so Hold on, why would you have to refuse, if you're playing those X-flex blades? because you can't hit them as well as you feel you should? who gives a poo poo. Can you keep pace of play? that's the only thing a lot of golfers care about. are you fun to play with, and can you keep it moving when you need to. When you pure a shot and it goes and lands where you want it, and they notice and congratulate you are you gonna be invalidated because you're playing with difficult to use clubs? No way, no one is gonna care what club you used to get there. they're gonna say great shot! and then you're gonna gently caress up the next one because it's impossible to hit two good shots in a row in golf. They invite you because you're personable and you have to spend 2-6 hours together playing a game you both enjoy, so you're gonna talk, drink a beer or two if you drink, hit your clubs and move on. Seriously, you can hit wood sticks with rocks for heads as long as you're moving quickly enough. You can also pick up your ball and drop it forward with another player to keep pace of play, so you can still chip and putt. Your kit doesn't define you as a player. Your attitude, and being a pleasure to golf with does. It took me a while to realize this, and i still occasionally struggle when im having a bad time. You can have 140 on your score card, and your friend has 84, and he'll invite you to do the same thing next weekend because it was a good time, not because of your clubs or how good/bad you were. iNteg fucked around with this message at 20:58 on Mar 22, 2024 |
# ? Mar 22, 2024 20:52 |
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No one on the course is gonna care if you're good or bad. Just bring extra balls, drop on the fairway if you lose a ball, and be familiar with some basic etiquette. Major ones are just don't talk during someone's swing, don't put your bags on the green, and don't walk between someone's ball and the hole on the green.
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# ? Mar 22, 2024 21:00 |
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nerdz posted:to devil's advocate myself, it could happen that I end up making friends at the range and someone invites me for a round and I have to either refuse or just ruin everyone else's fun instead of playing with clubs of my level. though right now I don't know anyone and the people who took the training program with me never reached out so So as other people have said, the only way you could ruin the round is from etiquette related things, such as taking 10 minutes looking for a lost ball instead of dropping one right away, constantly stepping in someone's putting line, or making a lot of noise while they swing. And these are so basic that you don't need to worry about it. Otherwise people are perfectly happy to play with you even if it takes you many shots to reach the green or whatever, they just want to play with someone chill rather than a rando they might get paired with otherwise. But to address another thing because this is a common misconception: golf equipment is marketed as this miraculous tech and beginners and experienced golfers alike get suckered in by it. It's important to realize that even the perfectly fitted top of the line iron is not going to stop you from topping the ball or slicing it 30 yards to the right or all the other problems beginners face. I still consider myself a beginner because I played as a kid but have only been getting back into it the last few years, and once I realized this it really helped me enjoy the game and improve the things I could control without expecting the equipment to do much for me. Yes there is a some extra technology and consideration for drivers and woods, but irons and wedges are a very simple design and the perfect clubs can only really help you so much. So whatever iron set you choose, as long as it has a relatively big face (i.e. not a tour pro's players iron) and was made within the 10 years, it will be good enough to learn on. The shaft flex is a big consideration too but in testing those two sets you'll be able to notice the difference if it's an issue. (And like I mentioned, fresh grips are cheap and important to keep the clubs from sliding out of your hand.) To end this rant, you have three basic objectives to hit a playable golf shot: (1) contacting the ball before the ground, without blading/topping it, (2) controlling the club face to hit it square or as close to square as you need for your natural club path, and (3) hitting as close to the sweet spot as possible. Getting all three right is hard! If you screw up (1) or (2), no high tech club is going to save you (particularly with irons). The nice thing about forgiving clubs for beginners is that if you get 1 and 2 right but screw up 3, you aren't going to lose nearly as much distance as you would with players clubs. You basically get to focus on 1 and 2 without worrying as much about 3, which makes it easier to improve because you are only juggling two parameters rather than three. That's just my opinion and others may disagree, but it's an important thing to realize and will save you a lot of mental energy trying to optimize your gear. WorldIndustries fucked around with this message at 21:30 on Mar 22, 2024 |
# ? Mar 22, 2024 21:28 |
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Absolutely, I agree with what everyone said here and that's my main goal, just get a starting set so I can forget about numbers and gears and shafts and just play. I know I posted this a bit prematurely since I've yet to go to a range or sim with them, but I just wanted to have someone else to talk with while I don't know any golfers just yet. I'll let you know how it goes! To start I got myself a cheapo golf club sling, $12 callaway gloves and a golf towel. That's all within my starting goal of $240. I have a wellness stipend that I can use to pay a gym or just buy sports stuff and here we are. I had this misconception that golf was an expensive sport for rich guys and while it can be, I'll probably spend less on it this year than I did on running shoes last year. And DC feels like a good place to be a golfer, with 3 courses just minutes away by bike and other methods of public transportation. nerdz fucked around with this message at 21:40 on Mar 22, 2024 |
# ? Mar 22, 2024 21:36 |
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Golf is an expensive sport unless you can ignore the gear bug completely AND have affordable public courses nearby. Also a note about """flex""". Golf is a sport of remarkably few equipment standards given how much equipment plays a part, perhaps no area exemplifies this more than shaft flex. The label on a shaft saying *stiff* means nothing, nothing, except that it is stiffer than a regular and more flexible than a x-stiff but only in that very same shaft line. even within a single manufacturer, (and I will pick on Nippon here because I love them) a stiff Zelos 7 shaft is noticably more flexible than a regular Modus 105 shaft. (If Nippon made a senior flex in the Modus 105 the Zelos would probably be softer flex than that as well). A big part of that is ego, tons of gear purchasing decisions are made based on and appealing to the golfer's ego, many of whom are declining in physical capability and increasing in purchasing power. I'm not hard in the "get fit" camp for newbies, I think lessons are a far far better use of money unless you are on the far edges of the bell curve when it comes to physical ability and size. That said, a "soft regular" shaft is going to be easy to overpower (and therefore difficult to control) for a healthy man in their 30's and 40's unless you have a very smooth swing. The best is to find a used club shop that at least has a net you can hit into so you can get some practice swings before making purchases, even better if they have a launch monitor. BTW, what shaft is in your Mizuno EZ's? GEMorris fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Mar 22, 2024 |
# ? Mar 22, 2024 23:41 |
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GEMorris posted:Golf is an expensive sport unless you can ignore the gear bug completely AND have affordable public courses nearby. yeah I think I can do both! DC has plenty of cheap courses no labels but I believe its the stock standard flex https://www.truetempersports.com/en-us/dynamic-gold-xp-95-steel-iron-shaft.html
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# ? Mar 23, 2024 00:04 |
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GEMorris posted:Golf is an expensive sport unless you can ignore the gear bug completely AND have affordable public courses nearby. I agree with all of this, but a dynamic gold x100 as a beginner is going to feel like rebar, haha. The xp95 are going to be much better suited to someone who doesn't know how to swing a club.
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# ? Mar 23, 2024 00:23 |
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It's also the weight a bit more than the flexpoints as well. Playing old school TT DG S300 130 gram iron shafts that are super low launching as a beginner is just making the game harder and more exhausting than it should be. Nowadays even the R300's at 127 grams wouldn't be a great choice either since they are nearly as heavy. I'm old so those were basically the stock 2 choices we always had when I started but now there are so many amazing shaft choices and my joints and back appreciated the KBS C-Taper Lites at 110G I played from 2014-2022 and Nippon Modus 105's 107 grams I've used since then.
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# ? Mar 23, 2024 00:59 |
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As someone who bought SGI clubs with XP85 regular shafts I can say that 95 is probably a little better but might still be too whippy if the OP is of even average size and build. But at the same time I also agree that DG x100 is loving rebar and I can't think of anyone who should start there. At worst it will force a deliberate smooth tempo to get good results, which is not necessarily a bad thing (ask me how bad you can gently caress yourself up trying to swing *hard*) My generic "where do I start" shaft, and again not a fitter just someone who consumes waaaaay too much info, is AMT Black or 950 Neo's in stiff. Both are a moderate to soft stiff, reasonable weights, and aren't something you'll have to fight against. That said I def agree overall with the last two posts. GEMorris fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Mar 23, 2024 |
# ? Mar 23, 2024 01:12 |
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I'm 6ft1/2 with arms an inch longer than average, moderately athletic with a heavy emphasis on callisthenics, which feels similar to learning the golf swing and it's what drew me in. I've been working on a very smooth swing though, mostly to avoid flare ups from my joint issues from callisthenics
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# ? Mar 23, 2024 02:19 |
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Speaking of shafts, my driver clubhead speed has gone up almost 10mph since getting back into golf last season and I'm sitting at around 105, so I might want to move out of my regular speed shaft. I'm totally happy with the callaway GBB epic head though so am thinking of just buying a shaft with a callaway adapter on the end. Is there a good place to look for those for cheap, or just the regular golf club places like 2nd swing and ebay?
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# ? Mar 23, 2024 02:31 |
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I’ve had pretty good luck with eBay. You can usually find something with an adapter and standard size grip for < $100.
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# ? Mar 23, 2024 02:59 |
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golfworks.com can also do the shaft butt/tip trim and install the adapter of your choice, and probably the grip of your choice as well. Shaft prices have also dropped to more reasonable levels since the 2021-2022 "supply chain" mayhem, it appears as well. https://www.golfworks.com/mitsubishi-rayon-diamana-d-graphite-wood-shaft/p/mr0035/ https://www.golfworks.com/callaway-advanced-opti-fit-adaptors/p/ca0020/ I used them for a shaft and Ping adapter back in 2022. Keyser_Soze fucked around with this message at 03:56 on Mar 23, 2024 |
# ? Mar 23, 2024 03:53 |
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Well I had a round today Back 9 felt like I couldn’t miss. So that was the good but my brother did this to my driver High swing speed + off center hit(you can see the ball mark) and lovely hard as rock Nitro ball and I have a nice crack in my newish G430 driver. Gonna call Ping and see what they’ll do for me otherwise he’ll be buying me a new head. So, low round of the year but cracked driver.
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# ? Mar 23, 2024 19:52 |
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I’ve never had or heard of a company not replacing a cracked head for anything that’s less than 2 years old, and I know at least TM will basically throw you a free head of whatever their newest line is no questions asked. They’d much rather do that than risk you switching to another brand because you think their stuff breaks easily and their customer service sucks. Probably helps if you’re friendly with anyone at a retailer, but the guys at Roger Dunn out here will take one look at a cracked driver and just go “leave it here and we’ll call you when the replacement is in” without even asking if you bought it there.
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# ? Mar 23, 2024 23:51 |
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BCRock posted:I’ve never had or heard of a company not replacing a cracked head for anything that’s less than 2 years old, and I know at least TM will basically throw you a free head of whatever their newest line is no questions asked. Ya that's what I'm thinking too. I'll give them a call monday and hopefully it all works out with them.
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# ? Mar 23, 2024 23:57 |
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I've seen too many people break driver heads on a duff to ever lend anyone my driver.
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# ? Mar 24, 2024 00:02 |
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One of my friends who doesn't golf but occasionally goes to the range has an odd swing, his backswing is good to about 75%, but if he tries to wind up even more then he'll slam the driver head into the ground over 1 foot (or more) behind the ball. It's wild lol
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# ? Mar 24, 2024 00:08 |
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club testing trip report: pretty interesting and expected results! now I know what a forged club feels like and what an extra stiff shaft does. Wow yeah I couldn't get a good hit in, out of 30 or so, not even with the wedges. couldn't get the ball to go up, and even on sweet spot hits the ball felt super weak. The ez forged was a lot lot better. I'm still not doing the carry and launch angles I did with the strata set(which honestly should have been my real purchase to begin with but I can always use them at the sim). But I was hitting the ball consistently and the ranges were also consistent, with decent grouping when I wasn't even trying to do that. I had the pressure of testing different clubs which probably didn't help but I certainly felt I could get used to the ez forged in a short while. I even hit a nice fade shot, my first one! It felt fun to use and that I can learn a lot from it, unlike the jpx 850 which felt pretty much impossible. It was a very interesting experience, it's nice to know how hard certain things are to manage expectations. I still had trouble with anything under 6i but we'll see how that goes, I can always get hybrids nerdz fucked around with this message at 14:47 on Mar 24, 2024 |
# ? Mar 24, 2024 14:45 |
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mattfl posted:
Call Ping at lunch today, 3 year warranty on all clubs so I just take it to an authorized retail out(dicks, pga store, etc) and they open a case with Ping and they'll ship me a new one. I'm hoping I can convince them to just swap with one on their shelf and they can just keep the new one Ping ships but we'll see. Either way Ping said 3-5 days for the new one to get to me. So, alls good! Edit: PGA store just did a head swap with one on the shelf! mattfl fucked around with this message at 20:44 on Mar 25, 2024 |
# ? Mar 25, 2024 17:12 |
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Plank Walker posted:No one on the course is gonna care if you're good or bad. Just bring extra balls, drop on the fairway if you lose a ball, and be familiar with some basic etiquette. Major ones are just don't talk during someone's swing, don't put your bags on the green, and don't walk between someone's ball and the hole on the green. A friend and I picked up golf during covid (cliche alert.) Like our third round on a course was a total accident, tried to book a round on a par 3 to just go drink and hit some irons, accidentally booked the championship course. We said welp, guess we're playing for real. Got paired up with a father and son who clocked us immediately. They were like "we're pretty good, so don't worry about us, just do your thing." They were a great hang even though they were taking their round pretty serious. Ended up buying them some shots at the turn and on the back 9 they abandoned their serious golf and started working with us, giving us swing tips, showing us the line, etc. I swear to god their help skipped us ahead 6 months in development, just from the little tips they gave us. I still look back real fondly on that day, I hope to bounce into them again.
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# ? Mar 25, 2024 19:59 |
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nerdz posted:yeah I think I can do both! DC has plenty of cheap courses East Potomac has a great deal where for 18 dollars you can rent a practice hole (which ranges from 100-130) for an hour with a shag bag and when you return the bag you get a code for a free medium bucket of balls. Great way to work on the wedges and short game.
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# ? Mar 25, 2024 20:11 |
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Swarmin Swedes posted:East Potomac has a great deal where for 18 dollars you can rent a practice hole (which ranges from 100-130) for an hour with a shag bag and when you return the bag you get a code for a free medium bucket of balls. Great way to work on the wedges and short game. wow that's a steal, the medium bucket is 12 by itself. thanks for the info I'll do that next time
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# ? Mar 25, 2024 20:22 |
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I'm absolutely terrible, but I was seeing better results by going with a short backswing and what felt like an incredibly slow swing speed. My 5 iron got the most benefit from that, and I was pretty happy with ~100 yards. I was feeling some tendinitis in my hand, took a couple weeks off, and then coming back I suddenly found that by putting a ton of hip rotation in my driver I could get good consistent contact and my slice is gone. Now that I feel good about that, I can't hit my irons for poo poo.
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# ? Mar 26, 2024 01:48 |
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always the way. Last time out I putt out of my skin and chipped around the green like it was a joke. But I only had to do that because my tee shots were absolutely horrendous. Slice. top. slice slice. HOOK. But then I putt a 20 footer from off the green without even walking the putt and it goes straight in. I made par but I was so shocked I couldn't even enjoy it. Just kinda stood there stunned for about 15 seconds. golf.
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# ? Mar 26, 2024 09:05 |
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The range near me built a 9 hole course in an old field next door. Sounded cool until I realised it’s the old farmland, and it’s the Netherlands, so every hole can only be 20m wide with water lining each side and crazy wind. It’s going to be so slow and chaos if the top golf crowd wander over from the range.
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# ? Mar 26, 2024 10:16 |
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SquirrelGrip posted:The range near me built a 9 hole course in an old field next door. Sounded cool until I realised it’s the old farmland, and it’s the Netherlands, so every hole can only be 20m wide with water lining each side and crazy wind. Set up a chair and watch from a tee box for some entertainment
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# ? Mar 27, 2024 19:58 |
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# ? May 10, 2024 01:56 |
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This winter I've been working with a coach and practicing in my garage on a makeshift sim. I've been working from the short clubs to the longest and have probably got over a thousand balls since January. I can comfortably swing with an in to our pattern on every club except the Driver (which I just started on). It's such an unnatural feeling with it, like I'm almost swinging it underhanded. Hopefully I'll get it down before the season starts.
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# ? Mar 28, 2024 16:46 |