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Good morning, everyone. I woke up to the birds chirping and sunlight coming through the blinds. Up and going at 7am. Quick check of the weather and it's supposed to be 77 degrees and sunny. Of course, why, it's a workday and I have meetings on and off all the way to 3:00. No possible way of getting out on the course. I will have to accept the fact that today all the golf related activities will either be the forum or maybe some putting or simulator at lunch time.

Early start to a long day. Dogs fed and thankfully no snow removal even tho there is snow of ground we have a covered garage. It's veterans tournament which is fun, but it's a tight schedule and normally a miracle if they run on time. Thankfully a good amount of downtime when the games start which may allow for some catch up on the last of us.

And so it begins at the antidawn, 2 inches/5 cm in the past 2 hours. Next update at coffee time in 12 hours at dawn. Corgi tracks in the foreground where there was only greenish grass at lunchtime.

Was gonna yell at ya for rubbing in your beautiful weather as I had to clear my car of snow this morning, but not being able to golf in nice weather is punishment enough. Early morning here had to get in for 530 for a project replacing a critical piece of equipment. Going to be a long day, snow blowing the house and the church once real work is done….2 cup of coffee type day.

Either way a fun cold round in the snow... silly Jamie. I actually used to practice in the snow when I lived in Connecticut. It is the easiest way to see your club path. After the swing just look down at the path left in the snow. Its best with about an inch of snow. Take a swing look down. Kick some more snow on or move. Rinse and repeat.

Kind of like me yesterday. Wasn't raining and I didn't think it was that cold before I started but it was in the mid 40s, no sun, and 15 MPH winds. By the third hole my fingers were numb and the course was playing slow. 3 hours to play 9 and I was miserable so I went home.

I’ve been looking for a hat that offers better sun protection. I annually have a dermatology check up where the really encourage sun protection. After seeing the Joel Dahmen Full Swing episode I discovered his website and they sell hats. So I bought the End Cancer Old Norse Sun Protection Hat. Proceeds go to the MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Well I made a spur of the moment purchase, and bought a very lightly used set of Mizuno T22 “denim copper” wedges. 54°, 58°, and 62°. Yep, you read that right, 62°. That’s what I thought… but, they came on Patterson Kinetixx trajectory shafts. I got all three for basically the cost of one new one, so I just couldn’t pass em up. It was pouring rain, so i have only got 1/2 a round on them, and really only kinda hit them once or twice each. So I don’t have much of a report. But got one good hit each and they feel sweet- but good lord, that 62° was an interesting bird- I had about a 20 yard shot, over a trap to a short pin, so I figured hey! What a perfect opportunity! so I took about a 1/2 swing that would have gone long with the 60°, and doggone if it didn’t softly pop up nice and tight. Kind of a specialty wedge, probably doesn’t go more than 40-50 yds. they are 12° of bounce on the 54-58° wedges, with a d and c grind? That’s fine for the 54°, but not used to that much on the 58°. The 62° has the X grind, and 8° of bounce. anyways, they’ll be fun to play with…

Good morning on a wet Tuesday at sunrise, few inches of snow last night slowly melting being helped by rain, the combination keeping Corgi feet from being muddy coming back into the house. Sump pumping frequently near my basement work station with drains sounding like waterfalls until the level rises. Good kind of day for indoor putting practice once the day of work is finished, made better with hot coffee of rich flavor

Checkin time! I had a few minutes today on lunch and tossed my GW on the Planemate for a little partial swing checkup. Who's still using planemate? Anyone give up or more on to something else? I need to review the protocols and see what I should be looking to do in the Spring as I haven't dug into some of the advanced protocols yet.

Guess I can't complain about our tee times being pushed back because of fog.

Woulda done the same thing

Finally, a decent day without anything else going on and was able to get out on the course. My regular course is closed on Mondays, so a friend and I played Granada Golf Club here in the Village (one of 9 courses). Due to all the rain we've had of late, the course was cart path only and really sloppy. Drove the ball well, irons okay, my usual crappy chipping, and putted okay. Had one triple bogey when I hit a pitch too cleanly (a rare occurrence) that traveled too far, went off the back of the green, rolled down the slope, and found its way into the pond to shoot a 43 on the front. 39 on the back to shoot 10 for the round. Not too unhappy, given the course conditions (except for that darn triple!!!!). Good time, none the less!

I honestly still use mine as a regular pre-round warm-up! I like to just take like 5 swings with it just to get the feels and then go on with my normal routine. I'll also use it if I'm going through swing changes. I really like what the Planemate has done, so I want to ensure whatever change I make doesn't undo what the Planemate has done. I want to make sure it compliments it.

@EasyPutter- I used to have Corgi tracks ALL over the back yard in the snow - I had to dig a path complete with little areas for her to go in her normal spots so her plumbing didn't get too cold- she was one of the best dogs I ever had

Box jumps are great too. Medicine ball slams. Wall slams. Any explosion exercise is HUGE for gaining distance

Last summer I had some days like that on my dew sweeper rounds. LOL I keep 6 or 8 various yellow balls of different brands I have found in the car just for that reason

Wants vs. Needs <Sigh> There was a time when lustful desires were delivered in plain brown packages. It’s not what it looks like, honest. It’s just one club. Every time I fly out to the US, something always changes in my bag. I’m taking it to the driving range tomorrow; let’s see if she can sing!

Found this blog article from Mike Carroll to be quite interesting: https://fitforgolf.blog/2023/02/27/sprinting-a-lost-form-of-exercise/ Thinking back to my high school days I really did enjoy when I went to a speed camp prior to the start of a football season. Took two-tenths of my 40 yard dash time too. What Mike talks about in here all seems to make sense to me. I might just have to start working some sprinting into a routine to see if I can unlock a little more distance!

Walked 9 holes yesterday... hands froze... played poorly, but Hey!! I was outside swinging a club!!!

My PlaneMate is getting daily use and has for the entire offseason, but not in the traditional way. Long story short: I ended last season in terrible playing form...I was early extending and going through bouts of the shanks. @cnosiland @Jwc5149can attest to my battle with the shanks. While not expressly prescribed for it, I spent the offseason using PlaneMate to work on it. I put the red band on, took the club back to P2, then made a short slow motion swing to P8 focused on moving my hips away from the ball. (I also did a lot of exercise ball work using my butt to hold the ball against a wall in a back swing and down swing.) So far (knock on wood) it's paying off...my strike location is much more centered and away from the heel. I still think PlaneMate is a quality training tool. I would also say there is a very high emphasis on shallowing the club that maybe not everyone would benefit from working on. If you want to fade the ball I'd stay away from it.

I've been doing a sprint workout once a week for over a year now. I also do plenty of med ball work, and jumps, so I can't reasonably point to sprinting in particular with regards to gains in speed. But, I am getting faster despite getting older, and I'm convinced this training has helped. Mike's article is pretty spot-on. You really have to warm up thoroughly or you're going to end up with hamstring or hip flexor problems. But it's great for power development, and overall conditioning if you stick with it.

I do 10-yard sprints from the couch to the fridge on commercials. Does that count? I guess not. But I do walk 18 holes at a brisk pace once or twice a week. Once you are good bit into your 60's sprinting is probably not a smart thing to do.

Good Tuesday morning!

Good article. Distance runners need to train their fast twitch muscle fibers to increase speed. The best training in athletics is a multi-disciplined balanced approach. Training the same muscles daily with the same stimuli, over time, produces stagnant results.

Getting ready for a 7:00 Tuesday Exec. Small group today 8 guys. A few are going to Orioles Baseball game.

Made it thru 9 in the rain this morning, too cold and too wet… why am I so stupid sometimes…?

So that was interesting... I had a great round. No doubles, no birdies just a par and bogey fest today. However it was bloody cold! 32 degrees winds around 15 mph or more and well after the 6th hole it started to snow. I think I told myself at least twice a hole, what are you doing? Why are you out here? However I was putting the PXG 0211 in play for the first time and ... well more on that in another thread. I was also striking my irons great. So pure... which gave me another thought. Maybe the key to my toe strikes is playing in miserable conditions, where the weather is so cold that a missed strike will cause so much pain I would want to quit... but in all seriousness I think I misstruck 2 irons the whole time. I found a swing and rhythm that just worked. In part because of being I was playing alone and could just play and not have to wait for groups or anything. It all just clicked... except for putting. The putter went ice cold... and I actually mean ice cold. Ice actually froze onto the putter. It was actually a lot of fun and such a nice change from the awful toe strikes I had been struggling with. Thanks to a bit of a side suggestion from @GolfSub70 about length. I simply really went to the tip tip to of the grip and it seemed to click. Also because I was wearing about 8 layers I couldn't go on a huge back swing and think this also helped. Either way a fun cold round in the snow... silly Jamie.

It's Monday the day of greatest opportunity...and the day that morning lasts until night! Hope it is a good start to the week, fellas!

What a thread, I’m through the first 2 pages. It’s going to take me a week to get through all 14/15 pages. my alarm is set for 4:30am. That used to be sleeping in for me, job change helped that. I’ve been meaning to wake up earlier and get to the gym, but the last 10/15 years has been a struggle for that. I have been taking 15-20 min to do some hyperbolic stretching and a few yoga moves to help with the back. I'm a coffee guy and it just depends on what went on the previous day or upcoming if I have 2 cups or 8. Pic of my cup attached. Work day starts at 6am and done at 2:30. I manage 3 warehouses that are 40 minutes apart from each other. I get windshield time in between them plus any other deliveries I need to do. I try to stop at the local range for some swing work when my back lets me. My side gig is I officiate HS football, lacrosse and baseball. Lacrosse is taking a back seat as it’s is pretty tough on a body that was abused in its youth through the 40’s. love the stories and everybody’s different life styles.

Let’s just call it favoring the right side if the fairway

Was a little brisk!

Fun under those conditions has a much different meaning for you and me... probably attributed to our age difference.

I actually looked at mine the other day and contemplated throwing it on B/S/T, but I still do put it on every now and then. I do blame the Planemate for grooving my default draw/overdraw. It's amazing how fast the feedback got my path moved out to the right (too much so in my case). I think I want to try actually hitting balls with it at the range this year, however. The feedback is excellent, you just have to be sure you're doing the right things to get the feedback you want. I cheated to stop the band from snapping under my wrists on the through-swing, and I still fight that band-aid fix today nearly two years later.

Yup, Road Trip!

Aw man, a major bag change. 3 things that havent changed and i dont change are my 5 wood, my hybrid and my putter. Playing for as long as i have, ive only owned 4 putters. Driver from TSi3 to TSr2. Then my long time 3 Wood sim max adjustable to Titleist TSi2. Srixon ZX5 irons. Loved how they felt over a year ago but just didn't like the extra distance. I came across a crazy good deal on Ebay that was ending very cheap, I bid with 9 seconds left and got them WAY below market value with a shaft that I had hit the stiff version of at club champion. LZ 6.5. These things are money on fitting me. Then the Wedges. Loved the feel of the Titleist Wedges. Went with SM9 on the sand and lob and the sm9 on the gap.

Used to do the same thing when we lived in PA. We turned the golf course into a snowmobile park during the winter and make a few dozen snowballs and practiced. Played a lot of snow golf too

Looks fat enough lol but…

I think that's some sound advice!

Been minute since I posted in my own thread Today I discovered an extra gear in the Garafalloy PLB.. I think. Until today I haven't really been trying to launch too high as the shaft seems to do that automatically. Today I Really tried to focus on hitting up and turning up the juice a little.. but in a controlled manner. Holy snot the ball just never seemed to fall out of the sky. I hit 2 shots on a hole just to compare. One more normal, and one with "the sauce". Both middle of the fairway. I got to the first one and couldn't see the 2nd anywhere even though it was on a similar line. I thought maybe it hit a sprinkler and took a wild bounce. Well it ended up being about 30 yds further down the fairway and a difference between a 8 iron and a PW to the green. Now . I'm not sure that I can sustain the swing needed to make that drive on a regular basis, but it's sure cool to know that the shaft is just THAT stable.

Really encouraging to see the large number of walkers!! I've posted previously on this thread and obviously also much prefer to walk the course .. for all the great reasons mentioned by many others... But, like others, when riding carts are required such as when traveling to a resort course or playing in a charity tourney then yeah I'll ride. Do find it divides my attention, though .. like to focus on my own game and have the thinking time in-between shots... @cnosil mentioned earlier about some underlying conflict between walkers vs riders... ..imho one of the main things is the unending pace of play discussion; that is .. in general .. riders think that walkers slow up the course while walkers think that riders slow up the course ...

It even looks cold

Lots of good info on here about hollow-bodied irons. I will say they are like any other iron for the most part in regard to feel and looks, it's just they have a closed back instead of a cavity. They will all be different and some will have a heavier GI design than others. Hollow-body irons cover virtually the whole design spectrum from the Ping G710 to the Mizuno HMB/225. So you really need to use some care in deciding what iron you want to go after because you don't want to open up the mail and find out you bought a hollow body shovel when that isn't what you want. Do the perform better? That's debatable but probably not worse. The biggest issues I see with hollow body designs is that most, especially the GI designs, are built for distance above all else. They have thinner more springy faces that are generally supported by some form of resin or foam. They also generally have strong lofts. The end result is an iron that goes a long way but spin and control can be problem if not properly fit. You really need to hit them on a launch monitor to get your spin numbers right or you might find yourself flying or bouncing off greens all day. I see you're an 8 handicap based on your profile. If you're a decent ball striker there are some more "player" oriented hollow bodies out there but again, you really need to find a golf shop with a launch monitor to look at spin numbers. Even if it's not in your budget, go test the new stuff and see if there is a shaft that works well for you on maybe a couple different hollow-body heads. That should give you at least a starting point with what to look for in the used market if you go that route. There are a lot of good hollow-body irons. Sub70, Maltby, and many others made good budget options. Rumor is that Costco should be releasing a new Kirkland Signature hollow-body at some point in the future.

I have a 72 degree wedge from BombTech. Its freaky to use..

I wouldn't call this a shortcut, as you've already stated it's a lot of work. I will tell you that at 54 I was a sub 1 handicap, so about where you were at and that my handicapped rose significantly primarily because I lost distance into my 60's. It will happen. I've recaptured some of that distance through overspeed training, SuperSpeed first and now stack. I had my greatest gains early on with SuperSpeed but the one size/fits all training was doing me in physically. I couldn't maintain it. Stack has been better for me in that regard. You should find a trainer that specializes in golf if you are going that route. Most of the guys on tour do overspeed training along with working out. It is a proven method that works for most people. It's also a bit tricky to do it while trying to find time to play. You certainly need to be careful that you aren't trying to carry those max swings into your gamer swing. I have a hitting net and hit some wedges as a part of my warm up and cool down - I find it keeps my swing golf focused when I get on the course inbetween work out sessions. Also both SuperSpeed and Stack can be frustrating - gains come as they come. You clearly have a better swing and are probably maxing out what you have at the moment. It may take longer for you to experience a jump. I've also seen that those jumps come with false starts, too. Good luck whatever direction you move in.

Sprinting is great way to build power, so I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be beneficial to the golf swing. I'll incorporate sprinting into my weekly routine on occasion via the treadmill in 20 second intervals with a 40 second recovery and will typically do 10 total sprints.

Did you have a cover on your putter? I’m passing on playing in snow lol

... I played P790s for 1.5 seasons and they were great in Chicago with soft conditions. Greens were very receptive and the 790's spin less than a comparable players iron but no problem holding greens. When I moved to Phoenix with harder greens, I could not hold them with 790's and I needed more spin. The feel was very good although they would not be confused with a true carbon steel forged iron. ... Cobra's 22' Forged Tecs kinda split the difference between a players iron and the 790's and with all the rain we have had this past year, they have no problem holding greens. That said, I do find my MIM's a little more accurate for 2 reasons. A 4* gap between irons instead of 5* gaps with most hollow headed irons and while they do a good job on slight mishits, the difference between dead center and slightly toey is a hair more pronounced with the thinner faced FT's. Not the mythical 15 yd fliers but maybe a few extra yards and for me that can be the difference between a birdie and a par. ... So the differences are subtle and depending on your ball striking ability they may not only be similar, but some may find hollow headed irons with a higher trajectory, more distance and a little less spin is actually better for their game.

Well we pulled the trigger. I've used my Stroke Lab for three seasons and liked it, but it was just too soft for me personally. I was convinced I'd end with a scotty or toulon, but I got to try the GTX this past weekend and pretty much fell in love with the stability, feel, and shape. I've been fit recently too so I knew these were my specs. Hopefully more made putts coming in 2023! (Not to mention the spider is 100 bucks less than the other options, so I picked up a dozen prov1x's to try out this spring)