Gavwlee

Hit the practice putting green this morning thinking about your comment. Seems like for shorter putts, I was trying to steer the ball into the hole and holding my face open and not allowing it to close in the putting arc. After relaxing my grip a bit, I started treating the shorter putts like a more precise lag putt and seeing better result. Gotta keep working on this to get the "feeling" ingrained. This is interesting! I tried to really take notice of this a bit and realized that on longer putts, my eye position is actually half a ball behind the ball and I'm better able to see down the putt line, at least it feels like it. On my shorter putts, my eyes are were a bit ahead of the ball and I didn't even notice. I took address like a longer lag putt and took a shorter stroke (to account for shorter distance) and combining @cnosil's tip (loosen grip pressure a bit), looks like I'm heading in the right direction (pun intended). Thanks all!

Not sure when or why this started happening, but on putts shorter than 6 ft, I'm pushing ALL my putts. Longer putts, I have no trouble starting them on the intended line (not that I'm making them, just less frustrating). For context, on a 5 foot putt (no break or grain), I aimed at the center of the hole (had my playing partner verify) and missed the putt right by about a hole's width about 5 inches beyond the cup. If my push was consistent, I'd just aim to the left of my target line and push my putts, but when I do that, the putts go straight. Makes getting up and down near impossible and applying unnecessary stress on my 2 putts. The obvious answer to me seems like my face and/or path are open to the target line at impact, but the question for those out there that have worked this out...Was it grip, posture, ball position, putter, all of the above (aka crap putting stroke)? or is this just a part of this silly game and I should embrace it since my livelihood is not at stake?

Seems like you have it sorted out, but I think my approach for this hole will be dependent on pin placement. For a pin tucked back and left, I'd take aim at the first greenside bunker on the left with a driver. You should have low yardage into the green, so with a higher lofted wedge you should have the height or spin to stop the ball on a tucked pin. If the pin is on the middle, front, or right, I'd go with the same aim point, but with the 3 hybrid, where you might have a longer club in but with a more accessible pin. With either approach, if you're playing a cut, you'll be in a great place and if you're drawing, you won't be as penalized (per your ability to get out of trouble from those trees).

I've been practicing on playing more target golf and it seems like more often than not, my driver stays in the bag, whenever I play a practice round...targeting the 150 markers, or a very specific position (e.g. short of a trap, on the fattest area of a dogleg) and at times, i'll work backwards from a hole strategy and try to execute (e.g. I want a full wedge into the green so I'd have to hit a certain distance off the tee, etc). It's been making me a bit more deliberate on my approach to the game while giving me an opportunity to work on different aspects of my game and not just driver, short iron, chip, and putt(s). In a comp/match, I'll use my driver a good amount to have the shortest approach possible, to increase my chances at scoring. This is of course calculating to avoid hazards or forced carries with an average hit...not the full distance of perfect strikes.

Completely on board with you on the bounce and turf interaction with bending lofts stronger for pros. What about for the average 10 hdcp looking to keep the yardage despite aging and losing swing speed? I’d think the stronger lofts coupled with the lower cg would help. Not to mention, with 2 clubs at 32 degrees, 7 iron’s length may be easier to control than a traditional 6 iron length (assuming that longer clubs are harder to control for the average joe). I currently play “traditional” lofts but with balancing a career that doesn’t revolve around playing golf and a you kid, playing with “easier” clubs that give me a bit more distance sound mighty appealing.

I appreciate the feedback and thoughts on shafts. Looks like I should test out a heavier shaft for the fw.

Isn’t it a matter of the target audience? I’m thinking the 100S are for those that are proficient at ball striking but may have lose some speed to get the ball to the same distances as before. Also, correct me if I’m all out of sorts but it isn’t just jacking lofts but offsetting the tech in both ball and club head to get the ball higher with stronger lofts for a more playable golf club. FWIW, I’m all about making the game easier for those not good enough (whether talent or no time for the long range sessions) as it’ll only make the game more approachable/popular for folks as well as companies with more tech. We can’t all wield butterknives and be the baddest purest at our local clubs. :)

Sorry…the driver shaft is the Diamana White and the Fairway is the Diamana Blue.

I’m allergic to Shellfish but I’d give that a go! Looks good!

When I rebuilt my set a year ago, i ended up with a driver with a 70g Stiff and my 4/5 wood with a 60g Regular. Seems to work as long as I don’t try to smash my fairway wood. Set up seems to let me get as aggressive as I want with my driver but forces me to hit more of a balanced control shot with my fairway, which helped my course management. YouTube folks seem to say that there isn’t too much of a difference in shafts, but open to thoughts. Does anyone have a similar set up?

10 years now with my current putter. It survived a 5 year departure of the game where I sold everything, except this putter.

Is spin the biggest difference between the 2? Where the R series will provide less spin when compared to the non-R?

A bit counter-intuitive and might be nerve racking, but when this happened to me last, I left the range and went on the course with no scorecard. I hyper focused on a target and just swung the club aggressively to the target..no finesse/feel shots. Sounds like you’re ball striking and fundamentals are sound, so it might be more in your head (too much technical thoughts?).

I’m completely in the same boat! I “rebuilt” my bag after a few years away and went with gear that I knew and was comfortable with but now thinking I should have embraced new tech for an “easier” re-introduction to the game. If the sweet spot bashers (tour pros) are playing players distance/cavities, I should be in some super game improvements

I’ve actually been wondering this. In my return to the game after a few years away, I’ve been looking for something to replace the B330S I used to game. Bridgestone has the BX and BXS for higher swing speeds and BRX and BRXS for slower. I haven’t seen a test online (at least from my search) of someone hitting the Tour B R series with greater than the recommended swing speed or the Non-R series at lower the recommended swing speed. In my non-scientific tests, I didn’t see a difference but again, this was testing as a 1 man scramble across 5 rounds. Landed on the XS as it reminded me of the Titleist Tour Professional days, with its “heavier” feel off the putter and “stickiness” off the irons and wedges. On the range I’m at about 112 with my driver, but on course, I’m sure i vary from 100 to 115.