GrahamB1967

Ball striking and core strength for me too. Unfortunately my home gym is a cabin in the garden without the headroom you have so garden net on non wet days, range otherwise. Key for me this winter is target setting rather than just vague goals. Haven't quite figured out which metrics to use (I am probably limited by my R10) but probably decent percentage moves on Smash Factor and Spin Rate. Any better suggestions gratefully received as I am still at the planning stage!

The lofts on the G430s are ridiculous - even for game improvers. 41* PW means they have had to include two 'utility' wedges to cover the 'gap'. 6i @25.5* is a full degree stronger than the G425 (presumably at 'standard' lofts never mind power spec), a degree and a half stronger than the i525s and 4* stronger than my i210s. I know these are (super) game improvement irons but surely bending them that straight is sending the wrong message to new (especially young) golfers.

Anyone else still old school enough to use Facebook keep seeing lots of pro-LIV / anti PGA and OWGR "Suggested for You" posts? They seem to be mainly from Australian or MENA Tour related golf or news sites. Despite Snoozing them repeatedly something similar just keeps dropping in. 'Suggested for You' is supposedly just AI based and not paid for but LIV biased stuff seems to buck the trend despite me turning them off Best / worst one I have seen was attacking Tiger's form in the limited number of run outs he now has. Horrid, passive aggressive drivel trying to offset the McDowell / "Glad He's Leftie" factor from a LIV perspective in the OWGR debate.

When I am focusing properly I take my glove off after every shot (weather permitting). It was a tip from my first ever golf coach when I was about 12 and struggling with the mental side of the game as I improved physically and mechanically. Theory was, when the glove is on I am playing golf - looking at my lie, assessing my shot, picking a club and executing. When the glove is off, I am out in the countryside for a walk, chatting with friends and getting exercise - not fretting over my last shot, trying to work out where I will be to 'par' if I play a wonder shot out of the trees and salvage bogey or worrying that my opponent is out driving me when playing matchplay. Keeping the glove off when I reached the surrounds of the green was all about Jack.....

Footspray. I also use it on the range mat to see where my low point was. For me, stickers deadened the feel of the strike and, in the end, it is the feel that gives you feedback on the course.

Especially as we get older this becomes more and more important - including because "that's what other 55 yo's do". While the turn may not be quite what it used to be we can still develop power and clubhead speed through sequencing / timing (and maybe some good equipment choices). I was lowish single figures - in old school numbers - in my late teens (actually at school in Brisbane) but drifted away with uni and then family. Now I am getting back in to the swing of things I need to keep reminding myself what I can do rather than allow others to remind me what I can't. Going to take some lessons over the northern winter to improve ball striking at the top of my bag and see if I can start making sub 80 my target again. Even old dogs have lots of tricks still to learn, we just spend more time debating the merit of the trick with our teachers! Best of luck for your season ahead!

So far (touch wood) I have been pretty lucky using eBay in the UK. I principally use it to experiment without paying retail and have managed to find a couple of gems. My Srixon Z785 and its current shaft were both 'as new' where as my PING Crossover 20* driving iron and Scotty Phantom X were both still in their wrapping. Only slightly less straightforward purchase was the Newport 2 Studio Select. The head is genuine (though refurbished with a custom infill) but the shaft and grip were not Scotty. Looking back, the seller never said they were and only had one shot of the full club, all the rest focusing on the piece of sculpture that is the head. Luckily I have no intention of selling it on and can take it as it is, an exquisite piece of golfing engineering. I now spend quite a bit of time researching both seller and club specs before bidding but I suspect I'll be back browsing again soon!

I had no intent to question the integrity of the test, perhaps all I was doing - with a flippant comment - was highlighting the difficulty that the huge number of options, proprietary technologies and ‘gimmicks’ in the equipment world create when making any comparisons. I’m still a bit old school at heart. I am of the generation where you went to a golf shop and came away with what they had in stock. Changing a shaft only ever happened after someone bent one when it had flown further than their ball in the wet (quite common with grips ‘back then’) and it landed awkwardly. Since my return to regular golf I have become a little fascinated / obsessed by what technology can now do and how it has changed the game. I sometimes have to remind myself that, in the end, it is the human being on the end of the club that still has the most influence on outcome!

So not all raw faces rust (if you let them)? We may be at crossed purposes here. The premise is not that raw / rusted wedges spin more, it is that the spin drop off when the ball and / or face is wet is less than with a chromed face. My gaming irons are actually PING i210s which share the groove technology of the earlier Glide wedges. The work PING have been doing to disperse water at impact is impressive, my only point was that, if we accept a the basic premise / research that raw / rusted do have an impact of spin drop off, then the benchmark that the Glide provides for face / ball interaction in the wet might be better compared to raw wedges (not just the MG3s) once the 'cherry is on top' and the raw steel is in the optimum condition to manage the moisture. Rust is, after all, oxidization of the surface that will changes the composition and texture of the face.

TaylorMade disagree when looking at dry vs wet (where Glide performed best) 'Initial testing showed that in dry conditions raw marginally impacted spin and launch, and, ultimately, the results were very similar when pitted against a chrome-plated wedge. However, when testers added water to the equation, the variance in performance was staggering. With chrome wedges, the data showed an approximate 50% reduction in spin on wet shots. With raw, there was only about a 25% reduction – showcasing a significant improvement. In addition, testing showed that chrome-plated wedge shots could experience a 6°-8° increase in launch going from dry to wet, while a raw face would only result in a 2°-3° increase.' https://www.taylormadegolf.com/clubhouse/158640-raw-face-wedges-why-they-work-and-tips-for-adding-rust.html?lang=en_US

Damn, these things are pretty. If someone could just debadge those Hazardus shafts we would have a potential piece of golf art for the ages.

I impulse bought MG3 50* and 54* to sit alongside a SM7 58* that I won on a corporate day. Ended up replacing the 58* with MG3 as well. Absolutely love them, I would sleep with my 50* if my wife would let me. I just find it so controllable for full / 3 quarter and half shots as well as run outs around the green. I personally like the look of the raw face though I am not good enough (yet) to say if it really does improve spin characteristics in the wet. I do wonder whether the Most Wanted test was using a 'clean' MG3 out the wrapper or one that has rusted up. The rust out may have given the Glide more a run for it's money on the wet test...??

I went from PING to Srixon (Z785 in my case). Part aesthetics (turbulators are kind of 'love em or hate em), part spin characteristics and part economics. Must admit that, if I had the cash at the time I may have gone for the TSi3 (and now TSR3).

Last July (2021) I was starting to get back in the swing of things (pardon the pun) having returned to more regular golf after a long, kid related, hiatus. I had a set of Wilson Deep Reds that I had bought for my annual society outing a few years earlier (replacing Taylor Made Burners from the early 90s that had started to rust!) and felt my game would benefit from some that high MOI stuff I kept reading about. Booked my fitting at a fairly reputable local club with a BIG retail store on site and turned up earlyish one summer morning looking forward to my fitting experience. Now, let's remember, this was still high season pandemic and equipment lead times were gradually getting worse and worse but I went in expecting to come out with a good view of where I sat in the 'modern' equipment pantheon. Looking back, I think I was more sold to than the recipient of any real advice despite the fitting having a hefty fee (refundable against a purchase at the before mentioned retail store). The fit itself was much less 'technical' than I was expecting. Much more dependent on the eye of the fitter than spin rates, smash factor or my (at the time) borderline dangerous 'lasso' in to out path. I ended up coming out with a spec for a set of Ping i210s with a blue dot lie that I 'hit the best' - strangely at the start of the 90 minute session - a brand matched Driver set at 12 degrees, 3w and 3h (all with stock stiff shafts) and just the set wedges (PW/SW) as it turned out wedge fitting wasn't part of a 'full bag' fitting. I also ended up with MCC Align Plus4 grips on the spec that I hadn't even tried during the fit. I was in the full flush of returner golf optimism so finding out that they had the irons in stock and lead times on the 'woods' as fairly reasonable I ended up £1700 lighter but with a smile on my face. It was only recently, having (a) worked on my swing, (b) fit myself for a replacement driver using a personal launch monitor, some research and eBay (spin rates on the 12 degree G425 I was fitted for - and that was rendered unadjustable by the Align grips - were over 4,500!) and (c) added 'rack' TM MG 3 wedges that I realized how little actual fitting took place. I now kind of think I ended up with an expensive range session with the golfing equivalent of a used car salesman masquerading as a F1 car designer. So now to my dilemma (and the real reason for the post except a retrospective sob story). My game has got better but I am plateauing. The big problem is the top end of my bag (excluding my DIY Srixon Z785 Driver set at 9.5) and I kind of think the Blue Dot lie angle (one degree upright) that I don't remember being fit for may be having a significant effect. My dilemma is, if I invest in some lessons over the winter, I may be doing so with equipment that forces me in to a swing that may not, with better fit kit, be 'my' swing but if I go and get fitted again (somewhere more specialist / expensive) before the lessons I may end up getting fit for something completely different that may change my lesson focus (and have to wait for delivery and settling in before starting a lesson program). I'm leaning toward the 'lessons and be damned' end as our club pros are an excellent bunch who can probably see round the equipment (but I also quite fancy some nice new sticks for next season). What are the thoughts of my (new) MGS compatriots? Get a fit that is fit for purpose or wait until, at least some, swing 'faults' are ironed out?

Hi all, time for the obligatory first post. How long have you been playing golf? What’s your handicap or normal score? Spring of 1978, aged 11 in North East Scotland (Kintore GC for anyone who knows it). Took a long hiatus from regular golf after going to university and only got properly back in 2021 when UK courses re-opened after first lock down and my son (13) started to play in earnest. Having played to low single figures in my teens I am a frustrated 12.7 WHS trying to break 85. My head tells me I can still get back to single figures, my body isn't so sure.... What do you love about golf? Everything? I feel at home on a golf course and at a golf club. I can easily go out and play 18 on my own but also love the camaraderie and competition (often both at the same time) of competitive and team golf. At heart, my true love is matchplay! What brings you to MyGolfSpy? Do you already know any other Spies? I follow some YouTube golfers including Mark Crossfield who visited and played with the MGS guys Where are you from? What is your home course? I am Scottish but live in Surrey, England and get to play on the 2.5 fantastic courses at Foxhill Resort and Club - recent hosts of the 2022 PGA Cup What are the best and worst things about golf in your region? Best thing has to be the quality and variety of courses (including Sunningdale and Wentworth) but they are very expensive and difficult to get a round on. What do you do for a living? I work for a very large software company How’d you pick your user name? Hmmm, let me think, my first name is Graham, my surname starts with B and I am 55.... Not sure, the name just jumped in to my head (or I am not very creative)