As the testers begin to get their clubs, I thought I'd take a second to post this video I found on Takomo's YouTube page, where it details the different settings and how they can help a player dial in the settings that are best for them. I found it EXTREMELY helpful, especially as the loft-sleeve on these clubs is pretty extreme (Neutral setting, +1, +2, -1, -2U (upright), -1U, U, +1U).
Now, obviously, this guy has a TON of speed that I just don't (yet?) possess, but it's pretty cool to see the difference the various settings make.
Check it out!
Additionally, here's the basic setup they recommend when it arrives!
Unofficial review Takomo 101U 3iron -
If your looking for an iron instead of a hybrid these clubs are for you, awesome playability, great quality, distance, control, and dependability.
The sole of the iron is wider than the normal Takomo irons making it easy to get the ball up in the air yet will also allow you to hit the stinger, I have the KBS hybrid graphite shaft regular flex with the Lamkin grip... Excellent combination.
I recommend this iron. Takomo is a KEEPER no matter what club you get from them.
Good morning Spys,yesterday was a mixture of emotions. My second matchplay event I lost one down in extra holes. I have to think if I had these new fairway woods , it might have been a game changer. Anyway, the good news is is that I had four packages waiting on me when I got home. that made my day and gave me a huge smile . i’m hoping to test out these clubs today after work, but I have a full schedule today , and I’m headed to Myrtle Beach next week . So it should be a fun filled week with the new clubs in tow . I’ll be playing for four days and will be able to get plenty of use of them . I hope everyone has a great day today, and I’ll keep everyone posted on any test , range time or playing !
Nice!! Can't wait to see what's in those boxes on the right - Accessories? Maybe a hat? Are the heads packed/shipped separately? Oh, never mind - it's Gwynneth Paltrow's head!
I have ZERO and I mean ZERO control of any sort of wood or hybrid. I think I might be regressing in terms of tech in the bag. I use the ol 4 and 5 irons all the time. Use them off the tee when the driver is doing everything but what I would like it to be doing.
At one of the local courses I use my 5 6-9 times in a round, bump and runs out of tree lines.
Now I do have an older set of Nikes that I have been playing with since 2009, and am probably due for a new set in the near future. But, if and when I get a new set of something, irons all day. Them hybrids and woods and all that new tech wont be collecting dust in my bag.
65 here, my age not my score…. Carry 6-9 but mostly use the six for low bump and runs. Carry six woods and three wedges. My long irons days are long gone and good riddance! 😉
I'm turning 50 in a month and a half, and I too still play 5i and 4i. I have looked at a few hybrids to swap for the 4i, but the ball flight just wasn't right, when I got the ball flight right it was too short. Still looking, eventually I'll find a replacement for the 4i for sure. I still hit my 5i quite crisp and is my 205 carry club, my 4i is my 220 carry club and its great off a tee, but ya 4i could eventually be replaced.
I'm 75 years old, and I usually carry a 5-iron. It's good for 175-180 yards and I hit a fair number of approach shots with it on longer par 4 holes, plus there are two par-3s at the course where I play in my Monday evening league that are 175+ yards, plus one uphill par-3 on the back nine that can play 180 yards if the pin is on the back of the green. I generally hit 5-iron on these par-3 holes, although if the pin is up on the uphill par-3 it's a 6-iron for me.
On the rare occasions that I take the 5-iron out of my bag, I play a Sub 70 949X 5-hybrid; however, I am more accurate with the 5-iron.
Hi, I'm 56 in a week, and I don't believe I leave my 5 iron out of bag.
I love it for punch shots and similar solution, when I have to have lower trajectory, under trees or similar.
I think it's not so much difficult to play than a 78 iron, and I use hybrids as substitutes of 4 or 3 irons... and sometimes of 3 wood... (a hybrid 2 works great).
Last year, we had a Forum Testing Opportunity for the Garmin S70 watch, which received great results for its high-end feel, look, and of course, performance. For this member testing opportunity, we are taking a different angle and combining the Garmin S70 watch with the Garmin Approach CT10 sensors for a full on and off-course tracking experience.
A Different Kind Of Member Test
The Garmin S70 Life Series member test is going to take performance and tracking to a new level. While we still want to know how the products perform for our selected testers, this opportunity is just as much about how these products set you up to perform at your best.
The selected testers will go through this long-term testing opportunity (8 weeks) tracking their Body Battery, Sleep Score, and HRV (heart rate variability) throughout the testing period. They will take these measurements before rounds, after rounds, and even on off days to see how they can help prepare their bodies for success, but also see the effects of their preparation (or lack thereof) on the scorecard. Combined with the Approach CT10 tracking sensors, the selected testers will have access to a full suite of data, stats, and more.
The Testing Opportunity
For this Forum Member Testing Opportunity with Garmin, we are looking for four golfers who are willing to share and explore the full Garmin experience with the S70 watch and Approach CT10 sensors.
These golfers will test, review, and keep the watch and sensors as part of the member test, all while tracking their results to see how their day-to-day lives affect their golf rounds or how their golf rounds affect their day-to-day lives!
We want to know how they score on good days and bad days, how the whole system works together, and if using the Garmin health tracking systems can affect their game to lower their scores.
Think you are ready for the challenge of this long-term member test?
SIGN UP HERE!
*Open to all registered MyGolfSpy Forum Members living in North America
*Registration closes May 15
*Testers announced on the Forum May 21
What Tracking System Do You Use?
Do you track all your rounds and stats? If so, what do you use? Or do you just go and play and not care about the deeper data side of things? - Post Here!
Testers Wanted
Member Reviews
Become A Tester
Written By: Jamie Danbrook
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I'm particularly proud of this one and have been working with Garmin on this for the last few months to get it to be what we both want.
Going to be a fun one to follow along with and see how it sorts itself out!
MyGolfSpy Forum Guide: How To Be A Tester
As promised I wanted to do an update for our Want To Be A Tester Thread. We take pride in our transparency and member testing platform. 2023 was an incredible season and it continues to provide amazing opportunities to all of our members.
For those new to the Forum let me break down the keys to becoming a Forum Tester and how to increase your chances at being selected. (I will break down the why afterwards)
It should also be noted that we as staff view member testing opportunities as a way to give back to the members who have contributed so much to our community. It should also be noted that these reviews are a lot of work and take a lot of time to commit to.
All Forum Members selected for testing must have a profile photo. This is our most basic rule, but the bottom line is no profile photo = no selection.
Recent Activity - We want to see and have members who are actively engaged in the community. This does not necessarily mean posting everyday 10 plus times a day. But a steady history or pattern of activity is a must.
Posting an unofficial review. This is not a must, but helps give us an idea for your writing style and overall ability and completing a thorough review for us.
These are 3 simple, yet very effective ways to being noticed by the Forum Staff and having your name stand out as we go through the tester selection process.
Now as to why we look for those previous 3 areas of criteria.
Photos and media content are essential for testing. While some people are good writers, a bunch of text can be a tough slog to read through. We want to see creative photos and media that highlight the product. If someone cannot even bother to post a profile photo it gives us little confidence they could do any photos in a review.
Photos and media are becoming ever more important for our reviews, especially with our Forum Recap Articles gaining further recognition and popularity with OEMs and MyGolfSpy readers. Good, high quality photos which highlight and feature the product are essential.
Recent Activity is also extremely important. This shows us reliability to post consistently and take part in conversation throughout the testing period, as well as after the testing period. Being able to see that history gives us added confidence in our selection. Now when I say history I do not mean years of posting. It will be shown a little later in this post, but we actively try to get new people involved.
Posting an unofficial review is pretty self explanatory, but for us when we are giving out thousands of dollars worth of equipment we want to have a level of confidence in who we are selecting.
So is that all we look at when selecting testers? No, definitely not.
The other things we look at and take note of are as follows.
Post to Reaction Ratio: This is a simple metric, but gives us a slight idea of the value contributions to the community. However posting in the Good Morning Thread is a bit of a cheat code for that.
Donor Status: For those that have, but don’t have the tag please let one of the staff members know and we can add that for you. While not a deal breaker one way or another, it can be used as a tie breaker.
OEM requests: This one you can’t really know about ahead of time. However as these companies are providing equipment for free they are within their rights to ask for certain handicaps, situations, swing speeds, geographic regions and more. These questions are asked in the signup form.
For those with lower post counts we can see login dates to see that someone is visiting the site. Maybe you are someone who loves reading the forum, but are hesitant to post that much or feel as though you do not have a lot to contribute. I ensure that you do have a lot to contribute no matter who you are, but at least this allows us to see that someone is taking an active interest in the forum.
For those that have tested before. Previous review grades and comments are taken into account. More on that below.
How long do I have to be a Forum Member before I am considered for Testing?
A week? A month? Longer? I was a member for 2 years before I was selected for my first testing opportunity. However it took me a year to really get involved. There is no magic number for how long it takes to be a tester. Simply put we want to select members who are active contributors within our community. That doesn’t have to mean a long history of posts.
We also actively try our best to give at least one new tester in on every testing opportunity that happens. In 2023 this happened in nearly every test.
What else can help me become a tester?
These are small things and are not requirements, but help with us getting to know you a little more or at the very least recognize your forum name.
Follow us on our social platforms - The Forum has accounts on Instagram and Twitter… or X.
Join our Community Call: Every Thursday we host a Community Call for our members to have general chit chat and sometimes Live Q&A with different golf companies or people. These are a great way for a member to get to know the staff, ask questions and for us to get to know you a little better. Importantly you don’t have to have your camera or mic on, but can simply sit back and listen or type questions in the chat. It is a great way to quickly get involved and see what our community is all about.
What are the other rules or guidelines to Member Testing?
Members generally only get one opportunity to test each season. Meaning if you are selected for a set of irons it is unlikely you will be selected for another test during the season. There are some exceptions, however we have a lot of great members and want to spread the opportunities around as best we can.
Smaller tests such as golf balls, gloves, grips and that sort of thing do leave you eligible for other tests later in the season, however members will only be allowed to be involved in one review at a time. Basically no testing two items at once.
For our testing opportunities like Cobra Challenge and full bag opportunities a member can only take part in these once. Period. These are amazing opportunities and of course a lot of fun and work, but we have too many incredible members to give these to any member multiple times.
I mention these previous points to highlight a greater point. Please only register or sign up for the testing opportunities you are really excited about and if you are currently testing please do not sign up for other testing opportunities. To be frank it looks greedy and like you are only here for free stuff.
Are there certain things that would make me ineligible for a testing opportunity?
Outside of not having a profile photo, it should go without saying but all testers must be members of the forum. To that end you must also be a member in good standing. This means no current warnings on your account.
Another factor that comes into play are poor previous review scores. I will put this bluntly, if a tester have gone mia on a testing opportunity in the past or been a difficult tester missing deadlines, not providing a review or come close to meeting the deadlines. We have very little reason to consider that person for any future review opportunities. We have too many deserving members to go back to that well or take that risk.
Geo Restrictions are the other factor. It should be highlighted and noted that we encourage all testing opportunities to be eligible for all our members, however some OEMs have certain restrictions and in the end it is their call. I am a lefty and live outside the US so I am in your corner, but we are also not going to deny an opportunity if is just US only. Another factor in this is over 90% of the community is US and Canada based. Getting a larger portion of outside NA members will help increase are chances of getting more worldwide testing.
I have been selected as a tester, now what?
Your lead Forum Staff Member will guide you throughout the process. If there is a fitting involved or any other requirements they will facilitate those and ensure that everything is run smoothly.
Most importantly, carefully read all the instructions and documents provided. There is a lot to go over and missing key points can cause you to get behind or miss important deadlines.
The biggest thing is ask questions if you have them! The forum staff are here to help and work with all the testers throughout the process.
What Happens After Testing?
Even after an official test is completed it is highly encouraged that testers continue to take part in discussion. There may still be questions and may still activity on the thread which you should engage in. We love seeing ongoing and longer term updates as it helps anyone considering buying the product have a longer term view of how the product performs.
Your Lead Forum Staff Member will then grade your review and participation and you will be given a survey to fill out. After these have been completed you will get your official tester badge!
Technically speaking you are now eligible to enter in for more testing opportunities, however as we said above for the most part a member will only get to take part in 1 tester per season. Again I repeat it is why anyone should only sign up for the products they are truly interested in.
_____________________________________________________
FAQ
I never get picked! Why don't I ever get picked?
I hear you, but have you done most of the above? Have you provided worthwhile contributions to the forum? Do you have a profile photo? The answers are all above and we lay out the process pretty clear. The rest is up to you. That being said posting in the TESTERS WANTED pages does not count towards your post count. Also the pick me pick me type posts don't really fly with us. Post them as you like or if you like, but again we want to see members adding value to the forum. Those posts are not.
What happens if I get sick or injured during testing?
Look this is a lot of work, but at the end of the day we understand things in life happen. TELL THE FORUM STAFF! We can make adjustments and arrange dates to work with everyone's schedule. However you have to tell us first!
I don't have social media accounts, does that mean I can't be a tester?
This is not a requirement for us. It is nice when the forum gets mentioned and a member is able to bring attention to the forum via social channels, but not a requirement. Good photos however are and with phones today there is little reason why anyone wouldn't be able to take a decent photo.
Why don't we know what tests are coming so we can wait to sign up for the ones we really want and not risk getting picked for one we don't really love?
We build our schedule out starting about now, however it takes time and things move around so there are no guarantees on when a test will be posted or moved. Posting our schedule to everyone also wouldn't be fair to the smaller tests or some of the lesser known brands which come to testing. We want excitement for every test and mystery in whats to come. If you aren't excited about the product up for testing, don't sign up.
I was picked and the product just didn't work for me. What now?
First I hope that the person enjoyed the review and was able to provide a good thorough and honest review. If it doesn't work, so be it! That being said we do not allow for any reason a member to sell their testing equipment for at least 2 product cycles. If it doesn't work for you, then pass it along to another member and let them try it. This happened several times this season with various products and members were able to get more testing opportunities. Pay it forward!
But seriously, I have been here for X amount of years and still never get picked.
Yeah I bring this up again because you would not believe the emails we get. We picked a lot of testers this year, if a longer term member hasn't been picked the basics of is the timing wasn't right or the activity level just wasn't there. There are some tests we feel some testers would be great for and others not as great, we have thousands of applications and have to pick 4-6, it isn't easy and not a ton of fun. If your name hasn't been called there are some gaps in the above material.
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I hope all of you have found this beneficial and productive to go through. The forum staff spend a lot of time going through all the applicants and reviews and so much more. It is not an easy task and we take pride in the selections we make. The testers that don't live up to expectations well that is tough for us and not a great look on us, the forum and this community. Therefore we take a good amount of time and effort to hand pick each tester. There were some testers this year that under performed to a level that they will not be partaking in testing moving forward. On a good note there were a ton of excellent testers and reviews which we are all very proud of.
If you have questions please just ask! If you have concerns or want to know more then please reach out to one of the forum staff members. The other thread is going to be locked and this will be the main thread moving forward. There will also be subsequent larger drops of information here for all to view as we aim to be as transparent as possible with testing and make sure that anyone who really wants to be a tester will have that chance and ability to be.
Thank you all for reading!
Hi to all, I put in bag a Srixon Hybrid #2, un H45 series, in alternative a wood #3, always Srixon, depending mostly from my period of confidence with them.
The hybrid is often easy to play from fairway, maybe the wood is a little longer, but not so much, and depend a lot from fairway condition.
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