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This thread has been slow. But I just ordered one of these on eBay and it is scheduled to arrive today. I grabbed an ER11v at 40": Right now, I'm adjusting my putting stroke a decent amount, but the weak point in my Arccos stats remains my 3-5' putts, which are costing me 2-3 strokes per round. Intrigued to see if this can help; even if it doesn't displace my Edel as a my primary gamer, I think that practicing with the MidLock will help tidy up my stroke. I'll keep this thread updated.

Short version: we should both putt more with Kirke's mindset.

Played a quick nine with my boys this morning. Here were the putting numbers by hole: Couple of things that stand out: Only 13 putts, which is nice, but with one chip in. The three putt on hole 1: left my first putt quite short; the second, I think, might have been kept out by the stick. But it's my choice to play with the stick in, so them's the breaks. Two misses from 5': one of these was a lip out. Absolute beauty of a two-putt from 62'. My takeaways: Right now, I'm feeling very confident about starting my ball on the line I want. I'm learning, using a line on the ball, that I tend to overread break on short putts. Need to have more of them aimed inside the hole. On "short" putts (say, five feet or less): I need to transfer the same confidence I have in putting practice to the green. On the course, I tend to get timid, defensive, and nervy with these.

Duration: 00:47:00 On Episode 100 of NoPuttsGiven, Chris and Tony give you the rundown on the 2022 MyGolfSpy Editor's Choice awards. In our mailbag question of the week, the guys tackle the scarcity of golf ball fitting and what it would take to improve your options.Listen Here

My current setup is about as diverse as I can make it: DR: Titleist 3W: Tour Edge 5W: Cobra 3H: Callaway DI: Callaway 5i-PW: Sub 70 50°, 54°, 60°: Mizuno Putter: Edel

Chase Davis (the putting coach I'm working with) recommended a camera at 40" off the ground, down the line. Different coaches seem to ask for different things; when I'm doing full swing work with Jayson Nickol, he likes the camera essentially at hand height down the hand line. So year, giving each coach the video he's looking for it important. I did send a "is this what you're looking for" video to Chase, and he made one requested tweak on my eyeline. I only paid for the initial lesson, so I'm going to work on what I know I need to for a while now. There's a decent chance that I go back to get his eyes on my stroke again over the off-season. On polar bear vs. shark: unless you have a referee somehow breaking up the fight, I think you end up with a gruesome tank with two carcasses.

Good question. So, there are always caveats: I'm sure different guys do things differently, etc. For me, I paid for a single lesson in which I set a DTL and FO video of my putting, and from that, Chase Davis (a putting coach from the UK) recommended a series of changes to my setup and stroke. Please take the next part in the best way: I don't pursue coaching, for the most part, to learn something about the golf swing (or the putting stroke) that I didn't know. I could have told you, before my lesson, that my putting stroke was objectively Zalatoris-levels of ugliness. What Chase told me to do with my putting is pretty obvious, standard orthodoxy for traditional putting. But I have found that having a coach gives me specific direction and accountability. Because I've paid for a lesson, I have more of a commitment to do this one thing, rather than toy around with multiple possible ideas. For me, that's the biggest difference between hunting and gathering on YouTube vs having a coach. I think I can say with reasonable confidence that I'm not a guy who just tries everything. I have a reasonable understanding of my swing (and stroke), and therefore what kinds of fixes should and should not be relevant to me. But having a coach who I have to whom I've sent video makes me commit more to a specific path. With putting, for instance, I know that my new stroke is objectively better. That said, it didn't immediately produce better results. I've been using my cutty stroke for years now. I generally have a pretty good idea of how it is going to work (recent putting woes aside). The arcing stroke, by contrast, feels totally unpredictable to me. Because the toe is opening and closing, my immediate sensation was that I had absolutely zero idea which way the ball was going to come off the face. But I'm sticking with it. And I'm figuring it out, getting more and more comfortable with the stroke, more confident that it can start the ball on my intended line, and (ultimately) more able to do this stroke without spending so much mental focus on the stroke itself.

Time for a check in, as I prepare for my own version of the late summer run (for any fellow Chasing Scratch podcast aficionados). My overall handicap has not moved all season: it's been right at 12. I think it's hovered between 12.2 and 12.5 with every round I've entered into Arccos. Looking through Arccos, it appears I've played about 25 rounds (mostly 9 holes) so far this season. That allows me to compare these 25 against the most recent 25 before those and make some comparisons. That comparison tells me that I'm playing slightly worse this year than I did the end of last year. A major contribution to that decline: my putting. So far this year, I've been a mess on the green, especially from inside 5 feet. Not gonna say it's the yips, but it's been ugly. Off the tee, Arrcos thinks I'm slightly better. I suspect that that improvement is based almost entirely on avoiding penalties. I think I mentioned earlier in this thread that I had an online strategy session for my home course with Lou Stagner. Based on that, and because my course is so ridiculously narrow (and because it is lined with forests, completely penal on misses), I've been much more conservative off the tee this season. Arccos sees my approach game as slightly worse than last year, which I suppose surprises me. And Arccos sees my short game as slightly better than last year and still the absolute best part of my game: So what's the plan? Part of my plan hit a speed bump two weeks ago: my Mevo+ died. I had just created a Flightscope skills practice, with the plan of getting into a groove of consistent, measured practice for this homestretch of the season. But my Mevo+ decided to not boot up one day, and after a few days of tinkering with the Flightscope customer service, it ended up being shipped to them for diagnosis and repair. That's a bummer. In the meantime, I've taken on online lesson in putting, because that has been a consistent bad spot in my game this year. I've had a stroke that was an attempt at SBST for years; the reality is that the stroke was massively outside-in, cutting across the ball with a relatively square face. This year, that stroke stopped working for me. So I'm now incorporating a much more traditional putting arc. I'm finding no real issues with the same Edel putter I was fitted for last year, using the new stroke. The differences aren't trivial (new stroke on the left, old on the right): YouCut_20220720_120910537_2.mp4 I'm also giving up the heads up putting for now, especially on short putts. Instead, I'm find that using a line has been a good addition with the new stroke. I see putting lines badly; the correct line always looks quite left to me. So I'm using the line on the ball, then addressing the ball to that line, ignoring how it looks at address, and trusting that to be my start line. Because I'm finding good success starting my ball on my intended start line, this seems like a good idea. Used the line on course for the first time this morning in a nine hole round and saw immediate statistical improvement: 14 putts (with one chip in), didn't miss any putts that were in the shouldn't miss range, everything else was a no stress two-putt. So that was encouraging. Historically for me, the months of July and August are my best scoring months. So far, July has been mostly a wash; hoping that some of these tweaks will see me shave off the stroke or two I need to hit my goal.

Duration: 00:44:38 Tony and Chris debate how golf's four major championships are likely to change in 2023 and for $2 million is there any equipment brand that deserves every spot in your bag?Listen Here

Additional note: Greg has said he also has tickets for the other rounds available. Again, I think that if someone can use them, if you can get your email address to him (I can help facilitate that, if he doesn't have his Twitter DMs open), he should be able to send those to you.

First, a qualification: I think I can transfer these tickets. I've not done it before, so please precede with the understanding that there may be hiccups. PGA Tour player Greg Chalmers gifted me four digital tickets to Tuesday's practice round of the 3M Open. I'm going with Kirke, but that means we only need a single ticket, because kids under 15 are free. So I wanted to post this here: if you're around the Twin Cities, or can be there Tuesday, and would like to go to the practice round, I'd be happy to try to figure out how to transfer a ticket to you.

Duration: 00:53:54 Tony and Harry grill Chris after his week walking inside the ropes on the Korn Ferry Tour while caddying for MJ Daffue.Listen Here

Duration: 00:48:25 Tony and Chris sit down with Dr. Paul Wood, VP of Engineering at PING golf where we explore solar flares, why PING might know more about golf shafts than Fujikura and whether the shaft band on your putter might be costing you strokes.Listen Here

Duration: 00:51:41 Tony and Chris sit down with Josh Talge of Titleist to discuss the new TSr metalwoods, best breakfast cereals and what Titleist can do that popular boutique clubfitters can't!Listen Here

On the contrary: you guys often thank us. And we're grateful for that

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I'm as much a gadget guy as anyone. I rely on my smartwatch for distances on full swings and pull out my laser inside 100 for more granular measurements. And I'm not going to give those up, because they are legitimate tools within the rules as they stand. But I am very sympathetic with the argument that they shouldn't be. It is for this reason that certain classic architects introduces features to trick the eye about distances. Being able to evaluate a distance accurately was, at one point, a skill that golf demanded. Again, I'm not giving my gadgets up. I'm not even saying that they should be banned. But there is an aspect of the skill of golf that has been lost with the legalization of these tools.

Duration: 01:04:25 Chris and Tony sit down with Mizuno product engineer and marketing manager, Chris Voshall. Topics include: Best Mizuno iron design of all time, whether paying PGA Tour pros makes and sense and what on earth is a Donkey Shovel?Listen Here

I know that testing has been a bit challenging this year, but I feel like if we get this thread up to about 50 pages or so, Odyssey should be obligated to find a 2018 model putter for us to give away.

We live in a big empty spot on the map Nearest course is about 50 minutes away, though it's good to know they participate, as we sometimes get over there during the season.

Duration: 00:39:23 Tony and Chris debate whether golf shoes can offer bona fide technology and which current PGA Tour players have gotten WORSE since switching equipment. Let's get it!Listen Here

Duration: 01:04:20 What's it like trying to design clubs for Bryson DeChambeau and why you might hit 3-wood farther than your driver! We sit down with industry veteran and VP of R&D at Cobra Golf, Tom Olsavsky.Listen Here

Duration: 00:32:59 The golf industry is booming, but at what cost? Tony and Chris discuss the plight of the PGA professional and whether a paradigm shift is underway. And what's the deal with the PGA Championship and $18 for a mediocre (at best) beer?Listen Here

We already have at least one thread on this. As per Forum moral codes, we do not allow political discussion here.

So today, Shane Bacon made his pick for the PGA Championship: For those who might be unfamiliar, this is the Denny's Grand Slam breakfast, so Shane is picking Spieth to complete the career slam. But that raised a question in my mind: if each item on the Denny's Grand Slam corresponds to a major, which one is which, and why? My selections: Bacon: US Open, because bacon is 'murica Sausage: British, because bangers Eggs: Masters, because sandwiches Pancakes: PGA, because it's what's left, like the PGA Agree? Disagree? What are your picks and reasons?