cksurfdude

Oh yeah, same here. So .. since I, uhhh, have the opportunity to punch out often enough I've been using all different clubs other than the hybrid; eg. 3W, 7i, LW. Dare say it's helping...

Nice! Hope you start.. Bombing like Bryson

My sympathies to his family and to all who knew him. The world needs MORE people like that, not fewer............

Thanks! And thx for reading. These things are really great, huh

That is an interesting question! And I will totally punt and defer you to OW directly to answer that. If you do ask, please update us with their response .. thx!

Do you do the basic warm-ups they suggest? Start with holding it horizontal and hands wide apart, slowly rotate back then forward .. repeat while trying to turn slightly more back and slightly more forward each time. Second warm-up is one-armed swings .. again start slowly and add a little more back and thru over following swings. Then some regular swings, again starting slowly and building up speed and turn as you go. I'm finding that's helping me build a little more speed as it helps me continue to refine my body movement through the swing. Also, can't find the article / vid right now but this one explained how alternating light <> heavy clubs practicing driver swings can help build clubhead speed.

Orange Whip LightSpeed -- Initial Quick Take. Forum Member unofficial mini-review. July, 2020 About two or so years I jumped aboard the Orange Whip "train" (lol) ... and it quickly became one of my favorite swing training aids (and I've tried a LOT of different ones over the years); in fact, I liked it so much I added the OW "Compact" trainer shortly thereafter (basically a shorter version intended to simulate an iron swing). I still use both of these frequently, and definitely feel that I'm still gaining benefit from both of them. Recently I saw an ad for OW's new "LightSpeed" speed (of course!) trainer. I'd been looking at SuperSpeed's "C" trainer, but then considered that since I'm already using - and am comfortable with - two OW training aids then their model of speed trainer may be a better fit for me. Note: I have not used any SuperSpeed trainer and this mini-review makes no effort to compare/contrast them. My swing speed: Don't know my driver swing speed but based on charts I've seen online my current 3-wood (that I use off the tee most often; tho technically it could be a 4W, I guess, at 17* loft?) clubhead speed should be hi 80s / close to 90 mph (ie. I get close to 200 yd carry when I catch it right). My training goal: Obviously I hope to improve my clubhead speed -- to improve both the distances I can reach off the tee and that I can hit a second shot, and also to increase the distance from where I can comfortably attempt an approach shot. However - I'm not looking for outright speed but rather a little more let's call it "playable" clubhead speed with my woods, hybrids, irons .. *while still swinging in control and making solid contact* (and, hopefully ha ha, towards my on-course targets). It would be nice to add, if I can get there, another 10% / 20 yards to my tee shots with my 3W. Additionally, being 64 now I'm hoping that with regular use it'll help me to maintain a decent clubhead speed over time. I don't plan on measuring my swing speed on an LM, now nor after a period of training; my results .. positive, negative, unchanged .. will reveal themselves on the course. OK, back to the product: If you're familiar with an OW Trainer then you'll already be familiar with its slightly shorter, and of course much lighter, brother LightSpeed - eg. same construction with an orange ball head, flexible shaft, counterweight ball on the butt end of the grip, etc. Where they differ includes - LightSpeed has a smaller, lighter head; uses a longer length of the thinner profile/more flexible shaft material; and has a slightly larger/slightly heavier counterweight ball. It also uses a slightly different style wrap grip on it (possibly an update to all OW products?) with slightly wider spacing between the wraps and small dimples for texture; the material feels more synthetic vs the more rubbery grip on the original Trainer; plus the grip on the LightSpeed is slightly larger around .. almost like an extra wrap or two of tape underneath a standard grip (actually a welcome plus for these old fingers!). Minor QA dings: 1. The ferrule, I guess you'd call it, at the joining of the two shaft sections was loose; it needs a bit of glue to hold it in place. 2. The counterweight ball was loose, not fully screwed down. This was a bit surprising as I recall having read two years ago on the Orange Whip site that some models may have shipped with a loose counterweight and the user was cautioned to tighten it. I twisted it down hand tight, but if it does loosen after some use I'll put a drop of ThreadLock in there. First impressions: Almost as expected due to having used other OW trainers, the first swings with the LightSpeed did not feel awkward. In fact it feels nicely balanced as you swing back and through, and just like it's bigger brother the Trainer it encourages you to swing with good sequencing and tempo. I started out slowly, and slowly dialed it up, until I heard the pronounced SWISH at the bottom of the swing. You can very clearly locate where that point is, too - ie. early, late, or at the just right release point. Then I picked up the Trainer for a few swings, then alternated back to the LightSpeed for a few rips. I can feel that this thing is going to be a big help to me! Training aid review points: Any golf swing training aid, of any type, should imho ... - be easy to understand how to use it; - and be actually easy to use; - require little to no setup and teardown; - provide audible, visual and/or tactile feedback when used properly and improperly; - encourage its continued and repeated use. I believe the Orange Whip LightSpeed checks all these boxes. ...I'll come back and add an update after some more time with it.

Nice looking iron!! I'm liking that heel-toe weighting

Does it come with 365 yd drives included?

You a Queens guy?? (I grew up, and we live now, on Long Island; my wife grew up in Queens.)

Is that painted on? (That kinda sucks, imho.) Or a sticker you can peel off? (More commonly used it seems.)

That would be funny if it hadn't been so frustrating for you.... I have progressives but use them mainly for reading. I've kept my older pair in the golf bag and most frequently play without them, but once in a while I'll go with them on to see if it helps me "spot" the ball - during the swing - any better. No definitive conclusions yet. For putting, though, for me I think they hurt seeing the line due to the curvature induced by the lenses, especially in the peripheral when I turn my head for a last look.

Interesting self-critiquing .. and *NOT* comparing our games in any way, but those points you listed do seem very applicable to where I'm currently at - and I especially like the point about focus; only small change is I tend to set up a touch open when I rush/am not careful. I also need to work on hitting the ball better vs harder. Glad to hear about your on-going progress!

Just re-read the initial review .. great write-up and a lotta good info in there!! .. because I've been thinking of trying these out to see if maybe they can "help" me achieve more consistency with my irons - especially dispersion-wise. The positive review, along with the super sale price, is making them very tempting! Oh, plus .. 02-11 is my birthday PS: Matt - how's the knee doing? Hopefully all healed up since the last disaster, and you're out playing again!!

Second that ^^ Edit: Ah ah! Posted the line above before I'd read further and saw the follow-up descriptive posts - great info in there, thx!

And another reason not to reach down into the cup!!!

Played a fun and challenging 9 yesterday; had one of those up and down rounds -- ie. some really good shots plus some really baaaaad shots, with very little mediocre ones in-between. So a typical golf day, I guess! 3 pars, 3 bogeys, 3 doubles for an "even bogey" round overall. One big disappointment was a lot of my iron shots .. I've finally started hitting them nicely recently, but I just proved out that saying about your golf swing: "..you don't own it, you only rent it for a while.." Did have a few nice tee shots and short approaches; wedges were mostly good but the highlight was putting - which was really spot-on (that day!) .. most first putts were literally 1-3 inches from dropping; only left one short and nailed that second one (so no 3 putts that day). Playing 18 tomorrow so will try (emphasized!) to just hit solid shots to safe targets.

Love that old guy! At the short 9 hole near me, there's a .. no joke .. 96 y.o. who still plays, frequently, and decently, too and .. still .. no joke .. gets down on himself if he mis-hits one!!! Game For Life

Thanks for posting this info. I've read a bit, and watched an intro vid, about the DECADE system. It's definitely very interesting, and I can see where a dedicated student can benefit. Did you get the (don't know what they call it) "recreational player" version or what I understand is the more data-intensive "pro" version?

Sounds good, thx. And sounds like this coach has been really helpful to you .. I'll keep him in mind!

Just curious as I don't have a specific practice plan (but probably should), and don't give away any proprietary info, but re: your practice plan -- about how many different drills are there, about how many reps for each, about how frequently should you run though it, etc...? Thx

I generally like to randomize my practice - that is, rarely hit even three of the same shot with the same club in a row. Change clubs, change targets, change trajectories. Most of my practice is short game practice; hitting different wedges different distances and hi/lo. Also play "competitive", or "challenge", practice where you hit a wood (or hybrid or whatever) into an imaginary fairway you create between two markers out on the range - if you miss, you have to "punch out" and then you can hit your "approach" to a target. If you miss that then you hit a wedge the estimated distance you missed the target; etc.

Def gonna work on this .. THX @chisag!!!

Tell you what.. this coming July 4th weekend .. I'll raise two, heck THREE! glasses to all our service members .. thank you!