Golfzilla70

You'll definitely get away with some fat shots on a mat that you wouldn't on grass. But having said that, any kind of swing practice you do can't be all bad. I know it's a common saying that bad practice is worse than no practice, but that's not really applicable here. Assuming you're working on solid fundamentals, I'd hit to my heart's content on the mats, knowing that you're getting away with misses that you wouldn't in real life. And concentrate on KNOWING that you hit the ball solid - if you can come close to hitting the ball with near-perfect contact on a mat, you'll be fine when spring rolls around. You just have to recognize by feel when you don't hit it perfect, and make adjustments where necessary. Be slightly upset with yourself when you feel that clubhead vibrate on mis-hits, and work to make those shots the exception. And by the way, that's great progress going from the 110's to the 90's in scoring. You're well on your way if you continue to work at it.

I never have used them, primarily because I've played Ping irons almost all my life - those things are tough, and you never seen bag chatter on them. But the softer forged players irons are another story. I recently bought a set of Miura TC-201's, and there was no way i was going to let those rattle around and get dinged up. I've seen so many awesome used sets that just look horrible because of that (but they're probably still very playable). So those have the iron covers, while my regular gamers (Ping iBlades) do not.

The bifurcation thoughts are all about strategy. At one time, probably as late as 2000 or earlier, it was very important to be able to hit the ball both long and accurate (in the fairway). With the advent of the prov1-ball types, and the 460 cc face-flexing drivers that technology has given us today, the game has gotten imbalanced. It's a given that all the guys on tour can chip and putt. You have to almost have mastery of that to even be on the tour. That hasn't changed. Abilities to hit irons accurately hasn't really changed. Sure, with science we have irons that are able to launch higher or lower, and spin more or less, are out there, but just because a number is stamped on the bottom of an iron hasn't really changed player skill levels. But the pros ability to just swing a driver with abandon, seemingly without worry about accuracy, is where the game has gone. Sure, they could fix the courses to punish inaccurate shots. But with the "temporary immovable object" rule allowing those guys to take free drops basically sideways, it's a problem.

I play better, but it's something i had to gradually build towards. I've got a regular weekend group that i play with, and they won't ever be competing in stroke-play games. While i will go enter some individual stroke tournaments. i'm not winning club championships or anything, ,but i'm about a 3 or 4 handicap, and i've generally played to that, and do decently enough in flighted matches. What helped me is going out of my way to play in these things with folks i don't usually play with. Doing this helped me get comfortable in what i consider uncomfortable situations, which helped me far more than just about anything else has. Of course, when i play with my weekend "slack rules" group, i try to play as hard as i can for my score just for me, to help me keep focus.

Good luck. From what you stated, you're obviously in great shape already. But coming from me (a guy whose handicap has hovered from 1-3 off and on over the past several years), you might want to pour some energy into core flexibility. I'm in my 50's, and it's a constant battle to remind myself to get my core activated and to move my trail side through the swing. It's something i've picked up on over the past couple of years, and it does have a dramatic effect on both clubhead speed and accuracy. At least for me anyway.

I'm about a 3 handicap, and FWIW, here's what i see (and i do play more golf than I should, at least according to my wife): Brand new Titleist Pro VI's are awesome off the tee, UNTIL their covers start taking wear. For my part, I notice an immediate drop in distance on the new slick covers compared to worn covers through the bag. As for spin, any of the premium balls tend to get a little "out of control" for me - I just don't have time to fine-tune the practice required to control my spin on the 100-150 yard shots, and SOMETIMES i'll launch those things and they spin backwards 30', and sometimes they don't. That's a major problem because there is a world of difference between a 20' putt and a 50' putt. And it requires skill to control that spin, and regular practice to maintain that skill. That just can't be over-stated enough. I'm not the longest hitter; about a 100-104 mph driver clubhead speed. So i play the Titleist TruFeel and Velocity balls. They fly plenty far enough comparatively speaking, they actually go further off my irons, and they're highly durable. Their covers can take scuffs, and you won't see a noticeable performance difference (i'm sure the other brands have similar balls, i just liked what i got out of these over years of different trial and error efforts and stopped on these). And it's very rare that I have a shot that I absolutely HAVE to hit a "one-drop-and-stop" chip shot. Those types of shots are awesome to behold and fun to play, but they're hard to hit with consistent results on command for common working-class amateur golfers. A simple "chip-and-let-the-thing-roll-out" is 99% of the time all anybody needs. I truly believe the guys at MGS do a disservice to their readers when they constantly drone on about the need for everyone to play high-performance golf balls. And Titleist is guilty of this too. They're constantly stating how the spin of the Pro V's gives you control around the green, and of course everyone's short game could be better, and what's better than more control? Except that spin thing causes weekend golfers to hit balls that sometimes check and sometimes they don't on shorter pitches and chips around the green. It's just my opinion, but in my mind that brings variables into play that most could do without. And one other thing: The Titleist TruFeel is about $22 at retailers. The Titleist Velocity tends to run $29. I CANNOT see the difference between these two balls in the normal course of play. I'm sure the Velocity has something in it that makes it more expensive, but everyone should be bottom-line results oriented, and be objective about what any given ball brings to your final score.

OK, i understand where you're coming from --- but try to think back before the electronic gadgets were here --- you were confused on new golf courses then, just like you are now. No one needs the fancy electronics for their home course, it's highly likely you intuitively know how to play a given hole. But courses that are strange to you, well, the electronics give a helping hand and that's OK in my book. We're not pros, but the pros on TV definitely get help from their caddies or wherever when they play courses they're unfamiliar with, and that happens all the time. And they were getting MASSIVE help from the caddies in the old days, just like we're getting help from our gadgets today. I don't think anyone can just "eyeball" a course they've never played at and hope to be competitive against others that are familiar with the course.

I 100% understand where you're coming from. I get aggravated by the same thing; i can't control my spin well enough to know when it's going to "zip" and when it's not. But i do usually put loads of spin on it. Here's what i did: i tried some balls, specifically the non-urethane balls. The Titleist Trufeel is a fine ball that fits exactly what you're talking about. No, it's not going to do a "one hop and stop" from a chip off the side of the green, but it NEVER spins backwards, sometimes it stops where it lands, and usually it rolls out forward a couple of yards at the most (except for chips, it'll roll out further depending on trajectory). The REAL plus side to them, besides the reliability of knowing what they'll do when they hit the green, is their durability (i suppose the fact that they're only half as expensive is a major deal too). You can play several rounds with one of these, but your Pro VI won't make it through 18 holes due to cover abrasions (and those cover abrasions on the Pro V's seem to affect it WAY MORE than cover abrasions on the Trufeel's). Just my two cents; and i'm a 4 handicap for what that's worth.

Just my two cents' worth: i see markings there for sure, but that carbon face will outlast their super-thin titanium faces, over the life of the driver. And that's primarily because they get right to the very limit on the thin face so a golfer can get that rebound. But 90% of golfers rarely hit the driver so often that they'll see such a breakdown before they're buying a new driver anyway.

Wildthing, i haven't heard of studies dealing with shoulder torque, but i 100% agree that it's got to have something major to do with the swing. Back in my teen years playing heavier persimmon-headed clubs with steel shafts, i could swing a driver over 120 mph. And too much golf with bad technique ruined the rotator cuff of my lead shoulder. At least that's what i think caused it; it's possible something else did but i can't imagine what it was. Nowadays, i'm 51 years old, and the best speed i can achieve with the modern drivers are in the 100-105 mph range. Doctors told me they could fix the rotator cuff, but there was a chance i'd have less mobility. So i opted not to have the surgery. And i've tried the speed training programs, over the course of a couple of years. I wound up hurting myself on separate occasions and just making my lead arm useless for a few weeks. It's been a hard pill to swallow, that's for sure. Old age sucks

It's just about a guarantee you'll find a driver/shaft combination better than your current 2007 model. the current tech is definitely better than that. Having said that, finding the proper combination can take time, unless you're going to a fitter. You can do like i did, sort of hit different clubs with different shafts a few at a time at Golf Galaxy, pay attention to the spin and dispersion #'s, and you'll see for yourself what works best after a while (of course, you may need to do some research to know what your proper spin #'s should be for your attack angle, but that's all part of the process)

i 100% agree. I'm about a 3.5 handicap, and while it's fun to make a urethane ball "drop and stop" on wedges and chips, that takes WAY more proper practice time to get really consistent at doing it. The Titleist TruFeel ball, while it doesn't spin as much, is VERY durable, and its spin rate is fairly consistent no matter how i hit it. Easy to predict what it's going to do. And at $22/dozen at Walmart, it can't be beat.

Well, here's my two cents' worth: i'm a 3 handicap, and i can tell real quick when my Titleist Pro V's cover starts getting a little dinged up that the driver distance is immediately affected. Pulling out a new glossy one immediately shows improvement. Having said that, it seems to me that the glossy balls are more aerodynamic just because they're slick. Those matte balls aren't slick, so i have to believe they'd suffer in flight. I confess i've never hit one; just feeling the cover makes me think they're shorter than their glossy counterparts so i haven't experimented with them at all.

I prefer the Lie Angle Balanced (LAB) putter myself. Having said that, the putting stroke is definitely a very individualized part of the game. Lots of different ways to get it in the hole. I do believe a lot of amateurs put too much pressure on themselves in the 5'-10' range though. I firmly believe that's a range that the only time practice will really help is if you have the exact same putt on the course, which is seldom. I think most folks would be better off working on their speed control so they two-putted from longer distances more often.

Just my two cents' worth: Putting expectations for most people are way too high. You can go to the green, basically master 5' putts, and then go to the course and get robbed because of a blemish in the green, or perhaps just misread the green itself. The pros are in another class, and they have to be because it's their livelihood at stake. I'm about a 3 handicap myself, and while i see golfers that are better than me regularly, they putt only marginally better at close range. It's truly amazing, when you look at stats, how close everyone is in their putting between 3' and 10'. I truly believe an area that you can practice in putting that really makes a difference is in your ability to 2-putt from longer ranges. If you rarely 3-putt, you're probably gaining strokes on just about everybody.