mooremikea

There is a knock off smart ball on Amazon for about $10.  It is not as high of quality as the original but is less of an investment if it does not work out.  It might have been better to get the legit version to compensate Chuck for his invention but was not sure if I would use it.  As it turns out I hardly use it at all, after watching the TXG video it seems like that could be a mistake.  

Mike Bender teaches felling like the arms move first and then followed by the hip drive later in the swing.  His Instagram is filled with useful information on how to make this work.  When I drive with my legs first my arms get too far behind my pivot causing all sorts of issues.  When I feel like my arms get a "head start" things sync up much better.  
https://www.instagram.com/mikebendergolf/

Mike Bender teaches felling like the arms move first and then followed by the hip drive later in the swing.  His Instagram is filled with useful information on how to make this work.  When I drive with my legs first my arms get too far behind my pivot causing all sorts of issues.  When I feel like my arms get a "head start" things sync up much better.  
https://www.instagram.com/mikebendergolf/

I drove around to find the UPS driver today! I just couldn’t wait!!!! Time to get on the Exputt and see how she does. She will get her first full round either Friday or Sunday!!!
EAS 2.0, 36”, 70* lie angle, 2* loft, Edel round grip with a 15g weight in the head. I’m not sure how far down in the grip they put the weight, or how heavy it is. I’ll find out tomorrow. The store owner is giving me an additional 10g weight and wrench so I can change the head weight based-on green speed.

@Shankster I have a set of these Arias True Zero Offset irons incoming.  Stay tuned for updates!

It was really fun to watch both of the videos you were in.  Glad to see they are as genuine as they appear online.  Back in the day it was really nice to have Matt on the MGS forum.  It really makes me mad that a couple of a-holes chased him away.  

It was nice to see TXG have good results and positive comments. Kind of validated what I have been seeing. Just wish I could hit as far as they do!

PS: I do clean my clubs after every shot. I left this on for strike location identification. It was killing me. Also note that once you wipe off these clubs you can not see the strike locations. Seems to be very good in comparison to what I see from the photos of the black finish. I think if they could make these clubs in black with the exception of the grooved strike area being the satin finish that might look real good.

At this point in my testing, I agree with the potential of clubs hindering player performance.  I always played the game improvement irons until now. I was always content with a mid to high single digit handicap using those irons. But now after seeing the results from the player distance clubs (699 Pros) I'm singing a different tune.  I started off this season at a 3.5 only because I started off well. Last year at this time I was a 4.3  As of this week a 1.3. The only difference has been the change in irons. If my darn hybrid would cooperate it could be better. I pulled the Cobra from the bag last Sunday and I put in a Mizuno JPX Fli-Hi that I won in a tournament. Let's see how that goes tomorrow. To move that much in a short time I wouldn't have thought possible. I really think it is due to the clubs having less offset which helps me in the set up and getting a better ball flight.

A couple things:
I prefer the size and shape. The G700s are very, very large and feature quite a lot of offset. These a simply better looking, in my opinion. Practically, the smaller head (especially heel-to-toe) is not as difficult to hit from the rough. This was one of my complaints with the G700; it has a lot of face area, and seems to struggle to rip through taller grass. The sound is much better. At best, the G700s have a loud crack at impact. The 699 Pros have a much more solid, muted sound. There is a point that, if the goal is a lower score, the objective performance numbers have to trump everything else. But as I said, all else being equal, I like the 699 Pros more.

TXG had a lot of good things to say about Sub70.  All the clubs performed very well especially for the price point.   If I were in the market for new clubs Sub70 would be on my list.   When I replaced my irons last year the 699 pro was not yet available but if it was, they probably would have been in my bag.  

TXG had a lot of good things to say about Sub70.  All the clubs performed very well especially for the price point.   If I were in the market for new clubs Sub70 would be on my list.   When I replaced my irons last year the 699 pro was not yet available but if it was, they probably would have been in my bag.  

TXG had a lot of good things to say about Sub70.  All the clubs performed very well especially for the price point.   If I were in the market for new clubs Sub70 would be on my list.   When I replaced my irons last year the 699 pro was not yet available but if it was, they probably would have been in my bag.  

I was fortunate enough to attend a clinic with Mike Malaska last weekend. In 5 minutes, he taught me something that completely changed my golf swing - how the hips should work. I've worked with other instructors, read books and magazines, watched a million YouTube videos. They all say similar things...."Fire the hips". "Rotate the hips". "Get your hips towards the target". Following that advice just caused more swing flaws, like sliding too much, rotating my hips too early, rotating incorrectly by focusing on my trail side hip/leg. 
All of that was wrong. Mike basically did with me what he does to Eric Cogorno in the video below. He stood behind me, and moved my hips for me. It was a completely different feeling. Using the straight-line force from pushing my left heel into the ground moved my left hip back and up. To be honest, I had never before felt that in my golf swing. It was more like a baseball swing, where you plant your front foot, and push back. And that's what Mike teaches...that the golf swing should be using the same movement patterns that you use in other sports like baseball and tennis. 
From my first swing, I hit the ball better. Solid. Effortless. Repeatable. With every club in the bag. That one move fixed my issues with swing plane, over the top, and swing path. I still have some work to do with club face control, but my misses seem to be a lot tighter now. I hope this lasts, because I'm hitting the ball better than I ever have in my 20 years of playing golf. I'm looking forward to taking it out to the course, and hopefully seeing it translate to some lower scores. 
Watch this video, and see if you are moving your hips like this. It could be a game changer for you, as well. He also gave me a good drill that isn't discussed in the video. He had me tee up a ball, pre-set my impact position by pushing my hip back with my heel and holding it there while hitting shots with my 7 iron. 
 
 
 

TXG had a lot of good things to say about Sub70.  All the clubs performed very well especially for the price point.   If I were in the market for new clubs Sub70 would be on my list.   When I replaced my irons last year the 699 pro was not yet available but if it was, they probably would have been in my bag.  

I actually tried this out for most of the summer. I have AP2's and started using my pitching wedge more in my short game so I figured moving to a vokey might be a good Idea for versatility around the green. After trying this out I have a few thoughts:
Watch out for gaps in the full game. My set wedge I hit about 141 and my Vokey about 130. This left me with a decent gap between my 9 iron and P wedge and I could not quite get the distance right. You can do alot with your set wedge. I have gone back to my set wedge as I have been taking lessons and working on my technique has really made my set wedge almost as versatile. Through working on my partial wedge game, I find that on a well struck partial wedge shot and vokey shot, I am seeing the same amount of visual spin  meaning the ball still 1 hops and stops however I still hit my number with my set wedge on off center pitches where that didn't happen with the less forgiving vokey ( expected) The set wedge is more forgiving when pitching and chipping out of bad lies. Maybe it's the sole, bounce, or tungsten weights but I can comfortably chip or pitch with my set PW out of any lie with confidence, minus tight lies. Tight lies are the only spot where I found the vokey to perform better for me It really comes down to what you use your PW for. I hit a ton of full shots and partial wedge shots, however I found that having the added forgivness my set wedge has works out for me best. I know it isnt spinning quite as much as the vokey, but if I can hit an 80 yard pitch and have it land 1 hop stop and dribble out a yard vs 1 hop and stop, I am really not gaining much vs the forgiveness of the set wedge.

Month two, and here I am... I haven't played as much or practiced as much as I would like because of life/work and I was changing over my entire bag. Yeah... crazy, I know. 🙂 
I took advantage of a deal that Club Champion had to get fit for free if you spent $500 with them. Easy peasy, so I made that happen... Now back to decade...
This last month or so I feel like has put a strain on decade unlike you could imagine and I am BETTER because of it. Allow me to explain:
I got fit, and have been testing out new driver shafts on the course about once every other week I sold my putters, so have been using a loaner I sold my wedges, so have been using loaners I THEN sold my irons, and for the last round, have been using loaners I feel like the work that I have put in to learning decade has REALLY paid off in basically playing old, worn out clubs that are NOT fit to me for the last few weeks.
Some highlights/lowlights/info:
The first D in decade is for distance. Knowing your distance is crucial - I've been all over the place because of swapping out clubs. But one key point that I picked up: "how far do you hit your clubs, not how far do you hit them if it's perfect". This was HUGE for me. I mishit the ball 50% of the time or more just like many of us. So why am I counting on that perfect 149 yard PW when I normally only hit it 143? It's OKAY to take the 9 iron!! The first E in decade is for expectations - I'm not going to give details away here, but my expectations from 101-150 yards was TOO HIGH. I'm not going to get the ball down in 3 strokes or less 2/3 of the time. It's not going to happen. I need to be okay with that and move on. The center of my shot pattern = my target. NOT "if I hit this perfect this is where it will go" - as a result of this, my GIR has almost doubled.  Here's some thoughts that are decade related from my last two rounds (with a little context) Two rounds ago: played with my irons, an X stiff shaft (i only need a stiff) in my driver, a borrowed putter and borrowed wedges Shot an 85, hacked it around for the most part, but had GREAT distance with my putts (except for on 3 holes - I three-putted all three of them). Sometimes the hole got in the way. I was poor off the tee, I was poor around the greens, I was okay with my irons. Decade helped me a TON when I would get myself in trouble off the tee. But sometimes, you just need to play better golf in order for decade to REALLY help you. This was one of those rounds. That said, I think I shoot 90 easily w/o decade. Last round: played with some MacGregor blades from the 90s, no five iron, a borrowed driver, a borrowed putter, and two of my brand new wedges Shot an 82. Bogeyed a par 5 (thanks to a yanked tee shot OB), had 3 three putts again, and bogeyed 3 holes from inside of 150. New grinds on the wedges = adjustment time needed! That said, decade is STILL helping me shine! I have been averaging 1.3 bogeys per round on par 5s (only had one this round) I have been averaging 4.2 bogeys per round from inside 150 (only had 3 this round) Overall, as I stated before, I think this is going to transform my game. My new putter came in, my new irons came in, my driver shaft is finally here that I'll be playing with for as long as I can... I'm super excited to keep this thing going and consistently get into the low 80s and 70s before the season goes away.

So, round number one since I started Decade. Here's my scorecard below (from Arccos). 

Some thoughts about how I played, my thought process, etc. as it ties to Decade:
I am waiting on my putter to get delivered, so I used a putter I would NEVER use that was an old one of my buddy's. So 35 putts = not good. Even though I did make a couple birdie putts. Having had three 3 putts was not good.  Don't pay attention to the putt distance. It's not accurate as I didn't have the Arccos putter attachment on it. I focused in a few main areas this round: Consistency with my routine. I would say of the 43 shots I took from the field, I did my full routine on about 32-35 of them. I hit a few bad shots and got frustrated with myself and then would rush the next ones. And in a couple places that really hurt me. (see the double on #5 as an example) One swing thought. Each time I did go through my routine properly, I was thinking about a specific swing thought. Next phase for me is to have that swing thought be the SAME for every shot. I bounced around a little bit. 🙂  Picking my target based on my shot dispersion. 13 GIR is probably the most that I have had in at least a year. I was able to pick a target and stick with it for the most part. I did make 3 or so really bad swings, but I still committed. It really paid off. Even when I put a couple bad swings on it I still was in a much better spot than if I had "gone for the pin" even on relatively benign hole locations. DISTANCE/SPEED on my putts. Not trying to make putts. Trying to line it up, and get the speed right. This worked PERFECTLY on two holes (where I made 15+' birdies) and not so well on some others where I three putted. The greens also hadn't been mowed in 5 days b/c of some crazy storms, but when I got my speed right, the hole got in the way a few times. And if not, kick in pars, etc.  I don't feel like I played well, I wasn't caring about my score, but I was focused on the things from above. And a +8 as a result I'll take. BUT again, it's not about the score result for me. It's about more GIR, it's about the fact that I did NOT pay attention to no bogeys on the par 5s (oops!) and that I didn't have any double chips, etc. 
It was fun. I enjoyed it and I can 100% see how this will pay off for me as I continue to learn. 

Your question is VERY timely.
My dad played yesterday and had an OB ball and so I built him these views based off of his "natural shot pattern" would be. This is part of hole number 8 at his home course. Uphill drive (32 feet up and then 10 feet back down) OB to the right. 
I built him a 65 yard wide area to hit to. He hits his driver around 250-255. White line is OB. 

If his target was the right edge of the ladies teebox part of the way up the hill, unless he put a BAAADDDD swing on it, he would "never" go out of bounds. 
What he USUALLY targets though, is the tree out there (orange line) and so I showed him on this second view how naturally he's going to go out of bounds sometimes just w/ his natural shot pattern. So by aiming left more (over that ladies teebox), he hypothetically should "never" go out of bounds. 

I built this as another example. This is hole #14, a tight, relatively short par 4. To avoid the bunkers on the right (and the OB) he needs to hit 3 wood (3 wood gives him a 50 yard wide landing area). Otherwise, with his natural shot pattern with driver (with that same 65 yard wide shot area), there is a high likelihood that he's going to go OB to the left if he tries to avoid the trouble on the right. Hitting 3 wood leaves him 140 in, hitting driver is 109, BUT he has a high likelihood of going OB. 

 
He regularly shoots in the mid-80s, so even just this small help on two holes for him is going to be VERY worthwhile. 

I made my own set a couple years ago and it definitely helped my swing speed.  I made a big jump in speed and then plateaued.  It was totally work the money and effort.  Highly recommend one of the SSR radar units.  One of the parts of the training is getting an understanding of what feels fast and what is actually fast.  Early on there were swings I felt were extremely fast but the radar showed differently.  
 
Haven't been able to push thru the plateau but have been working on technical aspects of my swing that might help.  
 
Overall I think I picked up between 15 and 20 yards on my drives.  

I was at the range again today. Struggled to get the right feel on my backswing. Felt like I was making non-consistent backswings, wrists getting bowed too much, taking it too far inside, etc.
I came across this from Jake Hutt who I follow on Instagram. He explains that the backswing arm movement is just lifting the arms straight up while pivoting. It feels like it could make things more consistent, but need to try it out.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5ToLKqF6Fi/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Oh no way! I didn't realize he used to be on the forum, must have been before my time.

It was really fun to watch both of the videos you were in.  Glad to see they are as genuine as they appear online.  Back in the day it was really nice to have Matt on the MGS forum.  It really makes me mad that a couple of a-holes chased him away.  

I hope its ok that I keep updating I just wanted to keep those interested in Sub70 informed through my experience of my LH 699 Demos. 
1. Ordered LH Demos 
2. Received RH Demos 
3. Sent email to Sub 70 expressing how disappointed I was blah blah you know the drill. 
4. Received a call the next morning as well as email apologizing for the mix up and they assured me they would correct it at no cost in fact they will be refunding total amount when clubs are returned. 
5. 3 days later received the LH clubs 
6. I've played 4 rounds with the clubs and the bag and went to the range about 6 times. made a spreadsheet with the avg of the top 20 shots didn't see much diff. from my F8 to the 699 on distance except that the 699 were shorter on the 9i but longer on the 6i. 
Today I received a call from Jason on the way to work we spoke about my questions concerns the dispersion of the 699 was much better than the F8's but I was still concerned about the distance loss on the shorter irons. After explaining that the 9i would climb and then seem like it got caught in the wind Jason asked me to try to get some more info Club Head speed and Spin rate of the 4 clubs. He mentioned we may need to go with different shafts between Long and Short irons. 
So I guess you can say I have gone from being ready to ship these back and stick to my F8's to reconsidering buying the 699's. The service after the mistake is exactly what I had hoped for when I began this process of demoing the Sub70 699. 

It was really fun to watch both of the videos you were in.  Glad to see they are as genuine as they appear online.  Back in the day it was really nice to have Matt on the MGS forum.  It really makes me mad that a couple of a-holes chased him away.