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downlowkey

 
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Everything posted by downlowkey

  1. I recently stumbled across an episode of the Smylie Show that made me think about the question that @JAYER38 originally posed in this thread. In the episode below, GEARS inventor, Michael Neff, spent over an hour discussing fundamentals of a few notable swingers of the golf club. Neff really, really knows his stuff and I thought it was one of the more engaging deep dives exploring the relationship between an individual’s swing tendencies and their most repeatable delivery patterns (aka - learning to swing your swing). I’m not a total newb when it comes to swing theory but personally came away with what feels like a more complete understanding of a few different aspects of the golf swing. It also made me want to schedule a GEARS session. I tend to agree with @cnosil and @RickyBobby_PR, that finding an instructor who recognizes the role of personal aspirations/practice ethic in designing a path forward and setting expectations is crucial. If that conversation isn’t a component of your first experience with a new instructor, keep shopping.
  2. Wild pick’em week. I think less than 10 teams squeezed past the cut with a full five. I reviewed the pick breakdown and saw that Zalatoris sunk nearly half of the battleships in the MGS fleet. JT torpedoed another quarter of the teams. Henley was my personal undoing. Anyway, for the reasons above, our leaderboard this week is likely to look very different from Friday to Sunday. And if I’m not mistaken, one lucky Spy will be rewarded with a fresh full set of Lamkin rubber for claiming the top spot this week?!!
  3. Hey errbody - have we had an update to the forum pick’em rules (see below)? If so, thankfully we can all stop pulling our hair out over that one player pick that missed the cut and destroyed your week. I know it would be a strategy adjustment for me from here on out. Edit: Can someone please clarify the exact rules? I genuinely don’t know what we’re going by at this point.
  4. Wayyy back in Dec. 2019, on NoPuttsGiven, ep. 25 (min. ~20:30), @GolfSpy_X referenced an independent shoe study out of Pinehurst Golf Resort, where they sampled launch monitor shot data of 28 golfers. They had each person hit their driver wearing shoes with replaceable soft spikes and then sampled the same group after switching to spikeless shoes. As a group, data points from the spikeless shots degraded in the following areas - distance, ball speed, dispersion & smash factor - to the tune of 4.35 yards. At the time, Harry suggested that data from most wanted testing generally supported the same theory. Spikeless shoes are usually more comfortable right out of the box and that’s nice. But the study suggests that a more stable platform offered by the typical replaceable soft spike products, will help you hit the ball straighter, farther and closer to the sweet spot. Uhhh… yes please. Do my fellow Spies believe that product advances in spikeless soles have closed that gap over the past four years? @GolfSpy_APH - I think that would be a pretty interesting (and potentially valuable) forum test to arrange. Even if it wouldn’t be possible in an official product review framework, we probably have a large group of Spies that own both types of shoes and have launch monitor access. Assuming some proper control instructions could be developed, I’d love to see that data, and it seems like it might also be a really nice grassroots feather in the forum cap for a blog article.
  5. I have the “Pro” Star gun and butt cap attachment but the brass shouldered taper tip you have circled is actually my favorite. The shoulders seem to create a really good seal point that’s actually flush against the interior of the butt, and because of that, I can normally dial back my regulator pressure enough that I don’t have to worry nearly as much about blowouts or grip wall bubbles.
  6. Is it possible that you stretched or bunched the length on the Callaway install? It’s hard to tell for certain from your photos but that could be part of the problem. I always double check the air installed grip length to make sure it matches a loose grip. Stretching or bunching the length can cause a mismatch between the shaft handle section OD and intended corresponding grip taper ID (read: may cause slippage). I typically need some minor adjustments to make the installed length match. In my case, usually a bit more stretch because I only apply force to the butt end, so that the grip is more likely to install without any twist. But it can also go the other way if you’re pulling on the grip too much with your other hand. My bag is graphite top-to-bottom with air installed Star Sidewinders, I never use any kind of shaft buildup and haven’t experienced any slipping.
  7. Lemme fix that for ya - Personally, I Kirk-land in the camp. Anyway, seems someone made quite a mess in the camp over here too.
  8. For me, this is pretty high in the running of sentence examples that best illustrate the importance of proper comma punctuation. I won’t go into details about the imagery that briefly flashed through my head after the first read but it was the stuff of nightmares.
  9. I’ll have the cashmere hoodie and please hold the unnwaxed mustache. Power of 3s… really? We’re officially living in peak CEO and they think we’ll believe anything. Was “Will To Win” already taken or something? Because they could’ve prominently worked TW into that aesthetic and maintained a reasonable defense against the trademark vultures. Plus, power of 3s! I can envision a meeting where the 15 stripes element is presented as a fitting bow on his career achievements. But for me personally, the feeling of finality that comes with it, is akin to your parents explaining that Santa Claus isn’t real. Sure, your belief had already waned to nearly nothing, but now it’s official - no more major surprises.
  10. Johnson Wagner introduced me to some new slang during the first round broadcast of the Genesis Invitational, after Tiger got intimate with the hosel on his second shot into 18. SHAR = Shank Par (cannot believe I actually had the courage to type that vile word) Also - how on earth has no one mentioned some of the best acronym slang to come out of the forum? PATTS = Par After Terrible Tee Shot (be sure to click thru above to visit the MGS Officially Unofficial P.A.T.T.S. thread, inspired by the Cobra Connect Challenge 3) I for one would love to see that thread revived with some new PATTS glory. Which leads me to… BATTS = Birdie After Terrible Tee Shot …and the yet unclaimed but probably MGS profile badge worthy… EATTS = Eagle After Terrible Tee Shot
  11. I’m certain the apparel will be very well made and offered at eye-watering prices. But I can’t for the life of me understand why they chose a stylized unkempt mustache for the logo.
  12. I had weekend tickets in 2014 and attended Saturday. Our group (all golfers, including 3 professionals) was there for a bachelor party. You don’t imbibe and get behind the wheel in Maricopa County, so we got shuttled around all 4 days using this pretty brand new app called Uber. On the ride to the drop-off area is where we first witnessed how fans pre-game this event. We drove past seemingly endless groups of ASU kids (and adults) passing gallon jugs of riot punch (Everclear + Blue Gatorade) amongst themselves as they stumbled from the parking areas to the front gate. Which brings me to point number one on excessive consumption at this event, a boatload of fans that walk through the gates are already completely loaded, so merely reigning in vendor alcohol sales will not entirely eliminate the problem. Our tickets were waiting at will call, so we got there plenty early before gates opened with plans to watch as much golf as possible. For some reason they were having trouble locating our reservation so we had to sit tight for ~45 min while that situation was hashed out. This is where we got to witnesses what @Golf2Much referenced about a large group of completely inebriated people in tight quarters. That year, ticketed patron lanes (maybe 16 wide) all funneled through the giant merch tent and two equally wide egress corridors ran down each side of the big tent for crowds exiting the event at the end of the day. Well the combination of ~30,000 totally inebriated people showing up before the gates opened (they all want a seat at hole 16 and will sprint there once they’re through the gate) and insufficient ticket lanes quickly led to a powder keg scenario. Law enforcement had elevated positions all around the entry corridor perimeter and I had taken up residence in the shade of one of their perches while we were waiting for the wil call problem to get sorted. The friendly officer who I had become casually acquainted over the past half hour had become quite tense. I remarked that the scene we were witnesssing was getting kinda nuts. Without taking his eyes off the crowd, he said “Yeah, this is a really bad situation. We’re about to open all the patron corridors and just let everybody inside. You guys don’t need to wait for your tickets anymore. Get ready because it’s about to get crazy.” At the time, this was announced as the single day attendance record for a PGA Tour event and now you know why they used the term “estimated”. The next five minutes was a sh*tshow running through what was originally intended to be an exit with tens of thousand of drunk people, all singularly focused on getting to hole 16 as fast as possible. We just wanted to go to the range and find a good pairing to follow around. We all made it inside without getting trampled and eventually found one another. Great - we’re alive, it’s a beautiful day and now we get to enjoy some great golf as part of our dear friend’s bachelor sendoff weekend. Wrong. The reminder of the day was not the least bit enjoyable as a golf fan. For starters, we were in the minority of people that seemed to understand golf tournament patron behavior expectations. For example, when volunteers held up their “quiet please” signs, people seems to take it as their last opportunity to cause a disturbance. The same people didn’t even seem concerned with the golf being played until those moments just prior to a player making a stroke, as they were preoccupied with hurling insults at one another regarding personal perceptions of a stranger’s outfit, haircut, girlfriend rating, etc. There was belligerent behavior everywhere you turned and god forbid you made eye contact with someone feeling chippy. Because it bears repeating, we were there to cut loose a bit for a bachelor party but grew weary enough of that scene after only a few hours the we decided to leave early and just go wait (for hours) for the Weezer concert venue gates to open. To be abundantly clear, a group of golf fanatics who traveled from all over the country to watch the best players in the world compete, chose to stand around doing nothing at the opposite side of the property rather than be in the midst of all the obnoxious behavior on the course. We decided to skip the tournament entirely on Sunday and played a round at the Biltmore instead. That was a decade ago and things seem to have only gotten worse. The Thunderbirds have raised over $170 million dollars for the greater Phoenix community and that’s laudable, but I do not believe that is reason enough to forgive that they knowingly raised Cain while raking it in. Chance Cozby’s outfit change from velvet leisure shirt and Mardi Gras beads in the broadcast booth this past Saturday to that more befitting an executive director of a giant non-profit organization in deep sh*t during his public statement Monday following the weekend debacle did not go unnoticed by me. My guess is that the organization is facing litigious service on multiple fronts from attendees that were either injured or assaulted by individuals that had been grossly over served by vendors. And if the Thunderbirds don’t have one helluva understanding insurance policy, the funds they have to dole out to the community this year are likely going to take a hit. The behavior they have encouraged at this golf tournament for the past decade is absolutely shameful and in no way have they fostered an environment safe for women or children. Taking the event away from the Thunderbirds would be a good start. Announcing that a requirement for entry next year is passing a breathalyzer with those failing going straight to the tank for public intoxication is the only way I can see them putting a stop to the pregaming problem. I’ve heard the name Wasted Management quip before but Mis-Management would be more appropriate. It’s a bad look for Phoenix, the PGA Tour and Waste Management. And now you also know that the announcement that this was the first year they had to “close” the gates is hardly the whole truth about the problems they’ve had at the gates in the past. I attended the Masters two months later. You wanna talk about opposite ends of the experience sprectrum. We showed up when the gates opened and enjoyed every well behaved moment, right through the evening agronomy ballet and I’ve dreamed about returning ever since. I’m neither a prude nor a staunch traditionalist, but I’ll take what the Masters is promoting all day over the methods that the Thunderbirds are employing to give their event an identity. The WM Phoenix Open is the last event that other groups should be holding up as an example to adopt.
  13. I always thought it was the marketing department subtly showing their predilection for Spinal Tap. When you were thinking about hitting 10 iron but feel that you need that extra bit of peak height and spin… these clubs go to 11.
  14. STICKIT Magnetic Rangefinder Strap - well made, functions as intended and comes in several colors/patterns if you’re looking to give your laser some drip. They also offer a towel with a magnetic patch sewn onto one corner that you can snag with a club head instead of bending down to grab it, but I didn’t want to spend $32 for golf towels and just made my own. The rangefinder strap is legit though.
  15. I didn’t know Hogan said that but would have to agree - Mickey Wright’s action was incredible. I read somewhere that early in her development an instructor taught her to hit the ball as far as possible with zero follow through. Presumably that was the foundation of her astonishing lag (reminiscent of Hogan) but she primarily worked the ball right-to-left. I also agree that “the sweetest” swing is a very subjective debate but tend to find myself in agreement about swings that fascinated tour players. George Knudson, Adam Scott, Chad Campbell, Boo Weekley, Anthony Kim and Nelly Korda are some that managed to mesmerize their contemporaries. Sometimes it’s not an overall swing that takes instruction in a new direction but something unique a player does. Lead wrist flexion in transition is relatively modern idea and most people probably don’t know that Joe Durant is in large part responsible for that widely promoted theory. He went on an absolute heater in the ball striking department for several seasons and people started digging into what he did differently than the rest of the field. But he didn’t have what I would refer to as a classically beautiful swing. I also think that particular idea may have led to better impact stability, rate of closure and dispersion stats but has also resulted in fewer “sweet” swings at the top level of the game.
  16. Flat tee boxes, properly cut holes and decent green surfaces are my Top 3. Beyond that, it’s nice to have features that encourage creative shot selection. I can still have fun at a course that is straight, flat and featureless but those designs don’t exactly inspire creativity. Certain aspects of conditioning can also play a role in having some latitude to play different shot types. Problematic drainage, for example, can discourage a whole class of shot options.
  17. Congrats @GolfSpy AFG @GolfSpy_KFT & @GolfSpy_SHARK - all the hard work is ahead of you now Also - Keep F******* Turning!
  18. I always believed “growing or attached natural object” was primarily directed at rooted vegetation. For example - although a plant may be clearly dead, if it’s still in any way “attached” to its root structure, it does not meet the definition of loose. Meaning, if you brush aside a tuft of vegetation and snap the single remaining dead root connection, you have moved an attached natural object in such a way that the original conditions cannot be effectively restored. But if you realize it’s still tenuously attached in the process but don’t snap the root, it may be possible to sufficiently restore the original conditions. I could argue that a rock that was determined to be embedded after movement and then replaced in its depression may “resemble” the original conditions but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it’s a restoration. The rock in this scenario almost certainly won’t have the same Inertia of Rest before removal and after replacement. I’ve seen this play out a number of times where tour officials are called in on bunker face scenarios and the player and official painstakingly assess each individual rock prior to effective movement and the official will often say not to move a particular rock because it “may” be embedded. If the committee, as a general rule, operates under a limited framework that assumes replacing an embedded rock is likely sufficient to restore the original conditions, why would the official advise a player who is trying to make certain that they are taking full advantage of permitted relief, against moving a particular rock to avoid penalty? Is it the fragile nature of the surrounding packed sand in the bunker face scenario? Or is it a different interpretation for that area of play?
  19. I have a good memory, completely agree that boulder did not meet the definition of embedded, and as a Tiger fan, was relieved to see that after it was moved. I’m asking about a hypothetical scenario in which it was plainly evident that it was embedded after it was moved. Furthermore, I still think my suggestion above re: plane movement potential (lateral prior to vertical) would be an improvement over the current “easily moved” language. We are in agreement that the USGA carefully deliberates about all language and definitions, but this is one of those subjects that I personally think a more detailed procedure to determine loose -vs- embedded is potentially warranted. You can temporarily move your ball to determine whether it’s embedded and that’s understandable. But to my knowledge, you can’t move a rock, realize it’s embedded and then replace it without penalty. That’s a roll of the dice aspect of moving objects in your area of play.
  20. What about the current impediment language re: loose -vs- embedded and subsequent penalty for breach? I know that the underside of that boulder didn’t break the plane, but if it had, you’re saying no penalty in 2000 edition for moving embedded object? Not arguing, just curious and you’re the man to ask.
  21. I remember watching the Tiger boulder relocation effort play out live and was on the edge of my seat about a different factor than whether it was humanly possible. @DaveP043 can correct me if I’m mistaken, but if any of the ground surface plane had been appreciably broken by the underside of that boulder, Tiger was going to be assessed two extra strokes for altering line of play. Impediments of the variety that I personally think the spirit of the Rule 15 was directed can be touched lightly to judge whether they are embedded. No way Tiger could have known for sure whether that boulder was embedded until it was relocated and I subsequently thought he took a huge gamble. I do think the loose impediment definition could use a clarification from the current “easily moved” language to “can the impediment be moved laterally on the surface plane without it first being moved vertically?” Because I don’t think that group of spectators could have interrupted that boulder’s Inertia of Rest without lifting it off the ground and updated language could have potentially protected that “spirit of the rules” scenario.
  22. I think the answer to this imperfect turf dilemma is simple. All amateur golfers should only be allowed to attempt the number of regulation tee-to-green strokes for a hole’s par designation, after which, you will retrieve your ball and place it ever so gently in the pre-marked center of each green. From there a maximum of two putts will be recorded, so don’t go leaving the first one short. Par will subsequently be the worst possible score recorded and no one will ever again be held to account for the randomness of playing outdoors on a natural surface. After all, regular tests of one’s grit are entirely overrated and there is absolutely zero research that suggests it pays dividends in all areas of a person’s life outside of golf, especially not when the practice is encountered during an individual’s formative years. I don’t think golf would be an less rewarding or meaningful under this system. Before you go claiming that the suggestion outlined above would be an absurdly hollow shell of the game, I’d like you to first own the reality that almost every one of you that records net scores in either sanctioned tournaments or friendly matches is already engaging in an entirely delusional notion. As someone on the perpetually giving end of the stroke spectrum, I’ll be eternally grateful that we can finally abolish the handicap system and will no longer need to practice extricating myself from all manner of unenviable scenarios (ie - fried eggs, opposite hand, divots, etc.) just to get edged out again by an 18 hcp who took one less putt than usual. So tee it up everywhere for all I care and be sure to grease up that driver face while you’re at it, but from now on, you and me only play straight up. Seeing as individual perceptions of fairness is at the heart of the divot debate, no more net scoring sounds pretty fair, right?
  23. Heads up - @DriverBreaker @Fongle @gingerbeast87 @Bad Golfer I’m still super curious about the potential for short game data capture and pattern analysis from the HackMotion system. I realize that wasn’t really the primary focus of the review team and thoughts on the feature were mixed during the official review period, but do you guys have any new info to share on the short game component? Have any of you attempted to troubleshoot the short game capture issues? How and how often are you utilizing the product? Also - did anyone else tune in to their webinar series during the 2024 PGA Show? HackMotion usually invites some solid instructors (Adam Young and Tyler Ferrell this year) to discuss how they use the product and it’s always interesting to me. I’ve probably watched David Orr’s trail wrist putting data seminar a half dozen times.
  24. For anyone interested in the firsthand opinions of the best players in the world on the subject of Anthony Kim as a player and a person, this mashup video is worth your time. “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know” - Albert Einstein
  25. I’ve been fortunate to play all over the world and have already crossed a bunch off my bucket list. I would really like to make it down to OZ someday and play some of the sandbelt gems with @Peaksy68. But for this thought experiment, there is one area that sticks in my head more than others. Cape Kidnappers and Kauri Cliffs on the North island of NZ. Topographically speaking, I’m not sure there’s another place quite like it. My best buddy got to experience it on his honeymoon and offered a glowing review. OP suggested a drop everything scenario, and at their admittedly eye-watering rates, that might just be the financial outcome of a trip to this postcard maker.
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