MaxEntropy

Yesterday evening, we had a call with Mike Carroll to have a chance for any Q&A we might have since the app is officially out for Android users (iOS folks likely have a couple more weeks). I found it very useful and look forward to getting going. I plan to start Monday 4/22 with a home-based workout focusing on speed. One question I had for him was how to incorporate speed training (SuperSpeed, Stack, etc.) into my workouts. By way of background, I was one of the forum testers of SuperSpeed back in 2020 and have done little more than some maintenance workouts since that summer (I saw incredible results, BTW 102 mph to start, 120 mph at the end). He suggested I try incorporating SuperSpeed into my FitForGolf workout: do the FFG dynamic warm-up; do the SuperSpeed protocol; then finish up with the FFG workout I have chosen. Since I am planning on doing a home-based workout, it should be entirely feasible to do as he suggested.

The other hole that was greatly impacted is a dogleg-right par 5 and they created a nice alley to shorten the hole. It looks like they are going to let that alley overgrow and put red stakes to discourage the shortcut.

First official league round last night. I had two pretty dumb holes, but was very happy with the rest. Started with a double from 4 feet off the green in two. After that, 5 pars, 2 "acceptable" bogies, and a thoroughly unacceptable bogey. Let's talk about hole #8 for a moment. Apparently, a natural gas company has easement rights on the golf course as a pipeline runs through the course. Last year, they removed a bunch of trees on a couple holes out of fear that the roots would disrupt the pipeline. All the trees in the shaded yellow are gone. As an aside, it would have been kind of fun to watch - they rented a helicopter to fly the cut trees out to avoid damaging the course. This hole used to be my nemesis due to my natural fade/slice with the thick forest on the right and the trees on the left creating problems. Since the trees were removed, the hole has gotten a lot easier for the longer guys in our league - aim left and if you hit it straight, you are in the clearing with a nice view of the green. Hit natural fade and you end up in the fairway. Only a really bad slice gets into the forest. Last night, I hit it dead straight and got a good bounce off the cart path (Arccos said it was a 316 yard drive), leaving me with a little 60-ish yard chip with tons of green to play with (red dot approx. location of tee ball). As I was walking to my ball, the "what ifs" started getting into my mind (i.e. "you know, if you par 8 and 9, it's a 38...") and I could not shut it down fast enough. Of course I chunked the first chip about 20 yards. Chip and two putts for my bogey. I ended up shooting a 40 for the night (+5 for that nine, 1 over my handicap). My opponent shot his handicap so I lost by 1. Most facets of my game were pretty good, but short game was either really good or brutal, with little in-between.

I've always been partial to Freddie and Ernie.

The 2.0 version of the app is now out (at least for Android users). Account has been created and I'm browsing the app. I'll poke around for a day or two, then post some screencaps and thoughts on which plan I will pursue during this test. We are scheduled to have a call with Mike Carroll next week - I will likely postpose my start until we get a chance to chat with him.

First league night in the books and 3rd day in a row of golf for me. Overall, it was a pretty good night. +6 on the harder of the 2 nines (my league handicap is a 4 for 9). I had two silly doubles that even if I just bogey, I'm at my handicap. Driver had been pretty good so far this year, but last night there were more flares - nothing super problematic, but certainly distance-robbing. I think I figured out what I was doing, but of course it was on the last hole. My chipping has been pretty suspect so far this season, where I was on a heater last year. Time to go to the practice area and work on it, I guess, but I'm tempted to partially blame the super soft conditions we have had.

Like Tom, I had a pretty good front (+7) and a worse back (+10). It's exhausting to push a cart/bag on really soft ground. Still glad to be out! Yesterday, a friend flew into town for the eclipse and we went and played 9 after. I didn't hit the ball all that well - a few really good shots and some very average shots, but still ended up +8. This course was in much better shape, so we weren't chipping off mud, and much drier, even though it rained overnight and into the morning. Tonight will be our first league night after being snowed out and rained out twice the last 3 weeks.

I'm with @bens197 here. I just want to set foot on the property and take it in. The golf is secondary to me, especially when you consider how much better the coverage is for the Masters. I would also expect the guy to sweeten the pot somewhat, as it's not exactly a fair trade, but I'd certainly consider it. About 20-ish years ago, we had Monday practice round tickets, but it was rained out for the first time in who knows how long. We didn't make it past the gate. Back then, cameras were allowed during practice rounds, so I had ~15 rolls of film I planned to blow through taking pics of the course.

Got out this morning with @DiscipleofPenick after about an hour and a half frost delay. By the end of the round it was up to around 48 — perfectly acceptable for this time of year, especially since we were walking. I drove the ball decently except for one ball OB that was supposed to be a fade bit didn't fade. Irons were, shockingly, the star of the show. Short game and putting decent. I ended up +9 for the round (17 holes — one hole was closed as they are resodding to green). A full 18 likely would have been a +10 81, especially given how easy the hole we had to skip is. Worst thing was a double and triple on back-to-back holes. Was definitely leaking oil on the last 3 holes — my hips, glutes, and back started to really tighten up on me and I struggled to finish a swing. Good day, though, and looking forward to getting this season going.

I assume I am in

The past couple weeks at work have been pretty insane. Have I missed anything? My wife has been out of town for almost 3 weeks now, so I haven't been to the gym (she has the membership, I'm a guest). My only "workouts" have been my weekly pickleball games. I'm kind of excited to get this started, but no eta that I've heard on the new app release.

First round of the season in the books! @MattF and I got out at Windmill Lakes. Very pleasant day that ended up in 60's. I started well with a birdie and a par. More often than not I am very happy with a bogey on #1, so the birdie was very nice. Drove the ball fairly well, especially for first day out. Irons were pretty terrible and short game was, as expected, inconsistent. 2 very big number and too many doubles, but otherwise feel pretty good about it. Ended up with a 96.

I've been playing the TP5x for the last couple years but have also mixed in the AVX and Tour B RX. Like the OP, I keep coming back to TM. Last week Dick's sent a coupon for 4 free TP5/TP5x - all they had was a four pack of TP5 (2 of which are Pix). I usually prefer the x variants, but will be interested to see how these work. I have played the Pix before, but my only complaint with them is during flight is the design generally makes the ball appear a little darker, so it is harder for me to track on an overcast day.

I think I would actually prefer to do most of the stuff at home, but I will have to see what I might need to purchase if I'm going that route. I've seen reference to resistance bands and "adjustable" dumbbells. I have the bands, but may need to buy some of the other stuff.

While we are in our holding pattern, I thought I'd give more details on what my current workouts look like and some insight into my psychology.... About 6 years ago, a gym near us was running a special for memberships. Included was a session with a personal trainer to help develop a workout plan. She had us splitting our workouts into blocks that we could do as much or little of as time permitted. The blocks would entail 5-10 minutes of cardio (bike, treadmill, elliptical, stepper) followed by 3 weight exercises. These weight exercises could be generally categorized as shoulders/arms, core, hips/glutes/legs. She also suggested rotating between the three exercises continuously for 3 sets instead of doing all 3 sets of each exercise back-to-back-to-back (mostly to keep us moving and keep our heart rate elevated). Getting through all the blocks she established would take about an hour and a half, maybe a little longer. I still have a picture of the sheet she created for me on my phone and reference it frequently. I believe I mentioned in my intro, but just in case, I am not a gym rat and don't like going to the gym (in fact, I rather loath it). I know I need to go, though. I can't normally last more than an hour before I get too bored, so I pick and choose which blocks to do on any given day (also depends on which machines or areas of free weights are available at the time). Pre-pandemic, my wife and I were going to the gym 3 times per week. These days, I'm lucky to make it once per week. I know this needs to change and it will change once we get going on the review. Upon reflection, I suspect much of my attitude towards working out is a result of preferring short-term gratification that things like a goal, hoop, net, base, hole, etc. provide. It is much easier for me to motivate to go to a gym when the results start becoming apparent. Unfortunately, the results just don't come when I don't go as regularly as needed. It's a catch-22: no results = little motivation and little motivation = no results. Fire away with any questions/comments!

I agree with everyone on this point - maybe because we are "of a certain age." I'm hoping I can have my wife do some videos covertly.

My Introduction is up. Check it out and ask questions/provide feedback.

I do not have the Stack System, but I do have SuperSpeed. It will be interesting to see if I might be able to integrate it. We are supposed to have a call with Mike Carroll at some point. I will definitely ask if he has any recommendations on how best to do it.

Introduction First of all, a huge thanks to MyGolfSpy and Fit For Golf. I was very excited about the prospect of this test when it popped up – as an aging golfer, anything I can do to improve my strength and flexibility should prolong my golf “career.” My name is Blake. I am currently 56 years old and live in Akron, Ohio. We are fortunate to have no shortage of quality golf courses within about an hour drive. The biggest downside? Winter. I haven’t set foot on a course since early November, and we likely have about another month until we can play. I started playing somewhat seriously after I graduated from college and got my handicap to the 15-18 range. Life happened and I took about a 10-year break where I only touched my clubs a couple times. As my kids got older, I started playing again and really got bit by the bug and have played as much as I can for the last 8-ish years. For the last few years, that has been about 50 times on the course (~30 for league nights + ~20 additional rounds). Last summer was a very good season for me – I broke 80 for the first (and second) time and got my handicap as low as 7.4. Currently, I am sitting around 11. The strengths of my game are most definitely short game and putting, but my scores are mostly dictated by how well I am driving the ball (i.e. keeping it in play/avoiding penalties). I can salvage a score around the greens, but my best scoring days are when driver behaves. I am long for my age/handicap as Arccos has my current driving average at 253 yards. This is down about 10 yards from my peak after finishing the SuperSpeed review in 2020. (This drive ended up 299 down the middle) I have followed Mike Carroll on Twitter for a few years and almost pulled the trigger on his app a couple times, but just never really got around to it. The program offers a variety of plans depending on your goals. Since we will more than likely not be starting until around the time golf starts again, I will be focusing on the “In Season” plan. This is subject to change without notice, of course. In general, my fitness level is decent for my age, but I am overweight. I am about 6'1" and currently weigh around 235 lbs and was as low as 210 lbs in 2019. 210 isn't bad for my frame. In 2018-19, my wife and I were going to the gym 2-3 times per week and, even though I did not really pay much attention to what I ate, I seriously tracked the amounts in my FitBit app. A trip to Vegas and the pandemic were my undoing. These days, we don’t make to the gym as often and I don't eat well. For family health reasons, my wife has been out of state for the better part of 3 of the last 6 months. I struggle to eat healthy when left to my own devices, mostly out of convenience. During the off-season last year, I started playing pickleball at least once per week. I enjoy it and it is a better cardio workout for me than anything I do at the gym. I also referee for a youth basketball league during the winter, which also helps keep me moving and is a decent cardio workout. My wife has a gym membership that allows me to tag along for free and I can do band and medicine ball work at home. My goals/expectations for the program are (in my perceived order of importance): 1) Increased strength 2) Improved flexibility 3) Weight loss I know Fit For Golf is not a weight loss program, but I am hoping it will be a welcome side-effect of doing more regular workouts.

I'm with you. Almost everyone also has a putter with striking similarities in appearance to the Spider line. Why have there been no lawsuits?

If you guys only knew.... I suppose "good" is a relative term, right @MattF. I shouldn't pick on him, he did beat me by about 10 strokes at Torrey on his sim just after Christmas.

I'm somewhat similar. I generally hit my hybrids ok, but can't hit a 5i anymore. In trying to find a suitable replacement, I got a 7w, but that is basically the same distance as my 3h. In general, the 7w is straight as a string and nice and high. I'll be looking to try either a 5h or a 9w at some point this year. Like many of the others, I just don't have the opportunity to hit a 3w much. I still like having it in the bag and am pretty good with it, though.

The second it stops being fun, I will likely stop. Even when I'm playing poorly, the "fun" for me is to see if I can turn it around and at least close pretty well. Unfortunately, there are just those days that nothing I do will turn it around. It's still fun, though. Last summer was sort of an exception - I went through a nice hot streak mid-summer with 2 rounds in the 70's (had never broke 80). I was starting to think I had it figured out and my handicap dropped to around 8. Even though I know better, I allowed my expectations to become unrealistic, so when the inevitable bad rounds came, I was not mentally prepared for them and my attitude showed it. Won't happen again.

Has anyone ever tried these golf balls? I received an email this week about a deal on them (unfortunately, the deal did not include their "tour-level" offering). I decided to look a little deeper and found that they are manufactured by the South Korean tire company Nexen. Even though my gamer is currently TaylorMade (although I've played Srixon a couple years and will be starting this year deciding between TP5x and Tour B RX), I feel tire makers like Bridgestone and Sumitomo (Srixon) are better suited to make decent balls than some random start-up or OTC. If they don't make their own polymers, they have established relationships with suppliers that should allow them to be more demanding on specs and quality. They also have a great knowledge of rubber and polymer science that should allow them to get to the "decent ball" level pretty quick. The only downside I could see is that the tour offering is priced at around $50/dozen, so the motivation to try them is not quite there for me, but I still find them intriguing (strange name aside).

Thanks, gentlemen! Fortunately, I don't feel (or act) as old as the calendar says I am.