Franc38

I find that I have less "grip salad" with a limited number of full length dividers. And I always organise the clubs in the following way: at the top Driver, 4 wood, 3 hybrid and putter (the headcovers family). Then in the two middle sections the long irons (4, 5, 6) on one side, the short ones (7, 8, 9) on the other side. They are ordered by size so it really goes 4,5,6,7,8,9, in line. And at the bottom the wedges, 52° on one side, 58° on the other, and the PW sandwiched in the middle. I find that keeping my clubs in their allocated/ordered position helps me reduce the annoying noise ("club chatter", they say), I just put my hand here on top when walking and all goes silent, having them in order reduces the impact marks as well (goes with the noise, so yeah!) and I don't ever have to look for the club I want to play. So I drop the bag from my shoulders on the ground, take the club, hit the shot, and back at it spot it returns! Easy, fast, never mistaking the 6 for the 9 or vice versa (they're in different compartments) and so on.

I'm rather eclectic... I do listen to "classical" music (mostly baroque, even if I'm not averse to some proper classical, and romantic too), a good bit of jazz (mostly of the modern/fusion/rock brand) and blues... and then I also listen to a lot of metal, a fair bit of it bit of the "extreme" variety, some deathcore, some progressive and/or technical death metal, and a good bit of black metal, even if as a Christian I don't care much for some of the themes and lyrics in the genre. Some good "black that's not satanic/anti-Christian" that I'm into is the "unblack" band, Antestor. Real cool, cold, second wave vibes. The sort of contemporary heir to them, with a side of self deprecating humour, that I listen a lot too these days is Luteøks.

I'm not sure, not sure at all of that... Likely most player will find the M2 just as good for them, both in dispersion and distance, as the brand new 2023 driver. Most players, as well, will have a "human dispersion" that far out-weights the gains from the equipment. To the point that unless you conduct an in depth statistical analysis you'll never see the difference (unless you want to see one, that is). As a rule of thumb, unless you're scratch or better, a 10 year old driver you know will work better than a brand new, pro fitted one you don't know well yet. That is, provided it's "in the right ball park", for loft, shaft and grip. You sure might lose 0.21 shots per round, averaged over the season or something... But if that's important for you, you'll eat canned pasta every day to get that new driver. Or work a bit more on your swing and gain even more shots!

From my point of view, golf is NOT expensive... it might actually be, if you want it to be that way, one of the cheapest outdoors activity/sport. You can easily find a course with cheap membership or a muni on which to play for a limited cost. A set of irons can be as cheap as 200 dollars (if you buy second hand, and know well what you need, or get good advice from a pro or a knowledgeable friend), and same for the rest of the clubs. If you account how much time of leisure/fun activity you'll get out of that spent amount (which is rather comparable, if you don't splurge like mad or go to high level private courses, to what you might end up spending for most other sports) I think you'll really be hard pressed to find golf expensive... unless you want to make it so! Sure, a set of Kyoei or Seven, imported from Japan, on high end graphite shafts, some gold plated Honma Beres woods and drivers, will cost you some. Sure as well, membership in a top level country club with loads going on, and so on will be expensive. But that's like saying "cars are blooming expensive, see that Bugatti and that Koenigsegg... almost no one can afford them" when you also have second hand Fords that you can easily afford... and are also "cars". edit To put things in perspective, my club membership is 900€ a year (and then I play "free" as much as I want... like 4 times a week maybe), I still have vokey sm7 wedges, driver is from 2015 (might change it next year for the sake of getting a new one, as I don't see much performance difference with the newest models and don't value "5 more yards" much), irons are brand new but costed me 750€ and replaced my 2011 previous set. My usual balls are from Decathlon, costing 35€ a dozen, my golf clothing is 90% from Decathlon as well, great quality, plenty of "tech stuff and good ideas" for a very limited price... When I see what my daughters cost me for their horse riding, golf is definitely cheaper!

Yeah, I've changed quite a bit. 1° I now think about avoiding bad misses more than attacking the good places. 2° I take lies into account in my shot selection and therefore accept bogeys to avoid doubles 3° I look at the hole, not the ball, when putting so my distance control as improved massively (and surprisingly so has my quality of strike).

I always walk. Or about that. If playing a serious comp and wanting to stay fresh + I don't plan to play any stupid-crazy-one-in-a-million shots, then I use my manual push cart. I also do that when it's raining torrentially or super hot as that allows the use of the big brolly without having it in hands. Rest of the time (90% of the golf I play): walking and carrying... much better for health, you can easily get to any ball with all your clubs, you don't lose time "parking" or suddenly realizing that you need something from your bag when it's 40 yards away, and so on. Only time when I wish I was ridding? When there's super long distances between holes, but even then, the walk has great therapeutics properties, in the sense that it helps you really "move to the next hole" even if you eagled or badly bogeyed the previous one.

I tend to take the pin position into account. If it's front of the green or wind against, I'll take the longer club, possibly grip it a bit short and go at it. If it's in the back of the green, or wind in the back, I'll take the short club, ball a bit back in the stance and give it the full treatment. Despite all my efforts the "short club hit more" ends up either pin high or close, and the "long club hit soft" ends mostly pin high or long. It's more a matter of "what typical putt or chip do you prefer in case you don't get that perfect shot"... And that is wildly situation dependent.

I'm with you, I need to talk, tell the fitter what I want, what I see usually, what I feel when trying stuff. What you do on a given day, in a fitting bay, hitting on a screen or a range, may or may not have any relation whatsoever with what happens when you play golf on a course with co-competitors, on a random day. Telling the fitter what you do see most often, what you enjoy or hate and explaining. And since you never hit a club without a preconception on what you'll do and what it'll do for that, I feel letting the guy pass you clubs without explaining what it is would induce just as much bias as telling you what it is and what it should do. It's a catch-22 of sorts. Now, I've never tried a "slient/blind" fitting and it might be wonderful. Except that I've pretty much tried 80% of the clubs released in the last 6 or 7 years and know what I like and what I don't like, plus I know my specs in general, and unless I do change drastically my swing that's unlikely to change much (so my last iron set, the Takomo, was bought sight unseen and I'm very happy with it, thanks very much). EDIT. I've also stopped dreaming, after having tried all these clubs, of a specific thing that would "help" me massively. Or hinder my game massively. I've done the experiment and there's more difference in my scores from day to day than there is from using this or that equipment. What equipment does is remove questions and make you feel better, safer, "one with the ball flight".... be the ball!

For me 200 yards is a (very) solid 6i, more likely a 5. Then 205 is a 5, for 215 yards, that's my 4i. 225-230 yards I use my 21° old Nike hybrid. 240-255 yards that would be my 4 wood... Except that's very theoretical and unless there's miles of empty bail-out space around a green, I'll never attack anything further than 215 yards (i.e. my 4 iron). I find that both hybrid and fairway-wood tend to curve too much (I play a draw mostly... they very often hook fairly viciously and if I attempt to correct that, sometimes they go straight-ish, but then again they'll often end up fading a bit too much). Plus, lets be honest, my very short game from deep rough, or my bunker play, are not the strongest part of my game so I'm usually better off with 150 yards layup then a 70 yards approach from the middle of the fairway than after 220 yards and a 15 yards chip from a dubious lie. And that's not much of a question in my game... I'm not long enough (or I do play too long courses) that attacking par 5s in 2 is often a reasonable choice, but I'm long enough that even beastly par 4s have me approach the green with nothing longer than a 6 iron (and most par 4 are Driver+wedge or 4wood+wedge, "wedge" being most of the time a partial 52°)

I think I'm worse than I think I am... But I score much better than I feel like I play, most of the time. So because I can relatively frequently play shots that wouldn't look out of place on a PGA tour tournament, I figure in my mind that I should be at the very least a scratch golfer. The problem being that my bad shots, which do happen possibly more often to me than to the average scratch, are waaaaayyyyyy worse than their bad shots. Plus my putting is reliable... reliable in not putting the ball in the hole at any distance longer than 10 feet! So net, I'm worse than what I think/feel I am or should be. On the other hand, I often feel like I'm playing an absolute rubbish round only to realise that I'm 2 over after 12 holes and that's far from terrible... Well, then I usually shot a +3 on a hole just to remind me of my station

The data in itself is important and interesting, for sure, and indeed, MGS seems to do a fairly decent job at gathering it relatively free of biases. The data treatment, the statistical tests, and all the associated interpretations, that's what we would like to know. And it's not proprietary, I can tell you... it's either published (and publicly known/available) stats or a bunch of nothing...

There are 2 clubs in my bag that are not very often used, for different reasons. The first one is the "3 hybrid" (21°). I don't find it accurate enough to attack greens with and find that statistically 230 yards from the flag I'm better off hitting a 4 iron 215 on the fairway in front of the green and then chipping than sending the hybrid somewhere and having a few eagle opportunities and a lot of recovery shots from unwelcoming places! So yeah, second shot on very long par 5s where I'll lay up but the 4 wood bring some danger into play?? Not frequent. The second one is the 6 iron. The only reason for it not to be used often? I don't play courses where there are 185-190 yards par 3s, or have long enough par 4s (or short enough par 5s) that I'll use it for second shot. Now, obviously I might misshit my tee shot and need a 188 yard attack to the green occasionally, but well... not often. and that's with a 13 club bag!

Both the MP225 and JPX923 forged have a GW... which really are PW if you consider the PW a 9 and so on... I guess it's harder to "finesse" a shot with a 44° club than with a 47° club (and even more so than with 52°, 56° or 60°) You also have the option of getting a 48° from Vokey or most other specialised wedge manufacturers. But I guess that with limited practice having what's essentially a bladed PW when your 9 is a chunkier, more forgiving type would not be "inviting", better push the specialised wedges to higher lofts, where the lofts makes the forgiveness!

I don't have too much problem manipulating my PW... then again, it's a MB, it's small, it's got bounce. What I suggest wasn't that you practice more... simply that you focus your practice (and that could be done while playing rounds, we all have busy lives and can't play/practice/work out as much as needed or wanted) on funking your distances with your PW and your gap wedge. Every time you're between 140 and 110 for example, play your ball, drop one or two more, try different things. Then if you think that we're "captain obviousing" you, maybe that just because yeah, the answer to your problem is... not a magic club or something, but trial, error, improvmeent, on your equipment, your mental approach and your technique. What else did you think you'll get?

There's obviously more "visual difference" between these and Vokeys for ex, than between MP221 and specialized wedges, but that shouldn't be massively offensive. However, I think the solution for you isn't in equipment but in more "focused practice". In my case I do PW from 147 to 133 yards (just shortening the grip for shorter distances), 52° from 130 to 40 yards or less, 58° inside 40 yards, when there little space for stopping the ball, and in bunkers. So essentially, 130 yards to nothing is 52° and that's "automatic". I've practised a lot with this wedge so I simply eyeball the distance when it's obvious I'm close enough (at 130-ish I do laser the pin to see if it's PW or 52°) and "boom". I usually land the ball 4 or 5 yards max from the target, distance-wise. These wedges are made to be versatile, but if you don't feel like "funking" shots, playing the ball at different points in the stance, gripping short or long (or in between), having different length of backswing and different intensity, you can have bunched of different clubs. The problem then is you'll be lacking in the longer end of the bag, and, IMHO, if it's simple with the same wedge to do a 50 yards and a 100 yards shot, it's harder to do a 220 yards with your 4i and also do 190 yards with the same club, with any level of consistency. You could go the route I say with a stronger GW replacing your current GW and then "funking" it. Or you need a GGW (gap-gap wedge) between the PW and your current GW, something that goes 130-ish on a standard swing. And maybe work and playing your PW short gripped, ball a bit further up in the stance for a "feathery short flight".

My general idea is 1) wedges are versatile and it's easier to take distance off, add distance on with them than with other clubs and 2) the loft is the commanding element for distance in a golf club (when hit more or less in the centre, with a correct delivery). So I do take a 4 or 5 degree separation between clubs at the bottom. In my case PW (47°), then 52° then 58° because I'm good at partial shots and getting high/low flights on these. If you're ending up with a 44° PW, then 48° 52° and 58° might be the optimal solution for you. Pushing the gaps a bit you'd get 50° then 56° if you really want to only have 2 specialised wedges (but I wouldn't recommend that, you'll lack a very open wedge for short bunker shots, flopper and the like and you'll end up with a very large distance gap where you'll have to "manufacture shots" with your PW (which, based on the loft you say it has, likely won't be very versatile and easy to "funk". Obviously, trying some wedges of varying lofts will help you figure out what's the ideal scenario for your bag!

My main goal is to enjoy my time, then respect the process. That is have the right routine and stick with it, keep on the same swing thought for all the round, keep following the game plan that was decided initially. Score is just a consequence. If you play with the right mindset, the right target and trajectory intentions, then you'll score well... on average. To me having a scoring objective is the best way to ruin your golf! You'll stop enjoying the game as much, you'll add pressure on you and limit your chances to produce good shots, plus it's not something you have complete control on, I mean even Tiger, Jack or the Hawk could hit bad shots, make doubles and so on... But having a good attitude and shooting to the right targets with the right club, that you can control, even if you're a 28 hcp...

If he uses GC2, what's the point in going inside? The Foresight launch monitors do close-capture data on a few inches, so environment isn't a factor and you usually do swing to an outside target, not a screen when you play golf... The best fitting setting, IMHO is using GC2 (or better yet Quad), outdoors, on a grass range.

Just watched the fitting of Good Good by the top Callaway guys at the Ely centre... One of the older fitters said something that is very much in line with my intuition and what Crossfield argued, albeit in a possibly more "moderate way". I loosely quote "for your average golfer who doesn't plays much, we'll find the equipment to remedy the faults in his swing... Then you have your better player and to them there is two dimensions, the equipment and the swing. We want to give them something as neutral as possible in terms of equipment so that that they can find and improve what's not as good in their swing, and if the ball does something weird, they know it's the swing". Didn't talk directly about improving the swing of the fitted but it seemed to relate quite a bit nonetheless.

I would never play anything like this as even my old 3 hybrid almost never gets out of the bag (I prefer trying to crush my 4i, even if it's almost a blade, it gives me better results)... But as far as ugly hybridy-irons, they're not really that ugly. Sure they don't have a elegant beauty of a set or Miura blades (or Titelist, or Mizuno, or -fill in your favourite brand- but compared to a lot of game improvement "power bats" they don't look so fugly.

I've seen two tour players getting fit for new irons... What they do is - NOT look at a lie board or sticker ("it's called lie board for a reason, it lies" said one fitter) but instead on GCQuad after all is done and dusted... - start with a static (or in their case, a "my usual specs are... ") - have them hit their stock shots 2 times with a new iron (not more, then they'd adjust, unconsciously. Us, mere mortals, don't have that problem) - If the balls tend to draw too much: make it a bit flater and try again - if the balls tend to fade too much for their liking: make it steeper, and try again. They look then at centredness of strike and adjust again if needed. Then they look on Quad: is the club presented "approximately level"... If no cycle again through the process. Apprently a number of players (tour or not) prefer not having a club delivered exactly parallel to the ground as it helps them manage the curvature of their stock shots, or achieve a particular curvature more easily (or if they tend to hit a bit too much on the toe or the heel, to adjust that). So it's really not the static fit that will dictate things, nor the mark on a sticker on the bottom of the sole, not even the alignment of the face at impact but the ball flight and feels... I mean as usual, ball flight trumps everything, right... We don't care what the club does as long as the ball goes where we want in the way we want it to do it!

I'm doubting much the "with forged clubs you have to check loft and lie all the time"... Once every 5 years, maybe??? I've played with a set of Bridgestone J38cb (soft S20C, Endo forged player's cavity, so probably the "most prone type to bending") for 6 years and last I checked (three month ago), the loft and lies were all within 1/2 degree of the official specs. Sure, I don't practice off mats very often (my elbows hate that) but I do play on average 3 to 4 times a week... On a relatively short course, so it's not "irons only" but close to. And my iron distances are a bit more than the tour averages given by Trackman, so can't say that from not giving them good whacks. Maybe I'm lucky or maybe "soft forged steel" is still steel and therefore pretty elastic and solid... You don't have to change the "lie angle" on forged parts of race cars every so often and they do take on some forces a golf club can only dream of. Wedges which have a "chance" of hitting a rock and dig in heavy sand might be a bit more at risk, I suppose...

Currently my bag make up in terms of brands is as follows: Nike: driver and 3 hybrid Inesis: 4 wood Takomo: irons, 4-PW Vokey : 52 and 58° wedges Cleveland: putter. I might replace the hybrid one of these days as it's on regular shaft which is a bit too soft for me to control... Then I'll possibly have 6 brands in the bag as I'm thinking TM or Ping for that new hybrid (or utility iron).

Some more pics, hopefully better quality... From the back (8i, in 301mb) From the back (7i, in 301cb) From the top front (7i, I think)... These clubs look really nice, clean and pure and at the same time thick enough they are not frightening like the Cobra RF may be.

Ok, back home for two days... Managed 12 holes this afternoon (will be the last until Friday) and I confirm my impressions. Feel is "solid", not as soft as on the (Endo forged) Bridgestone but I like the more "powerful feel". When well hit they go a bit further than said j38cb (there's 1° difference in lofts), but seem less forgiving off the toe. Now, view at address: first the 9i Then the 7i: And finally the 5i: Sorry for the dirty clubs, I've wiped them cursorily after my round and not been very good at it .