Badams69

Plan is to buy a couple more sets of JDM irons. At least enough until I find one that fits me well. So far this past month I have picked up TourStage TS-202 and Yamaha Inpres XV sets. Each under $120 Next up is finding a set of cb Miura irons new enough to be playable but old enough to make the outlay no big deal. Then adding a bench grinder to start working on the skill or hobby of reconditioning clubs.

Thanks! Not sure sand blasting is an option as I don't have a setup for that. Put a 2nd round of citristip on it and it is slowly removing the finish inside the cavity. Gonna try something else I guess. Odd, I read most every forum thread and watched most every video prior to doing this, but this one item of a finish near the lettering wasn't much on the menu. Now my only concern is doing something that allow for rust not to take over. Automotive paint? Saw a vid of Meehan or someone spraying an old Callaway ERC or similar with it and that looked kind of close to what I see inside the cavity. Clubs! Wow - took a nice tiny bargain and turned it into a tiny money pit! Thanks for the tips!

Here is a photo of my actual irons AFTER. The pictures above were before and just for reference. Thanks

Cut will be 147 (+3) Low Am - Stewart Hagestad

Goals for 2024 personal goals: Improve strike location - far too unpredictable lately. Find swing vs achieve swing (and stick to it) - Been down too many rabbit holes, time to let a bit more of natural into the movement. With the goal of being able to trust it. Not that it will be perfect, but that I'll begin to have better correlation between expectation and execution. Can score with worse if I know what is likely coming out the barrel. Shoot par or better - intention is for 18 holes. Unfortunately I would settle for under par on just 9 holes as of this typing. Been too dang long!

Doesn't seem this exact choice would be the direction a person would go for a "step up" in club performance. As best I can tell, unless you are pushing low 70s, I would be unsure what you'd be changing from the Stealth irons to achieve. Do some golfers prefer other types of irons to these? Sure. Would many people play better golf with a club similar to the Stealth irons over their current setup? - I'd bet big money on that!!! Point is - this general type of club, and this club in particular, is one you will get outstanding production from. At some point if you are striking the middle more than ever before and simply want a different style of club, in hopes of achieving increase ability to execute the nuances of shot-making, then at this point you could look into a player iron or players distance type iron. With that said, one would be wise to have many grains of salt on hand for the countless times you will hear that this or that iron is not this or that. There is quite a bit of research indicating that the differences are far more miniscule than most are convinced of. Just know this - 99% of golfers are playing with a set of clubs that does not give them the exact best chance to score to their peak, there is always something more ideal. Many will argue against that, but it will most often be a fact that this won't come from the lips of golfers who are +(plus) handicappers! Also keep in mind many golfer who earn their living at this game have a bag of clubs that is more forgiving than several people posting online. Some of these posters have yet to break 80 this year or ever, but will tell you to set up a bag for "feel" "workability" "feedback" and the other buzzwords. Nothing wrong with any of these things ........... they just don't matter as much on the course as they seem to on a forum post. If you are looking to invest in your game - once you have a sufficient set of clubs (Stealth would qualify), then investment should be made into practice/learning/lessons/clinics/occasional session on a trackman , etc..... You'll be far happier with the return on investment!

This pic shows the type of paint inside the cavity. So obvious now that it is paint. Feels like I do after missing a putt only to glance back and notice the obvious break being opposite of what I thought.

As some of us are prone to do, I went down a road for the heck of it. I was determined to try the "paint fill" routine. Partly because my irons had some need for it, partly I just wanted to give it a go. Fearful that acetone would screw up the cavity of these clubs, I ignorantly applied citristrip liberally and let it sit. (as indicated in pic - showing extent not actual iron at this time) What I got was a halo or rainbow around the lettering inside the cavity. Which turns out to be some sort of gray metallic paint. Question is this - Do I attempt to repaint - which I wouldn't then know how to protect the lettering from getting filled in too much to be able to refill it later with black or other. Do I strip it completely for uniformity. If so - does this then bring increased risk of constant rusting issues. Thanks!

Your premise is sound and by all means nothing to criticize. I would simply point out that if MGS golf ball deep dives are to be relied upon, this is the case (being uncertain that any given ball might vary in performance) with most balls even from the same box. Some manufacturers more reliable than others. Those deep dives are precisely why I stopped playing Bridgestone. I will say that in my years (probably the past dozen or so) of playing quality use/refurbished ... I have not one time felt I had executed properly and the ball let me down. Just saying my reality does not, or has not matched some of the "data" that exists. Which in no way invalidates the data. I'm just pointing out it is not something I have experienced. And I like playing my meaningless rounds with balls that cost me about 1/3 or so of the retail price but seem to give me non fractional performance.

Used them as my predominant "gamer" for several years. While also periodically playing identical model new about 20% of the time. Have not experienced any difference that would deter me from buying from reputable source. Given we are talking exact same model of ball. Have read and seen tons of data that shows there is a difference, but in fairness there is also data that shows inconsistencies in brand new balls from same dozen as well. Most recently I have switched to VICE Pro+ and will most likely be sticking with those based on experienced - but NOT based on experience of used balls lack of performance. For one, I scoff at any golfer who pretends they notice a difference. Not that they don't perceive it, but more to the point ..... us as golfers are so inconsistent in all aspects it is near impossible to know from one shot to the next whether it was ball or stike or technique based. Not ridiculing anyone, just trying to shine a bit of perspective on the immense amount of variables involved to event know if the differences we perceive are attributable to any isolated aspect. Could be the ball, the golfers, the atmosphere, the anything.

Funny - that is the vids that prompted me to try it. Love Malaska!

Shallow , rotate, attack angle, launch angle, shaft lean ....... blah blah blah. All by-products of proper motion being taught as independent contortions. As if we can all freeze our motion in time. Yet hardly any "online instructors" who try to impress with these nuggets of knowledge (not that they are wrong that those are positives), ....hardly any of those types of presenters spend half of a percent of their time on face contact and face control. Pretend the hands are automatically gonna do what they should. Most don't discuss for a moment how to score better ...... just how to "hit" better. Don't spend any time discussing how seldom the swing they teach and stock shot they help build (again, not necessarily a bad thing) gets utilized by most. Especially someone who doesn't play well yet. Worse you play the less you use stock. Most beginners or higher hdcp need way more knowledge of their hands, more practice swinging in funky stances or from difference grip positions on the club. In my experience this helps free them up from the robotic stuff we discussed. Best drills I have used with almost all beginner team so far this season - 1) hitting from our knees 2) hit from one foot and then feet together 3) Hit six balls in a line with constant motion and leading with step in swinging direction of the club both back and through. Our worst productive times in practice? Working through the standard movement focusing on setup and other tried and true standard fundys.

Funny - I was just working with kids yesterday (coach school golf) about pre shot movement and looseness. Waggles and little bit of weight dancing. No doubt the youtube hyper focus on "LAG" and shallowing has a lot to do with what you are seeing. Comical at times watching videos that say we now know x or y ....... exposing their ignorance that they are chasing effects and NOT causation. Position chasing golf is horrible golf. Motion based golf = good golf! What you describe is also breeding ground for back problems galore!

One question I have for you is ..... do you notice this more in a certain subset of golfers? Better-ish players? Younger players?(under 35) Or do you simply mean across the spectrum? As for me personally I have not noticed this per se.(more hook biased results or "under" plane rather than "above"). Do think maybe something we have seen quite similarly is far more of the "big muscle" driven swing creeping in. Lots more wrist hinge and flow in days gone by. Zebco should have been making golf clubs. But the golfers I normally see are over 30 or school age. And I can tell you for sure the kids that don't watch golf and come out for the teams do exactly what all people have done forever, they whack it with the ole arms and cast hard as they can to begin with. One thing I do notice often though is the abhorrently robotic setups that seem to come from the golfer mills of the world. Not that they don't work, but boy oh boy do they look ugly. Seems these come from people going to places like GolfTec. Again - Not criticizing, just the ones I have seen look like they fear their shock collar going off if they get any body part out of the prescribed angle tolerances. Doesn't mean the teaching is wrong, the execution is just interesting to see out in the wild. Will keep these old eyes peeled for what you mentioned going forward though. Doubt it is your imagination.

Thanks for the response, after Stein Mart closed their stores (my go to for golf clothes for years), I forgot about Norman shirts. I probably should try a FJ here and there, others seem to like them.

Todays clothes are simply cut in a way that doesn't work for me. Surely I'm not alone in this. Continually struggling to find decent shirts, I am not BIG AND TALL candidate, hoped some of you had shirts that worked with thicker shoulders and a mid section that may appear you are storing food for the winter. Not looking to pay $100 per shirt if that matters. I should wear a medium, but todays shirts the larges are often too tight, though more than long enough Brands I have tried with little success lately - Under Armour, Nike, YATTA, Cutter and Buck (not their highest end stretchy offerings though). Callaway seems to work better than most others lately, but would like other options to those as often they are too long if they fit elsewhere. Thanks!

Not sure where this stands but my two cents: Good resource: THE SWEET SPOT podcast .... I'd really pay attention to all episodes, but mostly focus on Sherman of the duo. It really dives into expectations a ton. I like DECADE from earlier suggestion, but lack of knowing how to attack a golf course doesn't seem to be the root of the issue here. It is more along the lines of a mental block to your norms. Additionally, I was just listening to two former tour pros in a podcast last night. They reinforced a fairly well established axiom in golf circles..... trying harder = worse performance. Rotella had the pro in for several days, no golf talk until the last couple hours or so. Went to green and repeatedly hit 10 putts from something like 6 or 10 feet. Reasonable makeable putt but not a "short" one. This wasn't strictly related to putting - just the example. First 10 ........... try harder on each subsequent putt. Then repeat but increasing care less per putt 1-10. Over and over the trying less progression dominated the drill results. BTW the pro stated that he played lights out and it changed everything the rest of his career. Not every round, but the overall, when going bad he had something he could resort to. One thing that has helped me repeatedly ............. less prep than I used to do. More immersing myself in non golf endeavors leading up to competitive play. Not ignoring prep all together, just ensuring that I don't obsess on it. As for putting (example that might help you by nature, not in exact method) - I have adopted almost exclusively one method that I have yet to see anyone else employ. My method is exactly what you see when someone is tapping in a 1 foot putt or any other time a decent golfer is just kicking it in. Grip putter, Lean forward on back leg and send it in. We've all done this thousands of times, and rolled em in from all over after a hole was done or similar no care situation) I get behind the ball, sing or hum until the line comes to me with no trying to override my instincts, TRUST IT, amble up to the ball with focus or rather a semi conscious awareness of the line I'm seeing lean over on right leg and send it ........ NO CARE of whether I am right or wrong, I don't second guess whatever by body decides it has to do based on what it saw. No different than throwing ball or shooting a basketball, I don't try and exact the effort, but rather let my body take care of that naturally. This takes about 2 to 3 seconds and my leaves are the best of anyone I have played with and better than any time in my life. This is good given that putting has always been a strength and not relative to my game, relative to golfers on the whole, good golfers, not average. All this to say - listen to Jon Sherman (sweet spot) - his discussion of expectations is so rational ........ it will even help with severe anxiety mixed in. Also remember two things: 1. IT TOO SHALL PASS! Just because you don't do well this time, it doesn't define you and others, regardless of their words, aren't truly judging you by it. This is a game, the best golfers in the world rarely win, some never win and that is their profession. Unless I'm missing something you are NOT a pro golfer, and it does NOT define you. If you aren't able to accept that, maybe it is time to hang it up. I'd opt to simply adjust expectations and place golf in its' proper place. 2. This game is effin hard. Nothing you have stated indicates you have a need for any club adjustment, not that you wouldn't possibly like new clubs better than current clubs, but that isn't the issue. You, like me, have one level of expectation and it becomes an overwhelming snowball when it gets rolling bad. Care less, score better! You can only swing it and stroke it. DECIDE - COMMIT - SWING ............... live with the results and do it again. Let others be the ones who don't grasp what they're up against in this game, not you! You are by far too good a golfer not to fully embrace how difficult this sport is. It is what makes golfers special! If you face a shot or other that makes you uncomfortable - devise a different strategy that puts you at ease. Lots of ways to skin a cat and given your skill level you could shoot 75 or so hitting only 3-6 greens a round. If you bogey here or there you haven't LOST anything and don't have to "get it back". There is no such thing. Once it is on the card it's there and not coming off. Just move on. Post whatever you post and don't fret it. This isn't football where you can move another man against his will, this is golf and your will is what is subject to movement or not. Don't make it easier by pretending not to grasp the difference between good and bad golf. Good golf is defined by what you do next, each shot, each round each tournament. Our pinnacle of good is that for a reason, it is not what we will do each time, tee it up and just enjoy it. You likely know all of this ..........but anxiety is a demon! An absolute friend of the golf course! My wife struggles with anxiety also and one thing helps her. She wears an elastic band, snaps it when she feels it spiraling. Keeping one thing in mind in those moments .......... she has to TALK TO HERSELF !!!! NOT LISTEN TO HERSELF! The anxious mind talks crazy and you have to proactively override that with active inputs!

Most pointz - Hovland, Victor Clincher - Sepp Straka

LORD NO !!!! and NO! again NO ...... NOT HAPPY AT ALL! putting .... always happy. Everything else is a wreck at the moment. It keeps me up at night, wakes me up if I doze off, and haunts me every time I try to sneak around it to play golf! Other than that it's great! Working on some new things which show promise, somehow (I actually know how - it was with good intentions) I got steep and long in my swing, which looks like I'm trying to choke myself or sneak up behind myself during an action movie attack scene........ it is worthy of tears when I see it. Oddly I've done ok with it but went to an instructor of high regard in the area for a quick 30 minute session. So now working through that with surprisingly good promise! Fortunately having tried a myriad of techniques along the years, it is right up the alley of a few prior iterations. But - as we all know it takes time to evict the current tenants in our golf moves. Little more standard plane and wider with trail arm. On my own I realized I had to flare my rear foot to about 2:00 to allow for this, which likely lent to getting a bit bound up going back previously.

This is what I was looking for. Thanks! Just want to know what these are saying, each column. Probably means ........... quit while you still can!

Was hoping someone would have two cents to lend. If you know how to read this score sheet relative to where these numbers fall across some scale they seem to use for each. Did the MIZUNO SHAFT OPTIMIZER and this is the result with a 7iron choked down between and .5" and 1.0" 87 Headspeed / 5.00 Tempo / 4.33 toe down / 6.33 Kick angle / 2.67 release factor / 5.33 Shaft lean / 5.00 Attack angle These above are where I'm a bit unsure the relative scale other than I read 4 is moderate tempo and 1-3 release is late portion of that scale. Shaft Recommendations: 1. Pro Modus 115x (I'm unlikely to do that, and it is not in any used models anyway) 2. DG 120S 3. Pro Modus 115s (again not much available in my shopping realm) 4. PX LZ 5.5 (suggested by guy who helped me with optimizer at PGA SS) 5. PX Rifle 6.0 (what I currently have and little disenchanted) 6. C-Taper S 7. C-Taper Lite S 8. DG 105 S 9. PX iO 5.5 10. DG 95s Thank you!

Just my two cents and there is a reason I am constantly .02 positive on my net worth (no one cares to hear it - lol) If the club hasn't been in the bag for more than two full seasons, or stayed there while all its buddies were replaced a few times, then hard to safely qualify it in this category. Not that it won't qualify and stay in your bag for many moons ......... but for my money the winners here are the clubs that have resided in the bag for three or more presidencies! Those are the bars of golfing gold!!!

HECK YA!!! Like seeing this, loyalty across decades!

Loyal to clubs! You perform, you have a home!!!

BOOM! another club resting easy!