[What equipment are you thinking about?]

Pending some reviews on YouTube coming hopefully later this week/early next, I think I'm going to pull the trigger on the Mevo+ Pro Package. They are running a $100 discount for existing Mevo+ users, so it'll be $900 for the additional data.

I originally wasn't sold on the idea, but now that I've been making more progress on my swing I'm beginning to see that the launch monitor doesn't lie (much, at least). When winter started I thought some of the numbers were off a bit indoors, but after making some tweaks on my own and after a lesson last month, I'm beginning to realize the numbers weren't off - my swing was.

Having club path, face-to-path and descent angle (among many other new readings) will be very nice. I'm someone who now tends to get too in-to-out and so that should help me out a bit while practicing.

All that being said, there is a level at which the Mevo+ is less reliable indoors. It seems to be somewhere around 145-150 MPH ball speed. I've found drivers to be less than ideal indoors, but everything up to hybrids seems to be very good.

[Weight Loss Thread]

On 1/24/2022 at 7:22 AM, edingc said:

182.6 this morning (-3 from start).

181.6 this morning (-1 from last week, -4 from start).

I might have seen a little more progress (realistically still within water weight fluctuations) but after doing really well Monday-Thursday had a little slip up Friday. But did well Saturday and Sunday to stay under where I was last week.

I've been eating pretty much the same thing several days a week to help myself out a bit. A lot easier to meal plan only three meals per week rather than something different each day. I'm currently enjoying a chicken and cauliflower rice soup seasoned with Old Bay that I'll eventually get to posting over in the keto cooking thread. Lots of protein and very filling.

[What/How Did You Practice Today?]

Was going stir crazy in the house so I toughed out 29 degrees in the garage to hit some balls this afternoon. I'm out of propane for my heater and UHAUL was so busy this morning I couldn't get a refill...

Struggled a bit with contact until I realized I had started to crowd the ball too much again. Fixed that up and focused on changes from my last lesson with a lot of success.

Hit a few "rhythm" wedges to end the session and really liked the tempo and swing on this one:

 

[Keto Diet Results & Recipes]

29 minutes ago, JFish350 said:

Interesting as I didn't even think an onion or mushroom had carbs or enough for them to make a difference. Typical noob not checking everything. 

I have cut the most normal carbs out now I am wondering if there is anything else I may be missing.  I try my best to track what eat in my Fit Bit app.  Some things are very hard to find as I modify meals. I really don't want to list every single ingredient separately but may need to.  

Thanks for the info. 

I wouldn't sweat the small stuff too much. My wife and I have been keto for almost 10 years now, but that's not to say I haven't eaten some carbs now and then (especially around holidays and such...). I think the key to long term success is having a flexible approach to things - in reality the differences between 20 and 40 carbs is pretty minimal once you've moved out past the first few weeks. But every person is different.

[Keto Diet Results & Recipes]

9 hours ago, JFish350 said:

" you can add onions and/or mushrooms if you are out of induction," 

What am I missing as I haven't read anything about mushrooms or induction.

Yes a Keto noob

Not OP, but generally I believe he is referring to the "induction" period as the initial period in which you are beginning a low-carb diet. I have not read the book but I believe that is a term that comes from the original Atkins diet. 

During the first few weeks of a low-carbohydrate diet you really want to keep your carbohydrates to below 20 grams to help your body transition. Once you have been keto'ing for a while, many people can add back some additional carbs without weight gain. Mushrooms and onions have more carbs than a lot of other vegetables, so they are not always easy to fit into the initial phase of the diet.

[Home "Improvement"]

1 hour ago, Lacassem said:

I’ve heard PT isn’t good for planting because the chemicals can leech into the soil and then in the plants? Not sure how true it is? There was another one I think that was good like cedar, I believe it was fir but that’s tough to come by if you aren’t buying hardwood flooring

Modern PT shouldn't leech anything too harmful, it's the older stuff (like pre-2003) that used an arsenic treating mixture that could leech bad things into the soil.

FWIW, cedar is a great option. I used regular pine 2x8 and am going into year three with mine with no issues. They will rot out quicker, I'm sure. But I have four 4'x20' beds and cedar was going to be cost prohibitive. I did coat each board with a vinegar/canola oil mixture, however. Also, all of the corners use stainless bolts/washers and Strong-Tie connectors instead of screws so I can easily swap boards if needed.

[Weight Loss Thread]

On 1/19/2022 at 7:34 AM, edingc said:

OK, accountability time. I've been lifting heavy and eating to support that since October and the results have been awesome in the weight room and with club and ball speeds on the launch monitor. But now I'm starting to get a little too much of that post-lockdown Bryson look and need to cut off some of the extra fluff that came with the lifting/eating.

I told myself I needed to start getting more serious after my birthday, which was last weekend. I stepped on the scale this morning - 185.6 pounds. This is the heaviest I've been since probably 2014. Late 2019, early 2020 I had gotten down to about 157 pounds. That was about the same time I got my squat rack at home and started lifting. 

Not trying to get back to 157 (that's likely a little too low), but something like 165 without too much of a performance drop would be wonderful. We have a scheduled vacation in July, which is about 24 weeks away. About 22 pounds in 24 weeks seems doable with the right mindset. It helps that, for my birthday, I ate way too many carbohydrates (we are typically keto'ers/low carb - have been for almost 10 years) and am currently retaining at least 2-3 extra pounds of water weight that should disappear quickly.

I'm going to try to make a habit of a Monday update post in this thread. Weekends are the worst for my diet as I get way too loose with what I consume, and by forcing myself to weigh and report on Monday I have some extra motivation to stay within my macros.

182.6 this morning (-3 from start).

As I anticipated, simply going back to a more normal diet resulted in a bit of water weight loss. I didn't really restrict anything besides just eating more normally. This week I'm starting to ratchet the calories down a little and see where it gets me.

[2022 Cobra KING LTDx Driver and Fairway Woods Official Launch]

15 hours ago, GolfSpy_BOS said:

Ah man these look awesome.  Seeing Crossfield talk about it and my beloved Epic Max LS in the same conversation may lead to me trying this guy out.... ah let's be real, I was going to try it anyway!

Initially I was disappointed when I read about the lack of the true infinity face as I personally thought it looked good and really protected the crown vs the often chipped F9's I saw on the used market.  BUT  Looking at these in the address position proves my initial thoughts to be unwarranted.  

I think it looks awesome.  Crossfield said it too I think... but it looks like a Stealth-ier Stealth.  Love what they did at the top end of the club.

I'm have the same feelings. This looks like a very nice release. Really, all of them do this season, but something about the Cobra is drawing my eye.

[What/How Did You Practice Today?]

Back out into a freezing garage for another quick practice session last night. I have been playing with different setups trying to find something that really let me bump into my front hip to start the downswing without so much of my front knee collapsing. 

I found that my front foot flare was getting a little obnoxious (25+ degrees), so I went back to basically 0 or maybe 5-10 degrees of lead foot flare. That helped me post up better on my front side and really improved my low point control. Putting the leg in less of external rotation to start also freed up my backswing more. 

Few clunkers in there (especially with the 4 utility - orange dots below), but my overall dispersion and distance continue to trend in the right direction:

[Weight Loss Thread]

1 minute ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

The body likes carbs and despite what the tv and some experts say carbs aren’t bad and same for fats. The type of carbs and fats do matter and better choices of both are beneficial.

100 percent. At the end of the day, calories matter. Getting proper macros/micros matters, too.

I'm a big proponent of finding whatever works best for an individual's situation. I treat low-carbing as a lifestyle choice and a not a short-term diet. After being overweight for most of my youth and early adult life, getting up to 250+ pounds at one point, I've not been heavier than where I am now in the almost 10 years of being keto, and realistically have inflated numbers due to consuming well over 1,000 carbs in the past week.

[Weight Loss Thread]

1 hour ago, Tiftaaft said:

I will also post each week to communicate my progress.  Thanks again edingc, and wishing you great success in your goal.  

Thank you! Same to you.

1 hour ago, Headhammer said:

It's such a double-edged sword. I totally went off the low carb diet in December and got so strong in the gym and my arms were Yuuuuge, but man my belly got so fat, so fast. Like you, I've lived the low carb life for a long time (20 years), with fall off on holidays only. I think the challenge now is that my body has become hyper reactive to carbs and even a few days off, causes excessive weight gain. I'm back on the diet and have dropped 10 lbs, but as I get older I find it harder and harder to bounce back.

Additionally, I'm getting to that age where my friends are asking when are you going to give it up and just enjoy the rest of your life? My response has always been "Never"! But constantly saying "No" when friends ask if we want to go to the new pizza place, burger joint and BBQ smokehouse is getting old. The fact that my wife goes through a bag of potato chips and a half gallon of ice cream every week only makes life more difficult. My goal this year it to try and have a 4 pack by summer, too old for a 6-pack, and then reevaluate what I want to do moving forward at the end of this year. 

Good luck on your quest!

Yeah, it's been a long while since I've been fully "off," but the carb creep happens too easily. There are very few things I splurge on anymore, but when I'm already eating at maintenance it doesn't take more than a little ice cream, beer and some gummi worms to start things heading in the wrong direction. Lately it's been tortilla chips with chili at our favorite local bar and sushi from the fancier grocery store. Just little things that are really starting to add up.

Glad to hear you've dropped 10 pounds already! I'm hoping for at least five of water weight, but I also recently started taking creatine again and that always causes me to hold on to water more than usual.

[Weight Loss Thread]

OK, accountability time. I've been lifting heavy and eating to support that since October and the results have been awesome in the weight room and with club and ball speeds on the launch monitor. But now I'm starting to get a little too much of that post-lockdown Bryson look and need to cut off some of the extra fluff that came with the lifting/eating.

I told myself I needed to start getting more serious after my birthday, which was last weekend. I stepped on the scale this morning - 185.6 pounds. This is the heaviest I've been since probably 2014. Late 2019, early 2020 I had gotten down to about 157 pounds. That was about the same time I got my squat rack at home and started lifting. 

Not trying to get back to 157 (that's likely a little too low), but something like 165 without too much of a performance drop would be wonderful. We have a scheduled vacation in July, which is about 24 weeks away. About 22 pounds in 24 weeks seems doable with the right mindset. It helps that, for my birthday, I ate way too many carbohydrates (we are typically keto'ers/low carb - have been for almost 10 years) and am currently retaining at least 2-3 extra pounds of water weight that should disappear quickly.

I'm going to try to make a habit of a Monday update post in this thread. Weekends are the worst for my diet as I get way too loose with what I consume, and by forcing myself to weigh and report on Monday I have some extra motivation to stay within my macros.

[1st Time Club Refinishing]

I did something similar to a set of 1967 Wilson X-31s that I picked up at a flea market for $12. Doesn't look like you have any rust to deal with so that's good.

It's going to be tough to remove a lot of those dents/dings. Scratches, yes, but those dents/dings are probably going to require removing/adding material and then at that point you'd be looking a needing a rechrome or a different finish (I think). Pretty sure guys like Flanigan Bilt Putters are actually welding small bits of material back to the club head and then grinding back to factory smoothness.

Doesn't mean you can't get a nice polish, though. I went to Harbor Freight and picked up a polishing drum for an electric drill and some polishing compounds. Started with the brown compound and finished with the green. Results in a much more mirror like finish on the chrome.

Good luck! Look forward to seeing the end results.

[What/How Did You Practice Today?]

Warmed up enough over the past two days to do some more swing work following my Friday lesson. I was able to get the garage up to a balmy 37 degrees both days. 

Working on letting my front side "bump" down the line a bit to start the downswing. I'm working on feeling my front hip stay in a little more to start the downswing, which gets me starting down correctly. Really impressive results when I get it right, no more left hooks and even some fades.

I was thrilled to see some of the ball and swing speeds today despite it being so cold. I can't wait to get out on the course.

[edingc's Work In Progress]

59 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

Very nice!  Going to be awesome by spring!

Thank you! Feeling really good about it right now.

1 hour ago, Shapotomous said:

Looking good!  Did Matt Wolf get his knee dip trigger from watching you??!!  

Hah. It's one of the things I hate about my swing. Not sure when I started doing it but it's totally unconscious at this point.

[edingc's Work In Progress]

I had my second lesson of the offseason Friday morning. Still working on a lot of the same things, but I feel like I'm in a really good spot with my swing.

Keeping things simple, my homework is to feel more of a “reverse C” in my finish. The result of such a feel is that my lead hip bumps a little toward the target to start the downswing while my upper body stays back, which gets my hips rotating less and the face less shut coming into impact.

Couple other minor thoughts are to continue to feel space in my setup (really feeling like I have outstretched arms) and to stop bowing my wrist/holding my wrist angles on the downswing. I had started to excessively bow my wrist in my downswing which also was not helping with my overly shut club face.

Before we started the lesson, I warmed up with a few 8 irons and was happy to see 91+ MPH on the Trackman on some less than stellar swings. I don’t have 100 percent trust in my Mevo+ with club speed so having validation of some decent club head speed was nice to see.

I’ve included some screenshots to show the small differences in my finish positions (and they don't really do enough to show the differences in feel) and then a pretty good example swing from some garage practice Friday after my lesson.

 

[It's a special day today]

28 minutes ago, MattF said:

Please join me in wishing @edingc, @scooterhd2, @gobama84 and my son, Connor (he's15), a very Happy Birthday. Have a great day all!

Thank you!

[edingc's Work In Progress]

15 minutes ago, Getoffmylawn said:

The answer is always new equipment!  

It is! If all factors stay the same, I am leaning toward going for a full bag fitting sometime around the start of July. I have been eyeing some of the more traditionally lofted sets (Hogan PTx Pros, Callaway Apex Pros, Titleist T100s).

My biggest issue is that I'm still able to hit a toe shot with the best of them. I currently like the Sub70s because I lose maybe 10 yards on mishits. But you are correct that I really don't need to hit my irons any longer. While my gapping is OK all the way through my bag, I so rarely have shots of anything longer than 175-180 yards at most courses I play. 

[edingc's Work In Progress]

5 minutes ago, Getoffmylawn said:

Nice numbers.  Your Sub70 699 Pro's...strong or more traditionally lofted?  The 7 iron, for instance...?

I would say they are between the two designations. The 7 iron is 31 degrees, pitching wedge is 45.

In my mind, for a 7 iron, I'd consider 32 degrees to be "modern standard," 34 to be "traditional" and 29 or less to be "strong." On the flip side, for a pitching wedge 46 degrees seems to be the weakest around these days. So 45 isn't much off that.

You've hit on something I've been contemplating lately, whether or not I'd benefit from moving to a more "traditional" or weaker lofted set of irons at some point. For now I'm content (famous last words...).

[edingc's Work In Progress]

On 9/1/2021 at 4:26 PM, edingc said:

The Labor Day holiday pretty much marks the end of my main golf season. I will continue to play at least once a week as long as the weather cooperates, but I'm moving into offseason mode in my training and practice.

As in past years, one of my offseason goals is to continue to get in better shape. I have been working with my Rypstick and also with one of the Rypstick trainers to develop an offseason plan. My hope is to shed a few pounds and add some weight to my max lifts. Between working out and the Rypstick, I want to develop more club head speed.

I got out on the range today to get a general baseline of where I am currently at throughout the bag. I didn't hit every club, but hit the following with my Mevo+ running:

• Driver
• 5 Iron
• 7 Iron
• 9 Iron
• Gap Wedge (50 degrees)

After lightly warming up, I hit seven balls with each club (eight with driver). I removed outliers and took averages from the Mevo+ software. I did not remove any balls from the 7 iron, 9 iron or gap wedge. I removed one smother hook from the 5 iron and removed four balls from the driver that the Mevo+ registered as 5,000-6,000 RPM spin. 

I hit fairly poor quality range balls. My experience with the Mevo+ and range balls is shorter clubs tend to spin less than normal (therefore recording longer carry distances), mid irons are pretty accurate and the driver can be a mixed bag of both. Club head speeds are also a little variable depending on the club and distance from the radar. I'm usually looking at ball speeds and general shot shape.

My honest assessment tells me these carry numbers are a little too high, though I was swinging well today (but slower than Saturday when I had my lesson and did my Rypstick workout before hitting balls).

I will need to repeat this test throughout the winter and next spring to see if I've made any progress.

Revisited this chart/test last night, hitting 10 balls each with the gap wedge, 9 iron, 7 iron and 5 iron. This is not a perfect apples-to-apples comparison as my outdoor testing used range balls, while I was using ProV1x RCTs last night indoors.

Very happy to see ball speeds up across the board. Launch and peak height have also come up some in the longer clubs. I've been playing with ball position in relation to my shoulders and moving the ball back closer to my swing low point has flatted out my AoA slightly and increased the launch on those shots.

I did not hit driver. I have found the accuracy of the Mevo+ indoors with driver to be lacking somewhat and didn't bother.

 

[Looking for experience with TS-1 irons and recommendations on higher lofted wedge heads]

1 hour ago, RollingGreens said:

Is their anything that makes maltby easier or harder to build than other OEMs?

Well, as far as components go there aren't many other companies that you can buy from anymore. Hireko has some stuff available, New Level does heads only and I believe Haywood Golf does as well. Alpha Golf and Wishon also come to mind. If you look around at Value Golf, Diamond Tour or Monark Golf there are a ton of cheap clone components, but as far as original designs go, Golfworks/Maltby are one of very few options anymore.

Build-wise, they typically use a universal hosel bore that accepts both parallel and taper tip shafts so they are pretty simple to build. I built a set of Maltby PTMs (since discontinued) and used them for about half a season (Cobra Connect 4 pushed them out of my bag). I liked them. I ended up selling them for about a third of what I had invested in them ($425 invested / $150 sale price), however. I don't know that I'd pay full retail for a set of heads unless I was set on playing them for a long time.

[Looking for experience with TS-1 irons and recommendations on higher lofted wedge heads]

Is that a milled bottom I see on the TS-4? Wow.

Only complaint looks-wise is that the sole numbers are out of place. Why they'd go with a serif font on the soles but sans-serif on the club badging annoys me more than it should.

[Weight Loss Thread]

8 minutes ago, MattF said:

G'day Bruces! Update time...I'm gaining weight. I've put on 18lbs in the last 6 months and I have no idea how most of that happened.

However, some of it (the last 1.5 months) I've gain about 3lbs because I'm now going to the gym 3 days a week and picking up and putting down heavy crap. I joined Planet Fitness and use their 30 minutes full body workout area where I lift relatively heavy. My son comes as my guest because he finally realises he needs to trim down a bit too.

My question (particularly for @RickyBobby_PR) is how long will my weight go up in muscle gain before the fat loss starts. I'm eating the same as I have been, 1800-2000 calories a day but have now included more protein on lifting days.

Three pounds is well within water weight tolerance, so nothing to worry too much about. Additionally, muscles can retain additional water following strength training as well.

As far as muscle weight goes, optimally novice trainees could expect 2-4 pounds of muscle gain per month, while longer term trainees might only see 1-2 pounds of muscle gain per month or even less depending on how long they have been training.

My recommendation is always to do measurements, or at the very least take pictures, for comparison. It's very likely that you will not see the scale move drastically in one direction or another if you are lifting heavy and eating well. My personal evidence for this is that I've been cycling right around 180-184 pounds since late September while strength training three times a week. I am seeing big changes in how my clothing fits and in the mirror, however.

[Club Champion to purchase TXG]

Yeah, this is some pretty disappointing news given that TXG for me epitomized the ideal combination of professionalism but yet maintaining a good bit of community feel.

All that being said, with Toronto likely staring down continued restrictions I don't know what more the channel could have produced this year that would have been different or new. I really like the content, but so many new releases show such minor improvements over the old that it unfortunately just became a lot of the same results in every video. Found myself really just skipping the majority of the product reviews lately. 

The bread and butter of the channel (for me) would be more fittings, but obviously with the restrictions that hasn't been able to happen. The production value of the course vlogs were also great, but again, not really the original intent of the channel.

Obviously sparse on the details at the moment but I'm sure neither Ian nor Matt made their decisions lightly.

[What/How Did You Practice Today?]

More swinging this weekend. Haven't really been working on anything in particular other than making sure my setup is good. Tweaked my front foot so that it was out beyond my left armpit, which in turn made it easier to launch the ball because my low point shifted to inside of my feet and not in front of it. All of my left misses pretty much went away and I added some more height and carry to my shots.

I say I haven't really been working at much in particular because truthfully my only swing thought lately has been to not really have a swing thought. Just have been swinging using the Mevo+ and foot powder and just doing whatever to get it long and off the center of the club face.

Crappy angle 8 iron and 54 wedge swings from today below.