jdshilling

Boy, this a topic for me - I don't like to change balls, or to change clubs, but I seem to be always trying new grips. I don't use a glove - all these grips seem fine on the clubs they are on - but I would not say they would work on other clubs. All my grips are standard size - Lamkin Sonar Tour, grey on my Driver and 3W. - the top of the grip was too wide and dug in to my hand, so I used a belt sander and ground it down to a reasonable diameter. Golf Pride CPX, grey on my 4W and 6W - I hated these on my Driver and 3W, but they seem fine on these shorter clubs - weird. Pure DTX, white on my irons and wedges - these are my favorite - they are very grippy, maybe too much grip for the faster clubs. Iomic ABSOLUTE, orange on my putter - Have used this for 5 years or so. They get 'gummy' forcing me to change them, maybe once a year - I clean them often, sometimes during the round. They have such a good tacky feel and the diamond pattern is perfect - also, the shape and size fit my hands well. So, that is it, 4 different grips for me.

BostonSal, Six months ago I could have written your post. I feel your desperation, I know your frustration. I was just not able to fix my driver, due to what I felt was the size and length - but I was wrong. It was much more what you are sensing. It is a different setup, different aim, and different swing - It just took me years to put it all together. Took several PGA lessons - that didn't fix anything. Talked to scratch golfer friends - they were no help. Tried several small heads, and have a basement full of strong 3 woods and mini-drivers, TM, Callaway, Wishon, which I hit fine, but ... I would never played more than a 44 in driver - thinking it was a length thing. I even have some drivers with steel shafts thinking that it was a weight thing. - Nope. Like you, I don't struggle for distance, my 3 wood is out their with the other guy's drives. But I always kept trying to go back to my driver and it would work for a short time, then end, in a flameout of mostly hooks of death. My fear of hitting the driver was so high that I knew I must do something more. Here is what finally worked: I used a. alignment rod, stuck it it in the ground 10 to 15 ft in front of me, on my line. It was very clear that I was visualizing the target to be left of that line - Step 1. retrain my eyes so that they know where to aim when I am standing so far away from the ball. I then realized that my normal swing was not optimal for the driver and made some modifications. First, I really try to swing with my lower body. I think I get away with a more upper body dominated swing with my irons, but it just caused havoc with the driver. Second, I swing what feels 'low' when I go back, then I try to only swing up. While this feels short, it is likely not, and it is a very simple swing. Third, I really try to feel my hands and make sure they are flowing through the ball and up, not around. Fourth, I bought some face impact stickers and use them all the time. Hitting the center of the driver face is the most important thing, as missing it causes your ball to go off line! These changes have allowed me to move back to a 45 in driver, Callaway Epic Max LS, and I am hitting the ball a mile without hardly trying. Of course that is key, I can manhandle my 3 wood - hit punches, hit high cuts, hit draws, but I don't do that with the driver. I just aim straight and it either slightly fades or draws, whatever, I don't care. My confidence is back, I am bombing it, and loving that my driver now goes 40yds farther than my 3-wood and my 3-wood is still out there with the other old-fart golfers. I am 58 and a 7 handicap. Was an with my driver woes.

I was always a good chipper but James Sieckmann's short game book really helped me get to a level of confidence I really enjoy now. People I play with now comment on how I make it look so easy. So that is cool too. Of course I flub up sometimes, that is just golf, but I know it is my skill and not my technique. There is no magic in the book, but rather a feel descriptions that resonated with me and may resonate with you. I will also plug his putting book, which is really really good. It is much more focused on measuring your putting and improving your weak areas and not just practice your strengths. My testing showed me that I was good at everything except putts that broke right - through the measurement techniques he walks you through it became clear that I was pushing my putter head to the hole... Not to hijack your thread. I do recommend the James Sieckmann short game book to many people I golf with, especially the young ones. His book intro, how he had his short game all wrong when he was a touring pro and then he caddied for his older brother, who played with Seve were very valuable. If you keep practicing poor technique, you may not get as good as you would hope.

Right now it is not really easy to purchase a mini-driver. Wishon has one and the Callaway Mini-Drivers on eBay go for a pretty penny. Having something with modern face tech and weight ports would be welcome by a lot of fitters and golfers. JD

All great advice but fitting a golf ball to give you the lowest score possible is not a simple problem, thus you can't apply best practice solutions. It is a complicated problem - this means that all the rules are known, but as the forum responses state, it is not simple - Here is an example and my recommendation: If you put a lower spin ball in play you may lose too much spin on your driver and while the ball will go straight, it will fall out of the sky too soon and not go far - this will result in you either swinging up more on the ball, or swinging harder, resulting in the ball going more off line. This may not happen if your driver has significant loft. My recommendation - just try a bunch of balls and see which ones give you the desired results. Low spin is really only known on chips and pitches - after that you will notice that different people see different results. For example, if you compress a 2 piece soft ball a lot, it will spin a lot - Yet one more variable to consider - very likely the Q-Star tour is a nice compromise of not too much spin because of its softness for 90-100 mph driver swingers. If you swing at 115 mph, that ball will be unpredictable, as it becomes over compressed. I say all this because I was in your boat, trying to find that perfect blend of speed and spin to maximize distance, and limit the big miss. My youtube research lead me to the facts above. I tried about 6 different 2 piece balls and ended up staying with my Snell MTB Black - it did everything well and I have to just man up and get better to not hit it off the planet one or two holes a round. Here is the video that helped me the most: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3qqf5uhDXU - Mark Crossfield fully tests 5 Srixon balls - Z-Star, Z-Star XV, Q-Star Tour, Q-Star, and the Soft Feel - I was blown away when the SoftFeels had huge spin when Mark hit them with a 7i - All the balls had similar spin on the driver!