Just popped over to the Titliest Demo Day last weekend.
Tried mainly the 913D3 on various shafts. Here in SG the stock shafts are different. The four stock shafts are
1. Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana D+ White 72
2. Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana S+ Blue 62
3. Adila RIP Phenom 60
4. Graphite Design BB-6
I tried 1,2 and 3 but didn't try the Adila. Not a fan of Adila. The Diamana's were ok, they didn't quite feel one piece. Feel is important to me. As I have a rather fast tempo, so the shaft must be stable and more one piece. And the shaft mustn't torque/twist too much that I have to slow down the swing to wait for the clubhead to twist back which in turn leads to loss of club head speed. A good way to picture this is like using a ladies club to hit, you have to slow down a hell lot if not the clubhead will still be lagging at impact and you will spray the ball high and right (for a right handed player).
The launch monitor was being used so I didn't get any readings, but looking at ball launch, spin and trajectory help me to decide whether the shaft was good. Tried both Diamana's in stiff, a bit too much back spin, high launch and spray for me. Tried the D+ white in X, was a bit too stiff for me, had to really up the speed to get the same distance, but the X flex reduced back spin and had a lower ball height. Don't think I was flexing the X flex enough to get full benefit.
The BB-6 shaft was excellent. Light and yet stable. Managed to bomb the driver. But the launch was high for me and the Titleist Staff suggested a D1 setting (-0.75 degree) on a 8.5 degree head. This gave me a better loft and distance. BB-6 was really good, great distance without needing such a high clubhead speed. Definitely matches up to the hype surrounding it. And the shaft is rated mid low spin and mid low launch. And the shaft is the original as in the sticker on the shaft says " Clubhead - China; Shaft - Japan". Unlike other brands when the shaft is made for and the production is transferred out of Japan or from the original factory to a generic factory. This combined with the lower spinning D3 head worked for me.
The D3 head is also an excellent head. My friend who subsequently got the 913D3 on BB-6 after this demo, claims that this is the best Titleist Driver since the 975. The D3 head was 445 CC, nice and forgiving. Tried a few heel and toe shots and stills launches the ball fine. Another thing which I really like is the low spin that it gives.
In SG, there is a definite paucity of good fitters or fitters without agendas. So the best thing is to understand the golf swing well, understand the mechanics of things (shaft, ball, backspin vs loft...) then go try out as many shafts and clubs as possible, then go back to the website and see the specs of the shafts/clubs. And wah lah you are your own clubfitter. Don't forget then your swing is affected by mental and physical fatigue and as you improve and practice /or not your physical strength varies, so you know how to club fit yourself and adjust accordingly. If we had great facilities like the USA, then I won't be saying this. In fact quite a number of pros here aren't really into the technical aspect of the game and can't really help to fit you.
In conclusion, 913D3 - super excellent club. The SureFit Tour Hosel independent loft and lie is great, unlike the TaylorMade which is not loft and lie independent. The spin is nice and low. The aural and visual quality of the driver is very pleasing. It comes in 8.5 degrees, although supposed to be a custom order, you do find it in the shops and the shops are very willing to change the head so that you can have your combination of choice for the shaft and clubhead.
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Monday, 8 April 2013
Project X and me.
Project X shafts really suits me. Went to the range and the driver shaft works. So what they claim is true. There is a nice progression from iron to hybrid to wood.
The driver shaft is very excellent. In fact I think the driver head technology has plateaued especially given the fact that the companies have to work within the given restrictions. Now it's the shafts that feature more. This is seen in the number of shaft offerings in the recent years by the various companies, when a decade ago all you got was stock regular, stiff and senior.
Few more considerations for myself is whether to play full 6.0 on the irons, to reshaft my 3 wood and whether to reshaft my wedges. However, the grooves for the 52 and especially the 56 which I use for the bunker seem a bit worn.
Golf is a thinking man's game.
The driver shaft is very excellent. In fact I think the driver head technology has plateaued especially given the fact that the companies have to work within the given restrictions. Now it's the shafts that feature more. This is seen in the number of shaft offerings in the recent years by the various companies, when a decade ago all you got was stock regular, stiff and senior.
Few more considerations for myself is whether to play full 6.0 on the irons, to reshaft my 3 wood and whether to reshaft my wedges. However, the grooves for the 52 and especially the 56 which I use for the bunker seem a bit worn.
Golf is a thinking man's game.
Sunday, 7 April 2013
Putting tips
Just two quick notes about putting
1. Remember to keep the elbows close to the body when putting, but not pressed against it.
2. Keep a light grip pressure when putting to putt soft with feel. (Don't need to use those oversized putter grips to help you loosen the grip, because those oversized putter grips makes you loose feel.)
1. Remember to keep the elbows close to the body when putting, but not pressed against it.
2. Keep a light grip pressure when putting to putt soft with feel. (Don't need to use those oversized putter grips to help you loosen the grip, because those oversized putter grips makes you loose feel.)
Friday, 5 April 2013
Swing Things
A few quick things.
1. The Hip was not moving fast enough or early enough. Thus the hands were rolling over at the crotch rather then opposite the left hip i.e. loss of lag.
2. Need to find the proper slot when loading the club at the top of the back swing. Too upright, too vertical- fade. Too flat - pull and hook.
3. Need to watch the shoulder alignment. Was working on feet alignment, but left the shoulders open which resulted in pull/hook of the ball. (but was actually in the direction of the shoulder alignment)
4. Need to do a pre-swing routine for the driver which incorporates the hip turn in combination with the arm flip.
5. For the initiation of the back swing, need to push with the left hip and bring the club backwards on the line with wrist hinge rather then wrist cock.
That's all folks.
1. The Hip was not moving fast enough or early enough. Thus the hands were rolling over at the crotch rather then opposite the left hip i.e. loss of lag.
2. Need to find the proper slot when loading the club at the top of the back swing. Too upright, too vertical- fade. Too flat - pull and hook.
3. Need to watch the shoulder alignment. Was working on feet alignment, but left the shoulders open which resulted in pull/hook of the ball. (but was actually in the direction of the shoulder alignment)
4. Need to do a pre-swing routine for the driver which incorporates the hip turn in combination with the arm flip.
5. For the initiation of the back swing, need to push with the left hip and bring the club backwards on the line with wrist hinge rather then wrist cock.
That's all folks.
Ball Pick up - E-Z-UP
Been practicing the short game a lot. Finally decided to get a ball pick up for golf. Found out how useful it was for tennis. I.e the Ball Port. It really eats up the tennis balls.
So now with this ball pick up, it can easily gobble up to 80 balls? I have 50+ balls in it now, beyond which it gets a bit heavy and it becomes more difficult to gobble up the balls. Anyway highly recommended to get one. Saves a lot of time and really optimises practice time.
The E-Z-UP is hard plastic with a release button to open the lower hatch for the balls to pour out. Really useful feature. Seen other people use the soft canvas one with the snout. Never used those so can't comment, but the hard case and the easy release hatch for this model is great. However, in the long term use, I hope the hard plastic is of good quality and doesn't become brittle overtime.
But it did seem a bit steep for SGD90 from Transview (Club Pro-Shop), but got it anyway since I was at the club already. But no regrets.
So now with this ball pick up, it can easily gobble up to 80 balls? I have 50+ balls in it now, beyond which it gets a bit heavy and it becomes more difficult to gobble up the balls. Anyway highly recommended to get one. Saves a lot of time and really optimises practice time.
The E-Z-UP is hard plastic with a release button to open the lower hatch for the balls to pour out. Really useful feature. Seen other people use the soft canvas one with the snout. Never used those so can't comment, but the hard case and the easy release hatch for this model is great. However, in the long term use, I hope the hard plastic is of good quality and doesn't become brittle overtime.
But it did seem a bit steep for SGD90 from Transview (Club Pro-Shop), but got it anyway since I was at the club already. But no regrets.
Royal Precision Project X Blue Graphite Shaft
It seems that the Project X shafts works very well for me. First I loved the steel shafts on the iron and they have been very nice to me too. Then I got the hybrid and the Project X Blue hybrid shaft and the same relationship continues. So I pulled the trigger and got the Project X Blue Wood shaft for the driver. Got it at 6.5 based on the this flex chart.
Anyway have been using the 75gram AxivCore Tour Green Stiff and have been bombing that despite the weight. So hopefully the relationship continues. Anyway based the website claims " The Project X Driver shaft has a similar bend profile to Project X Iron shafts" and " The Project X hybrid Shaft's stiffness profile matches Project X Iron shafts and its weight provides perfect transition from iron shafts to wood shafts". So wish me luck.
Will keep you updated after a few range and play sessions.
Anyway have been using the 75gram AxivCore Tour Green Stiff and have been bombing that despite the weight. So hopefully the relationship continues. Anyway based the website claims " The Project X Driver shaft has a similar bend profile to Project X Iron shafts" and " The Project X hybrid Shaft's stiffness profile matches Project X Iron shafts and its weight provides perfect transition from iron shafts to wood shafts". So wish me luck.
Will keep you updated after a few range and play sessions.
Btw, Grip (New Decade MulitCompound), shaft, FCT adaptor and labour set me back SGD290. Also re-did the TPMC irons, cost me SGD69 a piece inclusive of Grip - lamkin Crossline Corded and gave me a $10 rebate cause the fitter could resell the DG S300 which I was replacing.
TaylorMade Penta TP5
These balls are really great. Nice and soft and very much longer then the original Penta. Longer then the V1 for me. Really love these balls. Went and grabbed another 3 boxes from Golf Direct. Hopefully I've got enough balls to last me a year before the next big sale...seems I am always a year behind... Hope the Lethal is this good too...LOL.
More new stuff - Nike Vr Pro Hybrid
Just got new hybrids in Feb. The Nike VR Pro hybrid. Its in the 2011 Golf Digest Hotlist. It got a gold too. Must say its really working well for me. Got it on the Project X Blue Shaft 6.0. Heard it's not the real deal, but a made for. But it works anyway so no problem. Got it from Takashimaya at SGD $139 a piece. Used some vouchers to offset the cost. Nike is up and coming. Just need to see how the new Covert Series perform.
The Nike VR Pro is an old school hybrid, nice and small and yet forgiving. Don't like the big volume hybrids which look more like a wood. Anyway, with the proper shaft, am hitting it miles further then the Cleveland Mashie. (poor thing gets retired.)
Got the 2 - 18 degree and 3 - 21 degree hybrid. Works really well for me, very very happy. But remember with any new club, you have to run it in. Took about 60 + range balls before I started hitting well with the hybrid.
Woo hoo!
The Nike VR Pro is an old school hybrid, nice and small and yet forgiving. Don't like the big volume hybrids which look more like a wood. Anyway, with the proper shaft, am hitting it miles further then the Cleveland Mashie. (poor thing gets retired.)
Got the 2 - 18 degree and 3 - 21 degree hybrid. Works really well for me, very very happy. But remember with any new club, you have to run it in. Took about 60 + range balls before I started hitting well with the hybrid.
Woo hoo!
Saturday, 16 February 2013
Golf Direct
This is a useful place to save a bundle on golf. If you have time should pop in once in a while to check what they have on consignment which they are selling at a great price. They tend to bring in different specs of the parallel imported stuff.
Got a Adidas Golf bag from them at SGD99. Great buy. Further the Golf Bag cover is of the thick material not the thin ones that will get torn by the irons banging against them.
Got a Adidas Golf bag from them at SGD99. Great buy. Further the Golf Bag cover is of the thick material not the thin ones that will get torn by the irons banging against them.
2013 - Out with the old
With the new launch of the 2013 Pro-V1 and Taylormade's Lethal ball, the golf shops are unloading their stock of last season's golf balls.
Initially was worried about getting balls at a good deal, because Pro-V1s and TP5 at full price or at the usual discount is not worth it. Got 2 boxes of Pro-V1 at SGD55 each. Then got another 2 a SGD52.5 each. Now TP5's are going at SGD49 each. Got 6 of those. Now it seems I've got 10 boxes at home now. LOL. But that should last me a year till next year's end of series sale. Got 6 boxes of the TP5 because the Penta's work well for me. Pro-V1s give a bit more side spin. My Bud loves it because he really loves to work the ball.
Initially was worried about getting balls at a good deal, because Pro-V1s and TP5 at full price or at the usual discount is not worth it. Got 2 boxes of Pro-V1 at SGD55 each. Then got another 2 a SGD52.5 each. Now TP5's are going at SGD49 each. Got 6 of those. Now it seems I've got 10 boxes at home now. LOL. But that should last me a year till next year's end of series sale. Got 6 boxes of the TP5 because the Penta's work well for me. Pro-V1s give a bit more side spin. My Bud loves it because he really loves to work the ball.
Just some thoughts on my swing
Just realised what I had been doing wrong. Using the Burner 2.0, it has a more upright lie and was crouching over the ball a bit. Now standing more upright, the club comes back to impact better. But have to be less upright when using the wedges. My hybrid is more upright too, so that's ok. But the driver is less upright. So it seems it is best to get a set with all the same lie. Because even with a good clubfitter, he can't do much with the lie of the club. If I am not wrong, just couple of degrees either way max.
Another thing is to remember to extend/ release the club head towards the target and not to turn too early. A drill to do is to practice low punch shots to get the feel. Also need to do this with the chip and running and not bring the club up too early like the flop shot.
One more thing is that I was rolling the wrists or cocking it too early but doing a sort of forward press thingy, rather then an even take back with the cocking of the wrists at the about the 9 o'clock position. Sort of what Leadbetter wants you to feel when using the swing setter. Also at address the butt of the club should be just at the left of the zipper and no forward press of the arms.
Another thing is to remember to extend/ release the club head towards the target and not to turn too early. A drill to do is to practice low punch shots to get the feel. Also need to do this with the chip and running and not bring the club up too early like the flop shot.
One more thing is that I was rolling the wrists or cocking it too early but doing a sort of forward press thingy, rather then an even take back with the cocking of the wrists at the about the 9 o'clock position. Sort of what Leadbetter wants you to feel when using the swing setter. Also at address the butt of the club should be just at the left of the zipper and no forward press of the arms.
Monday, 4 February 2013
More swing things
On the range now. Another thing which I discovered which I will quickly add in here. Noticed that on the swing finish the shaft was bumping the back of the shoulder/deltoid. This is due to hit and quit, not enough forward extension on the follow through. Supposed to hit through and let the weight of the club and moment of the swing carry the club round in a bigger arc.
Yet another thing.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Product Review - InsideApproach
The Inside Approach is a great training aid. Fully recommend it. Bought it off my Pro before he left.
Agree with this comment made. It's a training aid and doesn't teach you the golf swing. You might even compensate and come too far in or create other movements to compensate. But it does give good feedback to you to understand what an inside approach feels like. What I like to do is to combine it with a folded towel placed behind the ball, about a foot, depending on the length of the club you are using. This allows you to keep the lag and hit the divot after the ball.
So highly recommend you get one.
It's basically plastic and foam that's made in China, so you're paying alot for it. But then again so is music.
Two reviews of the Inside Approach from Golf.about.com and Intheholegolf.com.
And a YouTube review of it.
Basically quite comprehensive reviews of the training tool.
"Of course, they haven't really cured their slice until they can take that new swing and repeat it consistently on a golf course. But it's an impressive display of the effectiveness of the tool in getting golfers to re-route over-the-top (slice-inducing) swings. And there's no doubt that regular work with the Inside Approach - 15, 10 or even 5 minutes a day over time - can help eliminate a slice and produce a good swing."
"Of course, they haven't really cured their slice until they can take that new swing and repeat it consistently on a golf course. But it's an impressive display of the effectiveness of the tool in getting golfers to re-route over-the-top (slice-inducing) swings. And there's no doubt that regular work with the Inside Approach - 15, 10 or even 5 minutes a day over time - can help eliminate a slice and produce a good swing."
Agree with this comment made. It's a training aid and doesn't teach you the golf swing. You might even compensate and come too far in or create other movements to compensate. But it does give good feedback to you to understand what an inside approach feels like. What I like to do is to combine it with a folded towel placed behind the ball, about a foot, depending on the length of the club you are using. This allows you to keep the lag and hit the divot after the ball.
So highly recommend you get one.
More Swing things
Three more things that I found out while practicing again.
1. Loose wrists when putting. Need to maintain loose wrists when putting, this will help distance control when putting and this would be really useful for really fast greens.
2. For the pitching, I need to hinge my wrist more and takeaway more, especially with the hips to load the hips. And need to use more hips for the swing. Also the hips and the arms have to be in unison and coordinated. Further the wrists need to be hinged till impact and then released back to neutral (and not do a full release).
3. For the irons, I need to maintain the lag till impact. This will allow me to hit the divot after the ball. Must try to improve hitting the ball before the ground. My divot is moving forward, albeit slowly.
Anyway Good Luck for my golf game tomorrow.
BTW bought 2 boxes of Pro-V1s at SGD55 each.
1. Loose wrists when putting. Need to maintain loose wrists when putting, this will help distance control when putting and this would be really useful for really fast greens.
2. For the pitching, I need to hinge my wrist more and takeaway more, especially with the hips to load the hips. And need to use more hips for the swing. Also the hips and the arms have to be in unison and coordinated. Further the wrists need to be hinged till impact and then released back to neutral (and not do a full release).
3. For the irons, I need to maintain the lag till impact. This will allow me to hit the divot after the ball. Must try to improve hitting the ball before the ground. My divot is moving forward, albeit slowly.
Anyway Good Luck for my golf game tomorrow.
BTW bought 2 boxes of Pro-V1s at SGD55 each.
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Still the same faults
Golf can be really testy at times. Still trying my best to get rid of the old faults.
1. Left shoulder opening too early. Have to add a few points to the earlier post. 2 more points that I find affect it. First being the head is not lateral shifting enough in the back swing, i.e. not loading the backswing properly and this results in a cast and left shoulder open to bring the club back in plane. The second is the alternative way of looking at the second. The hands on the down swing aren't inside out enough and it also results in the left arm pulling in too fast. Such that at the 9 o'clock position the club is too far left and pointing the left of the target. And this is in part affecting the shoulder.
2. Tempo still very bad. Need to slow my backswing at the top and not have that jerk. And also to delay the release of the club head. It's a weird feeling to describe but it feels like you have to slow down. But the body some how knows to speed up after that and you end up with a higher club head speed and hitting further. This is assisted by the hip turn.
3. Not turning the hips fast enough. Recently have been using more upper body, and you know it because you start to sweat more as more energy is required. So if the hips come into play earlier, there will be more power with less effort. Realised it thanks to this website Lock and Roll tennis. Check out the monkey drum video and also the lagging video. Very much like tennis is golf. But please note for golf the shoulders stay square until after contact, whereas the shoulder opens earlier in tennis. Maybe that's why I am opening my shoulders, too much tennis recently. So today on the range, just spinned the hips and it gave me more distance, less sweat and sort of improve the shoulder spin. Prevented the shoulder spin because the hips move out of the way so the arms and drop vertically then hit an in to out.
Such is Golf.
1. Left shoulder opening too early. Have to add a few points to the earlier post. 2 more points that I find affect it. First being the head is not lateral shifting enough in the back swing, i.e. not loading the backswing properly and this results in a cast and left shoulder open to bring the club back in plane. The second is the alternative way of looking at the second. The hands on the down swing aren't inside out enough and it also results in the left arm pulling in too fast. Such that at the 9 o'clock position the club is too far left and pointing the left of the target. And this is in part affecting the shoulder.
2. Tempo still very bad. Need to slow my backswing at the top and not have that jerk. And also to delay the release of the club head. It's a weird feeling to describe but it feels like you have to slow down. But the body some how knows to speed up after that and you end up with a higher club head speed and hitting further. This is assisted by the hip turn.
3. Not turning the hips fast enough. Recently have been using more upper body, and you know it because you start to sweat more as more energy is required. So if the hips come into play earlier, there will be more power with less effort. Realised it thanks to this website Lock and Roll tennis. Check out the monkey drum video and also the lagging video. Very much like tennis is golf. But please note for golf the shoulders stay square until after contact, whereas the shoulder opens earlier in tennis. Maybe that's why I am opening my shoulders, too much tennis recently. So today on the range, just spinned the hips and it gave me more distance, less sweat and sort of improve the shoulder spin. Prevented the shoulder spin because the hips move out of the way so the arms and drop vertically then hit an in to out.
Such is Golf.
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
Happy New Year - swing faults don't go away overnight
Hi all. Back to the range after the busy holiday period. Still the same few swing faults.
1. Still have the left shoulder spinniness. This could have be a combination of tennis and my old swing. Results in a slight pull and cut. Accompanying this error, not sure if it is caused by it or just an end result of it is that the arms don't come down vertically. (the first movement; bum of hips and the arms dropping while maintaining the wrist hinge) The arms then pop out a bit and contributes to the in out swing and possibly lends to casting. The early spin out of the shoulder also upsets the delayed head position. And because of the aroundness of the swing, its impossible to swing on the proper plane to get the correct 'extension'. Without extension, you are unable to accelerate the club properly after impact with the ball.
Crap.... it seems golf is a cascade of things which may or may not be linearly linked. That's why at times a lot of the swing mistakes are not correctly fixed, cause the error corrected is in the middle of the cascade rather then the root or start point of it.
2. Second error is still a fundamental problem of mine. It's the swing tempo. The metronome helps and counting off ' one thousand , two thousand' definitely helps. Maybe should really consider getting the orange whip. Will talk about this training aid another day. Apart from the tendency to swing fast and spin out and throw the club head, I have this jerky thing. I usually do a nice take away to the top, but at the top of the swing I tend to push back a bit more to get the swing going. This is a problem that I a slowly eradicating. Whats so bad about it? That quick jerk tends to change the swing plane cause the motion is not consistent and also results in shoulder tilt or shoulder rotating. And because the jerk is a load up tension type of jerk, it causes me to throw the club head with the resultant loss of lag. It also causes the swing arc to be smaller and tighter too, not what you want.
So that's that. Here's to a great year of golf ahead and great swing!
1. Still have the left shoulder spinniness. This could have be a combination of tennis and my old swing. Results in a slight pull and cut. Accompanying this error, not sure if it is caused by it or just an end result of it is that the arms don't come down vertically. (the first movement; bum of hips and the arms dropping while maintaining the wrist hinge) The arms then pop out a bit and contributes to the in out swing and possibly lends to casting. The early spin out of the shoulder also upsets the delayed head position. And because of the aroundness of the swing, its impossible to swing on the proper plane to get the correct 'extension'. Without extension, you are unable to accelerate the club properly after impact with the ball.
Crap.... it seems golf is a cascade of things which may or may not be linearly linked. That's why at times a lot of the swing mistakes are not correctly fixed, cause the error corrected is in the middle of the cascade rather then the root or start point of it.
2. Second error is still a fundamental problem of mine. It's the swing tempo. The metronome helps and counting off ' one thousand , two thousand' definitely helps. Maybe should really consider getting the orange whip. Will talk about this training aid another day. Apart from the tendency to swing fast and spin out and throw the club head, I have this jerky thing. I usually do a nice take away to the top, but at the top of the swing I tend to push back a bit more to get the swing going. This is a problem that I a slowly eradicating. Whats so bad about it? That quick jerk tends to change the swing plane cause the motion is not consistent and also results in shoulder tilt or shoulder rotating. And because the jerk is a load up tension type of jerk, it causes me to throw the club head with the resultant loss of lag. It also causes the swing arc to be smaller and tighter too, not what you want.
So that's that. Here's to a great year of golf ahead and great swing!
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