Ok. So what can I say, I love to try different golf stuff. It's an expensive "hobby" but I really enjoy it. Over the years, I have gone through a few sets of irons, a few drivers, tons of putters, various woods and hybrids. What's great about this "hobby" is that I get know what I really like and what I don't like from real world experience on a golf course and not in a simulator. Fortunately, eBay is there to help me out with some new stuff and used stuff. I highly recommend eBay if you're into trying different products... it'll save your wallet. But, be forewarned, there are a lot of fakes on eBay and you have to be very careful on what you are bidding on. Fortunately, I've been lucky and avoided fakes. There is a lot of information on the internet and on eBay to help you avoid getting suckered.
From my experience with various "hardware", I've come to find some commonalities. For example, I REALLY like Mizuno irons. I've used Ping, TaylorMade, Callaway, and Mizuno is hands down my favorite. IMHO, they just have the best feel. For drivers and woods, it's all Ping for me. I've used Mizuno, TaylorMade, Callaway, and Ping does it for me. But, it's not all Ping drivers. I'm a huge fan of the G2/G5 and not so much a fan of the Rapture. The Rapture is really long off the tee, but I like the lively response of the G2 or G5. I haven't tried the G10 (yet), so I don't have any opinions of it.
Anyway, here's what I bag currently looks like:
Ping G5 Driver w/ Aldila NV 65g stiff shaft, Winn PCI Hybrid grip
Ping G2 3-Wood w/ Aldila NV 65g stiff shaft, Winn PCI Hybrid grip
Cleveland Halo Hybrid w/ Dynamic Golf stiff shaft, Golf Pride Decade grip
Mizuno MX-23 irons 4-PW, Dynalite Gold S-300, Golf Pride Decade grip
Cleveland CG10 black pearl wedges, 52 deg, 56 deg, 60 deg, Golf Pride Decade grip
Odyssey Black Series #1 putter, GolfMaster Tour Leather Stitchback grip
Titliest x77 bag
This has been a great set-up for me. I've really enjoyed using this combination. Well, I've decided to change it up a little bit. I've been in the market to buy a second set for guests to use when they come visit Vegas and we end up going golfing. While looking at what deals I could find, I thought of a few of things:
1. Why waste a couple hundred $$$ on an older decent set?
2. Why waste a couple hundred $$$ on a crappy new set?
3. I really love Mizuno and think others should give them a try. After all, everyone who has hit my irons have fallen in love with Mizuno. They sell themselves!
So, I decided... I'm going to get myself a new set of irons and use my current MX-23's as my guest set. Mizuno should give me commission because I know they will acquire some new customers. I decided to upgrade my irons from Game Improvement irons to Player's irons. With my new instructor and the disciplined practice I'm putting in, I figure I can grow into them.
Here's the transformation... everything is ordered and I'm just waiting for them to arrive:
Ping G5 Driver (carryover)
Ping Rapture Hybrid w/ Aldila ByYou 80g stiff shaft - 18 deg, 21deg, (24 deg?)
Mizuno MP57 irons 4-PW, Dynamic Gold S-300, 2 deg upright lie adjustment
Cleveland CG10 wedges (carryover)
Odyssey Black Series #1 putter (carryover. Although, I just purchased a new Scotty Cameron Studio Select Newport 2 putter. We'll have to see how it compares as I really love my current putter)
Mizuno 2008 Omega III Cart Bag
I'm looking forward to trying out my new set. If they hit anywhere near as good as they did in the simulator, I'm stoked!
YEAH BABY!
Showing posts with label Ping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ping. Show all posts
Friday, June 20, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
What is up with my golf game?!
So, I've been golfing on and off since I was a kid. When I picked my game back up a few years ago and made the conscious decision to stick with it, I knew it would be an uphill battle trying to get back to how I used to play. After all, I took about 10 years off from the game of golf. One of the first things I did was to buy a new set of clubs. I tried a few different types before I decided that Mizuno irons were the way to go for me. Previously, I was using Ping, then Taylor Made irons, and Mizuno's had the best feel I've ever experienced with with any irons - hands down.
Next it was onto a woods, wedges, and a putter. I won't bore you with the details, but I bought and sold several drivers, 3-woods, wedges, and putters and here's what I finally ended up with in my bag:
Mizuno MX-23 Irons - S300 DG Steel, Standard Lie, Standard Loft
Ping G5 Driver - Aldila NV-65 stiff shaft
Ping G2 3-wood - Aldila NV-65 stiff shaft
Cleveland CG10 wedges - 52, 56, 60
Odyssey Black Series putter - Orange Gripmaster Tour Laced grip
What a great set! Over the past few years, my game has improved significantly. I dropped my handicap from 30+ to 14.6. This set gave me confidence.
Last year, I decided to take some lessons from Gary Knapp out at Lake Las Vegas, I took a couple lessons from him, then my work schedule got really crazy, and the rest of my lessons expired. :( But, from these couple lessons, I learned how to fix a couple of bad habits I had developed.
Anyway, in the past few months, my game has turned south. I've been really inconsistent. My best 9-holes was +1 at Mountain Falls Golf Club in Pahrump and my worst was +18 (ouch!) at Reflection Bay Golf Club at Lake Las Vegas. Unfortunatly, in the past few weeks, my score has been going up and not down. Some days my ball contact was great, other days... not so much. But, on all days, I haven't been scoring well. After this past weekend, I decided that I needed help, and I needed it bad. After all, I'm the self-proclaimed Chief Golf Officer at Zappos and I had better play like one, otherwise I'm going to have to strip the title from myself.
First things first... I needed to find a coach. I thought about going to my old coach Gary, but with all the problems that Lake Las Vegas has been experiencing, I wasn't sure how stable they would be if I bought a lesson package. Then I decided I would talk to Greg Stafford at Siena Golf Club. I've seen his results with a fellow Zapponian and it was impressive.
Second thing... I wanted to make sure that the equipment that I thought was so great for me was really right for me. I've been doing a lot of research online about custom fitting and everyone recommends getting custom fitted regardless of their skill level. I've always kinda been against this as I felt that one should change their swing to hit a standard set-up of clubs (more on this in a future post). But, I gave in and decided that I would head over to Golf Galaxy here in town to get my clubs looked at. You know... when things aren't going well, I begin to question everything and my clubs were no exception. Was I using the right shaft? Should I be swinging a regular shaft vs a stiff shaft? Is my grip too small for my hands? Should I use a shaft that has more/less torque? Are my clubs too long/short?
On my way to Golf Galaxy, I passed by a GolfTEC. I had heard of these guys before while reading various forums online, but didn't really know much about them. I decided to stop in.
It turns out that GolfTEC is actually a learning facility with a variety of services (including golf club sales). I was greeted by Tim Sam who is their Director of Instruction. After a few minutes of chatting, I decided to take him up on his offer for club fitting.
GolfTEC is pretty cool. During my club fitting, Tim had me put on these harnesses around my shoulders and around my waist. These harnesses had sensors that could monitor and report back various settings - i.e. shoulder turn, hip turn, shoulder angle, etc... These harnesses plus the 2 video angles are recorded so you can see your swing immediately. Additionally, they show your swing compared to a variety of PGA pros, which is really cool. After an hour, Tim tells me my results. From my swing speed, I'm actually between a regular shaft and a stiff shaft. The length of my clubs were right for me, but I did need to get my lie bent 2 degrees upright because the toe of my club was hitting the ground first prior to ball contact. Tim recommended that I get my clubs bent and that I stick with the stiff shaft and work on my swing (which needed help) to increase my swing speed.
Overall, GolfTEC club fitting was a very cool experience and I would recommend it to any golfer who hasn't been fitted yet. Tim, from GolfTEC, is really cool and seems to genuinely want to help me with my game. He gave me some information about getting instruction from GolfTEC and their rates. At first glance, I went "Ouch!" inside. It was not cheap at all. I decided to head home and think about it. However, I did decide to schedule an initial evaluation session to get a better feel of GolfTEC.
Next it was onto a woods, wedges, and a putter. I won't bore you with the details, but I bought and sold several drivers, 3-woods, wedges, and putters and here's what I finally ended up with in my bag:
Mizuno MX-23 Irons - S300 DG Steel, Standard Lie, Standard Loft
Ping G5 Driver - Aldila NV-65 stiff shaft
Ping G2 3-wood - Aldila NV-65 stiff shaft
Cleveland CG10 wedges - 52, 56, 60
Odyssey Black Series putter - Orange Gripmaster Tour Laced grip
What a great set! Over the past few years, my game has improved significantly. I dropped my handicap from 30+ to 14.6. This set gave me confidence.
Last year, I decided to take some lessons from Gary Knapp out at Lake Las Vegas, I took a couple lessons from him, then my work schedule got really crazy, and the rest of my lessons expired. :( But, from these couple lessons, I learned how to fix a couple of bad habits I had developed.
Anyway, in the past few months, my game has turned south. I've been really inconsistent. My best 9-holes was +1 at Mountain Falls Golf Club in Pahrump and my worst was +18 (ouch!) at Reflection Bay Golf Club at Lake Las Vegas. Unfortunatly, in the past few weeks, my score has been going up and not down. Some days my ball contact was great, other days... not so much. But, on all days, I haven't been scoring well. After this past weekend, I decided that I needed help, and I needed it bad. After all, I'm the self-proclaimed Chief Golf Officer at Zappos and I had better play like one, otherwise I'm going to have to strip the title from myself.
First things first... I needed to find a coach. I thought about going to my old coach Gary, but with all the problems that Lake Las Vegas has been experiencing, I wasn't sure how stable they would be if I bought a lesson package. Then I decided I would talk to Greg Stafford at Siena Golf Club. I've seen his results with a fellow Zapponian and it was impressive.
Second thing... I wanted to make sure that the equipment that I thought was so great for me was really right for me. I've been doing a lot of research online about custom fitting and everyone recommends getting custom fitted regardless of their skill level. I've always kinda been against this as I felt that one should change their swing to hit a standard set-up of clubs (more on this in a future post). But, I gave in and decided that I would head over to Golf Galaxy here in town to get my clubs looked at. You know... when things aren't going well, I begin to question everything and my clubs were no exception. Was I using the right shaft? Should I be swinging a regular shaft vs a stiff shaft? Is my grip too small for my hands? Should I use a shaft that has more/less torque? Are my clubs too long/short?
On my way to Golf Galaxy, I passed by a GolfTEC. I had heard of these guys before while reading various forums online, but didn't really know much about them. I decided to stop in.
It turns out that GolfTEC is actually a learning facility with a variety of services (including golf club sales). I was greeted by Tim Sam who is their Director of Instruction. After a few minutes of chatting, I decided to take him up on his offer for club fitting.
GolfTEC is pretty cool. During my club fitting, Tim had me put on these harnesses around my shoulders and around my waist. These harnesses had sensors that could monitor and report back various settings - i.e. shoulder turn, hip turn, shoulder angle, etc... These harnesses plus the 2 video angles are recorded so you can see your swing immediately. Additionally, they show your swing compared to a variety of PGA pros, which is really cool. After an hour, Tim tells me my results. From my swing speed, I'm actually between a regular shaft and a stiff shaft. The length of my clubs were right for me, but I did need to get my lie bent 2 degrees upright because the toe of my club was hitting the ground first prior to ball contact. Tim recommended that I get my clubs bent and that I stick with the stiff shaft and work on my swing (which needed help) to increase my swing speed.
Overall, GolfTEC club fitting was a very cool experience and I would recommend it to any golfer who hasn't been fitted yet. Tim, from GolfTEC, is really cool and seems to genuinely want to help me with my game. He gave me some information about getting instruction from GolfTEC and their rates. At first glance, I went "Ouch!" inside. It was not cheap at all. I decided to head home and think about it. However, I did decide to schedule an initial evaluation session to get a better feel of GolfTEC.
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