I need to get on a Trackman -- I feel like my driver trajectory is too low and sub-optimal.

I know the feeling, ha...its the first really nice driver I've splurged on.

Just want to make sure I wrote it correctly, but its actually the opposite (to me it seems counter intuitive as well.)

From everything I've read, when you RAISE the loft, you are CLOSING the club down, and when you LOWER the loft, you are OPENING it up. Just wanted to clarify so you didnt mess with it and wonder why certain things were happening.

I also got the 21 degree TM hybrid from last year with the loft and face angle adjustment, and adjusted it to 22.5 and closed the face down. I went to the range with it this weekend, and for the first time in my golfing career, I feel like I can hit a hybrid with my normal swing. Always been told that hybrids and fairway woods should be a sweeping motion, but that goes against my swing in a lotta ways, as I am steep and like to hit down on the ball. I was using a 3/4 swing and really hitting the hybrid high with a very nice ball flight...using the ES12 monitor, it seems my carry distance was in the 215 range, with a high of 228 and a low of 197...which I am very happy with.

I know its mostly preference, but I have not been disappointed at all with TM woods. The one club that really interests me is the Callaway Golf- X Utility Prototype Iron. Looks like it sets up similar to a 2 iron, but with some heft behind the clubface to get the ball up easier. I saw it at the PGA show, and the club looked really sexy.

Anyone try it?

On friday I will, together with two friends, golf at PGA of Catalunya north of Barcelona, close to the town of Girona. Ranked #1 in Spain and #3 in Europe. Im pretty psyched. We'll play Stadium Course and Tour Course combined 7 times. Anyone been there?

Got a bit of a side-question but I didn't want to start a separate thread on this:

Say my avg PW goes 135ish and my avg 8i travels around 160ish (fairly decent yardages for the clubs)

If I can only carry my Driver 260, would that suggest that my Driver setup is sub-optimal?

I'd say either your driver is suboptimal, or your irons are tweaked down 3 degrees or so.

I hit my PW/8i about those yardages (a bit further with the 8i maybe), and fly my driver 280-290.

Heh, those are about my distances too, and I only carry my driver ~240.

This may be helpful:



Personally for me, a stock PW is around 130 yards and 8 around 155, both are TM MB's. When I got fit for my RBZ driver, my carry distance averaged in the mid 260's, maxing out around 280 if I really launched it perfectly (~105ss, 14ish launch, 2300ish spin). In daily play I probably hit it closer to the 260 number in the air pretty consistently.

So depending on the iron you're playing, I would say you are maybe slightly sub-optimal with driver, although not hugely so.

ETA: I should add a caveat to the chart. Not all Tour players are trying to max out yardage. For various reasons (launch window, accuracy, etc) they may be playing a driver that isn't optimal for pure distance, so the average is brought down some.

Yeah - my irons are def weaker loft than most. I think PW is 48* and 8i is 40*

Cleveland TA1 irons, fwiw

I'm in the same fat-boat. I feel like I can't get out of my own way anymore. I put on about 20-30 lbs in the last two years. It definitely makes my swing more around myself instead of being able to keep everything as connected as I'd like. I don't know if I'm describing this properly, but I could definitely take advantage of getting back to where I used to be.

I don't really hit it shorter, but I feel it's almost a completely different swing with a new set of mistakes to be made that I'm not used to and have trouble correcting on the course.

bump

Nchabazam is thinking your irons would be stronger not weaker.

Do you hit down on the ball pretty pretty steep? Most likely you do, and therefore you compress your irons really well but that swing is suboptimal for your driver. Do you launch it low with a lot of spin? Try moving your driver ball position up and really feel like you are catching it up the upswing, this should help you launch it a bit higher with less spin resulting in more carry.

Interesting chart. My average driver clubhead speed is about 116-118 and my average spin is probably high 2000s/low 3000s (accounting for poor contact). 22-2300 on solid swings with my R11s and custom shaft.

I definitely swing a little smoother with my short irons. I'd guess if I tried to murder a 47 deg wedge I could hit it about 142-143. 8 iron maybe closer to 170. I simply can't swing soft at a driver (not trying to massacre it, just not swinging at the same tempo as my wedge, ever).

UC, I'd get fit for a driver... it's a world of difference.

It'll also be interesting to see how far I hit this 3w I bought in reality. The last 2 I hit on the monitor were 298 and 299... I think the longest I ever hit a driver on that thing was 315. 3w was set to 14.5 for both those shots.

Might be the year I just ditch the driver and score better if these 3woods are as hot as I'm made to believe. Tour spoon 1 time?

I'll just have to get on a Trackman and figure out what the hell I'm doing.

Played Augusta on a ProTee yesterday at a friends place, +6 front, + a billion back nine. was fun though.

Anyone know where I can find software to design courses for the ProTee, could be fun to make something that kind of resembles our home course.

What "fake" grass would be for a practice green for outside use, for pitching?

Joined a local country club yesterday and I am officially kicking myself for not having done so years ago. Totally in love with the level of service and atmosphere. I'm self-employed and often have dramatic swings in my schedule so I often am sitting at my desk on a random weekday and realize I have nothing that has to be done that day.

I mentioned that to the pro and his response "call us first, but unless we have an outing, which will be on the calendar and almost always on Monday, we'll get you out there. Worst case we'll jump in a cart and drive you over to the 11th tee and you can play in from there if that's where there's a gap in the groups out there." If that plays out in practice I'll be in heaven. Very excited about this season.

Yeah, it's a great luxury to have. Enjoy.

Country Clubs are the most +EV thing you can do if you can afford it.

The little extra money you spend is worth not having 5 hour rounds. Also -- other members tend to be better about repairing ballmarks, divots, raking bunkers, etc.

Also great for business if you are in the right industry.

How much is "little extra?"

I guess it's relative but I have a great arrangement.

Since I'm under the age of 30, I pay about $150 a month in dues with no initiation fee.

Obviously there are plenty of places that are super pricey but there are a lot of deals out there too. It's also a good time to explore joining because courses have little leverage / shrinking memberships and you might be able to negotiate a hard bargain.

Yeah a lot of the courses here in Dallas area that used to have 4 or even 5 figure initiation fees, now have $0 initiation fee.

Check out "public"/"daily fee" courses too. Sometimes they'll have memberships/annual plans.

Lol yeah I'd jump on one at that price. Maybe I need to start looking...

Any specific recommendations? I live up in Garland/Richardson. Firewheel is in my backyard but the membership is like $270/month and it tends to get crowded on weekends so I wouldn't really gain anything.

Wow, these are Private and not semi-private places?
Surprised to hear they're so cheap.
No brainers at that price point.

I should clarify Firewheel is a muni, although it's definitely on the nicer side of munis.