Picked up this beauty from a golf forum member used.



This one is a mid/high launch compared to my old Aldila Rogue Silver which is lower launching. I just wasn't hitting it high enough.

Came in at 3/8" shorter than mine which is slightly surprising but shouldn't be a big deal.

The real shocker came when I swung it on the 1st tee and the grip twisted (was loose). Didn't feel it on the range at all. Guess I swing a touch harder out on the course.

$8 later I have a new grip and will be trying it out tomorrow.

So......

After getting the club regripped again I take it out to play. Very first swing on the range the grip slips again. Now I know this is a 3 wood shaft that someone extended and the extension is not glued in properly.

I get home and cut off the grip, confirmed. I measured the length of the shaft and it's exactly TaylorMade 3w length. I was planning on getting the M1 3w at some point, now I just need to move that timeframe up. Found a used head for $160 and just bought it.

Tried both the M1 and M3 drivers...nice club, but didn't really give me any more length or control than my Jetspeed driver...so no point in pulling the trigger.

Jetspeed spins way more so if you don't launch the ball high enough or high enough swing speed then it will go farther. Did you hit the 12* M2?

I hit whatever M2 he gave me!

Driving the ball is my bread and butter - I'm good at it. I'm a long hitter, especially for my age, but I just wanted to try out the new Taylormade's for the hell of it. So I had a fitting at Golf Galaxy and we did a series of swings with:

My stiff flex Jetspeed 9.5 loft. (It was set to less than standard loft, however)
M1 reg flex set to mid range on both sliders 9.5
M1 stiff flex set to mid range on both sliders 9.5
M2 stiff flex 9.5
M2 reg flex 9.5

I made 5 swings with all 3 clubs.

My avg. spin rate was in the 3000s with both the M1 and M2.
With the Jetspeed, it was 1400.

My avg. length:

Jetspeed: 151
M1: 148
M2: 152

My longest drive was with the M2 at 162. The Jetspeed was 2nd at 158.

Because I'm in my 50s now, I tried the reg flex as well as the stiff flex, and the pro recommended I stick with the stiff, as my swing speed rates on all three stiff clubs were still in the sweet spot. So there was no reason to switch to reg flex yet. I do tend to swing hard and fast.

Played around some with the sliders on the M1...didn't seem to do much for my swing.

The pro (who doesn't get a commission on club sales) was surprised that my spin rate on the Jetspeed was lower than with the M1 and M2. He tried my club and liked it, but got a much higher spin rate than me.

I guess I just hit that club well. I hit all the clubs well, but with big difference between them, why spend the money?

And I'v never had a driver with a slider before...not sure I'd like it...just one more thing to think about lol.

I also tried the M2 fairway wood and liked it...I'm thinking of retiring my Burner 3-wood and getting that.

I will say I plan to go back and try the clubs again...hard to get a real feel for a club with just 5 swings.

Hit both of them in 10.5 and 12* as well when you go back.

Unlikely 1400 is your regular spin rate: http://blog.trackmangolf.com/trackma...ge-tour-stats/

What the heck is 12*??

I don't know...the pro was a little perplexed why my spin rate was lower with the Jetspeed than the new clubs. I just know I didn't hit the new clubs demonstrably better than my Jetspeed...and that's the whole point, right?

But I will go back and try again with a 12*...whatever that is!

12 degrees sorry.

Zero reason to buy a new club if you don't hit it better that is for sure.

Gotcha...I think 12 degrees is too much loft for mw...I tend to hit a high ball to begin with, and I like the roll I get with my 9.5. But maybe I should try out the 10.5, just in case.

Anyone have any good shoe recommendations if I'm not looking to buy the most expensive thing out there?

Ecco

Loft isn't created equal across all drivers, I went from an 8.5* vrs tour to a 11.5* SLDR and they flew very similarly, so it doesn't hurt to try the higher lofts.

You may even find you've been compensating in your swing to launch the lower degree driver how you want and be able to fix that paired with a higher degree driver and hit it further.

This, I went from a 9.5 R7 to a 12* SLDR to a 10.5* R15 and they all launched and looked about the same.

love my Adidas gripmore 360 soft spikes. I think I got them for under $50

I have something similar to this. I think mine are Adidas Boost 360 or something like that. Found them at a golf store in NYC for around $50, about the same price as I could find online.

lol love my Eccos, but they were not cheap

I've been getting fit for a new driver through my swing coach and hit a bunch before getting some good results with the M1. I had two set ups (same ball, same Kuro kage shaft):

9.5*, std loft, weight set in front, no bias
10.5*, loft adjusted to 9*, weight set in front, no bias

I was getting more ball speed (averaging 163mph vs 155mph) and lower spin (1900 v 2300) with the second setup - is that expected? I was a little concerned that adjusting the loft would mess with the face angle.

Lofting it down 1.5* will open the clubface 4*. Do you usually draw/hook the ball or pull it?

going from 10.5 to 9 will open the club face. I don't think it is a 1 to 1 ratio though.

And one post above is the answer to how many degrees.

I do the same thing with my sldr hybrid, drop the loft 1.5 and that helps with my left misses. Not the best idea if you fight a slice.

There is no reason for you to have that much difference in ball speed though. Either the launch monitor is suspect or more likely you didn't hit the center of the face with one of them.

I believe on the M1 it's:

0.5* - 1*
1* - 2*
1.5* - 4*
2* - 4*

Going down is open, up is closed.

I fight a hook but that's been pretty leveled out after working it this winter. I brought the club back and hit a 9.5 again and saw better speeds - I'm thinking it just might have been poor contact or the 9.5 demo might have been damaged (there were dents in the crown)

i've decided to get my swing back on. i shut it down about 4 years ago after shooting 80-80-80 over a weekend and left thinking I was finally going to break 80 that year...and then proceeded to go 97-96-97 in my next three rounds.

I haven't played since.

i'm an shut-in and lazy, so i'm going to build a practice center in my backyard instead of going to the range.

picked up this cage



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o02_s00

and am also looking (again) at synthetic grass for a putting green/chipping area.

lolololol, syn grass is freaking a joke expensive and i haven't even looked at SYNLawn yet (the peltz stuff).

so, a couple questions. Does anyone have a decent mat recommendation? i'd like to look at something moderately priced and also a high-end with replaceable inserts so that I can pop some sod in there from time to time.

also, has anyone ever hit off SYNLawn at a practice facility? If so, your thoughts are appreciated on it as well as any other syn grass you have experienced.

I want to do about a 600 sq ft. green and have another 1200 sq ft or so of surrounding area that I would cover also if the prices weren't such a joke.