Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Driver reviews of specific Brands over the last five years or so can be very informative. Performance seems to fluctuate up and back, not in a linear ( upward) manner that the marketing departments would have us believe. It is entertaining to look at You Tube reviews when the products are first released and then when subsequent models arrive, the early model is considered in a less flattering light. Some models seem to have a cult following , like the Taylor Made M2 .
I was looking for an adjustable Driver for a project I had in mind , to make a fade biased tee shot. I came across a couple of Nike Vapor Fly Speed Drivers on Face Book Market Place, one with Regular flex and the other Seniors A flex shaft. Being relatively new to golf I didn’t know Nike made golf equipment, so I consulted old reviews from 5 years ago. It seemed that it was considered a suitable Driver for my skill level.
My review
1) It sounds good
2) high flight trajectory ( good for my swing speed 85-89 mph)
3) Adjustable for face angle ( closed/ neutral/ open) and Loft 8.5 to 12.5 degrees
4) Shafts; regular shaft seems light but stable. A-flex is a bit too whippy( dispersion was erratic) .Outcome.
45.5 inch regular shaft Set at 10.5 open face with 10 gm lead tape in the toe it is a fade biased ” weapon” for me
Initially I was going to sell off the loser of the shoot out , but the A flex has found a place in my wife’s bag, cut down to 44.5 inches ( swing weight C5? ) set at 12.5 , closed face.2 users liked this post.
High handicappers lack consistent ball striking skills. Once they develop that skill, then it is time to develop a repeatable swing plane. That is, the player can hit a ball roughly where he is aiming. First with a few clubs, then with most, and finally the Driver!!!
Maybe playing with equipment that is easy to master. How often do you see golfers with old gear that doesn’t suit them / or isn’t forgiving of off centre hits? ( e.g. 8 degree Drivers when they swing at 85 mph tops)
After that all the stuff others wrote above applies.
1 user liked this post.
We might as well be in lock down stage 4 today. Hail , high winds and heavy rain hit the SW coast of Victoria. I expect our course will be under water now.
1 user liked this post.
I played a quick 18 hole practice round yesterday. Quick because another cold front was approaching. Our winter to date has been more like Autumn ( light rain/ sunshine) and the golf courses maintained their firm to semi -firm fairways. The front arrived at 10.50, 5 minutes after I had finished.
Two steps forward.
1) I added 10 gm weight to the toe of the Nike Vapor Speed driver ( set at 10.5 open) and presto, a nice controlled fade shot emerged. Yes!!!! I hit it on several tees with a much improved accuracy/ no over fading or staying left.
2) Using my single length Hybrids, I worked on approach shots for GIR. Not surprisingly my 140m club ( 25 degree ) is the most accurate, but the 22 and 19 were not that bad. The soft greens are making the 19 stop, especially if I fade it in.One Step back
1) The lead weight sheet held with bituminous aluminium gutter tape flew off at hole 7. More lead tape on order. It has been suggested that blue tack over the lead tape helps keep it in positions. Any other ideas?1 user liked this post.
I was thinking that getting short sided in situation where I have to get up over a steep verge to a close pin position and not much roll out on the green to another bunker or steep verge on the other side, would require a high chip with the LW.
When it works it is great, but I found it either didn’t go far enough ( too much finesse) or hit near the pin with too little spin and rolled off. Normally I do use lower loft bump and run shots, but I was trying to get a handle on the LW. Tried and failed. if in doubt I have been running that shot up with my single length hybrid using a putting style stroke. A poor shot is better than the LW poor shot.understand
When trying the lob it pitch shot, the technique is a little different and precision needed more.
Maybe find a couple vids on the types of shots and see it that may help you get more confidence in the shot.
Try a hardpan lie over a bunker to short side pin. With water over green!! 🙂
No thanks! I would probably chip sideways, so I had more green to run the ball up to the pin. Two shots for sure, versus how many for the hero shot method? Last time I tried the hero shot I went from one bunker into the opposite bunker and back again. Luckily I was playing solo, so no witnesses.
I watched a video of Golf Sidekick having a lesson for the Lob shot in Malaysia. The lady coach was very informative.
agree with madam
if you practice the lob shot shot form off hardpan, you will learn to use the bounce angle on the SW or LW to good effect,
then sand shots and soft fluffy lies will be easy.
if practice hard to play easyMuch of the success in lob and pitch shots is confidence. hardpan will separate the men from the boys!
I have a 4 degree bounce LW I use in summer for hard pan lies. it helps.
1 user liked this post.
I was thinking that getting short sided in situation where I have to get up over a steep verge to a close pin position and not much roll out on the green to another bunker or steep verge on the other side, would require a high chip with the LW.
When it works it is great, but I found it either didn’t go far enough ( too much finesse) or hit near the pin with too little spin and rolled off. Normally I do use lower loft bump and run shots, but I was trying to get a handle on the LW. Tried and failed. if in doubt I have been running that shot up with my single length hybrid using a putting style stroke. A poor shot is better than the LW poor shot.understand
When trying the lob it pitch shot, the technique is a little different and precision needed more.
Maybe find a couple vids on the types of shots and see it that may help you get more confidence in the shot.
Try a hardpan lie over a bunker to short side pin. With water over green!! 🙂
No thanks! I would probably chip sideways, so I had more green to run the ball up to the pin. Two shots for sure, versus how many for the hero shot method? Last time I tried the hero shot I went from one bunker into the opposite bunker and back again. Luckily I was playing solo, so no witnesses.
I watched a video of Golf Sidekick having a lesson for the Lob shot in Malaysia. The lady coach was very informative.
I broke 80 for the first time today. I am one happy golfer!
Two steps forward
1) I broke 80
2) I putted really well today
One step back
1) I am still trying to master my new Driver to get consistent fade shots off the tee. They are either not fading, or too much.Well played sir, it seems all your effort is finally paying off. To break 80 is not really a goal of mine as I seriously doubt my golfing/physical capabilities would allow for that achievement, but well done to you fella. I gather your 16.3 handicap is a tad lower by now??
Thanks.
Unfortunately it was a social game, so it doesn’t really count towards handicap/ competition wins etc. In Victoria all competition is banned to reduce Corona Virus transmission risk, but out in the sticks we can still play social golf ( wearing masks) in pairs.
For me breaking 80 was a personal goal. I wondered if I could do it and got close a few times . My game is far from great, but yesterday the putter worked well, the tee shots were reasonable, my approach shots got close and my short game got the ball close enough to one putt a few times. I think you call it hitting a purple patch; possibly never to be repeated.i was following Golf Sidekick’s 666 philosophy of aiming at getting 6 GIR pars, 6 up and down pars and 6 bogeys, or 5 and one double to break 80. I was thinking the fogging up of my mask/ spectacles might be a positive when putting maybe!
I think I have solved the spectacles fogging up when wearing a face mask.
We used to use a solution called ” Clear Dip” by Butler when I worked in dental surgery. It kept the mouth mirror clear of fog and also my spectacles. It isn’t easy to source. It works.
An alternative idea I heard of but haven’t tried yet is to dip your lends in a weak solution of pure soap and let it dry. I have some Lux flakes ( pure soap) so I will give this a try. The flakes dissolve in very hot water. You can also use this idea as a lube for changing motorcycle tyres, rather than buying tyre grease.
Another option I saw on Face Book is to fold a facial tissue in on both edges to reduce the width, then fold it over in thirds. The idea is that you line the bridge of your nose with the tissue and overlay the mask to hold it in place.I tried it and it works, especially with fabric home made masks.
No I am still fogging up! Darn.
i redesigned my cloth mask using a 10 mm wide strip of Aluminium sheet ( 1 mm thick) . I doubled it over and stitched it in the upper mask margin. It maintained the shape that conformed to my face better. I will report back if it passes the golf test.
I was thinking that getting short sided in situation where I have to get up over a steep verge to a close pin position and not much roll out on the green to another bunker or steep verge on the other side, would require a high chip with the LW.
When it works it is great, but I found it either didn’t go far enough ( too much finesse) or hit near the pin with too little spin and rolled off. Normally I do use lower loft bump and run shots, but I was trying to get a handle on the LW. Tried and failed. if in doubt I have been running that shot up with my single length hybrid using a putting style stroke. A poor shot is better than the LW poor shot.Another 18 holes practice session. I worked on the fade shot off the tee. I am using two Drivers. One set up for Draw and the other fade. I scored 84
Two steps forward
1) After trial and error I started to get a reproducible small fade shot off the tee. If it didn’t quite work, it was a straight shot slightly left of target line.
2) The few draw shots off the tee worked well., allowing me to hit them with confidenceOne step back
1) Chipping today was poor. I was trying to use the LW to work out an flaw. I think I have got it now, but the chips were either short/ long or left/ right of target.
2 users liked this post.
My purple patch of form didn’t last long. I played 9 holes this morning with a friend.
No warm up, just straight into it. The tees have been moved up about 10 m behind the forward tee position, probably to allow the back tee area to recover from recent overuse. This has been done on several holes, making approach shots with shorter clubs easier.Two Steps forward
1) I am more confident in my shots and making less mistakes in course management= more pars.
2) Tee shots with draw shape are more reliable and have increased distance.One step back
1) Other than I scored 43, which is normal for humans to do ( vary +/- up to 10 shots) my tee shots using a fade style shot were directionally challenged. Some went down the centre and faded too much, others went left and didn’t fade at all. Needs work still.
Next to try: aim just left of centre and close the club face a tad more.1 user liked this post.
I broke 80 for the first time today. I am one happy golfer!
Two steps forward
1) I broke 80
2) I putted really well today
One step back
1) I am still trying to master my new Driver to get consistent fade shots off the tee. They are either not fading, or too much.Well played sir, it seems all your effort is finally paying off. To break 80 is not really a goal of mine as I seriously doubt my golfing/physical capabilities would allow for that achievement, but well done to you fella. I gather your 16.3 handicap is a tad lower by now??
Thanks.
Unfortunately it was a social game, so it doesn’t really count towards handicap/ competition wins etc. In Victoria all competition is banned to reduce Corona Virus transmission risk, but out in the sticks we can still play social golf ( wearing masks) in pairs.
For me breaking 80 was a personal goal. I wondered if I could do it and got close a few times . My game is far from great, but yesterday the putter worked well, the tee shots were reasonable, my approach shots got close and my short game got the ball close enough to one putt a few times. I think you call it hitting a purple patch; possibly never to be repeated.i was following Golf Sidekick’s 666 philosophy of aiming at getting 6 GIR pars, 6 up and down pars and 6 bogeys, or 5 and one double to break 80. I was thinking the fogging up of my mask/ spectacles might be a positive when putting maybe!
I think I have solved the spectacles fogging up when wearing a face mask.
We used to use a solution called ” Clear Dip” by Butler when I worked in dental surgery. It kept the mouth mirror clear of fog and also my spectacles. It isn’t easy to source. It works.
An alternative idea I heard of but haven’t tried yet is to dip your lends in a weak solution of pure soap and let it dry. I have some Lux flakes ( pure soap) so I will give this a try. The flakes dissolve in very hot water. You can also use this idea as a lube for changing motorcycle tyres, rather than buying tyre grease.
Another option I saw on Face Book is to fold a facial tissue in on both edges to reduce the width, then fold it over in thirds. The idea is that you line the bridge of your nose with the tissue and overlay the mask to hold it in place.I tried it and it works, especially with fabric home made masks.
No I am still fogging up! Darn.
1 user liked this post.
I broke 80 for the first time today. I am one happy golfer!
Two steps forward
1) I broke 80
2) I putted really well today
One step back
1) I am still trying to master my new Driver to get consistent fade shots off the tee. They are either not fading, or too much.Another 8 a.m. start for 18 holes. I am getting as much golf as I can, just in case our Illustrious Leader decides that rural Victoria needs to go to stage 4 lock ( no golf/ board up your windows). I started playing with a lady club member off the forward tees. It makes the course completely different. Today I was trialing a new Driver set up for fade. In their wisdom, authorities have closed all our practice areas, so I had no opportunity to work out the new Driver. I played the back tees on the last 9 holes.
Two steps forward
1) I got the Nike Vapor Speed driver to work eventually, hitting several ‘ mini-power” fades in the 190-200 m range. This is about 20 m further than my other Driver when fading.
2) I was getting good approach shots to hit the green todayOne Step back
1) short putt misses by two. I hate three putting.
1 user liked this post.
A practice session yesterday in kind weather conditions, between cold fronts.
I started off hitting three balls off the tee, using Bogey Golfer’s idea to see which club suits each hole. I hit 4W first, then my GX-7( 3 wood) and then Driver . It was a bit of a fizzer of an idea as I wasn’t hitting well enough to make it valid. To make it more game like I scored the rest of the hole with the 4W ball. Score 86. ( 7 pars ;much better, 10 bogeys, 1 double on hole one again)
Two steps forward
1) My alignment for tee shots got a good work out. It became obvious that my push right shots are due to poor alignment now.
2) My decision not to carry the 3W as a back up Driver was re- inforced.
3) I know more than two, but this is important ( to me anyway). My approach shots misses were equal in all 4 directions ( long, short, left, right) rather than mostly short. I found out what happens when you hit a 19 hybrid from 160 m out with a little wind assist onto a downhill slope. Answer: 172m and a LW shot back on ( too short) and 3 putts for a double bogey.One step back
1) While my line reading has improved, my putting speed control lead to three putts that rolled up to the lip and stop short=3 putts on three holes. When the putting area is open again, I will try to correct this . Mutter , mutter stupid ” rules” when a sign saying one player at a time would have worked .2 users liked this post.
I would say , ” He’s Back!” Well played.
I’ve definitely found with golf that every game is a new adventure and you can go backwards at any time
But I hope so – want to get back to singles
So, I can tell my wife I am going to play Adventure Golf ! I like it.
1 user liked this post.
