Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures!

[scomac2002]

This shouldn't even be posted here, but you're my peeps so here goes. The title says it all. This is the depth of desperation I have been reduced to in an effort to rediscover my swing and a bit of confidence. A full SGI style bag for me with gawd forbid a square driver, offset fairway wood and high lofted hybrid. The six iron is the strongest lofted iron, all with graphite shafts too. It's embarrassing! Everything is out of inventory.

 

 

 

 

 

The driver belonged to my son, but he could never hit it. Neither could I for that matter until I got this silly idea to choke down on it oh about 2". It took a while to figure out tee height and where to put the ball in my stance, but it seems to want to go straight from a neutral set-up with a strong trajectory in spite of my modest swing speed.

 

I cut the club down this morning to play at a finished length of 44.5" and installed a mid sized Perma Wrap grip. I'll pick up some lead tape tomorrow in case I need to weight up the head for feel. It's as ugly as sin and sounds even worse. The kind of sound that makes people stop and look up at the range. The ultimate toaster on a stick! :bad:

 

Forgive me brothers and sister for I have sinned a great sin, but I am weak and have been tempted by the dark side. We'll see where this path leads...

[Davewn]

Any port in a storm, as they say. Good luck- I know that helpless feeling when one's swing mysteriously goes away! On the bright side, you didn't walk into a golf store and lay out $1500 for your experiment...

[scomac2002]

True that, but I've often thought that having an abundance of choice was never in my best interests in terms of building consistency and confidence. I remember last fall when I put my vintage sticks away it took me a full month to get used to playing moderns again with comfort and confidence, but the season was over by then! I'm not sure that it helps that I do my own club work. That led to this experiment that likely wouldn't have happened otherwise had I needed to blow $30 for a grip and the labour to get the work done. We'll see; nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[LeoLeo99]

I miss that driver! BOOOOOONNNNNNG

[gsea33]

I would play any of those clubs except the Nike driver, that would embarrass me. I do hope it works for you, good luck.

[scomac2002]

I miss that driver! BOOOOOONNNNNNG

 

You're right! That describes it perfectly. I'm now playing the Bong Show! :fool:

[Hot Rod 71]

The I-25s are hardly SGI, so you can feel a little better about that. They G-25s are PING's SGI model.

 

Sometimes we have to turn a blind eye to what looks best and go with what performs best.

 

Good luck!

[scomac2002]

I would play any of those clubs except the Nike driver, that would embarrass me. I do hope it works for you, good luck.

 

Oddly enough there are about a half a dozen guys at my club that still have square Nike drivers, either the Dymo, the Sumo or the Machspeed. You certainly know when the're on the course! That's probably where I got the idea from! :rolleyes:

[ScooterMcTavish]

Very nice modern-ish set Sco. We play for enjoyment of the game, so I hope playing these bad boys gets you some confidence back.

 

I remember when I had my Wilson Staff Spine driver - the thing was tinnitus inducing, especially at indoor practice facilities.

[oldschoolrocker]

It ain't nothing but a thang, whatever keeps you out on the course and in search of truth, justice, and greens in regulation works for me.

Remember, nothing is permanent, so during this time of swing and soul searching enjoy the game. Please do not feel like you are turning your back on the fellowship.

In my opinion the only "dark side" to this game is chasing distance for distance sake.

[dennis4190]

As I've said before, the only thing that matters is what's written on the scorecard at the end of the day. Hit em good...

[Ironmaster Oddities]

If they help you rekindle the desire to play, then have at it.

To quote that revered mid 20th century Philosopher, Popeye the Sailor, "I yam what I yam". I love classic clubs. But I Don't seem to have the game for them anymore. I have been searching for a functional swing for several YEARS. I play Titleist irons and a King Cobra Driver and hi-brids that are probably less than ten years old

But, thanks to a series of lessons from from my new guru, Brandon Heck, I am starting to see major progress. Nothing major for some, but huge for me.I was at the verge of giving up playing altogether. Now there is a light at the end of the tunnel...hopefully not the headlight of a train.

"Progress, not perfection".

Uncle Bob.

[Fellaheen51]

Last time I checked, the title of this thread included the phrase "Classic Golfers". We sometimes loose sight of that fact in or discussion of of all things vintage. That it does transcend beyond simply playing old(er) clubs. So play whatever brings you confidence, restores some mojo, makes you happy. There are no sins and no apologies necessary Certainly not to this crowd that empathize with your temporary struggle. Not as if the Pings are 'chopped liver' and kinda like the SQ driver. Probably be a classic someday.

 

FWIW and by way of support, the i20's are back to being played with some regularity, 6 - GW. A 27* hybrid AND a 23*. An older Titleist D that I can hit straight, just not especially far. And a modern 5 metal that I try and hit it straight, off the deck, maybe 190 yards tops (with A+ contact). The only thing classic at the moment is a BH SW. And things are improving. Last time I checked, no points were awarded or subtracted from score based on the implements used.

 

As Uncle Bob aptly stated......"Progress, not perfection". Perhaps time for a solo round to work on some things in a relaxed fashion. Always liked the inner dialog rounds, by myself, helps with getting the head right. Where it all starts.

[Nomad Golfer]

Hate to rain on your parade scomac but it's not an uncommon mix.

[Yrrdead]

I want one of those Drivers for match play. I figure making my opponents deaf should help.

[NRJyzr]

I certainly can't say much. For a round in the rain the Friday before Memorial Day, I put my Eye2+ set in the bag. Wound up shooting a 79 (as a 9 hdcp) in the precipitation. Kept them in the bag for the weekend, shot a 77 three days later. Since I was scoring moderately well, relatively speaking, have kept them in the bag ala the advice from Crash Davis in Bull Durham; as I am playing well, I shall be "respecting the streak." ;)

 

The irony being, I was shooting approximately the same scores the two weeks before the round in the rain, using my Ram TG-898 set.

 

But, I'm respecting the streak.

 

My hdcp has continued to drop, I've dropped it over two full strokes in the last month.

 

Golf is a funny game.

[Kathy Marie]

Scomac, I agree with Fella--no sin exists & no apology is necessary. I'm glad you have the skills and inventory to put a bag together that helps you find your game again! :)

 

Play on, My Brutha!!!

 

 

:wave:

 

 

Kathy

[Nomad Golfer]

I want one of those Drivers for match play. I figure making my opponents deaf should help.

Would you like to borrow my Adams Super S driver and industrial grade earmuffs?

[Nomad Golfer]

scomac, welcome to the not_stuck_in_the_groove_club

[scomac2002]

Wow! Thanks for all the supportive and reassuring words! :hi:

 

Strangely enough that crazy sack of hammers doesn't look all that out-of-place in the bag what with the matching colourways of red and yellow. I never noticed that until I took a picture of it and then looked at it in more than passing. :crazy:

 

In hand the driver is fine; good and solid on contact. (Conversely, there is a set of square fairways that came with it and they feel like crap!) Even the sound isn't that off putting now, but maybe it's a case of it's better for the operator than the bystander. Centre contact doesn't hurt either! It's just trying to get used to that bloody huge head when addressing the ball. The rest is fine as it's just the same as countless other bags you might encounter on any muni on a Sunday afternoon.

 

The real test is in how this will play out on the course. Priority one is to get a result off the tee that isn't continually in some sort of trouble; trees, rough, etc. that would allow for a normal second shot instead of some sort of manufactured shot to deal with obstacles. Lately if I manage one hole a side that plays for me the way it was intended is about par for the course.

:hunter:

I'm not sure how much golf I'm going to get in, in the next three weeks as we have a wedding coming up, but I will keep you all abreast here.

[yaquigrande]

Sorry guys posted to the wrong thread.

[birly-shirly]

And why not??? I play an R1 when my handicap is at stake. It's not square, I'll grant you, but it's white and adjustable. I've played my last few rounds with a set of 2, 3 and 4 hybrids and the longest iron is a 5, which would probably be your 6 iron anyways. And I've had both Eye 2s and i3s out on the course, and the sky didn't fall in.

 

Surely the lesson round these parts is to find what works, and what gives you pleasure and not give a hoot what the bag looks like.

[jonnygrouville]

My only competitive golf these days is hickory, so have a pencil in my hand maybe twice a year. Can't help with these issues, but slumps I know.

 

First port of call is grip pressure so will dial that down a notch and see if it makes a difference.

 

Then ignore the score. Try and hit the fairway. Then try and hit the green. Then try and hole the putt or get up and down. Have fun on each shot.

 

Focus. Have nothing in your head but trying to get it out of the sweetspot. Nothing else. Just hit it well.

 

Finally get out there with a half-set of the rustiest clubs you own and have fun.

 

 

[scomac2002]

As promised, the updates:

 

Nine holes this afternoon with the usual suspects. First of all I should start by saying that I had a good feeling about today; may as well start with a positive attitude! I started well and ended well with pars to bookend a mixed bag of tricks in the other seven holes. Coincidentally the toaster delivered the results on both holes. Ball striking wasn't great, but I managed to score at +8, in spite of the fact that I only managed two fairways and one GIR. The winners of the day were the Cobra Baffler 7W and Nike 58° wedge, in fact today was the best wedge day I've had this year as I made a couple of really nice touch flops to stick it close. Didn't really make anything of note with the flat stick, but felt like I had good weight and a confident stroke.

 

The weather was perfect and the course while full wasn't slow so a good rhythm was achieved. I was actually surprised that our round took 2 hours as I felt as though we were never waiting and pace of play was brisk. So, a really solid step in the right direction. An improvement over the previous Friday in spite of having a few new clubs in the bag. I'll stick with this for now because in the immortal words of Crash Davis: Respect the streak! One game does not make a streak, but the trend is in the right direction so that's good enough and i still need time to adapt to the new arrivals. May go again Friday; we shall see.

[Nomad Golfer]

scomac, what ball are you using?

[scomac2002]

scomac, what ball are you using?

 

A ratty old Noodle. Why do you ask?

 

FWIW, I have a brand new double dozen of WS Elite 50's that I have yet to bust open. Up until today I've been going through way too many balls with errant tee shots.

[Nomad Golfer]

Just curious about the ball.

The 50's are a good ball, think you will like them.

[scomac2002]

Shhhhssshhh......... Be vaiwy, vaiwy quiet......... We don't want to scare off the juju...... :ninja:

 

Shot 3 over for my nine hole outing today mixing in 2 birdies, three pars, three bogies and a double. That equals my best score ever over nine holes! :yahoo:

 

Only one really bad shot on the round. My iron play, short game and putting delivered the result. Still fighting the hooks with the driver, but learning to play the big sweeping draw to keep the ball in position.

 

Physically I feel fine. Took an Aleve before I went. Iced following the round. Fingers crossed, but hopeful for the event next week.

 

For Nomad: I played a Callaway Diablo Hex Tour today. Seemed to work. ;)

[TimV]

For scomac...

LOL! :golfer:

[scomac2002]

I suppose I deserve that.... :tomato: