Froth's Bag of tricks and random old stuff. (updated 9/02/14)

[Froth]

[quote name='Benoit Desjardins' timestamp='1382061466' post='8019109']
I was wondering.. What is your preferred ball flight ? Keep up comming with updates!
[/quote]
My "Stock" shot is a draw, but I really enjoy working the ball both directions so I wouldn't say I really have a preferred ball flight. Depending on the situation I will work the ball either way.

[quote name='Sean2' timestamp='1382064884' post='8019453']
Froth, I remember when you first joined GolfWRX. I believe I was the first one to "greet" you. Your bag, the stuff you do with your equipment, and your game, has been a lot of fun to follow. Keep up the good work.
[/quote]
I still remember it, you were definitely one of if not the first. I love to tinker with stuff, and it's nice to see that doesn't go without people noticing. If I had a rational way of typing out the thoughts I go through with my swing and the changes I have made with it over the past couple of months...that would be a several hundred page thread of only my own posts, but that stuff only makes sense in my own head. Hell, half of it doesn't even make sense in my head. Eventually though, I know I'll get back to where I once was in my teens. The biggest change I've made is working from the ground up, and I have seen the greatest benefits from that as well. There's an extremely expensive Simulator about two hours from where I live that has pressure point mapping of the pressure you apply to your feet during the swing...and two minutes in that simulator taught me more about my swing flaws than weeks of hitting balls ever could.

[deck]

Still loving the salty grip?

[Froth]

[quote name='deck' timestamp='1382068566' post='8019765']
Still loving the salty grip?
[/quote]
Without a shadow of a doubt. Both of my putters have the Salty on and will never be coming off. There would have to be some sort of magical grip released before I replaced the Salty. I did however slightly modify both of mine, I sanded the sharp edges of the flat side down to be a bit more rounded, fits in my hands better.

[PeanutsDaddy]

Froth, I really love the 'classic' clubs. Nice to see your love for lead tape on full display.

[Froth]

Two changes made,

Driver change(Lol, again). I took my discarded 7.5° 907D2 and decided to revive it, I machined another Hosel for it from the Hosel of a 1980 Wilson Sandwedge I couldn't use anymore(face worn to nothing). So I have a new Driver in the bag, and it's an absolute Monster. Specs: 44.5" Dynamic Gold X300, Tipped 3" - Inserted 2.125" into Bore-through. 1" Extension in the butt to get a play length of 44.5" 228g Head weight, achieved with a Heavy 15g Forged Hosel and 15g of hot-melt injected into the lower heel of the head. Overall club weight 421g, Swingweight....F2. Took it to the range twice, and it absolutely destroyed the 8.5° 907D2 with a Graphite shaft I was using, so...in the bag it is going(and I mean, no-contest flat out murdered it). Will play with it on-course tomorrow and I have high hopes for it.

Changed the shaft in my 2-iron to keep the ball flight down more since I am basically only using it off the tee, it is now an X300 .370 Parallel shaft in the 2-iron with 1.25" trimmed off the tip instead of the twice Hardstepped Rifle 6.0 that was in it.

My back is feeling fantastic, and I was really able to put some very very energetic full-tilt swings into the new Driver. Apparently Heavier just works well for me.

[sawonandrewkim]

Hey awesome bag Froth! I've recently picked the game back up and I still have old school 90s clubs in the bag so it's awesome to see someone hitting clubs I can somewhat connect with.

[Mitchell]

You know everyone will want to see the lastest incarnation of Frankenstein resurrection of your driver, so get pics up when u can!

[Froth]

[quote name='nochrome' timestamp='1382504119' post='8044253']
You know everyone will want to see the lastest incarnation of Frankenstein resurrection of your driver, so get pics up when u can!
[/quote]
It's so hilarious, I love it because it's crazy. It's got so much different crap going on with it that it was either going to be awesome or horrible. It's awesome, plus some.

Edit: Will get pics up when it's light outside, I'm lazy when the sun goes down.

[boggyman]

Digging the old school bag!! I just scored a set of the 17's today for ALMOST nothing. Haven't got to play them yet but can't wait!! Nice bag you have there.

[Froth]

Here is a timeline of "Frank", which is what I am now calling my current driver. Started life as a $50 head purchased off eBay, 907D2 7.5°. For a while it had a Paragon X tipped 2" in it, until this happened.

The sound it made was a horrendous clank, followed by me screaming "NooooooooooOoooOoOOOOO!!!!" On the range, I immediately knew something let go. Upon further investigation, yeah...it cracked.

Aftermath:

So, with 7.5° heads being scarce and my machining/mechanic background I went to the garage and got to work. Ended up with this.

That's an aluminum Hosel salvaged from a Goldwin AVDP XXL machined down to fit. After this initial repair the club was never the same and over a period of two rounds it developed a shaft creak that was really annoying and that I could hear and feel when the shaft loaded on my downswing. Annoying, to say the least.

 

So I decided to pull that hosel and was initially going to re-glue it until I discovered that it as well had cracked. So, aluminum wasn't up to the task of holding up for me. Enter, Reincarnation #2. Current form.

That is a Forged Steel hosel I chopped off of a dead 78-80 Wilson Sand wedge and machined a neck in to fit the 907D2 head, Set in 4500psi Metalic Epoxy. The hosel is 15g, and the club has 15g of hot-melt inside of it, increasing overall head weight to a whopping 228g. That wasn't enough for me though, being that this is a forged hosel now I took the opportunity to do something very few people get the chance to do. I decided to change the lie angle of the club to 1.5° Flatter and bump the loft down to an even 7°, then the hosel was set in place. The little red band above the ferrule was just done because I was bored and wanted something different on this club.

 

Topping it all off, a Dynamic Gold X300 tipped 3" and at a play length of 44.5", I salvaged a brand new Titleist grip off a Vokey shaft pull I had laying around and slapped it all together. Here it is in all its glory, Tipping the scales at a massive F2 Swingweight.

[PeanutsDaddy]

You are a persistent man and you've got some serious skills. Those traits must serve you well on the course. Well done Froth and thank you for sharing.

[Froth]

[quote name='PeanutsDaddy' timestamp='1382793518' post='8060489']
You are a persistent man and you've got some serious skills. Those traits must serve you well on the course. Well done Froth and thank you for sharing.
[/quote]
Thanks! :)Though I do like being very persistent...at times it gets in the way on the course.

[PeanutsDaddy]

[quote name='Froth' timestamp='1382848073' post='8063563']
[quote name='PeanutsDaddy' timestamp='1382793518' post='8060489']
You are a persistent man and you've got some serious skills. Those traits must serve you well on the course. Well done Froth and thank you for sharing.
[/quote]
Thanks! :)Though I do like being very persistent...at times it gets in the way on the course.
[/quote]

I've been trying to think of my 'handicap' for a thread in the general topics forum. Stubborness would definitely be high on my list of character traits.

[Froth]

Some changes, simply because I cannot ever stop tinkering. I'll have to update pics of everything again.

Took 11 of my clubs apart to change the ferrules from the white 1/2" tall back to a black 3/4" tall, the white ones were nice but they were getting scuffed and dirty pretty easily and I got tired of looking at them that way. Also changed my grips on 13 clubs(all but putter) to PURE grips Pro model. Exceptional feeling grip, firm but tacky. I also changed the shafts in my wedges from S200 in both, to S400 in SW and S300 in LW. Just fiddling around trying to dial them in, had a few shots balloon on me a little bit and since I had the shafts laying around I figured why not, since I was taking the clubs apart anyway.

Finaly, due to massive OCD I fully spec'd out all of my irons, recording exact head weight, shaft weight and overall weight all over again. Did this because I'm basically 100% happy with my entire bag currently and I wanted to have specs to fall back on should I build another set to match them.

[Froth]

Changed shafts in my 2 Hybrid, Not a big change just to a slightly lighter shaft to match my irons more. The old Rifle 6.0 that was in it was 131g and I moved to an old(perhaps ancient to some) True Temper Gold PLUS X300 which after some tweaking came in at 119g, the change should also raise the ball flight a bit due to the shaft. The profile of the shaft more closely resembles the DG Lite X100 in my 3 wood which should add for some consistency in the top end of the bag.

New pictures finally up.

[freehb]

froth, love your bag & posts, heavier clubs work great for me as well. I don't go nearly as heavy as you but I have noticed I am much more consistent with overall heavier clubs. what kind of scores are u putting up these days?

[Froth]

[quote name='freehb' timestamp='1385621222' post='8220058']
froth, love your bag & posts, heavier clubs work great for me as well. I don't go nearly as heavy as you but I have noticed I am much more consistent with overall heavier clubs. what kind of scores are u putting up these days?
[/quote]
Thanks! Gotta love those heavy clubs. I use a really really heavy driver because I've found it to be the most consistent by far at a shorter length, the extra weight really keeps me in control at the top. Scores I've been shooting are Mid/Low to High 70's for the most part lately, I've shot (-2)34 on the back nine twice but generally when I go out currently I expect to shoot between Even par and 79 and be somewhat satisfied with how I played. Currently playing to a 2.1 Handicap over my rounds this year...however I have not played for the past two weeks due to the cold weather but at least that doesn't stop me from practicing.

[Sean2]

Froth, other folks like to buy equipment, but you love to tinker with your existing equipment. :-)

[Froth]

[quote name='Sean2' timestamp='1385688034' post='8223224']
Froth, other folks like to buy equipment, but you love to tinker with your existing equipment. :-)
[/quote]
If it's not broke, Fix it...If it breaks while you were fixing it then it needed to be replaced anyway.

[SetTheBarrHigh]

[color=#000080]Awesome setup! The 907 series didn't get much appreciation when they came out. However, I loved my 907 D1 and gamed it for about 5 years until an Adams F12 LS finally bumped it out of the bag. [/color]

[j_king]

Saw that you moved from the 906f4 to the 975f. Any reason why?

[HoosierHacker89]

great looking bag man!

[Froth]

[quote name='j_king' timestamp='1386168956' post='8246935']
Saw that you moved from the 906f4 to the 975f. Any reason why?
[/quote]
Actually the 906F4 was my 5 wood, the 975F is my 3 wood and the 975F has been in the bag longer than the 906F4. The reason I took the 906F4 out is pretty simple, After six years of great service the face caved in. So it got replaced, though I was originally going to buy another one however my 18° Hybrid covers the same distance as the 906F4 did so I just put it in the bag in place of it. So far, not bad.

[MrMorganUSC]

Really digging this bag. Replying so I can keep up.

[driverwedge]

Love it! Heavy is the new sexy... for clubs anyway.

[Nudga]

Froth great stuff old Skool & heavy.... nice work

[Froth]

Winter is my tinkering time so this is when I'll put together four or five different clubs and spend time in a simulator or on the range on days over 40° doing comparisons and trying to situate my bag for the upcoming season. This year all my tinker time has been spent on the top three clubs in my bag, Driver/3wood and deciding on 2 Hybrid or 5 wood. So far I've made the following changes which are pretty significant to me, some of them are still being tweaked and tested but I still believe that my bag will have different clubs in the top three spots for the start of 2014.

Driver:
I've been experimenting with the SLDR 460 forever, since day one of it coming out to be honest and I finally bit the bullet and picked up a 10.5° head only for a great price(Christmas present to myself). Decided to go steel with it, so I needed to bump the head weight up slightly to 210g. Overall club weight is 390g, 44.5" long with an X100 tipped 3", I'm using an R1 sleeve set to -2 to get a final loft of 8.5°, I used a 10.5° set lower to achieve an open face angle which is my preference for all woods. The SLDR has a pretty strong hold on its position in the bag, I don't see it going anywhere soon. I may be the first person to have put a Steel Shaft into the SLDR at this point.

3 Wood:
This is a huge change for me, I've been exclusively using a 975F since 2002(Two of them actually, I cracked the face of my original after many years and replaced it with one off eBay). For 2014 I decided that since I like the Titliest 906 series so much that I was going to go to a 906F2 in 13° with a Steel X100 in it, have not decided overall length yet but it will likely end up at 42.5" or 43". Was able to snag a 906F2 off eBay for $30 shipped which made tinkering around with it all that much easier. This spot is still up in the air, the 906 will have to be an impressive performer for me to give up my 975F.

5 Wood:
Going back to a 906F4, After caving in the face of my original 18.5° 906F4 I tried in vain to replace it with a 2 Hybrid and my 2 Iron, put two different shafts in each of them and they just were not the right fit for that spot in my bag, Was able to pick up a cheap 18.5° 906F4 locally and decided to put a Steel X300 in it at 42". Now with Steel in all of my woods they all have the same Shaft weight as my irons at 120g which I believe will help even more with consistency. The 906F4 will probably have the spot in my bag for a long time, the Titliest 906 series is really hard to beat IMO and I was missing it every time I was on the course without one, so it had to go back in.

Edit: Will have to update pictures later on, Holidays have taken their toll on me.

[BIG STU]

The machining of the hosel was a stroke of genius not to mention great machining skills you have. Have you ever thought about manufacturing those replacement hosels for sale? Or would you have too much time in that to make it feasible? Also I see you are like me that you are a Lead tape Doctor. Down here they call me Dr. Lead Tape. Good luck on the minis I played them 3 different times of my life and even though I was not real successful I don't regret it one bit

[Froth]

The machining of the hosel was a stroke of genius not to mention great machining skills you have. Have you ever thought about manufacturing those replacement hosels for sale? Or would you have too much time in that to make it feasible? Also I see you are like me that you are a Lead tape Doctor. Down here they call me Dr. Lead Tape. Good luck on the minis I played them 3 different times of my life and even though I was not real successful I don't regret it one bit

Thanks for the kind words! I really like machining stuff but I'm mostly just a hobbyist when it comes to machining. In the early 2000's I was making small machine parts for the paintball industry and was able to hone my skills quite well. Unfortunately I sold a good amount of my machining equipment when I got out of that, but I still do small jobs for family/friends. As for the lead tape, I've probably spent over $100 buying lead tape in the past year!

 

Now, BAD NEWS...Again. I guess I've got some horrible luck when it comes to one of my favorite clubs in the bag... I caved in the face of my SECOND 906F4 18.5° :(, was hitting balls in the back yard into the woods and the sound changed drastically...I knew before I looked at it what had happened. This is now the second one I've had fail in the same location. Curiously enough, while looking for another replacement on eBay I came across someone else with an 18.5° 906F4 that has the same stress mark on the face. So I guess It's not just me and perhaps some sort of manufacturing flaw in that portion of the face?

 

Obligatory pic, It's not terribly easy to see but you can definitely see the "stress mark" on the lower pic and on the upper pic you can see where the top groove dips down off the line it should be on. :(

 

*Sigh*. I think I'm going to try a 906F2 in 18° this next time. I'm stubborn and I really love the 906 Series and my recently acquired 906F2 13° really works very well. For the time being, my dumb Hybrid is back in the bag holding down the 3rd spot in the top end. Blah.

[driverwedge]

Bummer about your club. I found that TM Burners all cave in the same place as well. I've gone through about 5 or so of them. Also an Adams 9064LD. Under 20 hits on a brand new head and it's a soup bowl. Two Wishon FW heads as well. It happens. Don't have to like it, though.