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Post by Richie3Jack on Jun 24, 2015 21:27:16 GMT -5
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Post by Richie3Jack on Aug 20, 2015 11:28:09 GMT -5
As some of you may have read, I went to a Anser style model with my putter, going to the TaylorMade Ghost Daytona Tour Black model. I wanted to resurrect my putting stroke. For years, I always worried about aiming the putter correctly. But, I started to agree with John Graham who recently tweeted that from his experience if you want to improve your aim, you need to improve your stroke first. After years of trying to work on my aim and seeing unsatisfactory results and my putting being quite inconsistent, I think it's time to take a new approach.
Furthermore, I'm applying my knowledge of movement pattern training that I have used with the swing to the putting stroke. I have a good indoor putting green and so far I'm pleased with the results. The face contact has been quite good. But, we will see when I take it to an actual putting green (hopefully today if I get the time).
The idea behind taking an Anser style is that over the years I've gone to more mallet style designs and it hasn't worked. And I putted far better with more blade style designs.
I wanted the Anser style because that is pretty neutral when it comes to the aim bias.
If this really starts to work, I would like to get myself a really exception putter that has the look and feel. So over the past week I've really taken a liking to a lot of the custom, highly specialized putter makers out there.
The one I've taken the most liking to is the Byron Morgan putters. Particularly the Dale Head 89 model.
This is very similar to the model that Jordan Spieth uses, the Scotty Cameron 009 model (which goes for about $2,500).
While this looks like your typical Anser style putter, it's much more rounded and has 'softer bumper' than a Scotty Cameron Newport 2.0 putter
The DH89 (or 009) model is more like a combination of the Anser and a Ping ZB Blade design
I have always had this dream of owning that Billy Baroo type of putter that was a classic design, but unique and that only I owned and was a cut above everything else.
I used to feel that way about the old Wilson 8802 putter I had when I was a junior golfer (until somebody stole it out of my bag). I used to putt incredibly well with that thing. Unfortunately, I could never find another 8802 that felt the same. Partially because they stopped making 8802's with the Neumann leather grip.
Younger golfers missed out on the days of the Neumann leather wrap grips which were truly a manually wrapped leather grip:
The Neumann leather grip never lost its tackiness, but its most positive attribute was that it created a great sense of being able to feel the club head and the shaft (they made them for irons and woods as well). The club didn't feel too heavy with the Neumann grips, it just felt very balanced.
I have always thought that the 'Billy Baroo' would have to have a leather grip of some sort. My best bet is a GripMaster USA. The grips are not cheap by any means. But, they can be installed by virtually anybody.
The one thing is that the Billy Baroo can't have wacky colors. The Billy Baroo should look prestigious, not like a clown show. If things go well, I plan on hitting the GripMaster booth at the PGA Merch Show in January.
Another thing I'm interested in is the putter shaft. I keep hearing great things about Nippon's putter shafts.
Nippon has created a heavier putter shaft that weighs either 136 or 149 grams (depending on the model). Typically your putter shafts weigh 105-110 grams. Companies have found a market for people wanting heavier shafts by counterweighting the club, but it doesn't distribute the weight evenly whereas the Nippon shaft does. I keep hearing how this shaft not only feels much better (doesn't surprise me as Nippon has great feeling iron shafts), but it also works better with the putting stroke.
What I like about the Byron Morgan putters the most is the level of customization.
You have different heads to choose from, different steels to use and different finishes. Then you have the countless different stampings that you can use to your choice.
I personally like the Mystic Pearl finish
And the polished triple oil fade:
Then there is the face milling. They say the milling makes the putter feel softer. I tend to agree with Dr. Paul Wood's notion that feel is really based mostly upon sound. So I think the milled faces keep the sound where we want them. I really dig Bryon's 'tuna milling', although this is a bit extreme for my tastes:
I prefer this milling a lot more:
Lastly, there's the 'sound slot' that can help dampen the sound to help with the feel:
In the end, I could see myself with the following:
Byron Morgan DH89 head 360 gram head Carbon Steel Sound Slot Medium Tuna Face Milling Mystic Pearl Finish Nippon Putter Shaft GripMaster USA leather grip 35" long 71* lie angle
3JACK
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Post by Richie3Jack on Aug 21, 2015 14:55:00 GMT -5
I was doing some more research on putters and here's some things I found. 1. Copper is softer than Carbon Steel which is softer than stainless steel. 2. The issue with Carbon Steel is that it can get too soft and is harder to maintain the finish than stainless steel. 3. The deeper the face milling pattern the softer it will make the putter. I particularly loved this milling pattern: 4. The sound slot doesn't make the putter sound better to make it softer. It actually creates a 'clickier' sound make the putter feel a bit firmer. That's why a lot of custom putter companies will go to the sound slot with carbon steel (softer steel) and not with stainless steel. 5. Most putter fanatics will go with a light milling or no milling with carbon steel and put a sound slot in so it doesn't feel ridiculously soft. And they will go with deep milling and no sound slot with stainless steel. And due to the upkeep, they'll use lower maintenance finishes on carbon steel and use more oil type finishes on stainless steel. This putter in particular with the polished oil finished and deep milling is stainless steel. 6. Scotty Camerons are usually stainless steel with deep face milling. 7. Pirettti's and Kenny Giannini's are carbon steel with shallow or mid deep face milling. The Giannini's have sound slots to make things a little firmer. 8. The shafts of putters usually weigh 125-ish in grams pre-cut. Cut it down to 34" and they weigh about 105 grams. The Nippon shafts lose less weight when trimmed. 9. The GripMaster USA putter grips come in different weights, obviously. A lot of people like the Kangaroo feel. 10. When it comes to leather grips, the darker cowhide colors are more tacky than the lighter colors. 11. The putter that I loved the feel of was my old Wilson 8802. It appears those putters had a head weight of 335 grams. I am guessing the shaft weight was near 125 grams (raw) and the grip weight was around 60 grams. That creates a scenario of shaft+grip weighing about 55% of the head weight (of course this is with the shaft un-cut). (60g grip weight + 125 gram shaft weight) / 335 gram head weight = 55.2% With today's heads weight around 350-360 grams (let's say 355 grams for good measure), you could use a shaft weight of roughly 136 grams if the grip weighs 60 grams. So that would go to the Nippon 139 gram shaft at 35" long should do the trick. 3JACK
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Post by Richie3Jack on Sept 21, 2015 15:48:58 GMT -5
Here's my current WITB: Driver: Wishon 919THI, 9.5* loft, 45-1/2" Fujikura Motore Speeder 661 shaft (x-stiff) 3-wood: Wishon 919F/D, 13* loft, 43" UST Mamiya ProForce VTS Silver 8x shaft 2-hybrid: Mizuno Fli-Hi CLK, 17* loft, KBS Tour Hybrid shaft (x-stiff) 3-hybrid: Mizuno Fli-Hi CLK, 20* loft, KBS Tour Hybrid shaft (x-stiff) 4-iron thru P-Wedge: Yonex EZone MB irons with Nippon Modus 130 shafts (x-stiff) S-Wedge: Titleist Vokey F-Grind, 52* loft, 12* bounce, 36-1/8" Nippon Modus 125 wedge shaft L-Wedge: Edel Golf Digger Grind, 60* loft, 27* bounce, 35-3/4" Nippon Modus 125 wedge shaft Putter: Edel Torque Balanced E-3 mode, 34" long, 72* lie angle, 2* loft with PURE Grips midsize putter grip I switched to the Edel Torque Balanced. I will write about it in my next part of the Searching for Flatstick Nirvana series. It is really, really good. I decided to pick up a trial set of JumboMax golf grips. You can check out their Web site at www.jumbomax.comThese are the grips that Bryson DeChambeau have used. I have preferred the feel of a thin grip as I currently have PURE Grips P2 Wraps with no tape under them. I have been fitted for bigger grips in the past. Strangely enough, using the new Edel putter with the midsized PURE putter grip has convinced me to give the oversized grip a try as I have greater control with the oversized PURE Grip than a normal sized grip. So perhaps the same holds true with the full swing. A few years ago I was at the PGA Merchandise show where I came across Enlow Grips which are extremely oversized and reverse tapered grips: As you can see, these grips are enormous. But, I didn't hate the feel of them. In fact, they just felt like you would swing them faster. And both Enlow and JumboMax swear they have seen improved club speeds compared to standard grips. It's an interesting concept and they only thing I can chalk it up to is that perhaps the massive grip size helps make for a stronger fulcrum point in the swing or something along those lines. The only thing I'm concerned about is how this would work with my extremely strong grip. So, I tried out the trial pack which for me is one XL and one large based on their hand fitting measurement (which I came out to XL). I will put it on my Yonex 3-iron that I use for practice and see how that goes. Hopefully JumboMax and Mr. DeChambeau are on to something. 3JACK
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Post by Richie3Jack on Oct 1, 2015 8:13:17 GMT -5
I tried the JumboMax XL grip on my Yonex 3-iron. I had the Yonex 3-iron set to 2,725 MOI with a PURE Grips P2 Wrap which weighs about 48 grams.
The JumboMax XL grip comes in at 120 grams. When I installed it, the 3-iron came out to 2,755 grams. I removed the 2-grams of lead tape to get it to 2,735 (closest I could get to 2,725).
I have some real questions about how tacky these grips are as they didn't feel very tacky to me. And I didn't like it when I hit them. The feel of the strike and vibration is fine. But, the ball went ultra high and off to the right. I'm guessing it's easier to un-hinge the wrists in the downswing with the larger grip.
I question if this works well with players with wrist-ier golf swings. DeChambeau has almost no wrist cock on the backswing and it appears he likes to grip the club more in the palms. IIRC, Moe Norman had large grips and gripped the club in the palms more as well. That's why I think it may work on drivers better as some people don't have the ability to rotate the lower body fast enough to help release the lag from a later wrist hinge with a driver, so a larger grip may help.
I'm going to try and get an Enlow Grip and put that on my driver. From what I recall, the Enlow grips had better traction to them.
3JACK
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Post by Richie3Jack on Feb 10, 2016 10:23:45 GMT -5
I ordered the 5-iron head for the Wishon Sterling Single Length irons. I was told that due to the demand, I won't be getting it until May. I essentially want to try out the 5-iron because that is the club that I have the most skepticism over. As you can see, the 5-iron is really a 4-iron: My questions are: 1. Can I hit it far enough? (at least 205 yards) 2. Can I hit it high enough? I would feel comfortable selling a set if they did fly high enough and far enough. For my own personal use, I still have some skepticism of the cavity backs. I just don't hit CB's very well because of the grind and soles. They say it's designed for an 8-iron length instead of the 5, 6 or 7-iron length due to the feeling that the 8-iron length is easier to handle. I will likely fool around a length that I feel comfortable with. At this point, I think I need to make them 37-1/4" long. Still waiting on the Ikkos. Probably won't get it until next week which is a bummer. 3JACK
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Post by Richie3Jack on Feb 24, 2016 12:58:05 GMT -5
Sold my Mizuno TN-87 irons. They were re-chromed from the Iron Factory, but in the time I was without them I was using (and still am) the Yonex EZone's and they performed even better. Even when I got the TN-87's back, they just didn't perform like the Yonex irons. I wasn't using the TN-87's and felt somebody else that wanted them could have them and make better use of them. I also sold my Bettinardi Kuchar Model 2 ArmLock putter and my TaylorMade Ghost Daytona Tour Black putter along with my FootJoy DNA shoes.
I only had those FootJoy DNA shoes for about a month and they started to hurt my toe. I ended up getting the Adidas Tour 360 Boost in black and gold:
These are pretty snazzy, particularly as they have gold 'fluglebinders' (Cocktail reference) that don't show up in the picture. I've always liked Adidas' feel when you're swinging the club, but they are not always that comfortable to walk in. Here Adidas has finally mixed both worlds together and it's a great shoe. I was quickly sold.
I saw the new Project X LZ shafts as Daniel Summerhays has them in his bag. Supposedly, they tested out really well on the ENSO machine. I would like to get one of those shafts and try them out in the Wishon Sterling 5-iron when I get the club. But, they are not out on the market, yet.
I have decided that if I like the Wishon Sterling irons and decide to buy a set, I would go with this ferrule:
Now it comes down to what shaft I want because I don't think I will go the Nippon Modus route, again.
I also plan on getting the new Spin Milled 6 of the 52-degree wedge.
And I'm starting to come around nicely with the Edel E-3 putter. I think ideally I would want that in a black finish with just a sight dot.
3JACK
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Post by Richie3Jack on Feb 26, 2016 14:31:11 GMT -5
I just received my Ikkos Headgear in the mail!
I've heard some really good things about it so far. A couple of friends that are instructors have told me that the replication of moves by their students is pretty amazing, but they don't know if it will translate to better ballstriking. I think in the end, the more people that get involved with using it the better things will be figured out.
I have already downloaded this video of Dustin Johnson:
I sold my Mizuno TN-87's, my Bettinardi ArmLock, my TaylorMade Ghost Daytona Tour putter and my FootJoy DNA's.
Here's a plan for my next purchases:
WISHON STERLING IRONS
I am supposed to get the 5-iron in May. I am going to try a different shaft than the Nippon Modus 130 shafts. If the 5-iron works out, I will then test the GW. The 5-iron is really about a 4-iron loft (24*) and the GW is at 50* loft. If those work out, then I will purchase the entire set. I'm still undecided as to what iron shaft I want to try with it. I'm leaning towards the True Temper DG Pro. But would also consider some KBS shaft or the new Project X Launch Zone shaft (Summerhays has them in his irons) whenever they come out.
TITLEIST SPIN MILLED 6 WEDGE (52*)
I was talking to a certain golf pro (not on Tour) and he told me that he had issues with the SM5 series and found out that they had really moved the CoG lower on the face. That seems like an obvious attempt to design a club towards hackers. I like my SM5 F-Grind 52* degree wedge, but it does have a 'soft' ball flight. However, I want to wait on getting the wedge until I see what the Wishon Sterling irons present me because I will have to get the proper gapping between the GW and the SW. The SM6 is supposed to be out on the market on March 11th. I won't get the Wishon Sterling 5-iron head until May.
NEW SHAFT FOR 3-WOOD
I will be getting a Fujikura shaft. I think the UST Mamiya shaft I have in my 3-wood spins too much. Trying to decide what to get from Fujikura. May require a fitting.
WISHON 919THI HEAD
I'm looking for a backup head just in case.
FOCUSBAND
I'm very interested in the FocusBand. Over the past year or so, I have become far more concerned about the acquisition of mechanics along with performance in a round of golf than the actual mechanics themselves. I know it sounds weird given my swing journal on the subject, but it is true. Friends like Dr. Bhrett McCabe, Justin Blazer and Virgil Herring has helped me see the value of performance over mechanics. As Virgil once told me, there's nothing wrong with being a mechanics oriented instructor and you do have to know the mechanics as an instructor. But, I feel where it's really at is acquiring the mechanics quickly and not 'losing them' so easily and then going into a round of golf and 'sensing' what you're doing without actually thinking about swing mechanics or creating visuals to help with swing mechanics. One of the countless things I like about Dr. McCabe's work is being aware of your performance in the round instead of trying to nitpick every swing, mechanically. I think that is why guys like Trevino, Nicklaus, Snead, etc. were so damn good.
I've heard that the FocusBand now goes for $500. I'm guessing you need something like an iPad to help with the process. Not sure how good this tool works if you're just using it yourself. I wouldn't say this is high priority, but I would like to try it first before buying one.
EDEL PUTTER
I'd like to get the E-3 putter, again, but in black and with just a sight dot...no line. I currently have the E-3 in the platinum armor finish with an alignment line. I also put a midsize PURE putter grip and then got some leather wrap from BestGrips.com and used rubber cement to hold it on. The leather wrap has really come on nicely. It was very sticky at first, but thru normal the excess rubber cement comes off. I would just use a black leather wrap instead of brown this time.
3JACK
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Post by Richie3Jack on Mar 11, 2016 15:00:20 GMT -5
Just received my S400 shaft in the mail. Here's the comparison of bend profiles for the S400, X100 and the Nippon Modus 130 X shafts (current gamer):
The chart above goes from the butt end (1) to the tip end (6) of the shaft. The Y-axis shows the frequency of the shafts measured at each point. Every shaft will show a similar curve because the further you go down the shaft, the more frequency there is.
Here's the actual measurement data:
Again, it shows the same thing. 36 is the butt end of the shaft (41 is used on wood shafts only).
The stiffer the butt section has more to do with how stiff the club *feels*. Ever have a club that is so stiff that it feels like you 'can't get around on it?' That's a club with too stiff of a butt section for your swing.
The tip end measurements are more about launch and spin. Stiffer the tip, the lower it should launch, but even more it will spin less.
The balance point is more about the where the weight in located. The higher the number of the balance point, the more the weight is towards the butt section. So, the higher the number, the lower the ball is likely to launch. Lower the balance point number, the higher it will launch.
I have the old Nippon Modus 120 X (for some reason it's not in the new bend profile update). It's shaped more like the S400. Fairly stiff butt section, very soft in the mid section and then the tip section gets very stiff. The Modus 120 X is the best feeling steel iron shaft I've ever hit. But, I had a problem with ballooning those shots.
The Modus 130 X is a more normal curve. It's just stiffer from butt-mid-tip sections overall. And it produced a better ball flight for me than the 120 X. However, I still have issues when into the wind. What would normally be a 1-club wind tends to turn into a 2-3 club wind with the Nippon Modus 130 shaft.
At first, I thought the Modus 130 shaft may be too tip soft, but now I see that's not the issue. So, my guess is that the balance point is too low and the ball is launch too high for me because of that balance point.
What's interesting is that the tip section of the X100 is much softer than the tip for the S400. However, the balance point for the X100 is higher. I have no idea how much a difference of 1.0+ in balance point makes a difference. So, I will see that out. But, my guess is that the S400 launches lower than the Modus 130 and has the tip stiffness to keep the ball down. Now, the S400 will launch higher than the X100, but that can be offset by the S400 being considerably stiffer in the tip section than the X100.
Interesting dynamics to the situation for sure...
3JACK
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Post by golfbaka on Mar 15, 2016 7:32:27 GMT -5
I think the 120 x is still in the software. Try looking for Nippon Modus 3 X (0.355). I would recommend trying the 120 in TX and seeing how you get on with that. The X launches too high for me. The 125 is also a great shaft and my favourite of the series.
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Post by Richie3Jack on Mar 17, 2016 9:04:16 GMT -5
Thanks golfbaka.
3JACK
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Post by Richie3Jack on Mar 18, 2016 15:34:35 GMT -5
I looked at the bend profiles of the 120 TX versus the 130 X and all indications are the 120 TX would likely be tougher to keep down. I went and looked at the Project X and that should fly lower than the Dynamic Gold. But, I don't see any Tour players using the Project X Rifle shaft (they are using the new Project X Launch Zone shaft).
My Yonex 3-iron is wearing out anyway because I use that all of the time when I go to the range. So, I got a KZG blade 3-iron head and will shaft it with a Modus 125 which is supposed to flight lower.
I have been looking at WITB for Tour players and it seems like they either use Dynamic Gold Tour issue (Tour issue is the same as regular Dynamic Gold, just tighter weight tolerances and probably more uniform thickness), Dynamic Gold AMT (ascending weight shafts), Nippon Modus or the new Project X LZ shaft.
So I will give the Modus 125 a shot. I may end up giving the C-Tapers another shot. I tried the C-Tapers once, but they went shorter. However, they were the parallel tip instead of taper tip and my swing has changed since then.
I really wish the Wishon Sterling 5-iron would get here so I could try that out as well. Lots of good deals on the internet on irons right now.
3JACK
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Post by Richie3Jack on Apr 4, 2016 15:00:22 GMT -5
I've never heard back from the seller of the KZG 3-iron. Too bad because he had sets to sell and if I liked the 3-iron and wasn't digging the Wishon Sterling Irons, I would have bought a set from him. Anyway, I purchased this 3-iron anyway: Hopefully I will get this on Friday, install the Modus 125 shaft in there and see how that goes. I re-installed the Modus 130 in my 8-iron. I think the S400's launch a bit lower, but I'm hoping these Modus 125's are what I need. I really like the feel of the Modus shafts and their stability is incredible. Unfortunately, when the shot is into the wind it's problematic for me. If the Modus 125's can have that feel and stability along with better performance in the wind, we'll have a winner. Might be changing up my hybrids (had then for nearly 7 years) soon. 3JACK
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Post by Richie3Jack on Apr 8, 2016 9:13:37 GMT -5
I received my Miura 3-iron head in the mail and put the Modus 125 X-Stiff shaft in it.
The Modus 125 X-Stiff shaft is supposed to flight lower than the Modus 120 and 130 shafts.
I tend to believe it even though I have yet to hit the club.
The Miura head came out to 245 grams (typical 3-iron heads are about 240 grams). Miura has always designed heavy heads.
The shaft came out to about 117 grams after being trimmed.
And when I put the assembled club in the MOI Auditor Machine, the MOI came out to 2,685 (I want it at 2,725). And that was with the club at 39-3/8" long which is fairly long.
This means that there were a lot of the weight towards the butt end of the shaft. Most people look at the 'kick point' to determine how a shaft will launch the ball, but it's really where the weight of the shaft is distributed (Wishon calls it the Balance Point on his Bend Profile Software).
This chart shows the balance points of irons. The higher the number means the balance point is closer to the butt section and will launch the ball lower.
Wishon has yet to do a bend profile on the Modus 125 shafts, but my guess is that it's very butt heavy because the shaft in the 3-iron is long (most 3-irons are 39" long) and untrimmed the shaft is at 129.5 grams and after trimming it went to 118 grams which is a lot of weight to trim off. So, if you have butt heavy shaft, you're trimming where a large portion of the weight is located.
The other thing is that MOI is very sensitive to weight added towards the club head and less sensitive to weight added towards the butt end.
So to have a longer than normal shaft with a head 3-iron head and still be only at 2,685 MOI means that it's butt heavy.
I've always been curious as to why Miura makes such heavy heads. By making a heavy head, it can help the ball fly higher since the balance point of the entire club is now lower. Perhaps Miura tries to make an easier to hit blade.
I compared the Miura 3-iron to the Yonex 3-iron and found the Miura is wider from heel to toe, but has a much thinner top line.
3JACK
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Post by Richie3Jack on Apr 11, 2016 13:54:59 GMT -5
The PGA Tour SS in Orlando had the new Miura MB001 irons in stock. They are the best looking set of irons I've seen in a long, long time. They lay down so beautifully. Thin top line, but not too thin. They really crafted a fine looking toe that sorta blends a round toe with a square toe. The width of the club head is small, but not too small. Did a great job with the 3-iron and the P-Wedge as well. This set had Aerotech SteelFiber 110 shafts. Unfortunately, they retail for $2,300 for the set. 3JACK
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