Opportunity Knocks During The Great Recession

• It's been 6 months since the heart attack. The Nickent Woods have paid their dues as I have slowly rebuilt my swing speed. Thanks to the recession, the Nickent Woods were bought for a song, and they came with the upgraded V2 Shafts no less. It's a shame when good companies go bankrupt, but it does give the poor beleaguered golfers of the world, such as yours' truly, the opportunity to acquire top notch equipment on the cheap. This is very handy when going through life changing transitions such as cardio rehab.
  
• 
  
• Since the heart attack, when my driver swing speed plummeted from 103 MPH to a rather meager 80 MPH, I have worked incessantly on width of swing arc, synchronization of hip turn, smoothness of transition, working on a "Turn Away" instead of a "Take Away", and just about anything necessary to try and regain lost swing speed. After six months, I have managed to get my swing speed back to 95 MPH. Because of that fact, the Regular Flex OEM shafts in my woods, which I desperately needed after the heart attack, are now a tad on the noodley side. The 3 Wood and 5 Wood are still in the bag for now, but the driver and 7 Wood have since been pulled.
  
• 
  
• The Driver, which was perfect for my swing 15 MPH ago, is now, due to a faster swing, A Duck Hook machine. Despite a weakened grip, the shaft is no longer resistant to a more aggressive swing, and the closed face it left the factory with has now become a hindrance rather than a help. I'm not complaining, as it was easily the best driver for the job when I desperately needed her. The 7 Wood was simply a helper club until I began building my swing speed back up past 90 MPH. I still recommend 7 Woods to those who no longer hit their mid irons as far as they used to, but don't care for hybrids. Both clubs have served their purposes well, but with the resurgence of a lot of my old swing speed I have moved to a driver with a stiffer shaft, and away from the 7 Wood and back to mid irons.

Meanwhile, the recession continues to create opportunities for those in the midst of transition. For those of us who have been playing this silly game for any length of time, the names Advanced Golf Technology and Accuflex should ring a bell. Both companies have taken the gas in the midst of this economic downturn and gone belly up. Because of this, I have been able to acquire several amazing prototype heads from "Advanced Golf Technology", and some of the best shafts ever built from Accuflex. The combination is one I am surprised I have not read about anywhere else.

I now have some of the longest woods known to mankind, and I am in the midst of reorganizing my bag accordingly. I may even put a Fairway Driver in there. I will update the blog shortly, but let's just say, between the 20+ wood heads, and numerous shafts I've managed to acquire for less than $100, there's a lot of experimentation going on. I'll post some results shortly. Let's just say--despite all the opportunity in the YARDAGE+ Category--7 of my 14 clubs remain Short Game Oriented. 6 Wedges and a putter. It paid off in yesterday's round, but like any other testosterone driven red-blooded American Male Golfer--I'm still looking for that magic "Extra 20 Yards" off the tee box. See you next time.

Bernie