What's In My Bag And Why

The Search For A Repeating Swing Is Almost Over.

     As I have not posted here in 9 months, I figured I'd better at least answer my old e-mails and tell you folks that I have been trying the same theories I've explained earlier for a full 9 Months. It was my promise that I would post nothing, and I do mean nothing, until I was certain I had something that I knew would work. I'm not talking one of those swing band-aids that buys you a few rounds until the next time the wheels fall off, but an actual technique that held up for an entire season. That's important, because I'm talking about a swing that has held up under recreational rounds, as well as competitive rounds. As I grooved my swing you will begin to see more and more that certain clubs fit my new swing like a glove, and those that didn't were soon discarded.
   After this season has come to a complete close I will write about all the new techniques that have worked so well. In the meantime, I have received many requests from people to tell them what I carry in my bag. Keep in mind that what works for my swing may not necessarily work for yours. With that in mind, I want to tell you why I carry each and every specific club that I do.


Driver

   I play an Adams F11 with 9.5* of loft, and sports the Aldila VS VooDoo Shaft in "Stiff" Flex. Keep in mind that this particular shaft is more of an "ego" stiff, and not a truly "board-like" stiff such as the the available Matriz Ozik Shaft option. I swing at 93.5-105 MPH, depending upon the amount of arthritis that cares to show up on any given day. Any swing between 90-95 MPH is enough to effectively load this version of The Aldila VooDoo in Stiff Flex. If you constantly "KRANK" your driver at 105  + MPH, then you need to try the Ozik. The F11 is perhaps the most forgiving driver currently on the market. It is the longest driver I have ever played, and is the basis for Adams new Long Drive head that will be available shortly. It replaces an '09 Burner that sported a very nice V2 Shaft, which in turn replaced a very long, but not quite as forgiving AGT Aurora Driver with an Accuflex Shaft. Each successive Driver in my bag has been  a tad longer and a touch more forgiving than the driver  in my bag which it replaced. I do need to mention that between The Aurora and The Burner there was a Wilson PD6 that stayed in my bag for 6 Months. She sported a Stiff Aldila NVS Shaft, and was, quite possibly the straightest driver I've ever owned. If only she had sported a bit more distance and a touch more forgiveness, she just might still be in my bag. The Adams seems to fulfill all the promises that my other drivers had made to me, and after blazing not one, not two, but 3 325+ Yard drives today(swing was on and fairways were baked), I do believe she will remain in my bag for at least another full season.


Fairway Metals

   Now I'm a little old school when it comes to these clubs, as I have tried hybrids in the past, but the shape and sweep of my swing is actually served better by fairway metals than it is by any hybrid. It's not a reactionary attitude on my part, as hybrids  can actually be back dated all the way to Harry Vardon. It's an deliberate and purposeful decision based on the facts that my swing contains a very wide swing arc, with a flatter sweeping motion. Up until this last month, I had a nicely matched set consisting of a  3(15*),5(18*), and 7(21*)  Callaway Steelhead Plus Metals, that sported what Callaway referred to as a "Firm" shaft. Now that my swing speed has finallyy graduated back to the rates it once had before my heart attack, it is time to get the Callaways to a good home, find a stiffer shaft, .and lower lofts,which I can mate to the driver.Fortunately, Adams has brought their fairway metals back to the forefront of technology, distance and forgiveness.
   The 15* of the former model became a strong 3 with 13* of loft . It is Adams 9032 Model which sports the fairway wood version of the VS VooDoo Shaft in my driver. It too is a "Stiff Flex." I chose this club as I actually hit it better than the new F11 Fairway Metals. Unfortunately, neither the F11, nor the 9032 had a 7 Wood in the makeup, and I personally need my 7 to match the 5 as. in all honesty, my 3 is a driver replacement, and or fairway driver, but my 5 and 7 metals are rescue clubs, and serious multi-taskers. In a desperate bid to stick with Adams so that my woods could stay consistent in feel, I had to do some Serious research. A couple of years ago, Adams built a tour prototype club that they wanted to market to the Asian Tour Players. It was based on the same Speedline Model as the originals, but features a special Fujikura Shaft built to Japanese Specs, as well as an interchangeable screw weight dead center of the sole, for tweaking a more forward center of gravity. I now have a strong 5 Wood at 17* of loft, and a Strong 7 at 20* of loft.
   When buying  a club built to Japanese Specs, it's very important to know a few things. These particular  Shafts are a big deal here. Most American Golfers will see a shaft labeled S/R Flex, and rightly assume, in America anyways, that the shaft is a "Senior" or "Soft-Regular" flex. In Japan," S/R Flex" actually means "Strong Regular" pr "Stiff/Regular." It's what we would usually refer to a s a "Firm" Flex. In this particular model, the fairly beefy tip has it playing more like a F/S--or Firm/Stiff. Similar to the driver, these are the longest fairway metals I have ever hit.

Irons

   My Wilson Di 9's have now worked there way through 3 full seasons with me. They feel good, they hit the ball long, and they forgive everything. 3 Years after they came out, other Irons are just beginning to match them for distance and forgiveness. Wilson Staff was one of the first makers to realize that 92% of all amateur's miss hits are off the toe. They were also some of the first to use a Polymer, or urethane vibration dampener, which makes even the crumbiest shots feel okay to your wrists and forearms. --"Look Mom, no Hogan Sting!"
   Now that my swing speed has come back quite a bit, I may be looking at replacing these next season. In the meantime, let me just say that I have owned lots of sets of irons over the years, and reviewed even more. These are still the only irons I've ever hit where the manufacturers got it right. There are no gaps in my bag when it comes to my irons. Wilson put in two extra wedges--both a Gap and an Approach in order to make these rather strongly lofted clubs work as a unified set, and all the clubs have a 3.5* loft differential between them. These may no longer be the longest irons I've ever hit (that honour now  goes to The Adams Redline Irons), but they remain the most forgiving. This is a set of irons that your average Joe can buy and grow with for many seasons. Take it from me. After the heart attack I had to start all over from scratch, and I am a certified club junkie who buys sells and trades clubs at the drop of a hat. These Wilson Staff Di 9's have made it through 3 full seasons with me, and in all likelihood, they will make it for a fourth season as well.Until you get to the level where you are consistently striping them long with your irons, and sport the skills to work the ball left and right, you may never need to replace them. At the current closeout pricing these are selling for, I have absolutely  no problem recommending these to any and all beginners, high-cappers, and mid-cappers.

UPDATE A/0 08/04/2011-----Unbeknownst to me, whie I was writing this latest post the boys at my favourite trading post, as well as my swing coach had a certain set of Irons from Wilson Staff. They are the newly re-designed Wilson Ci9's. I actually hit them further than the Di 9's, and they are allowing me the luxury of more than just basic directional shot. I can actally work the ball with these, and they feel great, and forgive a lot. Since they gave me absolute top dollar for my Di9's, I was able to walk away with a new set of even better fitting irons, and only a very inor dent in my wallet. If you are an aspiring mid-capper looking to go to single digits, ad you would like distance, feel, workability, and forgiveness along the way--I highly recommend these clubs. They can be had for the ridiculously low street price of $299. Se my full review here. Wilson Ci9

   Though most of my swing has come back, it's still not all there. Thus my Nickent Wedges, though works of art for my once well honed short game, were slowly getting phased out since the heart attack. After the heart attack I pulled the Gap and Sand Wedges from my bag, and replaced them With the Di 9 Wedges. There are no Di 9 Lob Wedges, and I used to love to hit my 62* Flop Wedge. For a while I was sporting Nickent Arc Blade Wedges in 50*, 54*, 58*, and 62*.. After the Heart Attack, the 50 and 54* models were pulled, and replaced with the Di 9 Versions. This last month I gathered up my 5 Nickents, and lumped them into a trade in pile with the Callaway Fairway Metals, and went after the Adams Puglielli Wedges. I now carry the matching 52,56 and 60* Adams Puglielli Wedges. They, similar toThe Adams Woods, are the longest, most forgiving clubs in their genre, and I an glad to have them in my bag.The forgiveness and distance certainly helped my short game today, as they allowed me to give my swing coach a real run for his money. These are amazing wedges, and very easy to hit. I plan on keeping them in the bag for a while as well.

Putter

   I am a bonafide "Pendulum" Putter. Because of this, I need a mallet putter to make the most of my stroke. I have gone through many a putter over the years, but I have finally found the best one for my particular stroke. Not only am I  Pendulum Putter, but I am also a Croucher. My opponents often jibe me about "turning a 34" putter into a belly putter." Funny enough, it's a TaylorMade. It's the Center Shafted Spyder Vicino Model. These are amazing putters. This one actually knocked an Odyssey Mallet out of the bag. That's saying a lot, as that Odyssey was the only club I had ever paid full price for. This putter has, of it's own accord, sawed an easy 3 Strokes off of my score. It's distance control is easy, as is the deadly accurate alignment system  If you are a Pendulum Stroke type of putter., this is a great putter to search for.

    I hope this helps answer all the questions that many of you had about my bag. By the way, these clubs are all carted about in a Sun Mountain C-130. I consider this "The Rolls Royce " of cart bags. Until next time--"Hit 'em lonmg and straight."




  

Finally-- A Repeatable Swing--Part I

A Long Time In Coming


I realize I haven't posted here since early October--but there is a very good reason for that. I promised I would not post anything here that I was not sure worked, worked well, and worked well consistently. I CAN FINALLY KEEP THAT PROMISE. The shortened swing I described in my last post was the first step in a fundamental shift away from the old grip it and rip it school. I have indeed regained the vast majority of my pre cardio melt-down swing, gained more accuracy than ever on a consistent basis, and will easily be a full 2 and a half to three clubs longer than I was just a couple of years ago. So what exactly is this new swing besides just another rehashing of the old "Shorten your backswing"----""9 o'clock to 3 o'clock"----"Make the back swing an 'L' and your follow through an "L"--string of cliches that everybody seems to be tossing about too liberally, or re-packaging and re-working in yet another attempt to sell another entrant into the seemingly endless stream of internet golf books.


The X and Y Axis---A 3D Approach

Why Feel and Ball Flight Aren't Always Enough

Well the one thing that kept me convinced that all those rotten compensations I was putting into my post cardio melt down swing were correct was the fact that the aforementioned cliches, and the vast majority of books and magazines present both them and the modifications thereof in a rather 2 dimensional fashion. "Make an L" is close to a great analogy, but without the proper 3D viewpoints that are often only available from live instruction (which I now strongly encourage as long as you get a good swing coach) it can be easily misconstrued, and has been by many golfers--including professionals.

   If you"... draw he club head straight back ..." as many of us were instructed to do in the old"Square to Square" instruction methodology,  and you are in the midst of learning to "...flatten your swing..." and "...widen your swing arc..." you are going to enter the impact zone from so far from the outside that you simply won't be able understand exactly how far off plane you get from the very start of your swing. By the time you are at that "9 o'clock 'L' position..." you will be so far outside the plane, that your only hope of hitting it straight will be to come over the top and start unconsciously closing the face of the club before impact. I know these things empirically, and now that I've corrected it, and am aware of what I was doing, I am actually shocked at the amount of golfers I see on the range who are unwittingly making these same exact compensations to varying degrees.
 My swing never stood a chance of squaring the face at impact as it was actually starting off plane from the very beginning by going "Straight Back". As I was rocking my shoulders to accomplish this, I was fairly sure I wasn't swaying, and the old "Square toSquare Methodology" a methodology that was once adopted as the official methodology of The USGA Professionals assured me that I was starting my swing correctly. I had actually learned to subconsciously close the face at impact and get a ball that started straight, and had a strong draw to it. I was absolutely certain, from the shape of my shots alone, that I was perfecting my old swing. Unfortunately, the more and more I started to "...widen my swing arc..."---the more and more I started to get mystery slices that were actually the effect of a strong--but still glancing blow. In order to compensate, I flattened out my swing a bit with a slightly wider stance and an even further reach back. Soon, when I wasn't slicing, I was hitting snap hooks from hell. Sound familiar?---Time to read on then.

 Rationale


   There's a dirty little secret regarding those "Swing Tips"most Golf Mags don't tell you, and one you need to remind yourself of every time you think of incorporating another one of those "Magic Tips." It's simple, actually. Any move in your golf swing has a direct effect on one of two things. Whatever movement or movement change they have you doing  backwards and/or forwards, no matter what the promise, it can only make your swing arc narrower or wider--"The X Axis", or Flatter or Steeper--"The Y Axis." This is important to note for several reasons. If you're currently getting the ball flight of a Pitching Wedge from your 6 Iron--that is-- higher and softer than what you need and desire---then you are obviously too steep. Now the phrase "...too steep..." may dredge up pictures of fat shots, and lost distance, ,and before you know it--your entire system of band aid type quick fixes has kicked in. Pretty soon you're ....."looking more at the front of the ball",  or "...setting the ball back a little further in your stance in order to insure clean contact" or any of a hundred or so such quick tips we've all heard and read  literally thousand of times.------Just remember this---"Too Steep = Too Much Emphasis On The Y Axis."So before you add yet another one of those "magical quick fixes" to your swing---you must realistically ask yourself ..."does this tip/advice have an effect on my "Y Axis-- and --is it flattening or steepening of my swing?......or is it having more of an effect on my X Axis --and if so--is it widening or narrowing my swing arc. " This is important, because if you are already "too steep" the last thing you need to do is start putting the ball further back in your stance and continue to compound the problem. Doing so might turn you're 6 Iron, which already looks like a Pitching Wedge shot into one that looks like a Sand Wedge shot. --As you can see--this can become an unending cycle that goes from bad--to worse--to bad again, and the cycle of tips just keeps you going round and round in circles.

-----More on this later in Part II-In the meantime, please read this link which I have posted elsewhere.

http://www.shopping.com/guides/berniez40/Developing_A_Repeatable_Swing_Part_II_Turning_With_The_6_Iron/856788