A Ho no mo !!!!!!

[mddubya]

Ok my fellow Shot Talkers and ho's, I'm through ho'in!!!!!!!

Not because I've found the magic stick either.

No, I just got back from squeezing in 9 holes between thunderstorms. The Ft-i LCG, Matrix X con 6 shaft combo that is supposed to be a fairway finding machine, not in my hands. Same stupid super fades/slices I was hitting with the HiBore XL.

So guess what? I admit defeat, it IS the Indian, not the arrow. I just suck at this game.

I played from the tips today to give me another couple of holes to play the new driver. 1st hole, semi straight, right side rough just off the fairway. 2nd hole, I skied it, Ray Guy would have been proud of the hang time, nice idiot mark to buff out now. 3rd hole, hit a killer slice, robbed all the distance, into the lake. 4th is a par 3, 5th hole I hit a hyper fade, right side rough and short. 6th hole, another par 3. 7th hole, slice one off into the woods. 8th hole I over compensate for the fade/slice and pull one over to the left and short. 9th hole, slice into the 1st fairway, 211 yards, yippy!

7 drives, not 1 fairway hit. Not a friggin one!

So lets summerize, I have a Cally FT-i and a HiBore XL, can't hit either one. Not the arrows.

I own 2 Scotty's and 2 and 3 putted every green, not the arrows.

The only thing that salvaged the horrible 49 I shot today was my irons, and they are friggin blades, the hardest arrow to shoot.

So.............................., the next time I feel like wasting money on golf, I'm taking more lessons, not buying more arrows.

 

[nututhugame]

I'll trade you my hibore for that ft-i............My hook and your slice should = straight for both of us.

I'm just jokin (unless ya goin do it).:laugh:

 

[twelvegage]

You can send any of your arrows my way any time you'd like!

I was excited to hear your review of the FT-i, and am a little shocked that it didn't work for ya, figured it'd do the trick. So have you ho'd any lessons yet?

 

[mddubya]

Lol, no lessons yet. And the FTi is a great driver I'm sure. Like I said, it has to be my swing.

I don't think I'm swinging out to in, my irons are a beautiful draw, and it feels like I'm putting the same swing on my driver? All I can think of is maybe I'm leaving the face wide open? But I'm making a conscious effort to turn my wrist over to close it?

So......, I have to find a new instructor, or find out if my old one is still around. I WILL be calling the course he was working at in the morning to see if he is still there.

 

[twelvegage]

Oh, did you hit your hybrids any? If so, those still holding up at least?

 

[extremeVFT03]

sorry to hear that but wold you be looking to sell the scotty 62

 

[gwlee7]

Lesson packages are probably cheaper than ho'n clubs.

 

[MGP]

I feel for ya Dub. After trying to come to grips with starting to play the game semi-often again and also my advancing middle age... :laugh: I've been messing with a lot of different clubs the past two years. I've managed to figure out what I definitely can't hit and what I can hit given that my swing speed isn't what it once was when I was (as limpalong puts it) "a 20 year old flat-belly".

I've found clubs that, when I put a good swing on them, I hit well. I joined a club and am playing and practicing more. I will work at losing a little weight and regaining some of my flexibility which should help my game tremendously. The clubs I have are staying in the bag. There is nothing wrong with them, they are excellent clubs.

If I ever get my handicap back to single digits then maybe I'll mess with my club rotation again but unless I break a club or lose a club they are pretty much staying as-is.

(Good god, how many times have those words been uttered on this site? :laugh

Lol, no lessons yet. And the FTi is a great driver I'm sure. Like I said, it has to be my swing.

I don't think I'm swinging out to in, my irons are a beautiful draw, and it feels like I'm putting the same swing on my driver? All I can think of is maybe I'm leaving the face wide open? But I'm making a conscious effort to turn my wrist over to close it?

Check your grip with the driver and make sure it's not too weak. I was having a a hell of a time with a weak fade off the tee earlier this year. I have always been able to work the ball with my irons and somewhat with my fairway woods but the longer clubs were all going right on me. I closed my stance and checked my swing path and even tried exaggerating it in-to-out. All that happened was the occasional pull!

Looking at the marks on the bottom of my clubs I could see the clubface was coming through the ball several degrees open... Aha! For whatever reason my grip had slowly become weaker and weaker until I couldn't square the clubface at impact at all.

I strengthened the grip and squared my stance on the range one day. Felt odd at first but the first 4 or 5 balls I hit straight! My distance is coming back too. It was a simple change but it made a huge difference. I know I can always hit a hold-off fade now if I have to but being able to hit it straight down the middle on a tight fairway is a nice feeling...

 

[mddubya]

No doubt MGP, heck, I am pretty sure I've said them before.

And no extremeVFT, the Scotty's a definitely safe. When I say I 2 and 3 putted, I was rolling right across the edge on the 1st putt most every time. I keep telling myself, getting tham that close, they are going to drop one of these days. But I'm still waiting. And the few 3 putts were from walking up and not even lining up the 2nd putt. A nonchalant putt counts just as much as a chalant one unfortunately.

Twelvegauge, I only hit the hybrids a few times, but all but one of them was pretty much on the money. The one bad miss hit was me trying to kill the 2r after I had skied that one drive and was still a LONG way from the green. And I just over swung and topped the ball. Then to add to the frustration, I dropped another ball for $hits and giggles and pured my Tee 4 wood that the 2r was supposed to replace, :laugh:

And gwlee, sadly the only decent instructor I've found around here studied under Ledbetter, and charges accordingly, lol. He is good, but three 1 hour lessons from him is just a little more than I paid for the FTi, :shocked: $200 for 3 lessons, an hour long each. Maybe thats not that high elsewhere, but he is by far the most expensive around here. But also the best from what I've heard and experienced.

 

[mddubya]

I feel for ya Dub. After trying to come to grips with starting to play the game semi-often again and also my advancing middle age... :laugh: I've been messing with a lot of different clubs the past two years. I've managed to figure out what I definitely can't hit and what I can hit given that my swing speed isn't what it once was when I was (as limpalong puts it) "a 20 year old flat-belly".

I've found clubs that, when I put a good swing on them, I hit well. I joined a club and am playing and practicing more. I will work at losing a little weight and regaining some of my flexibility which should help my game tremendously. The clubs I have are staying in the bag. There is nothing wrong with them, they are excellent clubs.

If I ever get my handicap back to single digits then maybe I'll mess with my club rotation again but unless I break a club or lose a club they are pretty much staying as-is.

(Good god, how many times have those words been uttered on this site? :laugh



Check your grip with the driver and make sure it's not too weak. I was having a a hell of a time with a weak fade off the tee earlier this year. I have always been able to work the ball with my irons and somewhat with my fairway woods but the longer clubs were all going right on me. I closed my stance and checked my swing path and even tried exaggerating it in-to-out. All that happened was the occasional pull!

Looking at the marks on the bottom of my clubs I could see the clubface was coming through the ball several degrees open... Aha! For whatever reason my grip had slowly become weaker and weaker until I couldn't square the clubface at impact at all.

I strengthened the grip and squared my stance on the range one day. Felt odd at first but the first 4 or 5 balls I hit straight! My distance is coming back too. It was a simple change but it made a huge difference. I know I can always hit a hold-off fade now if I have to but being able to hit it straight down the middle on a tight fairway is a nice feeling...

What is really aggravating MGP, is that even though I'm 49, I'm not in bad shape. I can still rotate just fine, I only weigh 190 lbs at 6'1 1/2". My main playing partner is amazed that I can complete my follow through the way I do and wrap the club all the way around my back. I was told I was over rotating my shoulders on my back swing, going past 90º.

And one day I'll be hitting little Nicklaus power fades that I've measured with my GPS at a 275 yard average, and even occasionally poke one out there 300. Then the next, not doing anything different that I can tell, I hit my driver like I did today, FUGLY.

It like my body can't recall from day to day how to swing the club? I live in a golf community, and play 3-4 times a week. I'd play more but I played so much last summer I developed tendonitits in my left elbow that won't go away or let me play more than I do, :laugh:

And not even a week ago I shot a 83, only lost 1 ball in 18 holes. Today I was playing so bad, I think I lost one ball in the ball washer,

 

[Esox]

How many rounds have you played with the FT-i? How many drives have you hit at the range? The first rounds I played with mine I was pretty happy. Then I struggled some with it. Yesterday on the range my back was stiff and I don't think I hit one good shot out 20 with it. Went back to the car and put my D1 in the bag and left the FT-i in the trunk.

I think the thing has enormous potential. I'm sure it's 10 to 15 yards longer than the Titleist judging from a few well struck shots, but it's going to take practice to get it down.

Take a couple days and hit a bunch of drivers at the range. Go slowly. Set up to each one like it means something. That's my plan. I know mine seems heavier than my D1, so I may have to mess with my driver swing a little bit. Speed it up, slow it down, open my stance a bit. I'm not sure yet, but it can be figured out.

The club feels so substantial when it's strikes the ball well. Don't give up.

Kevin

 

[King Par]

Do you use an interlocking grip? I used to fight slices really bad, went to the standard baseball grip, with a stronger grip and my drives started to straighten out. I went back to an interlocking grip, but not as tight/weak as I used too. Helped me out some.

 

[mddubya]

I hadn't had a chance to hit the range with it at all, so todays round was the 1st I'd hit the FT i at all. I'm not going to give up on it, just upset it wasn't the magic cure I'd hoped for.

I use the interlocking grip, and tried strengthening it, I'll give the baseball grip a try though.

And oh yeah, wow this thing is LOUD!!!!!

 

[warbirdlover]

I wouldn't think you'd have to change your grip to hit it. Just take some time and go through your routine. You're doing some little thing wrong and just need to find it. You've been hitting good judging from your past scores so maybe one trip for a lesson and you back to normal.

 

[nututhugame]

I don't know what I did after WBL and I played, but my driver and I are in the midst of a lovers quarrel. Yesterday I played 18 and my 3I saw more action off the tee than the driver. If she wants to act like that it's a two way rd. I need to get a second driver so the hibore knows it is replaceable. I shot 52-51 =103 which is average for me. Coulda broke 100, but I had 2 lost balls, 2 chip outs from under trees, a 4putt and a couple 3putts, and did not hit or stay on a single par 3 green. I hate being scared to hit my driver though. When WBL and I played I had total confidence with it. Never once considered not hitting it. What happened?