Better late than never

Better late than never, I keep telling myself.

Potentially, this could be a honeymoon period, but from what I have seen and felt thus far I’d say I have finally found gear that truly fits my swing.  I think for the past 1.5 years I have been trying to adapt my swing to my sticks, but my eyes have been opened and I now truly appreciate how much of a difference small changes can make in your equipment.

I am still playing Titleist irons and Vokey wedges, but with the shorter x-flex shafts and having the lie bent 3 degrees flat instead of 1 upright which my older ones were when I had them checked, they feel like completely different clubs (sticks ;) ).  Completely new.

the divots are flush in the sod creating nice rectangular pelts and I don’t have to hold on to prevent the ball from hooking.  I can really get through it and my two shots are either a nice little draw or a miss of a slight push.  It’s remarkable and the best thing that’s happened to my game in quite some time.

The first day I had them I went out and despite having a couple small chipping duffs, a-la Tiger last Thursday, due to not being used to the different grinds and bounces I shot a decent 78.  A few of those bogeys were directly attributed to tee shots and some others from not completely trusting the new sticks as it was my first time out.  The next round I played with them was last Friday and I won a little match play round by shooting a 74.  It was one of those super easy 74s that could have been a few strokes lower if some of the 8-10 foot birdie putts had dropped.  It was great to hit the ball well again and stick some more greens!

Afterwords I almost felt mad at myself for having tried to make the other fit work for so long.  My iron play had not been up to snuff for some time and I just didn’t know why.  I’m not saying that gear makes all of the difference, but it can definitely make some significant difference, especially if you are like me with needs pretty far away from “standard” stock settings.

Speaking of a standard fit, that is the setting of my driver and 3-wood. I have already taken the hybrid out of the bag and now know that I have to replace all three of those.  No offense to Titleist, but their gear tends to be a bit upright, as does a lot of brands as upright can help prevent the dreaded slice, and for someone like me it is harder to hit.  I can get shorter shafts which may help as that assists in flattening the lie.  Whatever it ends up being, it’s time to find the right big clubs for my game throughout the bag.

The point that I have learned from all of this is that if you have been struggling with something for some time it’s good to look at all of the reasons that may be getting in your way.  At the level that I am currently, a slight change in gear can be a stroke or two per round either way.  In golf, a couple of strokes makes a huge difference.  Now if I can also gain some confidence in my tee shots by having a driver and 3-wood that I trust I can potentially gain a stroke or two there as well.  It won’t make an overnight change, but confidence is key and I now have that from 3-iron to 58 degree wedge.

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