Inspiration in a time of a golfing low
This isn’t my favorite song of theirs, but it’s definitely one in which I find inspiration. Not sure why, but I really enjoy these guys:
Inspiration abounds and sometimes there’s so much to go around it almost hurts. Other times it’s hard to find your way through a day. Lately, I’ve been finding so much beauty in life that I get to the course full of excitement and confidence. I can’t wait to get there and can’t wait to tee it up after my practice session ends. I know my skills and game are better than ever and each first tee I hit I’m ready to go after it and make some good shots, shoot a nice and low score.
The problem, though, is that my on-course confidence is at an epic low. I’m testing some new drivers, trying to change my iron swing, the new wedges I’m not 100 percent sure how to hit short approach shots with due to the different bounces and my putting is good but I don’t seem to start the ball on the line I want each time. Outside of that, all is gold.
I know the change is going to come and life happens in cycles, but that doesn’t necessarily make it better while you are in the middle of the old “take a step back before moving forward.” Everything I am doing is for the long-term greater good and I know that progress is happening, just have to stick to my guns.
I’ve been testing out some new drivers and here are the FlightScope numbers from the most recent one:
There are some things I really like about these numbers, like the club path and face to path, but the dynamic loft is now too low on average which added to lower spin is causing a lot ball flight.
This driver has a 43″ Accra stiff shaft in it. I tested out one right before the holidays with an x-flex shaft and I only played 9 holes with it. It felt crazy strange and I hadn’t a clue why I literally could not hit the ball more than 170 yards. The night before I went to see Jari at Birdie Finnish golf to have him switch out the shafts I picked it up and did a light flex test in my hands, honestly not bending the shaft much at all, but then this happened:
It was one of the craziest things I have seen in golf. There were maybe 20 swings on the shaft and it just exploded in my hands. I didn’t put much pressure on it, so it must have had just a randomly weak spot. No offense to Accra, of course, as they make great shafts, I just happened to have found one with a defect. They will swap it out with Jari, for sure. But, I do know that the structure of this particular shaft probably led to how it performed on the course.
At any rate, I now have the Stiff flex version and am liking it, but it’s not quite perfect yet. I can tell that something is a bit off with either the length, the head, the weight or something. But, it’s getting closer to the date where I find a driver that really fits me. Right now I am hitting way more fairways with the 43″ shaft and making center contact more often. But, I am not getting it up in the air high enough, especially for winter time when the ball plugs as soon as it hits grass and a better trajectory can increase your drives by 15-20 yards.
It’s a work in progress, but at least it’s finally progressing.
I am also still adjusting to my new wedges, which is proving to take longer than I had imagined as short wedge game has always been a strength of mine, but now I am finding myself chunking one or two shots a round and then blading a couple. It does not lead to confidence or scoring. The question I have is how long do you try something out before you make a decision if it belongs in the bag or not? Last year I stuck with a driver that I never “found” for months and then realized that it just didn’t fit my game. In retrospect I wish that I would have switched it out earlier, but I kept thinking something would click. I don’t want to replicate that experience, but I also want to do my due diligence with any potential new piece of gear. What does everyone else do?
I’m going to give the new wedges another week and then if I have not found confidence in them will switch out to the old ones for a week to see if it’s the arrow or the operator.