over complication ???

[bladeplayer]

Just reading some posts on here over the last couple of weeks & it seems to me that a good few people are over complicating the game for golfers of our level .. It seems to me people are over thinking the game , lofts - lies - specific types of shafts - types of grips - club positions @ start of swing - top of swing and at follow through etc.. i could go on but you should have the idea by now .. what happened to walking into the shop & finding a club you liked, had a couple of swings & been happy with that ?? .. then walking on to the 1st tee & just playing golf ?? Why has everything golf gone so technical .. Thoughts please ..

 

[DCB]

good post and a question I've thought myself on a number of occasions. It's a simple game made difficult by ourselves.

Hit it, find it and then hit it again... simple

 

[Oddsocks]

Couldnt agree more, for some reason off the peg seems totally out of the norm on this forum. 20+ HC players having full custom fit bags etc. Now at no point am i saying there must be a requirement by HC before having a custom fit, after all ive seen some 10 HC players with no ingrained consistent swing at all, but surely there has to be some level of consistency there before you opt for CF. Its when you read people signatures and see that they have this head, with this shaft because it has higher/lower kick points etc it does make me wonder how much of their game is played by the talking their equipment does and their swing doesnt.

I must confess i've allowed the forum to influence certain area's of my game, some have been to my benefit such as wedge selection, but others have been totally overspec'd goods like the r11 that did nothing for my game.

I think the biggest problem is people ready very technical threads on here, if it relates anything to their own game then that must be the cure, for example the wrong flex shaft causing ballooning ball flight. I know i may get a better flight with different shafts, but i also know that better weight transfer and body position through the swing will also improve this, so i dont need £300 shafts to fix a swing fault, its range time and lessons.

 

[brendy]

I actually had this conversation with my uncle last night. he said that he had never felt the need to go and get measured up for anything. He is also a single figure man but has quite a unique swing since a car accident years ago that stopped him bending his left arm (which actually helps!)
Anway, neither of us have ever been fitted for clubs that we own. Normally for us inconsistent amateur golfers an approximation is more than good enough. Some days we want to swing hard on open courses, others on windier or tighter days we dont. How can you fit shafts for that?

 

[Oddsocks]

brendy, is that where uniflex come in?

 

[brendy]

Sort of OS, Uniflex is a compromise, like a regular shaft but with the stability of something a little firmer when using a fuller swing, I dont think it still equated totally to 3/4 shots into the wind etc. I am no guru though.

 

[Baldyeagle]

Fair point (up to a point) - I think that it's probably worth trying to make sure that your clubs are not an obstacle to your game by being too long/too short etc. otherwise you'll never know whether a problem is down to you.
Example: I got 'persuaded' to take my irons in for a fitting while collecting my wife's new clubs.
'Not worth it' I said - 'I reckon I'm standard length & lie' (much cynical smirking by the pro) 'Oh yeah' 60 yrs old, dodgy back and you reckon you're standard?'
Anyway, re-visited (it was free) and hit a few balls with my 7i. Pro's response 'You git! length & lie absolutely smack on'. But my long-winded point is ... he knew that my duffed shots were pulled a bit left and told me that the grips were too small for me (genuine because he already knows I re-grip my own clubs so no angle for him) and that's why I was gripping a little tight.

Re-gripped with mid-size, more relaxed grip and hey presto, left-pulled iron shots disappeared.

 

[Oddsocks]

i think thats one thing id change about my current irons. my last set come with a set of fatter grips, the new ones always felt a bit skinny. when they come off midsize going back on.

 

[USER1999]

I have been custom fit for a driver. I sold it after 3 months, and bought a random one off the net which I hit better.

I was custom fit for my irons. TTDG R300, half inch longer, 2 degrees upright. Played ok with them.

Now got standard length, standard lie, FST tour 90 in stiff. Has it made any difference? No. Not a jot.

Previously had TTDG S300 in a set of blades. They played ok too.

Now I'm not a very consistent, or good golfer, but to me custom fit has made no difference to my game (my wallet has takena hit though, especially on the driver). It might for someone else, but for me, nope.

 

[iku]

I couldn't agree more. I started playing last year and I must admit that in the beginning I went crazy about miniscule details, custom fits and similars.

However, the moment I started seeing golf as I game and not a series of checks and drills the quality of my game improved dramatically.

I will always remember the first 2-3 weeks at the range:

check the grip, align the club, hands position, feet, shoulders, head-down, straight arms, swing up to here, look at the ball, come down, follow thru, turn, end on the right foot tip and.... bang! Massive slices all over the place. The moment I said "For f#'#' sake I have I stick in my hands and want to hit a ball and send it in that direction, no thoughts ball straight since then (not the driver).

I'm not saying that we shouldn't take lessons or tweak our clubs but sometimes that disconnects you from the purpose of the game. In the article about Seve of this month he was quoted saying "I think fade and the ball fades". Well, to some extent I think there's a bit of Seve in everyone and sometimes we should think more of what we want to do rather than repeating mechanical checks.

 

[bluewolf]

too many mechanical thoughts while swinging result in poor shots. walk up to ball, grip club, picture shot in head, swing, put club in bag, walk to next shot....thats as complex as I make it.. as soon as I start thinking about take away, impact point, speed etc, I may as well pick up and go home. Oh, and I have custom fit clubs, and they don't play any better than my 6 year old, off the peg mx23's...the body can adapt to many things, the wallet struggles to adapt to slick advertising....

 

[Alex1975]

Just reading some posts on here over the last couple of weeks & it seems to me that a good few people are over complicating the game for golfers of our level .. It seems to me people are over thinking the game , lofts - lies - specific types of shafts - types of grips - club positions @ start of swing - top of swing and at follow through etc.. i could go on but you should have the idea by now .. what happened to walking into the shop & finding a club you liked, had a couple of swings & been happy with that ?? .. then walking on to the 1st tee & just playing golf ?? Why has everything golf gone so technical .. Thoughts please ..

Its a forum, if you did not come read the posts then it would be as it was for you, walk on the course and hit the ball nothing technical. Some of us like to talk about it, I would guess because we can not do it, or because we are passionate about our hobby or want to get better or enjoy the community.

I guess a post like this comes up once a month. What we going to talk about if we don't get deep? the forum is a cycle of the same posts over an over anyways, lose the tech ones and all you will have is the Smiffy is a nob ones and I don't even know if thats true, I only have your word for it.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

As one who was regularly critiscised on here for making it harder than it needed to be I can sort of see where the OP is coming from. However I've always had an analytical approach but agree that 2167 swing thoughts per shot was probably a tad too many. In the last two years on the course I've been relying on the work I've done on the range and in lessons and trust the swing I have. Despite the handicap going up (due to a crap short game - things improving on that front) I've actually enjoyed it more and have produced some good ball striking even if I didn't have an end score to show for it.

As for C/F I've had it and I've bought off the shelf. I think there are merits to both and providing you aren't an absolute beginner having lessons and therefore an evolving swing I can see how C/F can be a benefit. However I don't think it is a pre-requisite. My current kit is all off the peg. If I were to chance (particularly to JPX 800 pro) then I'd look at the options but wouldn't make it a condition of getting a new set.

I still have a habit of making it complcated on the course particularly in the short game area but this is now more of a mental issue than anything else and a change of technique is now helping produce more confidence which is keeping the voices in the head quiet and things are taking baby steps forward.

 

[Region3]

When custom fitting costs so little (or sometimes nothing) I don't see the point in not having it done.

I think the bigger issue is people thinking the next set of custom fit clubs will transform their game from the previous set of custom fit clubs.

Sometimes it will, but not for the majority of golfers.
Find clubs that work for you, then stick with them.

I bet a lot of pro's test new clubs in practice rounds or on the range for the equivalent of a few months worth of golf for us before they'll put them in the bag for competitions. Some of us don't give our own clubs that long before we decided we need new ones.

 

[Aztecs27]

I bet a lot of pro's test new clubs in practice rounds or on the range for the equivalent of a few months worth of golf for us before they'll put them in the bag for competitions. Some of us don't give our own clubs that long before we decided we need new ones.

I can't think of who that might refer to

 

[needmoreclub]

Blade, That's a great statement, i'd always played standard clubs bought from looks and price and played cat 1 for a short while, then decided after reading and hearing much about 'custom fitting' got fitted for my current irons, worst decision i've ever made, games gone to pot, look out for my ad on the 'for sale' section, think i'll go back to standard irons.

 

[Alex1975]

Blade, That's a great statement, i'd always played standard clubs bought from looks and price and played cat 1 for a short while, then decided after reading and hearing much about 'custom fitting' got fitted for my current irons, worst decision i've ever made, games gone to pot, look out for my ad on the 'for sale' section, think i'll go back to standard irons.

Lol ye its the clubs......

 

[needmoreclub]

So many experts on here, wish i was one.

 

[needmoreclub]

I'm not grasping at straws, i'm far more desperate than that.LOL

 

[0]

if you don't know how it works how can you possibly fix it WHEN it goes wrong?