My buddies and I go about once a week in the winter. Partially just to get out and half fun and then also to scratch the golf itch. We know it’s not entirely realistic but it’s fun to swing and have a couple beers. The place in Westborough we go to has 8 bays at $50/hr, and they usually get us on early/let us stay late if it’s not booked.I went to Newport Indoor Golf this morning. 5 golf simulators all using Trackman.
A buddy and I went for an hour. First time hitting in about 3 months so it was rough going but we each warmed up and played about 7 holes on the simulator. It was $60 for the hour on the bay which seems in line with other places.
They have a deal, $250 for the month for 7 hours of bay time, and you can split it with as many people as you want. We may take advantage and try to go once per week for the next few months. Generally I am pretty meh on simulators but from what I understand the Trackman is the gold standard so its better than nothing.
That's a great deal for a TrackmanI went to Newport Indoor Golf this morning. 5 golf simulators all using Trackman.
A buddy and I went for an hour. First time hitting in about 3 months so it was rough going but we each warmed up and played about 7 holes on the simulator. It was $60 for the hour on the bay which seems in line with other places.
They have a deal, $250 for the month for 7 hours of bay time, and you can split it with as many people as you want. We may take advantage and try to go once per week for the next few months. Generally I am pretty meh on simulators but from what I understand the Trackman is the gold standard so its better than nothing.
I played this weekend. Half of the course (Richter Park, in Danbury) was in shorts, and I was sad that I didn't think of it.Played shining rock today. In shorts and short sleeves.
I used to play Richter Park all the time when I was interning at Golf Digest in Trumbull. Fun track.I played this weekend. Half of the course (Richter Park, in Danbury) was in shorts, and I was sad that I didn't think of it.
Felt like a weekend in May.
Of course I wake up today and it's snowing out. Wtf.I played this weekend. Half of the course (Richter Park, in Danbury) was in shorts, and I was sad that I didn't think of it.
Felt like a weekend in May.
I agree with most of your analysis but think your conclusion is wrong. The launch and spin are certainly low, but the swing speed is fine. The driver is likely a decently good fit – the G head is high launching and forgiving, and the Tour 65 is a fine shaft for your swing speed. The smash factor is bad – it’s an indicator of poor contact. To me anything under 1.42 is a mishit. I’d work on trying to make better contact first. I don’t know anything about True Spec but they should be able to help too.So as many know, I've spent the last year learning how to swing correctly (aka not having the clubface wide open at the top). While it's never perfect, I've made a ton of progress on that front, first with irons then with driver/woods. However, as a result, I've kept my driver in play a lot, but lost a TON of distance. Like...barely hitting it 200-210 yards despite feeling like it was a good strike off the center of the club face.
As I mentioned, my buddies and I go to the simulator a bunch, which naturally shows you your distances when you hit. While I don't consider them gospel on an absolute basis, I was finding that despite hitting the ball seemingly well, I was 40-50 yards behind my friends. Carrying 185-190 with rolling out to 200-205. They would consistently be between 220-260, so I knew something was up. I don't need to be a long hitter...but this wasn't right.
So I did a bunch of research and booked an hour at the simulator by myself to record my stats and figure out what the issue was. And it was super enlightening. I had a swing speed between 95-100mph (average 97) and a ball speed around 130-140mph (average 1.38 smash factor) which were right about where I expected. Smash factor could be a touch higher but it wasn't the root cause. That should give me at least a 220-230 carry with roll out to 240-250 (what I would like). But...I was launching it at 7-10 degrees with really low spin (900-2k rpm) with carries in the 180-190 range. This made total sense now - with that low swing speed, low launch, and low spin...bad results ensued. I tried focusing on hitting up on the ball a bit and launching it higher and got back to regular numbers, but it felt weird and I was fighting my driver.
So my conclusion is that I need a new driver. Mine is 4 years old, but it's built for someone with way higher swing speeds and a different swing than I have now. Got an appointment next weekend at True Spec in Waltham which I got multiple recommendations for. Will be interested to see what I end up with, but looking forward to (hopefully) being able to get off the tee again.
I'm not, but the face usually shows pretty clearly where I hit them, especially with these balls. I'm sure I'm not absolutely puring them, but I'm definitely hitting them pretty close to the center of the club face including some dead center. This all started with me wondering if my driver had a flaw in it (doubtful - that's very rare for a driver this young) but I'm not ruling it out.TFP- Have you tried using impact tape during any of your sessions? This would be an easy way for you to confirm if you're making solid contact or not.
They sell packs of them for under $10 at golf stores. My local place just gave me a handful for free when I asked if they had them for sale. There are some homemade options you can use if you want to save a few bucks (I've seen people spray sunscreen/foot spray on the face of the club to get a similar result).
There's only a few candidates for this and they all lead me to believe I'd love to be your guest for a round this summer.Streamsong Black - I'm a member of a Hanse course up here
Do you move the ball around in your stance or always have the it in the same spot in relation to you?So I went to TrueSpec Saturday for the driver fitting. First thing - Nick there is great and the whole facility is top notch. I like it a lot and highly recommend it to anyone who is considering fitting. Best experience I've had.
So going in, I was a little sore and stiff. I skated both Thurs/Fri nights and didn't sleep great Fri night, so it wasn't ideal. But I went through the usual fitting process. Hit my current driver, got the numbers I was expecting and had been seeing lately, kinda confirmed what I was saying before, then tried a bunch of new options. New shafts, pretty much every new driver possible, and literally nothing changed. Club speed, ball speed, etc were all decent, contact was inconsistent because my swing did not feel good. But launch was still low, and we realized the angle of attack was really bad. Generally in the 4-6 degrees down range, some even 8 degrees down. Basically I was hitting my driver like an iron regardless of the shaft/head. This also promotes coming over the top. I made a small swing change to try to hit up on the ball to see if that would make a change. With some of the higher launch/kick shafts I felt like it was gonna snap during the swing. So he said let's give the original driver a shot again and boom - I was right back where I wanted to be. 14 degrees launch, 2k rpm backspin, swing much more on plane, face square, carry and total numbers about where I want to be (240 total).
So long story short, it was the carpenter and not the tool (which I expected). But not for efficiency reasons, but rather for angle of attack reasons. Thankfully he didn't pressure me into buying an expensive new driver, and said I can do a follow up fitting if I want once I get the swing locked back in. There are definitely gains to be had, but by the end I was gassed and didn't want to hit any more drivers. So it wasn't the ideal outcome, but it help put me at ease as to what's really going on.
I need to build a personal launch monitor/simulator in my house somehow. I'm officially addicted to this crap.
Prices are starting to come down. Hopefully it follows the path of cell phones or flat screen TVsLet us know when it's built
https://trugolf.com/simulators/the-vista/
You're probably gonna get more for trading it in than outright selling it, especially when you factor in the hassle of listing it, shipping it, paying fees, etc.I’m interested in selling my Rogue diver and 3 wood (replacing them in April).
Anyone know what the best sites are to do that? They are in excellent condition. Probably 8.5/10.
Right so even if I'm -2 attack, the chart above is saying that optimal launch is 11.1 degrees. So I need a high lofted driver, I'm assuming?I don't think it's 1:1 attack angle to driver loft. You should really get the numbers for your driver though. You hit a 3-wood off the ground/short tee and a driver off of a tall tee. That attack angle is likely to be significantly lower. I'd guess, based on the 3-wood numbers, that your -2 attack, 105-107 clubhead and 155-160 ball speed.
I usually keep it in the same position, what I think is just inside my front foot. I'm going to start messing around with it though, moving it forward will help me hit up on it but also promotes being over the top. Needless to say, my driver swing needs a lot of work, likely to start from scratch.Do you move the ball around in your stance or always have the it in the same spot in relation to you?
Angle of attack is important but not if you throw your swing off in the pursuit of coming up on the ball. What was the angle once things starting going well? Also your angles will affect smash too -- horizontal and vertical.
Yeah, I'd likely start with a 10.5 as the "natural" loft that can go up to 11.5-12.5 and then mess with the settings. Depending on the driver you can change the launch a bunch by sliding weights forward and changing where the shaft flexes. Honestly, your clubhead speed is a little low for that angle of attack so I'd see what different shafts and weights do to get that closer to 0. On the flip side, your clubhead speed is high for a stiff flex shaft. You should try out some X shafts. They should drop the spin and decrease dispersion for you.Right so even if I'm -2 attack, the chart above is saying that optimal launch is 11.1 degrees. So I need a high lofted driver, I'm assuming?
Every quote I've got for trade ins have been laughably low, but with bonuses it's possible they can get close to resale value. It never made sense to me, but if you don't mind store credit and would rather take a $20-50 hit instead of using ebay that's fine too.You're probably gonna get more for trading it in than outright selling it, especially when you factor in the hassle of listing it, shipping it, paying fees, etc.
I'd check Ebay but then double up on a site that offers PGA trade in, like 3Balls.com and watch for deals in a couple months at big box stores like Dick's - they often offer 150% trade in value towards a new club and trade in value is determined by PGA, not the individual store.
Yeah those numbers look fine -- similar to mine, but I don't see launch and that may be the most important number. Optimum depends on what's optimum for you though. I like a 3 wood that launches high because I like to be aggressive and use it into greens, rarely use it off the tee, and I think the high launch helps if my lie is less than perfect. I'm using a Lst 3 wood with a tour 75x 5-wood shaft, a heavy rear weight, and it's in the minus 1 flat setting.I want to geek out a bit on numbers and am looking for help in making sure I'm understanding stuff correctly. I, like always, am trying to find a 3 wood and driver to fit my game. The Rogue was working for me a bit a few seasons back but after having kids and getting out of shape my swing feels different now. I've been going to a trackman simulator once a week with a buddy of mine and we're lucky enough to have access to almost every selection of clubhead and shaft combo that there is.
I have really enjoyed the PING G410 series. These were my average numbers using the G410 3 wood:
Club speed: 100.8
Ball Speed: 147.5
Spin rate: 3209
Attack Angle -4.9
Club Path: 3.9
Smash Factor: 1.46
Face to path: -0.9
Face Angle: 3.0
Carry: 239.5
Total: 247.8
I am just learning about this stuff, but I *think* those numbers are good. The club certainly felt good. Ball flight on the sim looked great. Because I have a steep angle of attack, I was experimenting with a tip soft shaft, getting my best numbers out of the Tensai CK Orange stiff shaft.
So you're saying the launch wasn't high enough?Now for the driver, I don't have the numbers but they're pretty similar. I tried the G410 Plus in a 10.5 degree turned to 12 degrees. They didn't have the CK Orange shaft available in a stiff last night, only extra stiff. Swing speed was a little higher, angle of attack a little shallower (around 4), Ball speed with driver was around 152. So look at this chart:
Optimal launch for my angle of attack and ball speed is 9.8 with 2950 rpm of spin. So should I be hitting a 13 degree driver to offset my -4 angle of attack? I know I can mess with the spin numbers by moving the weights.
This is a pic I saw years ago that helped get everything going down the right path. Helped come down on the wedges, up on the driver, and straighten out the path for every club. It was a big help.I usually keep it in the same position, what I think is just inside my front foot. I'm going to start messing around with it though, moving it forward will help me hit up on it but also promotes being over the top. Needless to say, my driver swing needs a lot of work, likely to start from scratch.
So whats the not awful way to do it?Except using ball position based off your foot is an awful way to do it.