My bag was at 12 clubs for a decent clip with no real discernable difference. My 5 iron is mostly in my bag for when hole #2 has a back pin and back tees… 6 iron doesn’t get there and 4 utility is too much.
14th club is another wedge… it was actually a good addition back into the bag, but more for 100 yard shots than around the green.
I think we always knew it was important (see Daly, Jon) we just didn’t have the fitness regiments and equipment to necessarily build towards it…
Honestly, had I known what to train in high school, I would have done it…
My peak physical shape (and golf ability) was in 2004 after college… I lived in Idaho for a summer and did nothing but train and play golf… had I had a golf specific work out, I would have been better at both.
Oh well…
I think one of the advantages of the playing to the center-back yardage number whenever I’m 100+ yards out is I find I’m never really taking less than a full swing with my irons. I always hated the feeling of “taking something off” a 7 iron for example. Taking that back number, picking the club that my full swing will get closest to that number, but not go over, then just swing away. If I really looked into it, I’d be willing to bet that that strategy is saving me at least a stroke or two a round.
Yeah, I think taking the back number continually proves to be the smart strategy…
Back and middle pins, take the club that if hit perfectly goes to the back (and not over)… front pin, take the middle pin distance #. Or at least, that’s going to be my mentality.
I think you’d be shocked at what tour players used to believe, and how they approach the game now. I was shown a text message from a major champion who had a great career with millions in earnings. He learned something very recently as a Champions tour player that you think would be basic knowledge, but it absolutely blew his mind and he wished he had a time machine to go back and adjust his game.
Cory, couldn’t agree more! 9 times out of ten you’ll be slightly under and well, that one time you flush it you just have to accept a great shot.
But the technique is far better than always under cooking approaches with under committed 3/4 swings
No need to name names, but super curious what the bit of obvious knowledge was!
Maybe I just always thought it was important!
You have much better knowledge of the trends than I do.
I would have certainly chased distance as a youth, though maybe not because I thought it was necessary 
It was Phil and it was about his recovery percentage! 
There’s no question people knew it was important, they just didn’t build their games around it. When Mark Broadie came out with strokes gained it was the first time we could get a true measure of relative performance on tour. People used to look at a stat like fairways hit and just assumed whoever was at top was one of the best drivers on tour. Look who’s in lead in 2020 (it’s Furyk) - does he have any real shot at competing anymore?
The very smart analytical players had probably figured out many of these things on their own, but tour players do fall victim to groupthink. So once the cat got “out of the bag” so to speak on distance, you’re now seeing everyone do whatever they possibly can to make sure they’re not falling behind in that category.
Makes sense… I’ve been thinking alot about tour pros and who they surround themselves with and trust… Sieckmann talks about sitting down with players and going over their stats every year, and it was an interesting anecdote.
It’s also interesting as their is the data, what player’s CAN do, and what players can improve on… you look at a guy like Finau. He has more distance in the tank than Bryson… he chose to take that advantage and (from what I’ve read, at least) use it to shorten his swing…
I’m SURE there is a reason and data behind his decision… maybe he just can’t swing all out 12 times a round or his miss is too big… or any number of other concerns… Whether or not he’s making the right choice will be more of a historical question than anything. I’m curious to see if he ever decides to chase more distance… He’s 24th on tour right now, so it’s not like he’s short!
It would be fun to see him come out and swing 140 and see how crazy the anti distance guys go!
I don’t understand why folks don’t get fit or seek instruction for putting. It’s mind boggling. I spent a morning at ECPC in Carlsbad last year and taking the loft to 2.5 made a world of difference.
I was going through a performance evaluation last year with a great instructor for an article.
He looked at my putting stroke for about five minutes and noticed my shoulders were about 35 degrees closed, and it was one of the reasons I was pulling so many putts. Ever since that brief interaction I’ve been able to fix that problem with a putting mirror and an adjustment to my pre-shot putting routine (my last move is to square my shoulders). Putting is probably more personal than the rest of golf, but that doesn’t mean that professional help won’t improve your results!
Well, I had to cancel a putter fitting to try to move the ball forward on having someone professionally stick a needle in my back… but I’m a prime candidate for a putting fitting and haven’t done it…
I think the ability to get fit for a putter has improved dramatically since I bought my last putter. I’m planning on getting a full fitting done, and honestly, I want to try different companies fitting procedures…
I might end up down in Nashville and go hit both SeeMore and LAB up for fittings…
From my experience, you have to choose the putter brand you want and THEN get fit for it… it’s hard to go and get a brand agnostic fit.
My cousin swears by his Edel fitting, even if he doesn’t game an Edel putter anymore (he’s playing a LAB BLAD). He said it was informative across a number of metrics, especially how he was best at aiming… honestly, I want to do the full, hardcore fitting, which is less available in Louisville.
I don’t know… maybe I need to go get loft and length sorted out first and then worry about the more in depth issues… It’s definitely on my mind as something I want and need to do.
If you have any suggestions on who I should talk to about getting fit, I’m open to it… we have a Club Champion here, but I’d rather give my money to Golf Headquarters.
Jon, can you share this revelation?!
In this same vein, Tiger has talked about how much he used to run in his training. Looking back, you can’t help but wonder what impact that had on his knee injuries and potential wins.
Best of luck. Injections aren’t any fun.I’ve had 2 microdiscectomies and a few years away from going “Full Tiger”. Go see Greg at HQ. He’ll get you squared away.
Almost every golf fitness expert I trust has said that running adds very little value to your golf game. Obviously, Tiger was a trendsetter with his fitness, but that doesn’t mean everything he did was right. If I remember correctly he did tear his Achilles running.
It’s eye opening. I didn’t have a directions miss. It was a small loop in transition that I was struggling with along with pace. One small suggestion and and a loft tweak and I was squaring the putter face.
Heck with a friend and an iPhone you can capture some basic info on your own.
I clicked on the headline and I thought ‘man, I’d have to write an essay to answer that one’, then I saw your post. haha. I’m glad I’m not the only one that puts so much thought into it.
My bag is based around a 56 degree wedge and a 5W. My two favorite clubs.
Next season I have promised myself to take any ego out of the iron fitting and get more forgiving clubs. I need more forgiveness in my long irons.