Fitting, is the trending over?

Equipment
#61

Well, good if you confirmed that.
Then it could be the fear of potential failure?

This happens to every golfer sometime, more often to a particular group for some reason.
If I could figure this out, I’d be following the Tour to render my service to the millionaires to make millions.
We say if one had not been pushed to the limit one will not know how to handle the pressure when they’re near the limit of their ability.
One other thing which the top golfers could handle better than those not in the loop is the ability to go from being relaxed back to focus on demand.
Brooks Koepka failed to claim his major not because he was lacking the ability but he got it from following a slow playing group ahead of his own group. Someone else handled the situation better than he did. That cost was humongous.

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#62

Just curious, did you ever try chipping cross handed? I’ve never seen it person, but Matt Fitzpatrick seems pretty good at it and I think a few other pros have done it. Putting Left Hand Low is not that hard, but I’ve never tried chipping that way.

#63

Yes, I’ve tried putter grip, one handed, cross handed, baseball grip, interlock and my standard Varden grip. Everyone of those have worked for a minute. But once on course, and I get that mishit. It’s mental. I can make decisions based on a poor tee or poor long fairway iron. I’m I’m really good with a putter as long as go through my routine. I just really struggle from like 50-60 yds in. My putter saves me a lot. I’m able to get out of green side bunkers within 3 shots 97.3% of the time At best for me a birdie with luck, about a 24% conversion rate for par, but usually no worse than bogey. A mishit chip for me and I’m staring at double…I mean I always found bunkers easier for me because it’s the only strike you are purposely missing the ball. The short pitch/chip once I let the negative slip in and then it’s a battle for me. I think everyone has their demons on course. One of my partners can chip like a pro, he can’t hit a fw wood. I can turn away and just listen, if I hear click, he’s struck it well, usually I hear thud click. He grounds out a lot He works on it all the time, once he gets that thud click something creeps in. For me I will keep working hard and hopefully this year is the year the yips go away.

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#64

Which club and what method do you use from 50-60 yards in? Where and what would be your typical misses which would trigger your mental paralysis?
You don’t need to answer if you don’t feel comfortable sharing.
Even with your feedback, without seeing what you are doing, will be like the Chinese pulse diagnosis. Remote control but still a myth whether it works or not.

#65

Sure I can share what I do and the club(s) I use and I will tell u it all depends. Depends on lie, wind, slope, you know uphill, downhill, side hill. I keep a very neutral, close together stance, no more than a 8 inches between the feet, I utilize a neutral grip, I play the ball on a flat lie towards the front of the stance, weight distribution toward the lead foot probably 60/40, sometimes more. The shaft is more straight up and down as I don’t like using the leading edge and I utilize bounce on the wedge. I usually use anything from a sw to a 9i. The closer I am I will use a 5/6/7/8 iron like a putter. The technique is correct, what happens at the bottom of swing my right hand gets twitchy and it gets ahead and the left wrist breaks down it’s an instant. So what happens the leading edge digs in. Golfers call it a “ chili dipper”. The momentum is stopped and the ball goes 2 ft. That’s when on the next shot I have to then be careful of blading it, u know, hitting the bottom 3rd of the ball. My instructors (PGA pro) are baffled because it comes and goes like a virus. It can last a round, it can last a hole. The worst thing is when the right hand speeds up I have double hit the ball. At least now it’s not a penalty…. Lol… on the other note I wouldn’t call it fear of failure, but it is a confidence /mental issue. I have played my best when I only prepare a strategy and I’m not thinking about mechanics of the swing. I don’t think using a full wedge, I just pull the trigger and execute and do I hit a push or pull, sure, not often, but that extreme confidence in my swing, or with the putter, I go through a routine and I’m pretty good. According to the app I use I gain 4-6 strokes per round with the flat stick. It’s those short pitches, it’s a combined mental and mechanical breakdown…I fight it all the time, if I can keep the bad chips down to a couple and not compound the bad mechanics, I’m happy. I’m going to attempt this year to stop thinking about the pin and the 12ft circle to just get it on the green…, kinda take my bunker approach, For now, I’m gonna try making bogey acceptable as a start, taking the larger number out of the equation and try that approach to curing the malady.

#66

It sounds similar to one of my playing partners. He drives the ball better than most of us, his irons are so so, his putting is great, but his chipping and pitching are hit or miss.

He doubles hits it more than anyone I have ever seen. I’ve seen him double hit it on our #6 hole at least half a dozen times from the left side. It’s near impossible to pitch it well from that side as the green is steeply running away from you so need the perfect lob shot. Most either leave it short in the rough or it’s running off the other side. Give him that shot or similar and he’ll double hit as often as he’ll chunk it.

He’s tried to help me with driver and I’ve tried to help him with a wedge, but we both have mental blocks there at times. It’s annoying, but we still love playing and trying to figure it out.

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#67

When you are having issue with 50-60 yards pitch, which club usually gives you the hiccups?
It is great that you can utilize most the clubs in the bag, I’m trying to picture which one you normally use for the 50-60 yards pitch?

According to your description, it sounds like you were trying to hit/snap at the golf ball with the right hand.
I don’t like to use the term of 1/2 swing or even using the clock hands as many do with the partial golf swing. The way I learned was doing it as throwing a basket ball or a rolled up paper ball. we don’t say set the arms as such for a free throw or change the arm position for a 3 pointer. We do it by experience and hand-eye coordination. Our brain have more capability than the current A.I. we need to trust it more.
If you are already utilizing different golf club for different situation on the golf course for the 50-60 yards pitch shot, then the only other element I could think of at this moment with what you described is your right hand action was not involuntary. Meaning, you forced it to happen.
Pitch shot is usually a through motion, not a hit motion.
I learned the pitch is a mini golf swing.
Chili dip ? It would not matter if the golf ball is gone, it would if your contact with the turf is behind the golf ball. Move the golf ball back in your stance, try an inch then more until you find the right position for the short pitch.
Try this practice, open your stance a little more than usual and place the golf ball more toward the back of the center in your stance. Try a few more different variation until you find the magic spot for you. Never lock in to what the text or video or instruction. Practice, and practice a lot to find out what works for you.
Never be afraid to take a divot with the shorter pitch shot. Chili dip happens when your swing is stopped. The damage will be minimized if you swing through the golf ball.
I started practicing with different golf clubs to the same distance first, then later I practice with one golf club for different distance when I was younger.
Our favorite driving range game between my buddies and I were to use 8 or 9 irons of choice, to targets from 50/75/100/120 yards out. Winner gets a free beer or two after the practice. Everyone’s short game was decent back then. It was relatively cheap for driving range back then, so we did not feel guilty practicing pitching and partial swing.
A more frugal pal, will take his shack bag to the corner between several hole on this public golf course and stayed there the whole afternoon practicing pitching. Lots of back and forth walking but he horned his pitch shot that way.

#68

Kev… you hit it on the head. It’s mental and physical. I’ve seen it on video. It’s an involuntary move at the very bottom of the arc. The right hand speeds up, the right wrist pronates --> ( the left wrist breaks down --> ) supinates! It just happens and I can’t predict it. I still go through the drills before every round… I take 5 balls to the practice area and hit from 12 different areas, Takes about 20-25 minutes. I can tell you it happens more on tighter lies than in does on a lie with a bit more cushion. If I can rid myself of that this year I can truly shave a few strokes off the game. But at least when you double hit it now it’s not another stroke. I had another good player at the club tell me it’s my shoulders… so we’re going to try that experiment this weekend. He thinks its too much shoulder tilt L higher than R. He thinks if I can level those out a bit more on the short chips, I would lose the propensity to have the leading edge dig into the ground and I should pay alot more attention to the slopes, just like I would on the greens…which makes sense at least to me. We’re only talking about a 1/2 inch or so miss behind the ball, but striking the ground instead of the bounce gliding through the ground… on a very short shot all that clubhead momentum stops hence the issue.

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#69

I could see that. My buddy has such a great driver set up with that tilt and what I would call a flatter swing than many of us. He hits a beautiful medium high tiny draw all day and gets a lot out of average swing speed. He will hit 3w off the deck nicely too with a low baby draw.

Once you get to the irons that swing doesn’t work so well for him. I think he should play a set of hybrid irons to get more height, but he’s a traditionalist. I think he sets up the same for a pitch as well and like the irons he’s prone to fat shots and worse. Most of our problems tend to come down to setup, take away and tempo I guess.

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#70

100!! (As the kids would say.)

He’s got a FW swing. Why not go with woods/hybrids as far as it’ll go? Take an 11W or 13W—go full LPGA starter kit. And then go Cleveland Launcher-style irons.
Who cares, so long if it works?

I’d do it, if my swing went that way. (Instead of looking at 2i and going, “Hmmmm?”) I game a DF 2.1 putter. Aesthetics and me parted company in golf awhile ago…

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#71

I used to sneeze on the GI style of golf clubs, just love the looks from the 60s to the 80s minus the first few generation of popular GI irons.
I realized that we don’t wear the golf clubs like a piece of jewelry. It is a tool to allow us to enjoy our time on the golf course.
Maybe 20some years ago, my two buddies and I walked on a local daily fee golf course, we got teamed up with an elderly gentleman.
Charlie, explained to us that he had just got back into the game after a long layoff. We asked why the long layoff, he then explained that he injured his neck during an accident. The C3-C5 were fused by surgery to prevent further injury. Long 15 years or so he could not play golf.
His bag was full of golf clubs from 20 years ago. We paid little attention to him beyond the casual handshakes and first name exchange on the first tee box. His drive was straight but weak, maybe 200 yard at most. He tagged along.
First hole was a long par 4, 407 yards slightly up hill climb with elevated green. We got on the green in two and looking for birdie putt. He struggled a little and made 3 onto the green. We’d all missed our birdie chance and Charlie made this long double bent putt from 16’-18’ away. All tied for par… the rest of the front nine was similar, Charlie struggles a little from tee to green but somehow he kept making those putts.
On the 11th, another long par 4 ( mind you this was before all the tech explosion for driver that can go long ). Charlie made an impossible birdie while the rest of us bogie and par. One of my buds said to Charlie, what kind of putter are you using? It was an ugly small head bronze putter with dark patina. Probably will sell for $1.99 at a thrift store but it was magic in the hands of Charlie.
The fact is, the old putter looked attractive to the three of us, and one of my buds actually did a research after we got back and bought a similar putter from the auction site.
Any tool in the hands of a craftsman will be a prized piece.

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#72

Don’t forget that as she progresses, her swing will change. You should take her back to the same fitter for a short session on the Trackman to make sure the fit is still good.

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#73

For sure.

My wife is 7 years younger than me and she works out regularly since she passed the age of 40. Her trainer told her of the common weight gain for women after the middle age so my wife works out everyday.
Some strength and endurance training from a You Tube channel. I could feel the toned muscle on her, not like when she was young, she weighted barely over 100 pounds, now she is a healthy fit 129-132 pounds.
So when I started her on the golf, the set was fitted with F flex for ladies. The she progressed to men’s senior flex, then to men’s regular graphite shafts.
Occasionally she’ll pick up my steel shafted S flex and said that she likes the feel of the weight. But I know there is a huge difference between swinging it a dozen times and play it all day.
She is now using men’s regular flex graphite shafts in her irons and driver. Fairway woods and hybrids we decided to use the senior flex graphite shafts for now.
Who knows, maybe more changes will come later.

#74

Best wishes to her! I picked up a set of Adams Idea irons with senior shafts–that day will be coming, sooner or later.

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#75

I have plenty of golf clubs over the decades. One of the iron sets I kept is the Adams a7.
Back then I bought it new for the bargain price with the 3 & 4 hybrids with graphite shafts and the rest with light eight steel. The heads were cast and very difficult to bend, broke the 5 iron hosel when trying to set it 2 degrees flatter, it just snapped. Adams sent another 5 iron head to me without any question.
This budget set of irons still rotate through the bag once in awhile.
Good luck with your new/old Idea irons.