ScooterMcTavish

Thanks Stuart, Think I may do this in two phases - try the slightly heavier grip first (+8-10g) on one club, and see how it feels without any added weight, then can add some lead tape before I start cutting shafts (even if only by 1/2"). Also of note, I am keeping an eye on static weight, as these are the heaviest irons I've played in about 5 years. Adding 10g of grip then another 4-8g of lead tape may be moving them into "too heavy" territory; they are already at 428g in the 7i. Another option is to look at re-shafting them, and rebuild the static weight and swing weight as part of the process. I do have great love for the $-Taper Lite and Modus Tour 105 - might be a way to "buy back" some static weight, and allow me to go heavier in grips, 1/2" shorter, yet add a tip weight to compensate.

Crikey! Think that 1" is staying on the club. Will look for midsize grips in the general weight range of the MCC.

In the follow-up no-one wanted, I have retired "old faithful" back to the shed, and have been gaming the DS LS since last Friday. Driver was actually the best part of game in an unmemorable round, as I had limited GIR, and couldn't make a chip or putt until the back 9. Checked the Golf Canada act, and had 79% fairway accuracy. When I see only 2 GIR and 1 up and down, it's a long day. Oddly, I just had the constant thought of "bring it inside" in my head that day, and it worked incredibly well, with only one fade being a bit leaky on a hole where I was allowed to be leaky (130 yds in). On only one Par 4 did I not feel I could make the green, with my favourite being a 185 yd 5W into the 18th green leaving a 15' putt for birdie. Considering this was a hot and humid day, I was surprised my driving was as good or better by the end of the round than it had been at the beginning.

This is an interesting consideration, as I have certainly pulled down my sidespin numbers and increased my AoA since I took my driver from stock 45.5 to 44.5. I find the shorter shaft allows me to get more upright, and also have a more controlled low point in my swing. YMMV, of course, and you also have to be short with gorilla arms like me.

Good afternoon, oh wise club gurus. I come to you with confusion and seek assistance. My current irons came with a very nice set of Golf Pride MCC standard grips on them. As someone who hates to waste things, I have left them on all season so far, even though they are too skinny for my very long fingers. Feels like sticking my hand into a bag of pretzels when gripping the club. Clubs were also standard L/L/L which is preferred for me, though my short frame and knuckle-dragging gorilla arms can really make do with 1" short. For now, I'm enjoying the double fun of crowding big hands together on a smaller part of the grip when I choke up. Yikes. Where I get concerned with these potential changes is on swing weight. My understanding is shortening a club will take off 1 or 2 swing weight points. I am also of the understanding that every 5g of grip will take off a point of swing weight. Question I have is if these changes are done at the same time, does the added weight from the grip partially offset the loss of shaft? I'm guessing "no" as the balance point of the club will have moved, but would appreciate confirmation. Irons are currently a D2 (my typical preference), though I have swung a D0 set of irons perfectly fine before as their static weight was high enough.

I also hit a cut (but at a much lower speed) and also have the occasional moon ball sneak into my round. Also am playing a low-spin head with a low-mid spin shaft, and often the XV. If I was going to guess, the issue is not the ball. When I also look at a particular ball test on a different website, backspin for the left dash is only 100 RPM less, and max height is only 1.12' lower vs the ProV1x off driver at 97 MPH. At 113 MPH, the spin difference is 19 (yes, 19) RPM lower, though the ProV1x does get almost 2' higher. In short, pretty fine strokes, and not the difference between a "normal" cut and a moonball. Which makes me think looking at the shaft is not a bad idea. When I miss, it's due to not coming around quick enough, which leaves the face open, radically increases the dynamic loft (as mentioned above) and also helps the ball go very high and very right. As I don't put a lot of move on my fade (400-500 RPM), the only thing which will make it balloon is an open face. And I had this problem severely with any lighter weight driver shaft (50g class), where the lack of resistive weight was causing me an issue with my sequence. Playing a 67g shaft now, and have this problem very, very rarely. I also noted that we play similar weight iron shafts, which may (or may not) translate to the weight needed in a driver. Possibly it's worth taking it to a fitter and trying the Ventus Black in a 6S to see if that changes anything. And although counterintuitive, some of us swing heavy shafts faster, as we get more resistive feedback making us more confident in our swing.

I've used some budget Amazon midsize grips, and typically use air to blow them on to a single wrap of duct tape (fabric type). Approximately 2-3 wraps of thickness, and has texture to keep the grip from twisting. Although it firms the grip, it is offset by a bit of softness from the fabric weave in the tape, which is a feel I like. Possibly two or three layers of duct tape could be an easy experiment. Unfortunately, I've found the benefit from increasing wrap thickness is partially lost as the grip itself is being stretched thinner. If they genuinely need Jumbos, there must be some lower cost alternative available. Karma Revolution 360 (for example) look pretty good. I've used their version of the Tour Velvet and they're decent grips.

Just a couple of notes to ball testing: #1 - The degenerates on this website like table data, so here you go. Also note I've dropped in a row for the TruFeel - it would be an egregious omission of me not to run a Titleist through the gauntlet, even if I did not like my prior experience. #2 - If you are considering doing a ball test, I'd recommend trying sleeves, not boxes. It only occurred to me the other day that I am going to have a crap-ton of golf balls left over after this shoot-out, and this is on top of the other 14 dozen balls I already have in my stash (I stock up when they are on sale). Worst part is I rarely lose a ball anymore, and I generally take more out of play due to scuffs. At least I can use the SoftFeel and e6 Soft in leaf season, and the Callaway will be fun to put on a shelf with my other Canadiana. May end up giving some to the nephew who golfs....

Lots of good ideas in the thread here, and only felt I had to chime in as my game is very similar to yours. Driver SS is around 93, handicap is currently a 15.4 (was 10 in 2023), and I too struggle with high driver, low backspin/descent angle issues. Did want to reinforce what @grochol17 said above - at our SS (and handicap), the loss of distance from a softer ball should be negligible, especially with inconsistent ball striking. In short, everything is on the table, so you can play pretty much any ball you like the look and/or feel of. First thing I'm wondering about is your driver. Have you had your angle of attack (AoA) with driver measured? If you have a positive AoA (+3 to +5 is good for a slower SS), then the height and lack of distance could be due to the driver having too much loft, or a mismatch between you and the shaft. However, if you have a negative AoA, your loss of distance is due to backspin and your strike. If this is the correction needed (and it was in my case), I have yet to find any ball that will really help with this. With your irons, your stated launch angle is pretty good - a bit higher than some recommend (50-60% of stated loft), but a higher launch benefits us slower swing speed players, unless we're killing the ball with lots of backspin. Based on your description, you are not hitting huge spin numbers. Makes me think the following: - Your T350 are very loft-jacked player's distance irons. So if you expect your current 7i to fly like your old 7i, it won't (despite manufacturer's claims) - it's really a strong 6i. Although the manufacturers add weight low to improve the trajectory, if someone is already not hitting down hard (creating launch and backspin), they will hit these clubs flatter than their old ones (trust me, been there). - Launch and spin are extremely dependent on the shaft. Were these considered when selecting a shaft? - Conversely, was the fitting all about distance? If it was, then the shaft chosen was likely due to having a lower launch and lower spin. - How'd you feel on the day you were fit? Stronger or more jacked than normal? Was your experience in the fitting different than what you see on course? Sort of like with the driver, if your clubs are not optimized for launch, spin, and descent, there is no ball which will magically add height. Spin differences will be there, but these will be small differences, not game-changing. Wow, not a lot of ball suggestions above. But if I was to suggest a few based on my own experience: - If you want a tour ball, Srixon Z-Star has been my go to. XV is a good ball, but much harder feeling. And despite the Z-Star reportedly having a lower trajectory with more spin off irons, I hit it higher than the XV, mainly due to spin. Yellow is much better for durability as well. - Keep playing Chrome Soft. Yes, they are expensive, and the covers scuff easy. But if money were no object, I'd have it as my regular gamer due to how well it handles the wind, and its lovely feel. Problem is Z-Stars go on BOGO twice a year. - The Bridgestone B series offers lots of options. I'm thinking you may like the RXS, as it is less spinny off the driver, but launches high off irons. - Try some "better" two piece soft balls. I'm currently posting about a "shootout" I'm having between 5 "premium" soft ball offerings in the forum, and I've found it a bit eye opening. One ball was a real stinker on a fast course, but I've been pleasantly surprised by two others so far.

Had a new contender slip into the shootout today - Bridgestone e6 soft. Good deal on Prime Days ($24.99 CAD/doz) so went out and shot one today. Using my scoring system, it earned a 4.0 on tee shots, 3.0 on approach, and 3.16 on pitches/chips. Off the tee, it was a little straighter than my typical gamer. Where it shined was how well it released on short hits. This is very similar to the old “bump and run” game when a mishit tee shot fed up better than my current gamer. Ball earned me a GIR I didn’t deserve. On approaches, I had to club down because of how much the ball released. Not a bad issue to have, but the home course is much easier to putt on from below the hole. Chipping and pitching was a mixed bag. Had my first pitch in of the year, and this was made possible due to understanding how well the ball released. For a long running uphill pitch, I could get after it, knowing it wouldn’t bite. However, this was painful on two downhill pitches, where I had to guess at a landing spot, and hoped it didn’t feed too much. As a side note, this ball comes off the putter very hot. Took me two holes to figure this out, and it cost me at least a stroke. Not a bad ball at all, and was very good in the wind, just like the OG e6. However, if someone is looking for a “marshmallow” ball like some of the others, this is not it. It wasn’t hard, but it was certainly firmer than the Duo, Speedsoft, and Supersoft. And in the end, distance was good, it held its line well, and I had two birds in 9 today, something I don’t often do. A +4 39 is pretty good for me on my home course, and it could have been a 36 if I had putted a wee bit better (15 putts could have been 12).

I’m in.

Latest update. Played 9 today with the Callaway Supersoft. Had 18 on a tough track with an old friend, and was looking for Speedsoft performance. Wow, was this a disappointment. Using my scoring system, I scored it 3.0 on drives as it was pretty straight, but shorter than my normal drives. Approaches were a 2.2 as the ball simply released too much when it hit the green, when it actually made it (short again). And in the short game it was very poor, with a score of 1. At no time did I feel it performed well, with a very inconsistent release, excessive run out. Biggest challenge was I could not guess what it was going to do, which had my pitches and chips either short or long. Finished the front 9 with a brutal 51, with approximately 7 strokes lost around the green. Went back to a Z-Star for the harder back 9, and grabbed a couple of pars, lipped out a birdie, had a water penalty, and still shot a 45. So experiment #2 did not go well, and I’m not sure who would enjoy this ball for anything other than the feel. It was short and straight, but literally zero manners around the green. Possibly someone who is a short hitter might not notice the loss in distance, and could possibly even get better distance But not me.