MidwestHacker

Similar vibes here. I guess I dont "Get It" either. This doesnt really jive with what they project on their YT channel, definitely way more chill and just not making golf stuffy (which I think most people want). I wasnt expecting a bro culture festival, but it definitely could have been something put on by Barstool or the like (although I've heard from people who have done Barstool events that they're very well run, even if the participants and vibe is bro-y, so...).

Terrace Hills out in Altoona. I think they had one in 2023/2024 as well, I vaguely remember getting the email blast for it, but I cant find anything about it now so maybe Im just making that part up.

I wish I'd seen this earlier, I could have told you what a cluster it was even in a small market like Des Moines, I cant imagine how poorly Portland would go.

Plumbers neck on a mini-mallet is such a good look. That 3.2 with the plumbers neck would immediately go in my bag if they would sell it.

It was a generic "Fix your grip" type thing, so they're saying use this grip for all of your full swings.

This is what Im currently doing, more or less. Grip runs through the first pad of the middle two fingers, palm contact is only at base of pinky. The picture shown is wildly more palmy than that, you can even see in the second picture its not just an exaggeration for instruction as you can see by the position of the middle two fingers that the grip is way in his palm on the completed grip photo. Wild to see something this far from the established norm in the "Instruction" section of a major publication.

I dont care about bag chatter at all either, but I dont want any face wear/browning at all.

I buy and sell a lot of iron sets. No way I'd think I was getting someone to pay $600 for an iron set with that much wear with standard (non-upcharge) shafts, unless the seller is just sucker fishing. I'd pass if I were you @con_mon2, got to be similarly priced sets with less wear or for a better price.

Another vote for FJ Tropicool. They're cheap. They breathe super well. They grip really well even when you're drenched in sweat. Played multiple rounds this week in 110-115 heat index, used a single Tropicool glove the whole round all three times.

Reading a Golf Magazine article on a layover and I see this image: Is this grip demonstration showing a trail hand way too much into the palm? Or have I been gripping it wrong this whole time and gripping it like this will fix everything for me?

Finished with a -6 66 today, tied for second best score of the day today. Leader shot a 62 today to pair with a 67 in the first round. Some good golf being played.

The mid-mallet doesnt look any worse than any other center shafted mallet. Are any of the other ZT brands doing a mid mallet in a traditional "D" shape like that?

The bolded is probably a more accurate description than anything I've come up with yet. It's like timing up when the momentum of the swing throws the clubhead at the ball, maybe? I "feel it" as a late hit with my right hand, but Im not really manipulating it with my right hand per se, I dont think. It doesnt feel like a handle drag at all, I dont feel like Im actively trying to pull the handle in front of the ball so much as its happening because of my lack of earlier inputs. Is anything else as hard to describe as a specific feel in the golf swing?

Hand pathing drill, trying to stop throwing my hands out at the ball. "Stab your lead thigh with the butt of the club" was my one of my cues, which probably was getting me to lead with my hands more instead of dumping angles early, if I had to guess. By the time my brain had time to process "hit the ball" my hands were already almost at my lead thigh and I was "hitting" with the right hand later than normal. Thinking more about it this morning, I felt way more of the "skip the stone" feel than I normally do. My phone had died well before this so I didnt grab any video, but Im going to the range later this week to grab video and see what exactly was actually happening, if I can get that "feel" to work again, that is.

On the range tonight working on an unrelated drill, and I was so focused on doing the drill part right I was hitting the ball late, or put another way, not releasing or throwing the club at the ball until much later than normal, and I was hitting the ball way better. That sent me down an entirely different rabbit hole of how “late” should I or could I release the clubhead and still hit the ball. After a couple reps, I realized if I released the clubhead at the ball when my hands felt like they were just at my lead thigh, I took a divot well after the ball (couple inches) and compressed the heck out of the ball. I only tried it with irons, I assume with driver the release might be slightly earlier so you can hit up on it. Is this just a one off matchup for conditions in my swing on this specific range trip (one might even call it bunk), or is it something I’ve ferreted out way later than everyone else?

Tee up your ball normally, then put a ball on the ground one ball in front of your teed up ball. Let your body figure out how to hit the teed ball without hitting the ball on the ground.

Slow motion drill movements to get your body used to that motor pattern is an effective way to change your golf swing. Work on one new movement pattern at a time. Work on it without a ball for a while (I have been doing it 30 mins a day for 3-5 days), then move to drilling the move slow motion several times then hitting a foam ball (have a "target" to hit, but the outcome doesnt matter), then move to drilling the move slow motion several times then hitting a real ball while trying to implement the new movement. Video all steps and use it to confirm you're doing the movement properly each time.

Check your setup before you do anything. If you're setup improperly (especially the hips/pelvis) you'll have to work 1000x harder to not sway/roll your trail foot over to the outside. Ask me how I know lol. Nicklaus used to do a drill where he would start with both his feet banked toward the target, and stay there the entire swing. Might be a good way for you to get a feel for it.

Obviously anything with grip alignment visual aids or ribs would be installed so those worked properly.

Vertical swing plane

All logos down should be the default "stock" build IMO, because people who actually care care about it being down instead of up. I dont know anyone who has their logos up on their grips that would care if they were logo down.

I thought I was talented enough to dig it out of the dirt and teach myself, and I got farther than I honestly probably should have (low index was 8.4). I've made more swing progress in 2 months with a coach than I did in 20 years on my own, which is depressing to admit but at least Im on the right track now. Also in 20 years I had never, ever taken the time to do slow motion swing movements to develop feels for the movement patterns I was trying to engrain, without hitting a ball. Finding a coach who literally tells me I dont want you hitting a ball until you've repped this drill without a ball for at least 30 mins a day for 5-6 days was eye opening. Again, making massive improvements on things I had struggled to change in the past.

Get a net and a mat for you to hit balls at home if you cant stomach paying $25/basket to hit half shots. Would help with the embarrassment aspect as well, although the only time anyone really pays attention to what anyone else is doing is if you're hosel shanking some ground rockets at them. Or if they're hitting absolute piss missles, I'll usually watch a swing or two while Im cleaning off a club or something.