New gamer 3-wood leads to Driver...

So about 5 weeks ago I made a purchase of a new TaylorMade Aeroburner TP 3-wood 15* with the stock TP Matrix Ozik White Tie 70x4 stiff shaft. It came in at a length of 43.75" which is a long 3-wood so I cut it down to 43.25" before hopping on the TrackMan. Well not to sound like a TM ad, but this thing was crazy long. And here are the average numbers from TrackMan to support it.

Club Speed - 103 MPH
Ball Speed - 151 MPH
Smash Factor - 1.47
Launch Angle - 9.8*
Spin Rate - 3744 RPM
Carry - 244 yards
Total - 266 yards

So it almost instantly became the gamer because in ideal conditions I hit it total distance about as far as a I carried my current driver. Well about 3 days after I put it in the bag I cracked the face on my RBZ gamer driver so I figured why the heck not pick up the Aeroburner TP 10.5* driver. It comes stock with a Matrix Ozik White Tie 60x4 stiff shaft at 45.75" that I cut down to 45" and here are the numbers.

Club Speed - 108 MPH
Ball Speed - 159 MPH
Smash Factor - 1.47
Launch Angle - 11.1*
Spin Rate - 3321 RPM
Carry - 266 yards
Total - 290 yards

Very good numbers but not much different from my now broken RBZ gamer so being the "Shaft Whore" that I am I decided to throw a Fubuki J 60 in the driver which also plays 45" and I found the new gamer.

Club Speed - 109 MPH
Ball Speed - 162 MPH
Smash Factor - 1.49
Launch Angle - 10.7*
Spin Rate - 2974 RPM
Carry - 272 yards
Total - 300 yards

Not to mention I love the feel of the counterbalanced Fubuki shaft, it feels so comfortable in my hands. It seems like since putting it in I haven't missed more than a handful of fairways by more than 5-10 yards. I feel so comfortable being able to let it rip and that is a great feeling with the big stick.

So my experience is not only a testament to what TM has done with the Aeroburner TP line but also what the right shaft can do as it is the "engine" in the golf swing. Great job TM and Mitsubishi Rayon

 

Your skill set is out of place with most of us here! lol

 

I'm sure there are a few of you guys on the board that could teach me a thing or two about putting. I played in an Eastern Michigan PGA Chapter Pro-Am on Monday and shot 41-35=76 with 32 putts. Had 4 three putts and missed a 2.5 footer.

 

Cool stats. Would be nice to have some test gear to take measurements with.

In regards to your putting I would say you were 4 under for the round.

 

I'd break 80 on a routine basis if I only had 32 putts per round. But I'm determined to concentrate and try as much on the putting green as I do on full swing shots.

My swing speed is about 10mph slower than yours. How old are you?

 

I average right around 29-30 putts per round. I shoot right around par, anywhere from 67 to 76 in my last 6 rounds.

I am 27, will be 28 in September.

 

TY, a caveat: Shot capture is only as good as the system, its maintenance and the person using it; remember GIGO? Retailers particularly have an incentive to have things come out on the hot side. But it would give you comparable on that day between various bats. Dreamland is a place like Titliest HQ down toward San Diego Way, where things are tracked via launch monitor and downrange sensors.

That's not a slam on any of this. I'm a junkie and I love doing this stuff and thankfully am afforded many opportunities to do so.

 

From your stats and your scoring range, you just had a "bad" round on the greens. Because 1.61-1.67 putts per green would lead the tour. (Well, to be most accurate for your ranking we'd need putts/GIR.) You still want tips from us?!? :evillaugh

 

Excellent point on technology of shot capture. I am fortunate to have access to TrackMan at the academy that is home to my instructor. I use the same bay, same machine for the best hopes of having consistency to base the numbers on. Not to mention the quality of the TrackMan name. However it is easy to see incentive for retailers to have hot monitors to help push sales. So if you have the luxury of having access to the same monitor and conditions it is a great tool to tune your equipment. Otherwise be careful with numbers from different places and technology has one may be hotter than the other. Regardless, it is always nice to have some numbers when you are comparing club to club on the same day.

 

Unfortunately on that day I hit 10 greens in regulation and took 21 putts to navigate those 10 greens. Needless to say that equates to "really bad" or 2.1 putts/GIR. I actually keep pretty detailed stats of my rounds. My putts/GIR this season over all is hovering right around 1.86.

So if you at least have some advice on maybe converting a few more birdies or some lag putting advice because that was the real killer not shown in the details. Ball striking was fairly poor in the breeze leaving a lot of 40-50 footers that led to three putts because I did not have a great feel for speed that day.

 

I was just playing back your tape.

I'm no tip guy. We'd all be better with more of a Moe Norman-type of awareness.

OK, doing a gig with Dave Stockton once he said the most profound thing I've ever heard, effectively: Put the putter behind the ball, stroke the ball. That's it, that is the pre-shot and shot routine. NO PRACTICE STROKE. His madness is sound. To wit:

Most recreational players take these long over-exaggerated practice strokes that both in no way resemble the actual stabbing jittery stroke of reality and in no may resemble the pace or length of stroke necessary to get the ball near the hole let alone in it. And they take way too long to step up and hit up. Finally, when you actually win the club championship -- gross flight -- or cash a check of at least five figures, then you can marionette around the hole looking for things you likely can't see anyway; until then you are over-reading. In a nutshell, monumental overthink.

Putt by feel, imagination. Walking to where your ball is, figure out GENERALLY left, right or straight on the way in, and don't sweat the details as to one gnat's pubic hair this way or 2.33456 inches the other.. Step in. Aim left, right or straight accordingly. Don't take a practice stroke. Pull the trigger. High/low (line) isn't the typical players bugaboo, it's laying the sod over with the putter blade or hammering it into the next millennium. It's pace, distance -- it's stroke. If you don't grind multiple days a week on the green, THIS is the best chance for better putting.

Why do we all putt better with a good caddie? Because we just get up and hit it toward where he said. No preening, prancing or Villegas-ing.

And don't get me going on this aim point shit.

 

I putt better with a caddie because of two reasons:

1. I can't read a green
2. The caddie gives me confidence on the line and i just need to relax and stroke it.

 

So, in a nutshell, exactly what Stockton suggests for our own play. Don't sweat the line or belabor the stroke. Anyway, the faster we play the more timely we get to the 19th!

 

I've never read much Stockton. I was born and bred in the Tiger-era. I learned the game by mimicking his every move from the crouch behind the ball cupping the bill of my cap to two practice strokes and fire with near perfect angles at address. Maybe it's time to give Stockton's advice a try and see how it works for a few round just pulling the trigger and relying on instincts. I'd imagine I have to have decent instincts to be the player I have come to be.

Now you've got the wheels a spinning.

 

"Near perfect angles"?

Too much thought. It's obvious you're a player, but players of your caliber are closer to me and the gang here in ability than the tour guys, as you know. Just seems like taking a lot of the joy out of it for what end? You already putt well by your own admission, 29 or 30 strokes a round. On GIR or not that's not much more than 1.5/hole.

Look at the relevance of old guys like Stockton and the Harmon family out there on ranges weekly, guys are still sitting at the feet of Eddie Merrins. None of them are teaching perfect angle or position or system. It's impact. Everything else is just delivery and clean up.

P.S. Don't get me wrong, I think it's bueno the numbers you can put up.

 

Nothing wrong with 29-30 putts per round.

Ah, to be young again....

I picked up an X Hot 3-wood a month ago. It's a bomber when I catch it well.

 

Exactly. 1.6+ putts/hole and that's not good enough???? lol

I have a 3w in the bag now I actually like, finally. This year's Adams Tight Lies.

 

I have three drivers that could be considered gamers. A custom-fit 2013 model year Cleveland, an off-the-rack 2015 Cobra and an off-the-rack new Bridgestone in the 2011 model year line.

Right now I'm happiest with the Bridgestone. It has a slightly smaller head and a higher COG, and a shorter shaft. It has a blistering traj and while I can miss it both ways I also can move it both ways. For now it has replaced the Cobra.

I guess that's my way of saying that, as we all know, there is so much bullshit to OEM marketing. And what I find particularly insulting is this twice-a-year model cycle. The disregard that shows for consumers by effectively telling them that best-ever stuff they were sold on six months ago is now shit is just grating. It's impossible to make substantive leaps in light of the regular restrictions in place. It just ain't happening. Any incremental gains can only come via aero, weight and longer shafts ... speed. And that means bigger hit ... for the small percentage of higher-swing players who find the screws.

 

Well I have always been a bit of a perfectionist. I know I have the ability to be a better player but life gets in the way of that.

I've been looking at an Adams 2 or 3 hybrid. Never played any of their clubs but their hybrids seem to get really solid reviews and have a good look to them.

 

That's the truth on the marketing shit. My gamer was a 2011-12 RBZ Tour and I played that until a few weeks ago when the face cracked. It did the job just as well as anything I tried until I tried the Aeroburner TP.