Date: 27 Sep 2006 07:20:42
From: oconnell@slr.orl.lmco.com
Subject: Arrows, indians, and head cases.
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My index has been going down lately. Okay, it had no where
to go but down. But after years of struggle, I'm starting to do
many of the things I knew I could do but never executed.
And strangely I think it's because I bought some equipment.
I know, I know, you can't buy a game at the equipment store.
However, and I've been through this before, sometimes you're
trying to apply inferior skills to inferior equipment and it gets
in the way of ones head.
It started with a frustration with my 3 and 4 irons. I did
okay off the tee with them, and in the fairway I could frequently
get a decent shot out of them. But put me in the rough,
even mild rough, and I couldn't make them go further than
my 5 iron. I finally broke down and got a couple of hybrids
to replace them. I had tried to use the 5 wood with limited
success, and had toyed with the 7 wood. But then I went
to one of Golfweeks "equipment days" and tried a bunch of
hybrids and fell in love with the Adams versions. Other
than fighting a wicked hook with them, they have helped.
But only so much, and I started to blame it on the lack of
a lob wedge. I had a 64 degree club that was fun, but
really it was beyond my ability to hit. I needed a perfect
distance and a perfect lie to make much use out of it.
And the misses could be really bad.
So I got a lob wedge to replace it. And this is where
my head gets involved. The lob is vastly easier to
hit than the 64, and for some reason, it executes
shorter chips and flops easier than my sand wedge
(56 deg). So now, instead of being cautious about
ending up inside of 60 yards, and usually aiming for
a guaranteed 100 yard shot in, I can go ahead and
"go for it". By this I mean I can try to reach greens
at great distances, knowing that if I don't succeed,
and end up 30 - 60 yards out, I still have a reasonble
chance to get up and down. Which means now
I am freer to use the hybrids. Previously, unless
I was sure I could reach the green, I was hesitant to
try, so I'd back off to a 6 or 7 iron to ensure that 100
yard shot.
Now, I'm rarely actually using the 60 degree. I
go for the green and I reach it, or end up with some short
bump and run from just off the green. Off the
tee, I can use driver more often, knowing that if
I pure one and get close, I've got a shot to
get on the green. I rarely pure one so I'm sitting
at 100 yards anyway. But it's my head. I have
confidence that if I hit a pure shot, or a good shot,
or a mediocre shot, I can still take advantage of
the result.
So I didn't so much as buy a club, as I bought
some confidence. Of course, now I'm hooked,
and I'm thinkin' about them G5 irons I tried at
equipment days. And ya know, my driver is still
one of the old school, low profile head types.
And of course ya take more shots with your putter.......
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