Shambles

Your results are pretty much what I would expect from two sets reasonably close in flex, size, length and weight. You could probably use either as your permanent set equally at this point, if that was all you were looking for in a set. Others would be looking at how consistently they could send the ball higher on call, or lower on call, or bend the ball in either direction, on call. Some might want to look at how much deeper one set will bury as against the other when a mistake is made and you strike the big ball instead of the little one. Given that you can hit your targets, which set stops the ball more quickly, but can also be made to roll on demand. The list can go on and on endlessly, or at least a very long list of characteristics that will be different depending on the design of the club and how you had it built. The bottom line, however, is how you feel with that set in your hands, meaning, are you confident that you can do the shots you have learned and will be able to recover from the inevitable mistakes ? If you find your ball trying to hide beneath some tall grass but are close enough to the green to ought to be able to reach it, which set gives you more confidence ? Does one set hammer the ball out of the tall grass more efficiently than the other ? I suggest you play both sets and in time, you will choose one over the other because you FEEL it better than the other regardless that the other set also does pretty much the same shots. One set is going to be more right in your hands and that decision belongs to you alone. Shambles

Yup. I'm now left wondering how that set plays compared to taper tips. By my theory, with absolutely no qualifications for the theory, and therefore no authority, it should play a little tip stiffer than a taper tip if only for the difference. I really have no basis for this so it's probably best left ignored. It just makes sense to me that that set should play a little lower and therefore should be more fit for a higher swing speed. The weakness of this theory is that pretty much the same tip stiffness, or even more, can be achieved with some judicious tipping. Please post if that set plays like a ballet dancer on her toes, meaning it takes very little effort to bend the ball either way and all the shots are very subtle. I have the TC 1000 and my set can best be described as playing that way. A fine set but it takes a very good golfer to play it and he needs to like subtle controls. My set is currently retired for a future return of the comeback, if ever. Shambles

Does the shaft go all the way in ? Parallel fits well but fails to reach bottom when the taper becomes narrow enough. Taper tips go deeper, which would be indicative that the hosel was prepared to receive a taper tip shaft. You can verify this yourself by testing the depth with a pencil or even a toothpick and comparing how much of it goes in compared to the parallel tip shaft. I don't mean to be picky but I too am rather surprised as parallel tips are rare to my experience which is, admittedly, not very much with Japanese made clubs. If the shaft does not insert fully, you could end up with a more active tip fitting which would make the ball fly a bit higher and the shaft subjectively play a bit softer. Not a critical difference unless it takes away the characteristic you want. I'm of the opinion a lot of players could benefit from slightly softer shafts but want to have that S designation to project a clubhouse image. Shambles

Just measure the depth of the hosel with a thin pencil or toothpick. Stick your shaft in the hosel and compare depth. parallel tip shafts will not be able to reach the end of a taper tip hosel. Taper tip shafts come out a bit loose in a parallel hosel. Some clubmakers have a tiny tool that identifies hosels. It's cheap but not all that common as it's not all that needed. However, it has it's uses for some. It not only identifies the type of shaft needed but also the tip size. Shambles

I agree there is no right or wrong length as a standard. There is only what's right for you. Look for a length and feel that's right for you. It's not sop much that you can swing and control it, but more a matter of you being able to swing it hard with a full follow through COMFORTABLY. An inch or so matters a lot less than being able to comfortably swing through the ball to a full follow through. It's possible that you only need some practice, or it's possible you only need a lot of practice. Try a lot of practice choking down an inch or so to find your most immediate comfort length and try seeing your consistent distance that way. See if you can improve it with some work, and subsequently, try the full length the same way. It's possible that the shorter club will send you ball higher with less roll and you might beed to address the ball a bit farther back. Changes in shaft length changes a bit more than might be obvious and it does not equate to greater accuracy regardless of what Frank Thomas writes. Experiment first. This will cost you a bit of time and effort but at the worst, you'll probably improve your understanding of what works for you. I personally do not like cutting until I am fully convinced I have found my personal comfort. The final decision belongs to you alone. Shambles

Put a few Drivers on a table side by side with the head hanging out. Look at the faces and see that some have their faces more up than others. Look at the Driver that is causing you to draw excessively. Choose a head that does not face up as much as the driver that causes you to draw too much. That's the equipment fix. Complications can come from a tendency to compensate automatically. You might not be aware of it but you will feel the difference and your body will have a tendency to fix things without your conscious command. The swing fix is to address the ball a little farther back in your stance. This can be as little as a half ball diameter or more than a ball diameter. You need to feel your way and remember. Complications come from a tendency to compensate automatically without conscious thought, so it's best worked out on a range with a field. Things will possibly go faster and better if you take the time to work the different feel a bit consciously at first and go up to speed gradually. The table thing is just an easier way to see how much offset is built into the head you are using. The manufacturers have gotten very clever about hiding the weight inside where you cannot see it, and sometimes you find it difficult to feel the difference. The offset is a clever way of fixing the more common fault of slice and the more extreme equipment fix is the draw driver. This is just a simple way of seeing the difference even for an eye that is not used to looking, or, more commonly, does not know what to look for. Shambles

It makes sense in theory. I was originally taught to pull a putter down the line with my left hand and use the right only to go along, but that never worked for me and I ended up rapping the ball with my right. Putting left handed allows me to pull the putter through the ball more easily. Unfortunately, that's the only thing that works that way for me. I've tried that several times over the years as I have an ambidextrous putter, and consistently failed. Shambles

Makes sense for people interested in the product but don't want to muck around with the clutter of a DB. I wonder if they also entertain English questions ? Shambles

There's a pretty good chance it will still be in the area it was stolen and could be being sold to some shops there that are selling clubs. Shambles

Why don't you bury the tee to the head so that the ball ends up just on top of the grass tips ? Sounds to me like I better get myself the next Egg that comes available in my territory, provided I can afford it. I'm ok with the tee but need a lot of help off the grass. Shambles

A steep swing with the woods or even the long irons is something I've been trying to get rid of. I know it can be made to work but I'm pretty sure it costs distance and demands more muscle than I can produce. The impact probably also has a bill that comes due eventually. I try to sweep unless the situation will not allow it. Shambles

I agree about the care needed in owning any set and likewise, I treat my set as jewels but more in the sense of a workingman taking good care of his tools. It's possible that Spoon was right about about something being wrong with the materials he used though I would also postulate the possibility of error in the assembly. I doubt Spoon goes around slamming his clubs on the ground. I've never met him nor seen him play, but I've seen his used to owns and am very certain he gives his equipment much more tender care than I give mine. Shambles

I really love the paint job on the 360. Shambles

If you can live with it, it seems a good idea to me to change the ferule for O rings. If you can find the right size, it should serve well. Shambles

fancy work. It reminds me of the match boxes made in Spain and also of some Silver work, the tiny furniture, done by the Igorots in Baguio. The application to a putter looks attractive and I'm left wondering how well it will putt. Shambles

Not all aspects of any specific club fitting are perfectly transferable to clubs of other designs. That's why we develop a fondness for specific brands or models, or types of club designs. Sometimes it's as simple as the basic design of the club and the look that's derived from that design. Other times it's the totality of that design that translates to the feel you get from using that set. Give yourself a fair chance. Have the clubs fitted for you by a competent club fitter in whom you have confidence. You need to have confidence in that person because after the fitting you will still need to invest practice time getting to know that new set. Shambles

I do my own but only if I'm in the mood and usually if the club does not matter. I have careless ways and that sometimes causes some hosel discoloration and not perfectly aligned grips. Most of the time I would rather pay someone else to do the job but only after I am satisfied he will do a better job than I will, and will sometimes bring along a tool to make the job easier if the guy is incomplete in tools or is using a tool I don't like. My most recent tool acquisition is a rotary brush for a gun barrel which I use to clean the hosel. One of these days I need to buy a bench grinder or a belt sander so I can ruin some wedges by doing my own grinding. Shambles

I totally agree about the importance of the 3 wood, and it's sometimes fickle nature. My own alternative is an 18* 5 wood that I find very useful. Shambles

That's one. There are other brands I think, all doing much the same thing and none able to last much longer than the application. Chemical coloring has limitations. Idle thought in my mind is to electro plate copper onto some heads. It might last long enough to satisfy. Some years ago I had the idea of gold plating a set of tungsten darts to make them look different. The idea was a failure as the darts ended up looking like Brass darts but the plating had surprising durability as it survived a fair amount of use without chipping. Brass might serve well enough to make the clubs look like Gold. I better go shopping for an old beat up set. I have a bunch here at home but I have a history with them and cannot let them suffer such abuse. Shambles

They used to make what I can only describe as a tray for irons. It was a row of slots that nestled the heads in the old staff bags and, counter intuitive, actually made the bag roomier while preventing the irons from banging against each other and the shafts from tangling. The irons slid in and out easily and you could also easily pick out the one you needed. This is a model I much liked and would want another if I could find it. The downside is the clubs had to be the right size for the tray to work well. They made an improved model at a later date which was more of a clip type. It could accommodate a wider range of club sizes but had the down side of allowing the heads to click against each other if you were carrying the bag on the fairway and that would probably allow some dings in the long term. Rather unfortunate but neither model will work with today's partitioned bags. You would need to use it on an old style bag. Question. I recall reading a posting somewhere in some forum that there is some gun blueing that can be home applied. It's apparently available in the States and sounded easy to apply. Unfortunately I didn't give it attention as I have no intention of coloring my irons. I must have seen it in some club building forum. Maybe you guys know the product and might find a use for it. Shambles

Not just Miura. I have a Wilson 8802 that is stamped " The Original 8802 ". I used to think it was just a souvenir but now I'm thinking it was a reissue. Shambles

Spoon, The idea of you playing with battered clubs would break my heart. Now I wouldn't know whose bag to steal from the bag drop. Shambles

I really need to learn to read the left side. I was admiring those fine clubs and thinking they belonged to Spoon. He's the only guy I know who gets stuff that difficult to find. It's a great looking set of clubs DaleUK and I hope you will have the nerve to actually use them. If I owned that set I would make the caddy police the fairways for pebbles before teeing off. Shambles

Any re grooving would also require that the clubs be submit for examination and approval. I doubt it's worth your time, effort and expense. It might be possible for you to submit the clubs to a local governing body and ask them for a written approval or disapproval. Shambles

Fairway woods are smaller so there is no real advantage to using Titanium over Steel. Callaway used Ti a ways back but the heads were too large for comfort. Shambles