mr.haha

50* and 56* for me. ive also done 50* 54* 58* when i carried 4 wedges. now i just carry three. i haven't hit a 60* wedge in 10 years+ as i never really found the need for one.

Chris, when im in Japan this will be a must! i have 2 7D shafts and i love them but i cant imagine how awesome the in person fitting is!

oh man, would love these. any chance you have a 3 and 4 iron hidden somewhere?

Chris, I think you nailed it when you said that consistency/lifestyle is key. Might I add and I assume you implied that consistency must be present over a long period of time. Also, how do you like the BPI BCAA? I use ON Amino Energy pre and during workouts and then use the ON Hydro Whey for post workouts. For me, I am 35 now, but I went through a random late 20’s epiphany and after a relatively difficult breakup with a long term girlfriend, decided to change my life, habits and overall lifestyle. When I look back on it, as difficult as it may seem now, the choice was incredibly easy for me when I was 28. I decided to eat more vegetables by juicing, I decided to workout for longevity (yoga, more cardio, less heavy weights) and I decided to scale down my financial life, ie I sold a ton of assets (I sold all of my watches which was well over 60k of value but I always bought preowned) that I accumulated over the years as a young investment banker (I no longer am in that field, CPA now). I think the reason for the drastic change in lifestyle was that I knew I would have kids one day and I wanted to be the healthiest person I could possibly be. I see my dad and of course he is from a different generation but he needs to take blood pressure meds and he has diabetes as well which he manages through injections. I just never wanted to be in that position ever where I was dependent on prescription medication. So for 7 years I have been consistent with having at least 12 oz of juice at least 5 days a week (majority of ingredients are veggies like spinach, kale, watercress, broccoli, ginger and a little banana and oj). My watch of choice now is a fitbit only for calorie tracking. My goal is to burn 2200 calories a day ( I am 5’5” 148lbs) while being smart about intake. I don’t track intake at all. Also, I eat throughout the day, nibbling on things like trail mix, protein shake, yogurt and cereal. By doing of all of this I could not even imagine what my life would be like had I not decided to change my lifestyle. Prior to 28 I was not out of shape but I was your typical late 20’s guy. I only lifted weights, probably drank too much and ate almost no vegetables. Now I have completely flipped that lifestyle and I couldn’t be happier. Also, I recently purchased life insurance as my wife is pregnant with our first and I was able to lock in the cheapest premiums possible as I met every medical criteria during the tests. Anyways, this is long enough but just as Chris said, it is about consistency and longevity and the byproduct of all of these changes ended up being a much healthier lifestyle, lower insurance premiums, a healthier body from the inside out and potentially a faster swing speed J Perhaps all of this lifestyle change was for naught as who knows, I could die tomorrow. But I don’t regret any of the changes and now all of this, the juicing, making sure I sweat hard at least 5 times a week, the reduced alcohol intake (casual drinking now) and eating right all seem like second nature to me.

those look awesome. might have to make a move to a CB in the near future.

yeah that app looks solid. also, and this may or may not be in the budget but a few years ago i got a personal trainer and he really helped me learn how to train on my own. it was the best money spent and i dont regret $400 a month cost. he really taught me how to do this HIIT workouts while keeping the right form and preventing injuries. maybe speak with your gym to see if they offer personal training etc and discuss your goals. let me know how you progress!

i am a huge proponent of training from the ground up. meaning for golfers, it all starts from our legs on up. i do a ton of HIIT (high intensity internal training) which would be something like 8 different exercises for 45 seconds each with a 10 second break in between. repeat that 3-5 times. i focus on legs like squats, lunges, skaters and i mix in core (lots of plank like exercises) and upper body as well. i use mostly lighter weight but i go all out on each exercise. for example, here is what i did yesterday (yes i write down my entire workout ahead of time. i always plan). quick stretch with dynamic warmup (3/4 mile run at a 7.5 pace) - 8 exercises - 45 sec each, 10 sec break in between. repeat 3 times. mountain climbers kettlebell snatch plank with medball goblet squats skaters box jumps explosive pushups burpees with dumbells -3 exercises - use a cool down and do as many as possible. 2-3 sets leg lifts pullups jump tucks workout done. then i stretch for 5-10 min using a foam roller. i do this type of workout about 4 times a week. the other times would be pure cardio or bikram yoga. overall i love explosive type workouts ie kettle bell swings are great for hip strength and i love skaters which really strengthen your lateral movement which is huge for us golfers. some of these workouts are similar to crossfit but you will never ever see me in a crossfit gym. best of luck and theres tons of literature out there on workouts similar to what i mentioned.

i have two of them. one built for my t388 and the other for my 435 blackout. i wouldnt dare tip these shafts especially if inserting into the 435 blackout

Chris, thanks for the information! I can confirm that my first shaft in the T388 is a D4 swingweight at 45.25". when i get home i can throw it on a scale and take a picture but i am 100% sure its D4. This is why i was originally surprised with the D10 SW on the jbeam.

I wrapped up a range session about 30 minutes ago and today was a complete change from my first range session. I wouldn’t say it was a complete 180* change but maybe 140*. I hit perhaps 40 balls with the Jbeam 7D and the vast majority were very solid shots. I don’t typically count the number of excellent shots, rather I count the number of awful shots. This time around there were maybe 4 awful shots out of the 40 and the rest were at minimum, livable. The weight of the club felt much more manageable today versus the first range session where my swing felt like an unfolded lawn chair. In terms of distance I have no clue how far the 1990’s range balls were flying. All I know is that to the back of the range is about 280 but the tees were up about another 50 yards and I was either flying the net or driving directly into it. I’m not in love with the club at impact as the feel is very hollow and tinny (if that’s a word). But, I wouldn’t let the feel prevent me from playing it. With 2 range sessions under my belt I think there is tremendous upside with this current driver and I can’t wait to get it out on the course.

Chris, it certainly could be d9. im not too worried about the 1 pt differential.

Robbie, unfortunately the club plays 45" in total. 7D appears to be reallocating weight over the shaft. so yes the shaft is at 66.5 but more weight is in the tip versus butt. This was 7D recommendation based on my previous 7D shaft so i am placing my trust in them for now.

Aston, just get both! make one of the clubs a distance model and the other more control/matrix. i literally just shafted up my jbeam 10* netural 200g with a 7D, D10, matrix, 45", 66.4g, stiff (i think its 12.4 or something). as of now i only have 1 range session and boy was it weird. I am coming from a T388 9.5 SX (13.8) 7D 64g D4 and then feel is totally night and day. My SS tops out at 107 but I live in the 103 range. first, the swingweight is 6 pts different which is really 12g added on. 7D evidently recommends a higher swingweight with the jbeam so I went with it. The first few balls no joke were low push slices something akin to what a 36 HDCP would hit. The swingweight really forced me to slow my lower body down and swing through the ball. I don’t particularly love it right now but in the long run I think it will be beneficial. I am also a high ball hitter and the head/shaft combo even with the d10 swingweight and longer hosel, really brought down the trajectory which in turn led to some serious rollouts on the range. I hit maybe 40 balls with the driver and I bet half were pure crap, 10 were playable misses and 10 were really good. The range is about 260 slight downhill and the balls were no better than Tour Balata 90s. for the most part I was landing at the 250 and rolling out to the end of the net. Second, feel is not what I expected. T388 is muted and soft which is a feel I grew up with and love. The blackout truly felt like I was hitting a metal hollow clubhead. This isn’t to say that I didn’t like the feel, its just felt very different. I haven’t hit the ZY-11 but it is foamed and I would think it would feel perhaps similar to the T388 but I am sure others will chime in. I really can’t wait to get back to the range and test the club out some more. I never make a final call on a club until I have multiple range sessions and at least 5 full rounds with it. keep us posted with your choices but you cant go wrong with both! But you are right, pick the head first and let 7D come up with the right fit.

Is a great hobby and very rewarding especially when your e growing those rare sps and lps corals. But man the maintenance is a beast which makes going on vacation very difficult.

hmmm for me and in no particular order high end watches car repair & detailing photography salt water fish tanks building computers thats about it. i have paired down the watches and saltwater tanks but i still keep up with them.

"Tipping" is a term to describe cutting the very tip of the shaft that goes into the hosel. by cutting the tip you can obtain a stiffer shaft profile which would lead to a lower trajectory. i for one cannot put a cut down 65g driver shaft into a 3 wood. i do not get along with light weight shafts and would have an immensely difficult time trying to control a 55g shaft in a 3wood. i would think in order for this to work you would need to 1) have a very smooth swing 2) have a smooth transition from backswing to downswing and 3) have very good upper/lower body timing.

i would be very hesitant to do so but it may work. i say this because the shaft my play way too light for you. what do you currently have in your 3 wood and do you know the headweights of your drive and 3 wood? if you are going to cut down your fire express to 3 wood length you will probably lose about 6-8grams, perhaps more, of shaft weight. this will then put your fire express into the 50g weight class. in general you may get the flex to work by tipping but the weight of the shaft and overall club may be your biggest crutch.

pm sent

i seem to really like the perfrect pro xline cords. i have also tried the iomic cords as well. ive always been a cord guy and could never get along with a straight rubber grip. i also play in humid conditions so the cord performs quite well in these conditions.

interesting. not sure how effective i would be with this club. in fact i dont think i have ever played with anything over a 58*...could be worth a try though. the head looks really nice.

Would you consider selling head separately?

Those Epon bags are really growing on me. Also ash, why haven't we golfer together? You're only 40 minutes away!

Jeff Forgive me but what is the difference between the jbeam and crazy 435?

i really wish i was in the market for new irons....

great writeup Mikey. The shaft really does get better. I really love the fact that i can go as hard or as soft as i want with this shaft and keep it under control. I assume you with with the 7D distance shaft?