Blader-X

For me it was my shoulders. I got so stiff, that I thought I had torn a rotator cuff. I went to see my spots medicine physician and he told me it was just very tight neck and shoulders. I actually went back to my rehab therapist for a few months to have him work me out. It did the trick and since them I've been diligent to keep it up. I find if I go a few days without doing something, I get those knots all back again. What surprised me was how painful it was and it wasn't a tear but just tightness!!

I've found that people who were very active/athletic in their younger days and who then slow down into their '30's have a tougher time than people who never really exercised at all. I know my overall conditioning went really bad a few years back. Since I've been making great efforts to keep it up as best I can and have felt vastly better and stronger. The core stuff is no joke as I see it now being implemented in many different areas of athletics. It really helps tremendously.

Great to here because I'm in need of changing out a few of my grips and had been wanting to give the TSG cord a go. Yes, please do post pics as soon as you can.

I absolutely love that grind!! Any other pics? Chris why do you keep doing this to us.

There's only one thing left to do when that happens . . . open up the wallet and drop some coin!!

Its good to know that this is USGA conforming. I just don't want to put something non-conforming in play. I keep telling myself I'm going to get back to playing competatively again its just I don't have the time I need to do it with all my kids' activities. Now that is conforming just need to wait for snow to melt up there so yourpressed can get on with the business of putting that club to a serious test. I'm leaning towards replacing the current Epon/AxivV combo with an Epon/Quattrotech combo. That new 3 wood with the Quattrotech is really something. Its got me second guessing the AxivV. Stupid "ho" instints again. At least I'm not buying a thousand wedges. Oh wait, Chris just posted those new X-wedges. And then the Scratch wedges are calling as well. This could be an expensive year!!

PPRRREEETTTYTY!!

Don't you hate when these clubs starting talking to you like that!!

All have been good suggestions so far and let me add just a couple. In addition to the on-course stretches, I believe you'll also see benefit from light stretching at home on a daily (or every other day) basis as well. Like acrazygolfer mentioned, just make sure your movements are slow and deliberate. One which I do is sitting down, feet flat, with knees up and together. Take one leg and cross over the other, then with one arm against them turn and hold. Its as if your pushing off of your knees while turning your shoulders around your spine. Do both ways then switch your legs and repeat. I wish I could show you but we don't have streaming video. Some other things I like to do is getting on your knees and then stretching out far in front of you with hands above your head but on the floor, much like a cat would do. Try some of these and I think this would help loosen up your back some. I've been fortunate in my life not to have back problems, just bad knees. But, I've always been fairly flexible and always into stretching. Even when I used to work out quite a bit I was always stretching. I think its helped me avoid back probs with the golf swing. Some other good things to try are using those stretchy bands and also very important is strengthing up the stomach muscles. My rehab therapist taught me a lot of these when I was rehabbing after two ACL surgeries. He told me with golf if you can keep the core muscles strong, especially the stomach, it will help support the back and avoid some of the problems people experience with the golf swing. Good luck to you and I hope you can use all these tips to help.

Hey thanks. I was just getting this image in my head of you firing up a snowplow you may have just happened to borrow in order to clear a swath of snow in order to test out the club!! I was thinking it would be hilarious if an older couple came by and happened upon you clearing the snow. At which point they would thank you for doing such a good deed. They would ask you, "do you do this for the neighborhood often?". And you're reply would be, "Not too often, only when I get a new golf club!!." Sorry I'm just playing, but seriously, thanks for the quick feedback. I can't wait for all you snowbound TSG'ers to be able to get back out there so I can read all your posts. B

Chris are these available in cord by chance now?

Thanks, of course I was in such a hurry to post you the question I didn't notice the comparison pics until after I posted. Stupid club ho instincts!! Anyways thanks again and am anxiously waiting your posts. Hey if the weather doesn't clear you could always ship it out here to SoCal and I'd been more than happy to test it out for you. Suppose to be near 80 degrees today. Beautiful club, man.

Thanks for the pics yourpressed. I've been comtemplating picking one of these up, just haven't made the move. I'm extremely interested in hearing your results once you get some decent weather. Nice to see the comparison. What about it makes you think its non-conforming? B

Well, did you go for it???? If your still on the fence, its understandable. But with the Epon, its true, you couldn't go wrong. Maybe if your still not sure, you could tell us a little more about your swing, in terms or where your shots tend to go, how often you play; a little more for us to work with.

Thanks plus1. Your input on this forum is always appreciated especially since many of us know just how many different clubs and shafts you've hit over time. Always a pleasure to read your posts. I feel for most of you where weather doesn't permit golf to always be played. I consider myself very lucky to only experience frost delays of an hour or two and not of weeks or months due to snow/ice. Hope the weather improves soon in Ireland and your work schedule calms down so you can get back at it on the links. I hope one day I'll get see your beautiful country.

In Hawaii they pass on the right, Musical Youth passed to the left-hand side, just so long as it gets passed, heh?? Chris, I'm definitely good for one of those, as Mach1 said it best, the Reggae pakalolo are you feeling irie headcovers. I want the putter model. G-Field will be looking sweet in that thing!! Mahalo

In their website Fourteen touts this club as one "making a feel good iron for above-average players." They make other models for game improvement such as the TC-550 and the cast TC-770. This model the Forged TC-770 is one that brings playability and workabilty into the club. They call it "not so hard, not so easy." Thicker toplines are just what you get with cavity backs, be it player's cavities or game improvement cavities. I for one hate thick toplines but this club looks really good and there's not a lot of offset to it, at least what I can tell from pics. It looks good at setup.

Hey Chris, The pic of the driver right above the 380cc model. Is this their new MOI they're working on?? It has a rather extended body. Also, two questions in regards to the 380 model. Is it a deep faced driver and is it USGA comforming?

I've hit the Epon Technity and they are superb in feel. With the quality, craftmanship and attention to detail they do at Epon you can't go wrong. Ari at Scratch is top notch. The beauty about Scratch wedges is that you can go custom and get as wild as you want, or stay with the JLM series which offers quite a few different grinds and lofts. I have not had the pleasure of Scratch wedges yet, but have been debating for some time now, (and still am). However, I can recommend them highly knowing what many here have said about them. I'm playing G-Field GFT's currently and love them for two reasons. One is a raw face with a Satin outer finish and two they have the heel relief I like. Having said that however the EGG grind at Scratch appeals to me very much. I'm going to get it eventually, I just haven't decided if I'm going to go all out with custom or stick with the JLM model. I too used to use Vokeys and would always get the raw or oil can and have them ground by a local clubfitter to what I wanted. When I played Vokeys I thought they were the ultimate, but the Epons beat 'em, my G-Fields edge 'em and I know Scratch would excel them as well. Problem is, like Gocchin has mentioned before, there are so many great wedges out there and you can only carry so many!! I mean, look at the new V3 by Fourteen!! Its enough to make your head spin. Good luck!!

Really like the "reggae" colors of the putter cover in the second pic. Just might have to put that one on the "list".

I agree that much like putting, shafts in the wedges are very personal. When I used to use X100's, I had those in the wedges as well. In fact I use to prefer that. I just felt like I could control the head. It didn't affect any shot that I would play. After switching to the NS1150's, I went x-stiff in all the irons, including PW, but I went stiff in the wedges. I wanted to try it out and I had been working on making a more controlled move with the wedge shots. To go along with that I wanted a little softer shaft since I wasn't making violent, so to speak, moves at the ball. With the wedge I just want to turn and turn as smoothly as I can. I think going down a flex allows me to do that. I've found its not necessary to go aggressive on a wedge, in fact I think it can be counterproductive. There's so much loft on a wedge (sand,lob) that with too aggressive a swing, the ball just rides up the clubface and you end up losing distance. And with the wedges, distance, controlling that is, is what its all about.

Great looking bag, Jacque. That A-wedge is unreal. Thanks for the pics.

Yes Zerohandy thanks for chiming in on the TourStage. I also like the TourStage from the way it looks. To me it exudes confidence and I think the way the sole is shaped it would do well from just about any lie. I was torn between the TourStage and the Epon when I was debating on the 13.5 degree 3 wood. I went Epon because I liked the fact I could get some custom specs with it, but it was a difficult choice for me. Really between the three clubs mentioned you couldn't go wrong. I think performance wise they would all be very close. It just comes down to choosing which one appeals to you as individual more. The one that appeals to you more will give you more confidence in using it. That and determining what you situations you would be using it for and which of the three fit into your gameplan. This year is tough choice as there are a lot of fine, quality clubs out.

Thanks yourpressed!! Please check out my review for info as well as pics. Below is a little extra info. I love to talk about these clubs especially when they go so well. The Epon is superb but with the QT shaft it is something else. I've played one more round since I wrote the review a few days ago. I used the 3wood off the tee and on a couple of occasions from the fairway just to see how it performed. Off the tee it was almost as long as my driver. I'm now thinking of switching out the AxivV in favor of the QuattroTech. My swing was working pretty well so I was able to see the Epon in all its glory. Trajectory is low but that is exactly what I was after and again it is 13.5 degrees. Its face heighth is a little higher than the G-Field but there's no problem hitting off the turf. I have yet to hit out of the rough with it but I would think the G-Field would have a slight advantage there with the rails on the bottomside. Both the Epon 3 wood and G-Field 4 wood will stay in the bag as they serve a couple different purposes for me. The feel of the Epon is much like the driver but the ball flight/trajectory is what I like the best. It just gets out there and stays at a constant height for much of its flight. Because of the angle of its lower trajectory it gets quite a bit of roll as well. I was thinking of maybe adding a 5 wood, but really like the 4wood so I'm staying pat for now. Of course, with all the new clubs coming out you just never know. I can definitely recommend the Epon Technity as well as the G-Field. Both are superb clubs. I haven't hit the TourStage so I'll let someone else chime in on that. I'm also becoming a big believer in Graphite Design shafts. The PT-8 is in the 4 wood and the new Quattro Tech in the 3. The PT-8 grew on me but now I'm very confident with it and the Quattro Tech was really love at first sight/swing. Great shafts and clubs.

Sweet. Should be a fun year. I really can't wait to see what DiceK does this year. Been a Dodgers fan since I was little and I remember what it was like when Nomo came out here several years back. It was pretty cool.