The Iron Guide is live. Each brand sorted from blade > game improvement. Compare specs & create combo sets. Built to assist our DM conversations as you navigate a change. Here 👇

Attention beginners & high-hcps who get paired with better players: I need to tell you a few things, bluntly. Because I want you to grow. Tough love, if you will. -I don’t care if you ‘don’t usually play this bad.’ -I don’t care if you chunk, shank, slice & skull. -I definitely don’t need play-by-play of every shot you hit. Truly, you don’t have to explain yourself. -I care if you are fun to be around. -I care if you disrupt the round. Slow, loud, complain, throw clubs. -I’m happy to share technique or equipment advice if you ask The scorecard goes in the trash. Your behavior is deposited to memory. Some of my favorite golf companions shoot 95, quickly. I leave pondering the laughs, stories, quips & insights, but never what they shot. (📷 credit @patrickjkoenig)

In the fluorescent arms race happening on this shelf, who is winning your attention?

I made a 3-footer for the win at Thursday night league.

Players often ask: I’m in between, should I go with 9.0° or 10.5°? To which I respond - do you prefer the club to look open or closed at address? If you like open, choose the 10.5, and use the adapter to reduce loft (open the face) if you need to.

Part of the reason modern drivers are asymmetric is to be aerodynamic thru the 2nd half of the downswing. The orientation shown in the vid is not one golfers often consider. Remember the aero marketing campaign for SIM, tailored around an asymmetric angled sole feature?

Golf drivers are one of the most interesting CFD (aerodynamics) problems in sports. Most assume they are optimized for the impact position. In reality, they are designed for the sum of all positions late in the downswing. From about here to the ball:

I continue to be impressed by how knowledgeable these comment sections are. Most marketing assumes you are naive. I’m here to treat you like the intelligent, informed consumer that you are. 🫡

Every feature that deviates from a smooth airfoil shape is detrimental to aerodynamics. Common reasons to accept this tradeoff: -Gain shelf appeal -Add adjustability -Lower CG Cobra has been particularly committed to the smooth aerodynamic shape in recent years.

More on sole geometry: Some brands rock easily, allowing the player to manipulate open/closed at address. Some brands lock in. I’ve been in rooms where these (seemingly small) design choices are debated endlessly. 😄 Do you have a preference?

Follow-up on sole/ground interaction: The sole angle is a key design lever that controls how the club sits. -Raise the sole, club falls open -Lower it (demo'd by tape in vid), club sits closed This often compounds the closed/open face when you make an adapter adjustment.

What/who is the best resource for golf shaft education?

In my DMs like “what’s the best shaft?”

If you want more draw bias, the upright lie setting is an easy equipment tweak you can make. Adding a few images to show flat vs. upright w/ 10° adapter. The upright setting will be the same loft as flat. But the face will be more closed w/ upright.

One of the hardest concepts to explain: Loft = Closed Face I modeled a one-piece 10° shaft adapter to exaggerate how it works. Actual adapters are ~2°. This shows the head in free space. Interaction w/ the ground is another piece, worthy of a separate post, later.

Follow-up on progressive gaps: Let's assume you hit all your clubs ±5%. -Draw vs. Fade -Hard vs. Flighted Progressively increasing gaps minimize overlap. Maximizing the number of shots you have in the bag.