Golf News 59
The Best Value in the Premium GPS Market
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I talk a lot about strategy, and how it can really lower your scores. One of the pillars of course management is knowing your yardages to various points on the golf course, which is why I have always advocated most golfers using GPS technology. My number one strategic recommendation relies on knowing the back yardage to every green.
Naturally, I pay very close attention to the marketplace and try to test out all of the new gadgets that come out. For the most part, the industry has been relatively stagnant lately. You can get entry-level GPS watches on a budget that gives you basic yardages to the green. But if you want premium features that go above and beyond, you have to pay a lot more for them.
That is why I was so surprised when I first learned about Voice Caddie’s G1 GPS Watch. The list of features was extremely long, and some of them I had not seen before. The price tag was also $100 – $150 lower than the industry-leading GPS watch, and it had a more robust set of features.
After testing the Voice Caddie G1 on the golf course, I’m prepared to say it’s the best overall value for golfers who are looking for a premium offering. It’s fast, packs tons of features, and best of all, will not break the bank.
In this review, I’ll take a deep dive into what makes the G1 so unique and how it can help you make smarter decisions on the golf course.
The Features That Set Voice Caddie G1 Apart
Any GPS watch these days can get you yardages to the front, center, and back of the green. That’s old news at this point.
If you’re looking for added features, such as course maps, shot tracking, or even Bluetooth integration – you have to pay more money. Garmin has dominated this category for years. Two years ago, I deemed their Approach S60 the best overall GPS watch in golf. It’s a position they’ve held since then, and enhanced with other releases like the Approach S40. The tradeoff is the price. The S60 watch has consistently sold between $350 – $400 because there really was no rival.
I think Voice Caddie might have knocked them off their perch. And to be honest, it comes from a very unexpected place. Traditionally, they have not had anything in the GPS category that was unique.
When I first saw all of the features that the Voice Caddie G1 was packing, I had to reread the list several times. I’ll get into most of them later in this article, but I first want to highlight what makes this watch a bit of a game-changer.
There are three in particular:
- Full map touch screen capability
- Automatic slope adjustment for yardages
- Green undulation maps
I’m going to explore each of these separately to explain why they are so important when you consider the competition.
The Map Is Awesome
Perhaps my favorite feature of the Garmin Approach S60 is the ability to use your finger to determine yardages on the map. So whether you are hitting a tee shot or a layup shot, you could point to a spot on the course such as a bunker or water hazard and find your yardages. When it came out, it was the only watch that boasted a full touch screen. The only issue I have is it was not entirely fast, and I had to wait for the map to load when I zoomed in.
The Voice Caddie G1 is the only other watch that has this feature, and I think they’ve improved upon it. The image is crystal clear, and more importantly, when you touch the screen, it reacts almost immediately. It’s incredibly fast. As you know, hardware technology sometimes changes in months, and it’s clear that Voice Caddie has been able to use a faster processor on this watch.
The map shows you your current position on the hole, how far you hit your last shot, and the distance to the target you select. This feature is a big deal.
Automatic Slope Adjustment
The Voice Caddie G1 also packs slope adjustment. It automatically displays your slope adjusted yardage based on elevation changes, which is indicated by the small icon next to the center yardage number. This feature can be disabled if you’re playing in a tournament.
Having slope adjusted yardages is another significant feature for a GPS watch.
Testing on the course, I found the slope adjusted yardages to be very consistent with a couple of rangefinders. You should know that all devices will give their best guess since they all use different means of calculation. On the whole, I think slope adjustment is perhaps the most valuable feature that the G1 watch has over its competition. Taking the guesswork out of elevation changes can help you hit more greens in regulation.
Green Undulation Maps
Something that has never been done before on a GPS watch is green undulation data, and the G1 debuts this technology. Using satellite imagery, they have been able to map out the slopes of greens and quickly display them on the watch (you have to swipe to see it).
The more red shading represents the highest points of the green, and as you transition to orange, yellow, and blue, you start to see the lowest parts.
My course has tons of false fronts and significant changes in slope on the greens. It was interesting to see how the maps represented each green. I found the heat maps to be pretty spot on. You can clearly see the overall slopes of any green and if there is any unexpected trouble awaiting you. For golfers who have difficulty identifying the whole slope of a green, mainly when they putt, this can be helpful.
I should note that this feature is not available on every golf course. They are continually adding courses in the USA, and you can search their database to find out what features your course currently has here.
Overall, when you take into account these three unique features of the watch (and it’s price tag of $249) – the value proposition becomes very clear.
Plenty Of Other Stuff to Be Excited About
Now that I’ve uncovered what makes the Voice Caddie G1 unique, let me cover some of its other features. First off, the overall functionality of the watch is a breeze. You can load up your course quite quickly without any headaches. It comes preloaded with more than 30,000 courses, and there are no ongoing fees for updates. As I mentioned, the processor they are using is speedy so there are no delays. Additionally, I found the watch to be relatively light and not a burden to wear on my wrist.
The screen is extremely sharp and has the best resolution I’ve seen on a GPS watch to date. No matter what the lighting conditions are for the day, you can easily see all of the information on the watch without having to strain your eyes. Voice Caddie also states that the watch is waterproof, so no fears if you get caught in the rain.
On the course, you can quickly toggle between the hole map, overall distance information, and the green image by swiping to the left or right.
Looking at the home screen, you’ll see pretty much everything you need. The primary information is slope-adjusted yardages. You also can see the current hole information, your score and shot count (you can use the watch to track your score), and the present time.
Another feature the G1 has that I’ve come to love on other watches is that it automatically tracks the distance of your last shot. There are two main reasons I’ve found this useful – you can start to see how far you actually hit the ball, but more importantly, it’s helped me hone in on the location of an errant shot that’s been hard to find.
On approach shots, you can also move around the pin position with your fingers. This allows you to get an estimate of your yardages to the pin, and it also shows you your distance to the front and the back of the green. All of this is valuable information that I always recommend golfers should know.
Lastly, the battery life is on par (no pun intended) with other premium GPS watches. You can expect to get 2-3 rounds of usage before you have to charge it.
Some Smart Watch Capabilities
The Voice Caddie G1 also has a few smartwatch capabilities. If you choose to do so, you can wear it throughout the day and pair it with your phone via Bluetooth. You’ll be notified of incoming calls and text messages from your phone.
The watch also syncs with the Voice Caddie app to wirelessly transmit updates. When you’re finished with your rounds, you can upload your scoring data to the app.
If you’re into fitness, the G1 automatically tracks how many steps you’re taking throughout the day and displays it on the bottom of the screen. You’ll get an estimate of how many calories you’ve burned. Walking my course yielded almost 14,000 steps!
I wouldn’t say that the G1 is going to rival an Apple Watch, but if you currently don’t have a smartwatch, it can quickly fill that void for you if you choose to keep it on outside of the golf course.
Premium Features That Won’t Break the Bank
Voice Caddie quietly released perhaps the best overall value in the premium GPS watch category with the G1 watch. They’ve matched most of the features of the industry-leading Garmin Approach S60, but for far less money. On top of that, they added new features not seen before. I’ll be using this as my watch for the upcoming season, and I think most golfers will be very pleased with its performance.
I did not see this coming from a company that has mostly been recognized for its personal launch monitors – the Swing Caddie SC200 and SC300.
You can purchase the Voice Caddie for $249 using this link (it usually retails for $299). In the current marketplace, I don’t think you’ll find a better overall package of features for that price.
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What Can You Control in Your Golf Game? [The Big 5]
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Focus on what you can control and accept what you can’t. Some variation of this phrase appears in religious texts, self-help books, and social media accounts that supply endless inspirational quotes. It’s one of the most clichéd (and essential) concepts out there.
When it comes to golf, control is perhaps one of the most significant aspects of the game. A lot of golfers come to the game expecting to control the process and outcomes as they can in other parts of their lives. I’ve witnessed countless people who are calm, confident, and thriving outside of the course change into a completely different person when they tee it up. I’ve indeed fallen victim to this myself. One of the main reasons this occurs is because they don’t fully understand what they can control in golf and what they cannot. Success in golf is not as clearly laid out as it is elsewhere.
If you can improve at the elements of the game that you can control, and start to accept the things you cannot, you will become happier on the course (and likely a better golfer). I know this is sounding very “self helpy” right now but stick with me.
Rather than speak in generalities, I’d like to specifically focus on five specific thoughts that have taken me close to 25 years to figure out. I’ll link to other articles I’ve written that explore these ideas further.
What You Can Control
Your Preparation
Before you tee it up, there’s plenty of things you can do to give yourself the best chance of success. Here are a few that make sense for everyone:
Each of those elements can be broken down further into various categories, but I consider those to be the pillars of preparation that you can have plenty of control over. If you ignore them completely, don’t expect improved performance in your game.
Your Routine
A lot of golfers ask me what they can do to deal with nerves and pressure. Whether it’s a tournament, a match with your buddies, or your typical Sunday round, my advice doesn’t change all that much. I tell most people to commit to going through a routine before every shot, no matter what happens. Simple advice, but difficult to stick with.
I believe all pre-shot routines should have the following elements:
- Analysis: Evaluate your position on the course and think about an optimal target and club selection.
- Commitment: Choose a specific target.
- Routine: Go through a repeatable routine as you approach the ball. For me, it’s two practice swings, an alignment, and then I swing.
If you can develop this kind of routine, commit to going through it on every shot no matter how bad or good things are going, you’ll be developing one of the best habits a golfer can have.
Your Reaction
Most golfers don’t think about having a post-shot routine, but how you react to each shot is sometimes just as important as how you prepare for it. You can exert a great deal of control over this process. That’s not to say you can’t get upset or pump your fist in celebration; those are natural instant reactions. I wrote this article a while back, and it explores some wonderful ideas on how to react to shots from James Sieckmann’s book, Your Short Game Solution
(it’s mostly a fantastic book on wedge play).
His overall advice is quite simple – internalize your good shots and objectify your bad shots. Most golfers don’t give themselves enough credit for good shots, or even realize when they’ve hit one. Conversely, when the bad ones occur, they take it very personally, and the negative feelings seem to drag on throughout the round. Sieckmann’s advice is to take ownership of your successes and try to analyze your failures objectively.
While this is incredibly difficult, and you’ll never be perfect at it, you have to do your best to separate yourself emotionally when big mistakes occur. Take a step back and think about if you could have done anything differently.
Perhaps you chose the wrong club and misjudged the wind. Or you picked too aggressive of a target when aiming at the green. Many times, it’s just a regular occurrence with your technique. Either way, once the shot is over, this process shouldn’t take too long.
My favorite time to do a more in-depth analysis is after the round, while the information is still fresh in my mind.
What You Can’t Control
The Variability of Your Technique
How often have you gotten frustrated when you can’t take your ball striking from the practice tee to the course? Or have you been wholly demoralized when you have one of your best ball-striking days, and less than 24 hours later, your swing feels like a mess? You’re not alone because this happens to every single golfer on the planet.
Variability is perhaps one of the hardest parts of the game to accept. You cannot control how your golf swing will perform daily, and it can be maddening.
This is a relative concept, as many things in golf are. All players have what I would call a baseline skill level. Some days they’ll perform on the lower end of that potential; other days, they can reach the upper limits. On the whole, most rounds will fall somewhere in between. The hardest part for any golfer is to understand what that variability looks like, and accept that it will happen.
Through practice and playing more, it’s very possible to increase your base skill level. In other words, your bad days aren’t as bad, and your good days are a little better. But no matter what, you will experience randomness.
The Universe
As you know, golf is played outdoors on various terrains with a small white ball. Your technique and the quality of your swing determines how the ball will initially come off the clubface. After that, you are subject to the rules of the universe.
Weather and the laws of physics seem to torture our souls constantly. The truth is it’s not personal. But it feels that way sometimes.
I wrote about the time I thought I hit a perfect tee shot on the final hole of Bethpage Black in competition. I thought I hit a perfect drive and didn’t even watch the ball land. What I didn’t see was a gust of wind push my ball to the edge of the fairway, ricochet off a poorly placed rake, and nestle into deep fescue never to be found. At the moment, I lost my cool, but it was just the universe doing its job.
You can select an optimal target, execute the shot exactly how you want, and things still might not work out because of a gust of wind, or the way the ball bounces off a small hill.
The great philosopher Forrest Gump sums it up nicely in this clip:
People often tell you to control the process, and the results will follow. And essentially, that’s what I’m saying as the overall theme of this article. However, along the way, many of those results won’t be what you want them to be simply because the game is played in the elements on uneven ground. Almost all other sports are played on a consistent field (think basketball, hockey, football, baseball, etc.), and it’s one of the reasons golfers who play other sports seem to struggle with managing their expectations properly. That’s part of golf’s beauty and challenge.
Overall, golf has so much randomness to it because you are influenced by weather, gravity, and plenty of other things about physics that I forgot about since high school. You’ll drive yourself mad if you think you can control it.
Striking the Balance
While there are plenty of other concepts to explore when it comes to what you can control and what you cannot, I consider these “The Big Five.”
I’m not telling you to go out there and become perfectly zen with all of this advice. I’m not.
What I hope is that one or several of these concepts opened your eyes up to something you assumed was true about the game, but really wasn’t. A small inkling of a renewed perspective can have a massively positive influence on your relationship with the game.
No golfer can strike a perfect balance of control. But you can get better. For many of your reading this, my assumption is that you’ve likely held on too tight to what you thought you could control, and letting go a bit will do you some good. Remember, it’s just a game!
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The King of Distance [How To Increase Ball Speed Guide]
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Most golfers want to know how to add distance to their game, and they should. Hitting it farther gives you a better opportunity to post lower scores. How can you do it? In my opinion, having a laser-sharp focus on increasing your golf ball speed is the way to get it done.
In this article, I’ll explore why ball speed is so important when it comes to distance, and provide reasonable steps you can take to improve your ball speed.
What Is Golf Ball Speed and Why Is It So Important?
The simple definition of ball speed is how fast the golf ball is traveling when it comes off the face of your club. If you’re a fan of professional golf, you’ve likely seen golf ball speed numbers popping up on TV now. Some of the longest hitters on tour are somewhere in the 170 mph – 190 mph ball speed range (which requires a minimum swing speed of about 115mph). As you can see from this infographic from DECADE Golf, it’s also directly correlated to making money as a pro golfer:
What are typical golf ball speed numbers for recreational players? Trackman reported the following averages for male golfers with their driver:
- Scratch or Better – 161 mph
- 5 HCP – 147 mph
- 10 HCP – 138 mph
- Average Golfer (14.5) – 133 mph
- Bogey Golfer – 131 mph
When golfers talk about increasing their distance (particularly with their driver), they usually focus on clubhead speed. In my opinion, focusing on ball speed is more important. While your swing speed is very critical – golf ball speed is a better measurement of how efficiently you transferred the energy of your swing to the ball.
For example, if you had a golfer with a driver swing speed of 100 mph, but with very efficient impact conditions, they could hit the ball farther than someone who swung inefficiently at 110 mph.
Long story short, when it comes to distance, golf ball speed is the king. An increase of 1 mph in ball speed can lead to roughly 2 yards of increase in distance with your driver. A lot of times, those gains can come without adding any speed to your golf swing.
How Does Ball Speed Change By Impact Location?
Modern golf clubs have done an excellent job of providing forgiveness on off-center strikes. However, no matter how good the technology is, there is still a penalty for missing the sweet spot (center of gravity). I’ll show you a couple of examples from my own clubs to illustrate how strike location can alter your ball speed (and a few other important parameters for distance).
Since driver distance is what everyone is most interested in, let’s start there. Using my SkyTrak launch monitor, I hit a bunch of shots and kept track of where I was making an impact using foot odor spray.
I’m mostly paying attention to ball speed and how it relates to distance, but taking note of spin rates and launch angle, which are two other data points that largely determine how far your ball is going to travel.
Here is a perfectly struck driver shot:
This shot had 153 mph of ball speed, carried 260 yards for a total distance of 286 yards.
Looking at the launch angle and spin rate, that’s about as efficiently as I can drive it. According to SkyTrak’s Shot Optimizer, it’s within optimal ranges on each category:
When you strike it well, the golf club can do what it’s designed to do. You’ll get maximum ball speed, and other ball flight parameters will benefit as well (launch angle, spin rate, etc.). The end result, a golf shot you can be proud of.
Now let’s take a look at what happens when I miss a little bit:
Striking it high on the face towards the heel results in a ball speed of only 142 mph (a drop of 11 mph) and a total distance of 255 yards (a decrease of 31 yards).
Looking at the shot optimizer, you can see that my spin dropped a little bit, but the biggest culprit for the distance drop is the lack of height. If you are a low spin player like I am, you need ball speed to keep the ball in the air. When I lose 11 mph of speed coming off the driver’s face, the ball struggles to climb in the air as much (think of it like a rocket running out of fuel), and the total distance is affected quite a bit.
When I strike the bottom of the face with my driver, things look even worse. I’ve lost as much as 50 yards of distance because the ball launches so low with very little ball speed.
Now let’s take a look at my 7-iron…
This shot was struck a little higher on the face, on what I would call the “hot spot” of my 7-iron. It launched a little higher with less spin and plenty of ball speed. It registered at 122mph and carried 185 yards, which is about 10 yards longer than I usually hit this club.
Typically, when I miss my irons, it will be on the heel like this shot:
My ball speed dropped to 115 mph (7 mph less) and carried 167 yards (18 yards less).
While there are endless variables based on strike location and the kind of golf clubs you are using, off-center strikes result in lower ball speed and a lack of distance. While that should come as no surprise to you, many golfers don’t know how much they are losing because they likely don’t know their impact tendencies and haven’t experimented with a launch monitor (yes, I’ve turned into quite the golf geek with my lab at home).
If you love data, check out this great chart from Ping Golf. If it doesn’t make your head spin, you can see how ball speed can correlate with other factors to create optimal driving distances:
How You Can Increase Your Golf Ball Speed
There are two ways I believe most of you can increase your ball speed (and distance):
- Improve your impact tendencies
- Train your body to move faster
I think all golfers should be working on their impact tendencies when they practice, and I’ve spoken about this many times before. It’s not difficult to add this kind of focus to your existing practice routine. In my opinion, it’s the path of least resistance when it comes to adding ball speed.
The second option requires more effort outside of just hitting balls. All things being equal, if you do increase your clubhead speed through training, you will see a jump in ball speed. I’d caution you to do it the right way, though. Merely trying to swing harder will likely result in a breakdown of your technique, which will cause your impact location to suffer, and your ball speed to drop.
Impact Location Training
Luckily working on your strike location is not terribly complicated. Get yourself a can of foot odor spray
There are two main reasons I like practicing with impact location intent:
- It gives your practice session more meaning and structure.
- When you focus on impact, it allows your swing to self organize a fix that doesn’t require you thinking about all of the moving parts it took to get there.
While I never tell all golfers that it can fix everyone, a lot of players are amazed at how much progress they can make once they figure out their impact tendencies and consciously try to start striking different parts of the face.
If you’re noticing a bias towards one side of the face, I like using a “fight fire with fire” approach. For example, when I am struggling with heel strikes, I merely try to exaggerate a miss on the outside of the toe. Sometimes I’ll even set up with the ball on that side of the face. Interestingly enough, when I try to strike the toe, it moves my impact from the heel to the center of the face.
You can also experiment with small changes in your setup to see how it changes your strike location – like standing closer, or further away from the ball.
Another experiment I love to do is altering tee height. Start adjusting your tee in low, medium, and high positions and see how it changes your impact location on the driver’s face (or other clubs you use off the tee). Your goal is to try and reduce strike towards the bottom of the clubface, and get them more towards the center, or just above it.
Using physical barriers like tees can help improve your impact location. A good drill is to set two tees slightly wider than the width of your club – try clearing the gates with your practice swings and then while trying to hit a ball. Or you can experiment with a tee on one side of the ball as well, depending on where your misses are.
Lastly, you can challenge yourself to strike different parts of the clubface on purpose. Consciously try to hit the heel, center, and the toe of the club separately. If you’re looking for real bonus points, you can try Andrew Rice’s drill where you separate the driver’s face into four quadrants and try to strike each one separately.
Training Your Body to Move Faster
If you’re into physical fitness, there are a couple of ways to increase your clubhead speed without sacrificing your technique, which will, in turn, help you gain more golf ball speed.
I believe the most foolproof method is to train several times a week, focusing on strength, mobility, and power. There are plenty of golf-specific programs out there that can help. One recommendation would be to find a TPI certified trainer. Also, this article, written by Mike Carroll from Fit For Golf, goes over his top nine golf exercises.
Additionally, Overspeed training has become a prevalent method of increasing clubhead speed. This can be done by itself or in conjunction with a workout routine.
Wrapping It Up
If you want to hit golf shots that go as far as possible, increasing your ball speed is the most critical metric to keep track of. Think of it as a measure of efficiency. My number one recommendation is to work on improving your impact location, which is an easy (and useful) addition to your practice sessions. On top of that, increasing your swing speed through physical training is another way to get it done. Combine the two, and you’ll be blowing your drives by your buddies very soon!
To measure your ball speed during practice, you will need a launch monitor. For recreational golfers, I believe one of the most effective solutions is SkyTrak since it directly measures ball speed. You can read more about in my review, and here are some other articles I’ve done using it:
How Do Adjustable Drivers Affect Ball Flight?
Driver Dispersion: Choosing Optimal Targets Off the Tee
You Don’t Have As Much Control Over the Ball As You Think
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Blend the Perfect Set [MB, MMC, HMB Guide]
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Few things in golf can replicate the clean, scintillating aesthetics of a straight muscle-back blade. In the category of blade irons, Mizuno has long been recognized as a true industry leader. Both amateurs and professionals agree, there’s something special about Mizuno forgings. Case and point? Mizuno pays very few players to use their products on tour, yet you see them in the bags of pro players all across the world (cough, Brooks Koepka, cough cough). The latest line of Mizuno MP-20 irons continues that tradition of excellence.
The new MP-20 series includes 3 models:
MP-20 MB (Traditional Muscle Back Blade), MP-20 MMC (Multi-Material Concept), MP-20 HMB (Hot Metal Blade)
I’ve been fitting golfers into the MP-20 line
Why Mizuno Has Been a Leader in the Iron Category For Decades
Here are some critical components to Mizuno’s long-time success in the iron business:
Ultra-High Quality Materials: Mizuno has a reputation for spending top-dollar on the materials they use to forge their golf clubs. 1025E Pure Select Steel (used in all 3 models) and Chromoly (in the HMB) are no exception. Mizuno engineers have dug all the way down to molecular structure to ensure their materials are the softest and strongest available for club construction.
Tireless Attention to Detail: Mizuno craftsmen in Hiroshima use a process called Grain Flow, High Density (HD) Forging to construct the MP-20 club heads. The Japanese facility has been making clubs for Mizuno for 30 years. That’s precisely the type of tenure and attention to detail that will yield unmatched results.
Impeccable Standards: There’s no such thing as the “Tour Issue” Mizuno product. If a club leaves Mizuno’s plant, it’s good enough for you, for me, or for Brooks Koepka. Mizuno has one set of tolerances; clubs are either good enough to be called Mizuno, or they never see a golf course. Simple and impressive.
The New Hotness: Mizuno MP-20 HMB
The All-New Hot Metal Blade or Hollow Muscle Back, (both names have been embraced by Mizuno), is definitely the star attraction in the MP-20 line.
Designed for higher launch, enhanced stability, and increased ball speed, the Mizuno MP-20 HMB
- Forge the face (it is a Mizuno after all) but do so with Chromoly (a metal alloy) to increase strength. This allows for a thinner, faster face.
- Hollow the body between the Chromoly and the steel chassis of the club to maximize ball speed
- Use tungsten weights deep in the heel and the toe to increase initial launch and drastically increase MOI (moment of inertia) and forgiveness.
- Underlay the head with copper to ensure that buttery soft Mizuno feel remains intact.
The idea behind the HMB offering is to deliver a Hybrid-like launch and forgiveness with the look and feel of a Mizuno blade. While this larger iteration of the MP-20 won’t be for everyone, it’s undoubtedly going to appeal to fans of both forged and forgiving irons. The look of the MP-20 HMB is notably larger than a traditional blade iron.
However, despite a thicker topline, its minimal offset and cleanly rounded toe are still desirable for perhaps an aging player who can benefit from a higher launching and more forgiving set.
Hollow Irons Are Not New, But Mizuno Did Something Different
Hollow iron heads are still relatively new to the market. The HMB is preceded by irons such as the Taylormade P790, Titleist TMB, Ping i500, and PXG’s.
But the science of creating ball speed through a thinner, unsupported “trampoline” face is far from perfect. Although I’ve only been fitting Mizuno MP-20 HMB for a couple of months, I’ve seen a much more balanced set of ball speed and spin numbers compared to TaylorMade P790’s results. The trouble with P790 and PXG irons has been that the ball doesn’t spin enough. Additionally, the faces hide a few “hot spots” that will sometimes lead to 10 or even 15-yard jumps in the distance on seemingly random strikes. No skilled player wants to juice an 8 iron 170 yards when he’s trying to hit it 155.
Along those same lines, I’ve had low ball hitters or players with lower clubhead speed struggle to stop even the mid irons in these low-spinning sets. For some player’s we’re able to use a high launching/spinning shaft to mitigate the problem, but not everyone likes the feel of those softer tipped iron shafts. The MP-20 HMB irons have shown higher launch and spin numbers than P790 making it perhaps not as long but more consistent when it comes to distance and stopping power. If you’re looking for consistency and forgiveness in a forged package, and you have plenty of ball speed, MP-20 HMB may be right up your alley.
A Pinch of This + A Dash of That = MP-20 MMC
Admittedly, I was not a big fan of the original 2018 version of the Mizuno MP-20 MMC
Truthfully these are materials we’ve seen in club designs before. What makes the MMC unique is that they didn’t place the tungsten too far away from the face to prevent an excessively high launch. Instead, they used it to increase perimeter weighting, which centered the sweet spot on the scoring lines and improved stability on off-center strikes.
When fitting high-skill players, I’ve often been forced to move into a blade iron simply because other models launched too high in the air. (I did this myself with my Titleist 714 MB’s). The MP-20 MMC gives me access to a tool that will deliver that penetrating launch without sacrificing the forgiveness that so many players need.
That being said, the MMC is still a player’s iron, which I generally advise only low to mid handicappers to explore.
Muscle Up with the MP-20 MB Blade
When you’re taking a single piece of steel and pounding it into a traditional blade design, how much technology can you really apply? Mizuno gave it a shot with the MP-20 MB
Here is what they did:
- Start simple, use the best materials available. Mizuno’s known for using higher-grade steel than almost anyone in the industry. I don’t know much about steel, but apparently, 1025E Pure Select is top-notch.
- Center up the sweet spot. You may have heard the adage that old-time blades sweet spot was slightly in the heel of the clubface. This was true. The center of gravity of a blade is influenced by the weight of the hozel, drawing the purest strike point a smidge towards the heel. To correct this, Mizuno hedged the muscle weighting towards the toe and beautifully blended the look with the rest of the club. The sweetest of the sweet spots in the MP-20 MB is directly in the center of the scoring lines.
- Who says old fashioned blades can’t be progressive? Mizuno slightly shifts the CG through the MP-20 MB set to launch the shorter irons slightly lower and the longer irons slightly higher. It’s not something you’re likely to notice aesthetically, but it’s a feature you’ll enjoy when you’re hitting a wedge into the wind or a 5 iron into an elevated green.
- Don’t stray from your roots. Mizuno has long been known for creating soft, beautiful, workable blades. The MP-20 is no exception. High handicappers steer clear, players only in this model.
Mixing Things Up: The Ideal Blend for Your Game
If you follow players on the major tours, you’ve likely noticed that there are a lot of blended iron sets in play these days. Beyond replacing long irons with hybrids, players are now replacing long or even mid irons with a more forgiving and or higher launching head. The tricky part about doing this as a fitter is navigating the ever-changing “standard” lofts in which iron sets are offered.
Mizuno has done a great job of keeping lofts reasonably consistent throughout their different sets. This makes blending the straight blade, the MMC, and the HMB sets virtually seamless. Want more control and a cleaner look in the short irons? 8-PW in MP-20 MB Blade. A little more help in 5-7 without sacrificing that blade look? MMC will work perfectly. Want to top things off with higher launching and more stable/forgiving long irons? 3 & 4 iron HMB’s will give you confidence on big par 3’s, make long iron approaches more consistent, and have you poised to split the fairway on tight driving holes.
Here is a video from Mizuno engineer Chris Voshall explaining how you can blend a set of MP-20s:
Final Thoughts on the Mizuno MP-20 Irons
Mizuno has done a fantastic job assembling the MP-20 iron lineup. And seeing as all good cakes need a healthy amount of icing, they offer dozens of shafts and grips at no upcharge. While the irons aren’t cheap (and shouldn’t be with the quality of materials and research you’re purchasing), Mizuno pledges to put you in the shaft and grip that fit your game the best at no additional charge.
As a clubfitter, I can vouch for the fact that this is a very rare offer. So get to a fitter and give the MP-20
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30 Million Shots Analyzed: Here Are 4 Mistakes That Are Holding Golfers Back [Shot Scope Data Revealed]
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For years, anecdotal information dominated the discussion of golf improvement. It still does in many circles. With newer technology, we have more reliable data on which to base decisions, rather than guess. In my experience, taking a healthy dose (but not too much) of this information can help players improve.
One of the most interesting developments in recent years is the ability to track golfers’ real performance on the course. Instead of listening to their accounts of the round, we now have cold-hard data that shows us exactly how far players are hitting shots, where they are losing strokes and many other interesting nuggets of information. With millions and millions of shots tracked, a lot of interesting trends have been observed. In this article, I was able to show how golfers’ performance changed by handicap level based on Shot Scope’s 20 million shot library.
Recently, Shot Scope released a new eBook that outlines some of the biggest strategic mistakes they see golfers making. Their database surpassed 30 million shots, and they uncovered quite a few common errors.
I will summarize four major mistakes that golfer’s make. I think they’ll surprise some of you, and change your thinking on commonly-held beliefs. If you are interested in downloading the entire eBook, you can do so here (it’s an interesting read).
I Need to Make More BIRDIES!!!
Ever since I started Practical Golf in 2015, I have been beating my drum as loud as possible when it comes to the idea of birdies and double bogeys. The official tagline of the site has become, “fighting the war on double bogeys.”
Most golfers think that they need to make more birdies to become a better player. I tell everyone who would listen that it’s more about limiting double bogeys (or worse). I discussed the concept of birdies in this article, and how golfers have it all wrong.
Shot Scope looked at five different handicap levels, and compared the number of birdies they make per round as well as double bogeys:
As you can see, almost all handicap levels average well below one birdie per round. The main differentiator in performance between the two is clearly double bogeys. Going from a 26 down to an eight handicap shows a reduction of four double bogeys per round. Lower handicap players are better at avoiding double bogeys than making more birdies.
Birdies are a nice bonus when they happen, but your main focus should be doing everything you can to limit double bogeys. That is Practical Golf in a nutshell, folks!
3-Wood For Accuracy Off the Tee
Conventional logic assumes that a shorter club off the tee will be more accurate. For years, I thought this myself. I find myself thinking otherwise, especially after I performed this test with my iron and driver.
Many times, golfers will choose to hit a 3-wood off the tee when they feel they want more accuracy. However, there are two questions you need to think about when you do this:
- How much distance are you giving up?
- What are you gaining in accuracy?
To answer the first question – most golfers are giving up somewhere around 30 yards in distance when it comes to a driver vs. a 3-wood. Less distance off the tee will cost you strokes. In my other article featuring Shot Scope’s findings, the difference in distance between driver and 3-wood was worth about 1/3 of a stroke.
Now, what did those golfers gain in accuracy? Well, it turns out, not much. Using a 3-wood off the tee only improved fairway accuracy by 1% point.
I’ve discussed before how fairway accuracy is not the best measurement for tee shot success. However, if 3-woods were much more accurate than driver off the tee, then surely you would see a huge jump in fairways hit.
There are multiple reasons why this is the case. For starters, it’s much harder to make solid contact with a 3-wood than a driver because of the smaller face. Gear effect becomes a huge issue, which is essentially a punishment for off-center impact. Most modern drivers are far more forgiving because the clubfaces are larger, and have much more MOI (a measure of forgiveness).
Overall, this data is a bit of an eye-opener. Essentially golfers (as a whole) are losing strokes by laying back off the tee, and not gaining any increase in accuracy.
Laying Up To Your Favorite Yardage
Another piece of conventional strategic wisdom is to try and lay up to your favorite yardage, especially on a par 5.
Often, golfers will choose to leave themselves with a 100-yard shot instead of a 40-50 yard shot because they want to take a full swing. In theory, it makes perfect sense. However, this strategy was deemed ineffective in Mark Broadie’s groundbreaking book Every Shot Counts
So how did this analysis stack up in the real world?
Pretty well!
Across the board, golfers were able to land the ball closer to the hole by almost 30 feet when looking at approaches from 110 yards vs. 50 yards.
Lob Wedge Addiction
One of the areas where most golfers can quickly gain a few strokes are around the greens. I prefer that most players try to simplify their short game, and not try too many different techniques (ie. flop shots). However, you can simply change out the club you are using to alter your trajectory based on the situation.
For example, a lot of players get a little obsessed with using the most lofted club in their bag for most pitch and chip shots. One area in particular where this can cause problems is when the golfer has plenty of green to work with. Let’s say you’ve left your approach shot short of the green, and have about 30 yards in between you and the flag. Using a more lofted club will require very precise distance control, which is a skill that needs to be worked on quite a bit. Often times, golfers will end up leaving these kinds of shots well short of the flag, and sometimes even fail to reach the green.
Shot Scope did an interesting analysis of the variety of clubs used by golfers around the green. They chose to separate players by those who can consistently land the ball inside 20 feet versus those who did not. What they found is that the players who had better proximity to the hole used more of their clubs around the green, rather than relying only on one or two.
When they examined the profile of poor short-game players, they found a mixture of club usage similar to the following image:
Conversely, better short-game players had a more even dispersion of club usage across the board:
Overall, club selection can be a personal choice. This is an area of the game where I think it makes sense to pay close attention to your results. Often times golfers will use similar clubs out of habit and ignore the fact that they might be giving up performance gains if they adjusted their club selection based on the circumstances.
How To Customize Your Data
Looking at golfers across the board is certainly an interesting study. A lot of the revelations from the Shot Scope data are problems I’ve found observing golfers of all levels (including my own game). But each and every one of you has a unique style of play and ability. I always recommend that golfers keep track of their stats and take a deeper dive beyond the traditional ones. With the advent of shot-tracking systems, it’s easier than ever for golfers to track their shots on the course and get a detailed analysis of where they need to improve.
I’ve reviewed a number of these systems, and Shot Scope, in my opinion, is the easiest to use when you factor in all of the features. Currently, they are running a holiday special for $139 on their website here, which is more than $100 less than the system used to cost when I first reviewed it.
Once you can get a birds-eye view of your golf game, it’s much easier to see where you can make adjustments with your practice, strategy, and even equipment.
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Giving Golfers Exactly What They Need
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Ping has long been the golf company that marches to the beat of their own drum. From introducing the Anser putter head (which continues to be replicated to this day) to popularizing custom fitting – when it comes to innovation, Ping is in a league of their own. The Ping Glide 3.0 wedges
This is an especially bold statement to make in a marketplace populated by tons of competition from every major OEM. So what makes the Glide 3.0 so unique?
Ping is giving players what they need, even if the average golfer thinks they want something else.
What You Want vs. What You Need
So what do most golfers need when it comes to wedges? In this club fitter’s honest opinion:
- More bounce than you think
- More forgiveness than you think
- A sole shape that fits your style of play rather than what looks pretty in your bag
I fit clubs at one of the largest independently owned & operated retail golf stores in the United States. I sell hundreds if not thousands of wedges each year. For the past two seasons, I’ve encountered many players claiming that they need LESS bounce. I’d say about 75% of these customers are misinformed. I often check their existing wedges to find significant wear marks well up the face and toward the toe. Both are reasonably reliable indicators that the leading edge is getting too far into the ground before the strike.
While low bounce wedges aren’t a bad thing, for many golfers, higher bounce equates to more forgiveness. When fitting wedges, I’m interested in many points of information. Typically, a lot of people defer to how shallow or how steep a golfer’s full swing is to determine bounce and sole grind. But there’s a lot more to the equation…
What about the in-between shots? How firm or soft is the turf conditions at the courses you typically play? How do you prefer to play a 40-yard shot – with the face open tossing it high and soft, or with the face square driving the ball lower with more spin?
The best fitters will hedge the fit towards a player’s tendencies to maximize forgiveness and effectiveness on the shots that their client relies on the most. I believe Ping has given me all the tools I need to answer these questions with their Glide 3.0 wedge lineup.
Why the Ping Glide 3.0 Are Unique
Here is the secret sauce; what’s under the hood of the Glide 3.0.
- More elastomer & Higher MOI means a softer feel and more forgiveness. Multi-material construction is used in lots of irons to gain forgiveness without sacrificing a thin, attractive topline. Kudos to Ping for applying this design to their wedges.
- They widened the soles. There are still plenty of sole options: Thin, Standard, Wide, and Eye 2. But even the thin and standard options are wider than the original models and most competitors. The value here is having more surface area to bevel, creating the desired effective bounces. Translation – you can expect more neutral and consistent turf interaction.
- More offset. This is a point of contention with some players. Offset is a word that’s often taboo among better golfers. The increased offset paired with the pronounced rounding of the edges makes the clubs appear to hug or frame the ball at address. It’s a cozy little look that I have personally grown to appreciate.
- Lighter weight. Many golfers moved to lighter shafts and swing weights in their irons to gain distance. If you want your wedges to gap properly with your irons, they will need to, at least to some degree, follow suit. Weight is easily added back with custom orders, but having lighter options available is a valuable asset.
But Greg!!! Cleveland’s CBX
wedges have offset, a large cavity, and a wider sole too! Yes, they do, but they look a little….. Alien to me…. If you get my drift.
What’s great about the Ping Glide 3.0 is that they provide all these design benefits while still looking, feeling, and performing like a traditional blade style wedge. It gives you the help, without sacrificing the look and feel that all players appreciate from their scoring clubs.
Want to hear my ultimate seal of approval? I’m playing the wedge myself. My 52-degree Glide 3.0 has been a great addition to my bag. I play a more traditional three wedge setup of 47, 52, & 58-degree lofts. Having a more forgiving head on the 52 gives me a wider margin for error when I’m manipulating my swing and the clubface to cover the wide distance gap my setup requires.
Testing Results and Who They Are For
Before winning a spot in my bag, I tested the Ping Glide 3.0 wedges along with two aspiring tour players and several recreational golfers using a Trackman launch monitor.
For more skilled players, especially the professionals, I saw fewer variations in performance between wedges because they are so skilled at controlling their strike location and turf interaction. Interestingly, with the more average golfers I tested, there were more consistent numbers across the board with the Glide 3.0s (compared to other wedges). I believe this indicates higher forgiveness, which, in my estimation, is where these wedges shine.
So who should consider putting a Glide 3.0 in their bag? Thanks to a versatile lineup and a seamless blend of playability and forgiveness, anyone!
As a fitter, if I were to highlight a particular benefit to the line, it would be the gap wedge lineup. With iron lofts getting stronger and custom-fit shafts leading to even more distance, many players are struggling to find a way to fill yardage holes at the bottom of their set. The lighter weight and added distance on miss-hits make the Glide 3.0 wedges perfectly tailored to this gap-filling role.
Wrapping It Up
Ping has outdone themselves yet again with the Glide 3.0 wedges. They took an excellent product and made it even better by offering more relief and forgiveness for a wide variety of golfers. On top of that, they kept the look and feel of a players-style iron that golfers have come to love.
Should you get fit? Yes, always, yes. When you talk with your fitter, be sure to explore the various shaft offerings and deeply discuss the way you utilize your greenside wedges to be sure you get the best bounce angles and grinds for your play style.
If you aren’t able to go through a fitting, I recommend trying to match the shaft weight and flex of your gap wedge to your iron set and going with a slightly softer flex or heavier weighted shaft in your greenside wedges. If you struggle greenside, especially from bad lies, I will urge you to try a wider sole option with more bounce. Remember, the bounce is akin to forgiveness! Make a committed, confident swing, and the bounce will help you even if the strike isn’t perfect.
You can learn more about the Ping Glide 3.0 wedges on their website here. If you’re looking for current online pricing you can check out Global Golf.
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