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Started By
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Anyone here ever play a round of golf with older equipment?
Posted on 5/14/16 at 12:47 pm
Posted on 5/14/16 at 12:47 pm
I'm talking real woods and old blades. I'm just trying to imagine how good guys like Hogan, Jones, Palmer really were.
11
Posted on 5/14/16 at 12:48 pm to LSUlefty
Would you also play on an old school layout?
Posted on 5/14/16 at 12:49 pm to SuperSaint
How different were the courses?
Posted on 5/14/16 at 12:51 pm to LSUlefty
Much, much shorter.
Posted on 5/14/16 at 12:52 pm to TT9
So do you think that evens things out?
Posted on 5/14/16 at 12:54 pm to LSUlefty
There are videos of current PGA guys hitting them. Some laugh and say it's hard as hell. Other say it's pretty easy.
Posted on 5/14/16 at 12:54 pm to LSUlefty
Absolutely
Posted on 5/14/16 at 1:11 pm to LSUlefty
I've played with a shepherd hook and petrified sheep turds. Shot 74.
Posted on 5/14/16 at 1:17 pm to LSUlefty
The old Billy Baroo
Posted on 5/14/16 at 1:18 pm to LSUlefty
I played with this again (had it in the 80's as a child) a few years ago...
Never thought it was bad back in the day until all the oversized lightweights came out.
Jimmy Connors must have been the GOAT to play with this thing, heavy as hell and a sweet spot the size of a dime. Fed and Nadal couldn't be remotely themselves playing with a racquet like this.
Equipment matters in sports just as advances in cars in auto racing.
Never thought it was bad back in the day until all the oversized lightweights came out.
Jimmy Connors must have been the GOAT to play with this thing, heavy as hell and a sweet spot the size of a dime. Fed and Nadal couldn't be remotely themselves playing with a racquet like this.
Equipment matters in sports just as advances in cars in auto racing.
This post was edited on 5/14/16 at 1:19 pm
Posted on 5/14/16 at 1:47 pm to LSUlefty
quote:
I'm just trying to imagine how good guys like Hogan, Jones, Palmer really were.
I've always been under the impression the older equipment wasn't as forgiving. If that is indeed the case, I think it takes a lot of wind out of the sails of the argument that the fields were better in those days. If the equipment isn't forgiving, the best players will dominate the average tour guy, and 5-6 players will win most tournaments. If the equipment is forgiving, and a mishit isn't detrimental, then many more people can hang around the leaderboard.
In summary, when the equipment argument is brought up in support of how good guys like Jack and Arnie were, I think it is a wash at best and a notch in favor of modern players at worst.
Posted on 5/14/16 at 1:50 pm to mizzoubuckeyeiowa
quote:
Jimmy Connors must have been the GOAT to play with this thing, heavy as hell and a sweet spot the size of a dime. Fed and Nadal couldn't be remotely themselves playing with a racquet like this.
See, I think that argument can be turned around to say that Connor's inferior competition was hurt even more so by the equipment of the time, hence his dominance.
Posted on 5/14/16 at 2:22 pm to slackster
quote:
I've always been under the impression the older equipment wasn't as forgiving. If that is indeed the case, I think it takes a lot of wind out of the sails of the argument that the fields were better in those days.
I'm not getting your assertion. To me, less forgiving equipment means there were more highly skilled players then if more players were in contention. They had to be better because the ball was so much harder to control with that tiny sweet spot. IMO, of course.
Posted on 5/14/16 at 2:38 pm to VABuckeye
quote:
I'm not getting your assertion.
People like to point to the multiple major winners in that era as proof that the upper echelon was better than it is today. My contention is that the level of skill was the same, but the equipment exacerbated the flaws in that next level of talent, so the same 5-6 guys won many of the tournaments.
In the modern game, the equipment is much more forgiving so it is more difficult for your skill to set you apart so drastically.
I could be way off base, but it makes sense to me.
ETA: Let me try to put it another way - let's concede that the equipment was unforgiving and the sweet spot was small etc. The best players in the world are consistent and don't mishit often. The next echelon tends to mishit more often, and those mishits were much more costly when the margin for error was so small. As a result, those players hardly found themselves in contention.
In the modern game with modern equipment, some of these tournaments are won by the most obscure players and many more guys are in contention because mistakes don't hurt as much. People try to spin that into a mediocre amount of elite players, but I think the equipment explains a lot of that.
This post was edited on 5/14/16 at 2:44 pm
Posted on 5/14/16 at 2:48 pm to slackster
In the mid 90s in high school in an effort to improve my ball striking, I started hitting my dads early 70s Wilson x-31s. It was a huge adjustment but definitely did the trick..played with them for 10 years until I wasn't playing as much and needed new equipment.
Posted on 5/14/16 at 4:05 pm to Big L
grew up playing that equipment ... if you averaged 270, you were a 'long hitter' ... i don't think today's irons are that much longer than yesteryear's, though mishits today are obviously better ... better players used blades since it helped them refine and improve their swing ... today's drivers/fairway clubs are a good bit longer ... the ball is still the biggest difference ...
Posted on 5/14/16 at 4:37 pm to LSUlefty
quote:
I'm talking real woods and old blades
not only did I learn to play with both woods (persimmon) and blades, I didn't switch from the blades until I got in my 40's.
we also played with balata balls. now, the courses were shorter and you had to hit the ball cleaner but the top guys were top guys. Hogan, Jones, Palmer, etc in their prime would have ruined the game with the current equipment and balls. for a top player, a blade and balata ball gave them the best control of the ball ever. of course they would be coming in to the green with a longer club but they were magicians with those things. and they still hit the driver over 250 yds. (most par 4's were barely 400 yds tho)
Posted on 5/14/16 at 4:38 pm to LSUlefty
quote:
. I'm just trying to imagine how good guys like Hogan, Jones, Palmer really were.
All their competition was playing with the same equipment, whats the big deal.
Posted on 5/14/16 at 4:43 pm to LSUlefty
LOL, first 25 to 30 years of my life, thats all we had to play with. The sweet spot on a old tour blade was the size of a dime !
Posted on 5/14/16 at 4:45 pm to barry
quote:
All their competition was playing with the same equipment, whats the big deal.
This
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