Adam Fonseca Adam Fonseca

Fix My Game: Do you have the right golf equipment for your game?

Are you playing the right golf equipment for your game? Join me on my journey to find the best equipment possible to benefit my game.

Buying the right golf equipment for your game can be a daunting task, especially when you consider the wide range of options at your disposal. Walking into a PGA Superstore, Golf Galaxy, or browsing any of the major online golf warehouses can be confusing and intimidating. Throw in the growing used golf club market and the number of possible choices can be paralyzing. How can any golfer expect to make the right purchase decision for his or her game? Is there such a thing as finding the "right equipment?" Are golfers leaving shots on the golf course without even knowing it?

I'd like to find out.

This will be the first in a series of blog posts in which I will document my search for the right golf equipment for my game. But first, I want to address what I believe to be the biggest first step any golfer should take before buying equipment.

First Things First -- Get Fitted

This shouldn't be a shock to anyone: I am a huge proponent for getting fit for your golf clubs.

Last year I visited Club Champion near my hometown for a full iron fitting. That visit was coordinated by my friends at Miura Golf, after which I left with a custom set of gorgeous Miura Golf MB-001 irons. Still in my bag as of the time of this writing, the MB-001s are the finest golf clubs I've ever hit in my life.

I also walked out with my iron specifications, which include a lie angle of roughly one-degree flat. No more standard sets for me, sadly. (4-iron through SW below; golf shafts are True Temper Dynamic Gold AMT Tour Issue S400)

adam club specs

Finally, the biggest context point to remember is I went into that fitting while considering only one brand. I did not try any iron models from any other brand.

Why is that an issue?

Simply this: could another iron model set to the same specs perform better than my current gamers?

My Plan

As many of you know, I don't hide the fact that I have tried many different types of golf equipment. The most popular posts on this blog are equipment reviews. I've worked with many companies to not only try their equipment, but to play it on a regular basis.

 

My plan is to work with any golf brand that wants to help me find the best clubs for my game. This will go beyond simply spreading the word about a new piece of equipment. I am truly interested in finding what's best for me, and to use data to help make that decision.

If I try something that doesn't work for me, I will give those pieces of equipment away to readers of this site.

This will be a work in progress, but I plan on documenting my journey through video, the Golf Unfiltered Podcast, and written updates as they come.

Stay tuned for more info!

Interested in helping out with my journey? Contact me via email at golfunfiltered@gmail.com!

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Adam Fonseca Adam Fonseca

Fix My Swing: The Square to Square Swing Method

The Square to Square swing method by Sam Goulden is easy to remember and implement in your game. Here is my first attempt at the swing.

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My path to better continues as I research ways to fix my golf swing. I recently stumbled on teaching pro Sam Goulden's YouTube channel and was intrigued by his Square to Square swing method. So I signed up on his website and am giving the method a shot. I can already tell I made a very good choice.

Who is Sam Goulden?

Sam Goulden has been on YouTube for awhile. You may remember him as the aspiring touring pro who lived out of his car, ate meals on a $5/day budget, and attempted to earn his way onto the PGA Tour. Along the way Sam discovered his true calling: becoming the best golf instructor he could for the most people possible.

He has since written multiple golf instruction books and is now a top 20 golf author on Amazon. Along the way he developed the Square to Square swing method that remains the foundation of his teaching to this day.

What is the Square to Square swing?

The video below (about 15 minutes long) gives a high-level overview of the Square to Square swing method. Sam does a better job at explaining the swing than I could:

Early Results

I decided to take the swing to the driving range and give it a shot. The method seemed to fit my natural golf swing tendency (I take it back a little flat and focus on shoulders, not arms) and addresses a flaw in my current swing I've wanted to resolve for years: too much wrists.

After signing up for Sam's website to learn the core drills necessary to groove-in the swing, I felt confident that I could at least get off the starting block. What did I have to lose? More importantly, what do I have the potential to gain?

Initial Impression of the Square to Square Swing Method

My time with the swing method has been brief, but as you saw in my video above, I am greatly encouraged by the immediate results. I've tried many different instructors and methods in my 20+ years of golf, but this method seems to be the easiest to repeat. And no, I did not lose a great deal of distance using this swing.

I will continue to document my progress with the Square to Square swing method on this site. I also hope to interview Sam Goulden on my podcast in the near future, so stay tuned!

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Adam Fonseca Adam Fonseca

Fix My Swing: Alignment Stick Rotation Drill

Here is a great drill you can use to fix your early release in your golf swing, using only an alignment rod and your golf club.

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Finding the proper impact position can be a challenge for many golfers. I've always struggled with a "casting" -- or early release -- movement in my downswing, which leads to a loss of distance and inconsistent strikes. Luckily, you can use this alignment stick drill to help you get the feel of the body rotation you need to strike the golf ball consistently.

How to use the drill

Place an alignment stick on the end of your golf club (I use a 7-iron in the video) so that most of the stick extends beyond the grip of your club.

Hold the golf club and stick together with your normal golf grip.

Address the ball so the alignment stick is positioned to the left of your body (for a right-handed golfer). Make sure the alignment stick extends outward and behind you.

Take small, short and slow swings using your body rotation to sweep through the hitting zone. If you cast or release your arms too soon, the alignment stick will hit the side of your body.

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Adam Fonseca Adam Fonseca

Fix My Swing: Pulling the Rope

In the third installment of the Fix My Swing video series, I focus on a new sensation during my downswing.

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In the third installment of my #FixMySwing video series, I focus on ingraining a feel of pulling my hands down during my downswing and transition. The sensation I am looking for in my downswing is as if I was pulling a rope down from the sky. Sergio Garcia, among others, also looks for this sensation or pictures in his mind pulling down on a rope or a chain. I found this helps me make crisper contact with the ball, as well as helping me keep the club in front of my body throughout the swing.

Comments on my swing? Feel free to email me at adam@golfunfiltered.com.

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Adam Fonseca Adam Fonseca

Fix My Swing: Perfect Backswing Drill

Watch the second video of the Fix My Swing series to learn a drill to practice the perfect backswing in your golf swing.

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In the second video of our Fix My Swing series, I work on a drill to get my backswing on plane on the way back. Using an alignment rod on the ground laying along my target line, I focus on taking the club back so the clubhead "rides" the alignment rod. As soon as my golf club is parallel to the ground, I hinge my wrists so that the butt-end of the grip points down toward the alignment rod. This helps me shorten my backswing in addition to taking the club back on more of an inside path.

Watch the original video that taught me this backswing drill here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VivoVdUMjLE

Any comments or tips that can help me fix my swing? Send me an email at adam@golfunfiltered.com.

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Adam Fonseca Adam Fonseca

Fix My Swing: My Current Golf Swing

Introducing Fix My Swing, an interactive golf swing improvement video series where we work together to improve. Watch the debut video here.

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Introducing Fix My Swing: an interactive video journal of my attempt to get to scratch handicap. As you can tell by my current golf swing, I have a fair amount of work ahead of me. I have spent hours upon hours scouring the internet looking for the best golf tips, tricks, and swing drills to help my game. I have worked with some of the best golf instructors in the area, read the most popular golf instruction books on the market, and have tried more training aids than I can count.

Heck, I even had a PGA Tour professional reach out to me on Twitter with ideas to get better.

Some things have helped, but most have not.

In this project's debut video, I give you an idea of my baseline. This is a golf swing over 20 years in the making. My current handicap hovers around a 12. My lowest score to date is a 76. My average 7-iron distance is 155 yards.

Many of us have a scratch golfer hiding inside us somewhere. Let's work together to find them.

If you have any tips, ideas, or suggestions, reach out to me on Twitter at @GolfUnfiltered. You can also email me at adam@golfunfiltered.com.

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