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Range recap — 2026-06-20

Toptracer Range | 80°F, Wind right-to-left 5 mph

73 shots across 5 clubs (sand wedge, 9-iron, 8-iron, 5-hybrid, driver) on an 80 degree evening with a light right-to-left breeze. This was the first range session after a lesson, where you got rid of the more extreme upright posture in favor of a setup that feels more natural. The data says it worked where it matters most: the short and middle irons straightened out. The 9-iron and 8-iron, which used to pull left, finished essentially balanced left-and-right today. The sand wedge reads all-left, but that's a measurement artifact -- you aimed at the red stake while Toptracer was set to the white target ~10 degrees right, which fully accounts for the L15 average; adjusted for it the wedge was dead online. That leaves one real direction project: the 5-hybrid (19 of 25 genuinely left). The driver kept all of its speed through the setup change, which is the thing you most want to confirm when you rebuild a setup.

Recap

The lesson worked: short and middle irons straightened out

This is the headline. You changed setup -- off the extreme upright posture, into something natural -- and the irons that used to pull left are now balanced. The 9-iron finished 4 left / 6 right (vs 5-of-7 left on May 25). The 8-iron finished 8 left / 5 right with the left misses contained inside L17. The one-way pull that ran through the middle of the bag last month is gone in the 8- and 9-iron. The face and path are matching up. Whatever changed in the setup, the short irons are sold on it -- keep it.

The one real direction project: the 5-hybrid (the wedge's left bias was a target mix-up)

Two clubs read left, but only one is real. The sand wedge finished left on all 14 (avg L15), but that's a measurement artifact -- you aimed at the red stake while Toptracer was still set to the white target ~10 degrees right. At 86 yards, 10 degrees is ~15 yards, which fully accounts for the bias; adjusted, the wedge was online (and the tight one-directional band confirms aim offset, not a swing pull). The 5-hybrid is the genuine one: 19 of 25 left, averaging L12, with outliers at L39 and L30, and the target was correct by then. The hybrid is the longest, lowest-lofted club you hit, so a path slightly left of target gets amplified there. That's the next project -- alignment stick on the start line and a ball-position check, hybrid specifically.

Driver kept its speed through the setup change -- the key confirmation

The main risk when you rebuild a setup is losing speed at the longest club. You didn't. The driver averaged 140 mph ball speed, peaked at 146, and the best ball carried 231 (254 total) -- right in line with the May 11 driver session that topped out at 142 mph. The natural setup preserved your clubhead speed. Direction was balanced too: 6 right, 5 left, averaging just R3. The big right-curve numbers (R25-R31) didn't become big misses because the start line was right of target and the curve brought them back. One blow-up (shot 4, a smothered heel pull, L35) is the lone bad swing; the other ten drivers carried 197-231.

Ball speed ladder is clean: 72 -> 99 -> 105 -> 119 -> 140 mph

Sand wedge 72, 9-iron 99, 8-iron 105, 5-hybrid 119, driver 140. Every step up the bag adds speed in the right direction -- no dead spots, no club lagging. The engine is healthy and the new setup didn't cost you anything on the speed side at any club. That's a clean distance-by-club curve.

Gapping note: 27 yards between the 8-iron and 5-hybrid

8-iron carried 140, 5-hybrid carried 167 -- a 27-yard window with nothing logged in between because you didn't hit the 7- or 6-iron today. Last month the middle of the bag was collapsed (7-iron, 6-iron, and 5-hybrid all within 6 yards). Bring the 7- and 6-iron next session to confirm the ladder fills in cleanly and there's no overlap in the middle now that the setup has changed.

Strike quality: one mishit per club, clean contact otherwise

The weak strikes were isolated: 9-iron shot 5 (thin, 87 mph, 101 carry), 8-iron shot 9 (thin, 15 degree launch, 34 landing), driver shot 4 (smothered heel pull), and a handful of soft 5-hybrid warmup balls (shots 1, 3, 10, 13). That's roughly one off-strike per club out of a 73-shot session -- a good rate. The sand wedge had no mishits at all (68-76 mph all session) and, once you account for the white-vs-red target mix-up, was online too -- the cleanest club of the day.

Next session priorities

1. Bank the iron win -- the new setup fixed the 8- and 9-iron pull. Keep the setup. 2. The 5-hybrid is the one club still genuinely pulling left. Start-line and alignment work, not a swing rebuild -- alignment stick on the first ball and a ball-position check. 3. Reset the Toptracer target to your actual aim line at the start of each session. The wedge's all-left numbers this time were the white-vs-red target mix-up, not your swing -- so ignore them. 4. The driver kept its speed through the change, so keep building on this setup. A slightly higher tee / ball-forward tweak could turn the 8-degree launch into more carry, but that's optional -- the speed is the hard part and you have it. 5. Bring the 7- and 6-iron to confirm gapping fills the 27-yard window between the 8-iron and 5-hybrid cleanly.