Quality ball striking.

I have rcently acquired a few hickory shafted golf clubs, being very inquisitive a longed to give them a try.Not wanting to be thought an eccentric or nut case Iwaited until my course was fairly quiet before venturing out. At the end of the trial I was agreeably surprised at their playability and feel. They did have one big disadvantage however,their high torque any strike on toe or heel would result in a wild push or pull. My connnclusion? The old timers were much better ball strikers.Modern clubs are much more forgiving and with so much emphasis on length quality of strike has been relegated to the side lines.

Indeed, proper contact is taken for granted. Few practice that if at all. Now it's all about the swing this and the swing that, the more power here and there, the more clubhead speed here. Etc. The irony is that proper contact allows a much greater transfer of momentum from the clubhead to the ball and thus sends the ball farther. With those hickory shafted clubs, there is no choice but to learn how to make proper contact.

Can't agree more...what I talked about in the first part of this section)
Golf Lessons - GregJWillis

While I agree that learning how to properly hit the ball has gone by the wayside (I had to seek out an instructor and tell him to purposely teach me how to hit the ball properly rather than bandaid my swing), it's still such an important fundamental.

Case in point was my round today. Due to inconsistency in my ball striking, I scored horribly. Sometimes I'd hit it perfect and long, other times not so well and short. Consistent, good technique brings repeatable distances.

I hear you, Low Post. On days when I don't play up to my potential, I have to rely on my scrambling and short game alot; its good practice.