Spamination

seeing that you're a 13 handicap, i'll assume your instincts are correct. You've played enough to get an innate sense of what is wrong with your swing. When people ask me about the grip, this is how I explain it. You want you grip to be neutral at impact, not at address. So as an exercise, I have them put their body in the impact position. You've seen this position on TV if you've ever watched any golf tournament. It's that position just as you're striking the ball. From this position, adjust your grip where it feels neutral. Your thumbs should pretty much be coming straight down the top of the shaft. Now from this position, keep that grip, but move your body into the address position. The position you get into when you first stand in front of the ball. You will notice this...at impact you are neutral, most apt to return to this position every time at impact...but at address, you will be a bit strong. You will see 3 knuckles on your left hand (index to the 4th finger). You will see the tip of your fourth, third and possibly your index finger of your right hand. This is in essence the vardon grip, named after harry vardon who created it. So in summary, the key is that you want to be neutral and comfortable at impact, not at address. Hope that helps. As far as your hands being too close together? i highly doubt that. I would definitely not recommend you keep your hands farther apart. You want your hands to work as a unit not as independent parts. And you want your left hand to dominate the motion. After all, your left arm is what defines the swing plane.

i edited my reply some, so may want to reread it. It looks a lot like the ping g5i craz-e. i've tried that ping, and it has possibly the greatest MOI of any putter i've played around with at the golf shop. I'm still loyal to the classic anser/newport design though. But if it is anything like the g5i craz-e, then you probably have a good one in your bag now.

Never heard of wilson staff kc4. It looks a lot like the Ping g5i craz-e. I've tried the g5i craz-e in the store and it seemed to have the greatest moment of inertia of all the new fangled designs out there. when it comes to putters, i'm a bit of a brand snob though. Ping or Odyssey have come up with 99% of the putter designs out there. Odyssey is the first brand to successfully implement the insert. And Scotty Cameron took forged craftmanship and material to the next level. I like giving credit where credit is due, so I tend to stick with these 3 brands. Personally, I'm loyal to the 2 best club head shapes in history, the anser and anser 2. I love my Scotty Cameron Pro Plat Newport, which is the cameron version of the ping anser. It has the gooseneck, toe-heel weighting and setup of the anser, but has the craftsmanship and feel of the cameron putters. If I buy a putter, it's either going to be a ping anser or anser 2, or a cameron newport or newport 2. That being said, it's what feels best to you. If you feel great putting with a 3 wood, then do it. Putting is one of the few elements in golf where you can throw fundamentals out the window. One of the best putters in history, billy casper, only used his wrists when he swung the putter. Try teaching that. So if your wilson feels good to you, then keep it.

I would never recommend a 10 finger grip. You want your hands to act as a unit. The overlap and interlock grips both mesh your 2 hands together to promote this. A 10 finger grips brings unwanted variables into your swing. You don't want to start getting dominant with your low hand. You want the swing to be dictacted by your high hand(left hand for righties). If you are just starting out, the FIRST thing you work on is your grip. 2nd is your stance and ball placement. Study the vardon grip, it's the best in the game. It promotes your hands to be in a neutral position at impact, thus returning you to square on impact. You don't want your hands to be neutral at address, you want them to be semi-strong. You want your grip to be neutral at impact. But I reiterate, the grip is where it ALL starts. I see a lot of swing flaws develop purely b/c the individuals have bad grips. Whenever anyone hits me up for golf tips, the first thing I look at is their hands. If your hands aren't right, then everything thereafter will be wrong as well. 2 mistakes sometimes make a right with a golf swing, but you will be less consistent, less efficient, and most likely less powerful in doing so.

if you have a tendency to block a shaft that's too loose, I would say you aren't getting a good whiplash effect with your hands. if you notice on all the swing videos out there on the net, the best swings (like tiger's swing)...you'll see the following: you'll see tiger's legs stop moving, then you'll see his shoulders stop moving, then you'll see his arms stop moving. The final move of tiger's down swing are his wrists. When you get this uncoiling move that all powerful golf swings have, you'll tend to hook your drives when using an overly flexible shaft. If you tend to leave the face open with an overly flexible shaft, you aren't maximizing your distance potential b/c you aren't uncoiling properly. That being said, I would always side with a stiffer shaft. Like the other poster said, straight and short is better than long and errant. Trying to slow down your swing for a loose shaft brings too many variables into play. And if you are swing faster and faster? why slow down your swing? The only time I slow down my swing is when i'm under 110 yards in and have to use touch.

The transition. I have a minor flaw where i tend to allow my head to get off axis for a split second. Working on keepin my chin tucked in.

as my siggy says, i just got back to playing some serious golf. i played today on a 145 slope rated course and I reached a 595 yard par 5 in 2. I used to hit my drives with my old 300 series Taylor Made 260-280 yards on average. I carry 260-280 now with the FT-5. Just this morning, I hit a driver 330 yards(i'm guestimating a 280-290 yard carry). It was wind-aided, but STILL. NASTY!!! As far as the sound goes, I love it. It feels and sounds like an explosion off the face. I actually feel the ball warp and hang on the club face for a split second before launching into the stratosphere. Congrats on the great purchase. Hope you love it as much as I do.

Why would you go with a Burner when you already have the best driver in golf?

Hard to fix a reverse pivot without seeing what's causing it... But here are the common causes of a reverse pivot I often see: 1) Excessive Forward Bending of your left knee(if you're a righty). A slight bend is allowable, but an exxagerated forward bend of the knee on the take away will often cause you to lean toward the target at the top of your swing. If ou are bent toward the target at the top of your swing, the only way to swing the club and stay balanced is to lean back on the follow through. This will most usually cause a push. 2) A desire to create a greater shoulder turn. For those flexibility-challenged, they will cheat and try to get the club to parallel at the top of the swing by leaning toward the target. Not everyone can get a 90 degree shoulder turn at the top of their swing. My recommendation, only go back far as needed to achieve tension. This tension is your potential energy. If this tension point doesn't get your club to parallel at the top, who cares. As you play more, you'll develop more flexibility. 3) Shifting of ones weight beyond their feet. What I mean by this is that a good swing will keep their weight on the insides of their feet (i.e. toward the arches). If you feel yourself rolling out toward the outside of your right foot(for a righty), then you are shifting your weight beyond what is needed. This actually will result in a loss of distance usually, and a loss in consistency always. What i recommend is concentrating on keeping your weight between your feet. Concentrate on making sure your weight on your take away stays inside your right foot. Make sure your weight stays on the big toe and archside of your back foot. These aren't all the causes, as we know a golf swing has an infinite number of permutations, but just a couple of common symptoms I see when I play with other people.

There really isn't a single durable tour calibur golf ball out there. The tour calibur balls of today almost exclusively rely upon the soft outer layer to create ballspin; whereas, in the past, the interaction between the elastic band/liquid center rubber ball with the soft balata/surlyn outer shell created spin. The surlyn covers of yester-year were a lot more durable than the super-thin solf outer layers modern high-end balls use. That being said, the most durable tour calibur balls I've hit so far is the Taylor Made TP Red. The Callaway Tour-56 is the least durable I've seen. And the Pro-V1 is somewhere between the two. If I really drive down a ball to create a lot of spin, I'll get groove marks on any of those 3 balls, even with a mid-iron.

Congrats. Now they have a loyal customer, and for good reason. But you should have gone with the FT-5!!!

Could be a pebble that's lodging into your hozel when you don't hear it, and budging loose when you do hear it. After 3 months+, most golf shops won't take a club back. It maybe worthwhile to remove the grip and check it out that way. Getting a grip professionally replaced is 5-10 dollars max. Golf Pride velvet cord is a good choice. With the grip removed, you should be able to drop out what has been nagging you. If seems like it maybe part of the shaft or clubhead, I'd contact taylor made or have your golf store send it back for you. Even if your golf store won't accept a return, they should be able to help you get it to taylor made. Of course you're most likely to pay the shipping.

Shaft Flex is quite possibly the single most important element of a golf club. If you ski, you know the boots are the most important piece of equipment, but the skis get all the glory. In a similar way, the shaft is the most important element of a golf club while the club head gets all the glory. There are 3 main factors in determing a shaft: Torque: amount a shaft twists. Flex: the amount a shaft bends. Kick point: the location on the shaft at which the shaft tends to flex the most. Shaft effects everything from club head alignment at impact, launch angle, swing path, feel, and just about everything else you can think of. I have a Callaway FT-5 9.5 Tour. I have a Fujikura Fit-On E380 shaft. It is a very stiff shaft with a middle kick point. It encourages a boring flight path. Today, I went golfing and regularly carried 260-290 yards--260 into the wind. The shaft/clubhead combination also produces a ton of roll for me. My longest drive of the day carried 290+ and ended up going 330 yards(2-on on a 595 yard par 5). This I found was a perfect fit for my swing. On my 3 wood, I went in a totally different direction. I use a Callaway X-Tour 13 degree, and the x-stiff steel shaft worked great for me. From the fairway today, I hit a 250 yard 3 wood onto a green. The ball only rolled 10-15 feet after landing on the green. My recommendation, get your swing speed analyzed. In addition, consider your flight path tendencies. Hard swinger with high ball flight like myself will want a X-stiff shaft, medium kick point with strong torque resistance. If you are a slower swinger(80-100 club head speed) with a low ball flight, consider a Regular-Stiff shaft with a low kick point. But whatever you do, take your shaft choice seriously.

Cleveland CG2 Forged Irons 3-PW, GW, SW x-stiff steel shaft. Amazing feel. I hit the 3-iron as high as any irons I've ever hit. 3 iron goes about 220 yards. Best irons I've ever hit. I was reluctant to go away from the muscle back irons I've favored in the past. With the CG2, I sacrifice very little to any in the touch department, and gain a noticeable amount on the height and carry of my longer irons. My CG2 3-iron has a ball flight that most would expect from a 6 iron.

Scotty Cameron Pro Platinum Newport 35", Winn 68WS-BBL Grip Love the putter, oldy but goody. Putter has exception feel, even without an insert. The putter has amazing weighting, great for short putts. The gooseneck allows for great hole-putter alignment.