chdduncan

No problemo. I hope you feel that lag. Its a great feeling.

Much appreciated motown!

LOL yeah your right. I am on a graveyard schedule so this is like 2 pm for me.

No one else?

You seem to have a proper grip. I would only suggest that you make it a tiny bit stronger with your right hand. Going towards your collar bone is a good place for the V to point to. It seems to me that you might be setting up pointing a little to the right. Correct me if I am wrong. When your pointed right your going to "push" every shot. Your right forearm should be a little lower that your left because when you set up your left shoulder should be a little higher than your right. I suggest a slight forward lean of the club. This creates a great set up with your forearms in the correct position. Ben hogan had a very "weak" grip set up that created a very powerful fade. I suggest to you the above and to prevent any grip related faults to grip the club lightly and then focus on your grip pressure at impact. It should not change. People have the tendency to tighten their grip at impact and this causes a ton of inconsistent shots. If you focus on grip pressure, slight lean of the club toward the target and your left shoulder a tiny bit higher than your right should really make a difference in your swing. A weak grip set up can cause you to open the club face to much on the back swing and when you arrive at impact your clubface will be slightly open creating a fade or even a slice. If you have any questions please let me know.

A bump and run is the same as a chip in my mind. Their both the same in regards to low flight time and max ground time.

The leaking to the left shot is called a draw. To do a flop shot you got to open up your stance quite a bit and open the clubface a lot as well. Set up open like that with the ball a little forward than center in your stance and swing back low and keep the tempo rythmic... when I say rhythmic I mean not choppy or decelerating. You must accelerate through the ball. Its similar to playing a bunker shot from close to the green. I play a fairway shot by first going up a club because you will lose a little distance in the sand. I open my stance and my clubface very minimally. I'm pointing generally 5 yards left of the spot I am aiming at. I tend to hit a small fade as well. I also put the ball a little further back in my stance to permit a ball first then sand contact. You do not want to hit the sand first like in a greenside bunker. Your distance will be terrible. As well, I tend to go for the fat part of the green from a fairway bunker. Its never fun going from bunker to bunker. Other tips. I would suggest you to stick with one shot shape for now. I suggest a fade but I am a Nicklaus kind of guy anyways. Its all about feel. Whatever shot shape you feel more comfortable with you should go with. Going with one shot shape makes golf into a percentage game. Think about it this way. If you aim on the left side of the fairway and hit a fade it will go into the middle of the fairway right. If you hit it straight it will go on the left side of the fairway, or if you slice, it will end up on the right side of the fairway. Either way your in the fairway. Make sense? Its the same way with hitting to a green. It just provides more room for error when you stick to a shot shape. When you get down to single digits with your handicap you can then worry about working the ball into tight pin positions and dogleg fairways. But for now I suggest sticking to your best shot shape. Hope this helps

I would like to know out there which golf courses people love to golf and why they do. I absolutely love playing the reserve golf course in Aloha, Or. I do because I use to work there and got pretty good at that course. I love it because the fairways are cut really short and the greens roll true. It has like no blemishes on that entire golf course. Its one of the best I have ever played. The second I would say is Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course in North Plains, Or. I love it for the same reasons above and because I shot 4 under their the first time I played. It was an insane putting day. Fast greens though.

I absolutely LOVE talking about golf with like minded people! It just gets me so motivated to keep practicing and get my game to an even higher level.

Wow. That's a great answer to my question. :) Do you have a regimented practice routine before you play? If not I highly suggest it. It just puts you in a focus that I cant replicate with anything else. Putting is by far the most important part of golf. Asides from the mental game. I feel that people should spend so much more time on putting than they do. Do you agree? I can see that you weren't trying to kill the ball to impress golf buddies. Its important to stay within your comfort level. All the pro's I have talked to since I started rarely hit outside of 80% and when they hit all out its pretty much a gamble. Most high handicappers don't know this. They tend to go up and smack the crud out of the ball and hope it goes straight. The shanks. It happens to even tiger woods. Thank you for your reply!

No one?

Best advice to you is to have a great pre-shot routine. This is the determining factor that has made playing nervous a lot easier to deal with. You got to practice your pre-shot routine on EVERY shot. No matter if your on the course or on the range. It develops confidence. Hope this helps

I am wondering what is the best score you have shot and what you were feeling that day? Was it calmness, confidence? What do you think contributed to that feeling? I want to see what attributes to playing the best golf of your life and your exact feelings during that round. I personally shot a 66 at my home course. I felt a kind of numbness to doubt and whether or not I was going to hit the next shot into the water or O.B. I felt really focused on the task at hand and my pre-shot routine just felt like it was the exact routine for me. I felt in tune with my swing and my feel of the course. Not to mention I visualized my shots like never before. It was like a movie playing in my head. What I think contributed to the amazing game I played was my practice session before I got to the first tee. Its a practice session I have used since that day. It goes something like this... 1. Get a large bucket of balls and set up at the range. 2. Stretch for about 5 min 3. Hit 5 golf balls with every club in my bag. 2 soft, 1 medium, 1 hard, 1 medium. (I do that to feel what 80% is) 4. I do whats called the "clock drill" with my wedges and practice at 7, 9, 10 and 11 o clock. (I do this for distance control) 5. I then hit 5 shots with my 6 iron to see my yardages. ( some days are further and some days are shorter) 6. I move to the putting green and chip 10 golf balls to 3 locations. short, medium and long distance. 7. Then I putt with 3 golf balls to short, medium and long range holes to get the feel of the greens 8. I go play. This is what I do every day and it gives me amazing confidence before I even tee up on the first hole. It sure gets rid of the first tee jitters.

Whatever feel you use is up to you as long as your left leg starts your transition of the downswing. I focus on keeping my arms really light and my hands even lighter when i'm starting my downswing. This causes a tremendous amount of lag and drops your elbow in a perfect slot. Try that thought next time you go hit some golf balls. You will find that its weird at first but you will get tremendous lag and really crisp contact. Take a video of the practice session and then review it. You will see the lag for yourself. Hope this helps.