dylhall

Hi all, couldn't find anything that specifically addresses this anywhere, if it's already addressed I apologize. I practice a lot in my garage, year round, hitting into a net. I use a country club elite golf mat, and Rukket SPDR net. I have a fairly good idea of what is/isn't good contact, etc, but am curious about ball flight. Currently I'm working on hitting a cut shot, to address an in to out swing that causes lots of pull hooks, etc. I'm curious if there's a way to know based on how the ball returns to me, what the spin/ball-flight of my shot was. Unfortunately I can't afford a simulator at this moment to see this (had the SkyTrak and it was AMAZING, but had to return and wait for another day to buy), so relying on feedback. I know it's not 100% reliable, but there has to be a way to interpret the spin based on the shot to some extent (I would like to think). Thanks in advance for chiming in.

OK then - so maybe this is a topic for another post, but since it's in line with all of your advice, how do you all judge how much to adjust for slope when it's large enough to matter?

[quote name="flopster" url="/t/74544/bushnell-v3-pro-with-or-without-slope-opinions#post_989604"] First of all, the slope feature makes that rangefinder illegal for any tournament play regardless if it can be turned off, second the slope feature is useful especially on severe grades I have seen up to 20 yards difference on a severe par 3. I have the v2 with slope. [/quote] Oh, for clarification, what classifies as a tournament? Is that the case for local men's club tourneys? Or more for open amateur local/regional tournaments?

Yeah, sorry, I should have mentioned I was aware it's not legal for tournament play. I don't play any at this point in my game, I'm more concerned with just getting better results while I'm playing with friends, etc.

Hi all, I'm looking for some educated opinions on purchasing the Bushnell V3 with or without slope? I purchased the one with slope today, but have a return policy. I'm trying to determine if it's really worth the extra $100 I paid. I played a relatively flat course today where it didn't really matter, but some other courses I play can be hillier. I don't really know how to visually judge how uphill/downhill things are generally so it seemed like a useful tool, but I can also see how it might be gimmicky. What are your experiences and thoughts on this? Worth the extra $100?

It took me a year and a half, with a decent amount of lessons. First time was early last summer proceeded to keep it in the mid to low 90's all summer (save for a few bad rounds). However, once winter rolled around and play became more infrequent my game has slipped a bit. Haven't broke 100 since late November (didn't play in December/limited practice, one round in January, two in February, two in March). However, haven't shot over 103 so I've been close, just really suffering with pitching/chipping right now - so bad I had an entire lesson devoted to it a few days ago. Stay patient. What I've been told from my instructor and friends who are low single digits is improvement comes in waves. You'll see your scores drop, then go up again, then drop more, then up again, etc. The important thing is recognizing where the improvement is needed and devoting lessons and/or practice to that. Final piece of advice... My scores dipped below 100 once I made a serious commitment to practicing short game often. All of it from 100 yards in, including putting. All of the people I know who are awesome golfers were insistent on this, and they are right. Get chips/pitches within one putt range, eliminate three putts, you'll be good.

Check out Zen Golf by Dr. Joseph Parent. I found it helpful. Also, a simple tip my instructor gave me that helped translate range success to the course... Treat every shot at the range like it's a shot on the course, and try to imagine you're on the range when you're about to hit a shot during your round. It'll help add some pressure to your practice, and help you feel a little more confident on the course. Good luck!

I'm fairly new to the game myself over the last couple years. I learned very quickly that "off the rack" clubs are a mistake many amateurs make. We are all different sizes and default shaft length/clubhead lie angle are set up for an average. What you learn in your lessons will not vary based on the clubs you use, but your results will. For me, I'm 5' 6" so not exactly tall. I was getting frustrated with my off the rack clubs I started with, and my original golf instructor suggested cutting some off the shafts. That helped a little, but since they were cast clubs the lie angle couldn't be bent, so I was still having issues. Ultimately, I got fit for a set and noticed an immediate difference. Not only were they new clubs (Ping G25s, love them!), but they were fitted exactly for me, and gave me the best chance to have success with what I was learning in the lessons. At the end of the day, fancy new clubs won't do you a bit of good without proper instruction, so when it comes to improving your game lessons are going to be the best route. However, if you have the means to do both, you will absolutely not regret getting fit for a set that match you. Hope that helps!

Thanks for the advice and the link to the video gentlemen. I can definitely see I need to work on softer arms, not to mention the full pivot through the shot. These are both things I feel I do a fairly good job of during practice, then when the shot counts I tighten up, get tentative, and the result is the issue I posted about! I'll make it more of a swing thought during practice and play to loosen/soften up a bit, and commit to the shot. Thanks for the welcome. I hope to learn a lot about improving my game on this site, I'm so glad I found it!

Thank you both. I guess I misunderstood "bounce" in relation to my standard iron set. To clarify, yes, when I said 100 yards in some of these were full swings, but a lot were pitches. The common theme with all of them though is the use of my gap and sand wedge, which for whatever reason seem to be far less forgiving in super soft/soggy fairways (when I said muddy, I didn't mean like a cow pasture, I meant sloppy, not firm fairway that is retaining a lot of water because of various reasons (bottom of hill, poor drainage, massive amount of rain for a week straight, etc.)). I appreciate the tips, I'll give it a shot with some shorter swings with longer clubs.

Hi all, I'm fairly new to this site, and this is my first post. I couldn't find anything related to this so my apologies if this has been discussed before. I live in Portland, OR, where it is rainy from October to April. Luckily, the temperatures are fairly moderate, so you can pretty much golf year round. However, a lot of the courses I play don't necessarily have the best drainage, so I often find myself golfing in fairly sloppy conditions this time of year. This doesn't tend to mess with me too much, except when it comes to my short game. The reason it messes with me is when I am using my gap (54 degree - usually 85-100 yards) or sand (58 degree - less than 85 yards), they seem to chunk into the soft turf much easier than my other irons. The result of not making pure contact and hitting behind the ball is severely chunked shots. Being the mental midget that I am when it comes to golf, when I'm in these conditions it usually only takes me one of these chunked shots to start overcompensating and hitting them all super thin. Today, for example, I had a sweet drive that left me about 40 yards short of the green on a short, muddy par 4. I then went on to top it over the green, then back over the other side, then hit it fat, then flew it over the green AGAIN. Obviously I have some skills that need to be improved. I do spend a lot of my practice time pitching and chipping, so I know I can execute these shorter shots, but in these conditions I get so psyched out by the mud that it wrecks me. Long story short, my question is, should I be altering these shots in any way? Or should I be learning a different shot (maybe a 50% pitching wedge since it has far more bounce and won't dig in as easy)? Any technique suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I look forward to your feedback!