MacGruber

i started at 26 and when i was 27-28 i got down to a 7. that was playing 3-4 times a week during grad school with some mixed in range sessions once or twice a week. now that i've backed off to just chipping around the yard daily and playing twice a month my handicap has increased slightly (i need to update my profile. i got it back to a 9). I would say that's a pretty similar time frame to what you've done, and I would consider that normal if you put in that much work. I think what helped me more than anything was as soon as I got my clubs in the mail my grandpa took me to get a lesson. Not saying I have a sound and perfect swing, but it's a lot easier to get going when you know what you're supposed to do with the basics vs changing those bad habits later in life.

I use my free bucket to mostly work on my chipping and wedge shots. I'll take the last 10-15 balls and hit whatever club i'm going to hit off the first tee. if i'm familiar with the course i'll maybe put for 5 minutes. Unfamiliar courses get a little more attention on the putting.

It does now. I don't know how i was even playing like this, but i had a gap between my left thumb pad and the shaft that was really large. I can easily fit the index finger of my right hand in the gap. any abrupt transition and the shaft would move in my hand leading to all sorts of problems. the other adjustment i made was using a 10 finger grip instead of my usual interlocking grip. I have pretty large hands and i know a 10 finger or baseball grip is really uncommon, but this feels comfortable and natural as well.

is it possible to get the grip TOO much in the fingers? I feel like I had this problem for awhile, but i always read that having the grip more in your fingers would lead to more lag and more power. I didn't feel like the club was not loading properly and I felt like i had no control over anything. Last night I went to the range and experimented with moving the grip up in my hand and i felt really explosive and instantly i was adding 20 yards to my short irons and i compressing the ball again. it was the first time i have felt like the club was releasing properly in 3 months.

i don't consider it stealing, but i have a bag full of balls from the course so i guess i'm bias. I try to do this with some common sense though. If I'm the only one in sight i'll pick up every ball i find. If it's a busy saturday and there's the possibility of people spraying it all over the place, I'll usually leave em.

Taylor made changes the name of the golf ball every year. The "original" lethal was the TP5 and the lethal replaced that. I think now the tour preferred is the ball closest to the lethal. the tour preferred balls are still expensive so that's why i go with the older ball that I play just fine.

don't get too nasty, just make sure the person understands you don't appreciate it. I have hit in to people because i couldn't see them, hit the cart path 10 times, pure shanked one 50 yards off my target, etc. and I always rush over to apologize and let them know it was not intentional. You get your jerks, but a lot of people appreciate what i do and understand that we aren't perfect. If you play golf enough, you've likely been on the end of both situations.

if you're looking at top flite, the gamer is a good ball for the price. I would tell you to look at taylor made lethal golf balls. These are a surprisingly good ball and you can get 50 of them for 100 bucks from the taylor made website. If you want to go used, you can find some ridiculous deals on these on occasions.

i carry two, sometimes 3. always a driver and 3 wood, then depending on the course i'll switch out my 20 degree hybrid for a 5 wood.

ping g30 - 200 (later put in an ahina, so up to 280) sldr 3 wood - birthday present! rbz stage 2 4 hybrid - 8.00 wilson fg tour m3 4-gw - 210.00 mack daddy 2 56 and 60 - 200.00 odyssey mxm #7 with slim 3.0 - 180.00 around 900 dollars..fail....

I love Bubba. I think he's fun to watch when he's in contention and it doesn't hurt he's a lefty as well.

i voted worse but i guess i should have said about the same. started the year around a 9, now a little over 10. I videoed my swing for the first time ever this year and have really been working on my fundamentals. It's pretty amazing how you can still play decent golf with a terrible swing.

i voted grand slam as well. you can look at some of the first year pros and see that they're really, really good. winning 4 times against the best of the best would be much harder.

i used to hit my 7 iron 195, then i got tired of being a 21 handicap.

i have to disagree. Sure i have seen my 30 handicap buddy hit it 270, but that isn't taking in to account the 5 balls he hit 100-200 yards due to tops, weak slices, etc. you have to remember that all those 100 yard topped balls add to the average as well. i average 260, which according to you would be middle of the road. I've rarely met anybody that can hit the ball further than I can on a regular basis, and I've played with a lot of strangers.