Apollo

I think it's dependent on the situation. I play rounds by myself fairly often, with 2 balls per hole. One ball I'll play safely, and the other I'll go for the risky shots... otherwise I'd never know what's makable or not. I practice quite often, and the scorecard is the best way of showing if my game is improving. If I take a risky shot during a more "serious" round with others, and it backfires and costs me a triple, then I get frustrated and it can throw my round off.

Experience. I've learnt the hard way to take the safe punch onto the fairway. It costs 1 stroke, but never more. And you gain some yards, so maybe you're hitting a 9 iron as your third instead of a 6 iron as your second. And that's not so bad. My usual playing partner is the hero shot type, and 9/10 times it ends badly and costs him more strokes. But to him golf is about taking those risks. Maybe he's watched Tin Cup too many times. At the end of the round only the scorecard counts.

He really gets that right arm tucked! Almost cramped for space.

I've been working on this in front of a mirror today and am excited to put it to the test. Initially, it FELT like my weight was actually shifting to the left side on backswing, but in the mirror it's a nice centred turn. The alignment stick against the hip drill is particularly effective. Thanks!! It seems he does! ;) Practising a centred turn in front of the mirror and my standing up is gone. Nice.

Awesome... Thanks for the feedback, guys!

As in, too "ferris-wheel" and not enough "merry-go-round". I play off about an 18 handicap, and struggle with misses to the right off the tee... usually a fade or block, if I try to swing really hard then it's a push-fade. If the stars align, then the ball goes like a rocket and I get about 280-90 yards. My irons are a lot more consistent, but still the occasional block. A playing partner (not a coach or pro) told me my swing looks too upright and I should try flatten it for better consistency. Would you agree? Watching the video I realise I stand up at the top of my backswing, but that's probably due to lifting my left heel, which I didn't realise I do. Is this likely a contributing factor? Thanks in advance!

I have no issue with golfers doing warmup drills or stretches... sometimes I'll keep a subtle eye on them and maybe learn something! But occasionally I'll see something like week. A guy in a nearby stall, practising barefoot, slamming his club into the ground after every mishit, cursing under his breath. Then spending 2 minutes examining his club for damage. Distracting, but kinda entertaining! My range peeve is unsupervised kids... the shouting and screaming to each other bugs the hell out of me! And yesterday (this was a first) I had a kid run right in front of me to get one of my used tees as I was about to swing. I had to abort my swing... at least the father had the decency to come over and apologise.

That thread is pure gold and is what got me on the right track! What I had been trying before was close, but my club face wasn't positioned correctly. So what was an attempted draw ended up a straight push.

Speaking only about my driver, my draw definitely goes further than my fade. But I assume that's because I'm not hitting a true "power" fade... More of a small slice i.e. a glancing blow. After fighting a slice with my driver, a draw is a much more satisfying shape. I'm less concerned about draw vs fade with my irons, so which ever seems like my natural shape I'll go with.

If I'm not feeling 100% confident I'll take my trusty Big Bertha 2iron out on the first tee. 9/10 times it'll go where I want it to. I'll take 200 straight over 250 into the woods any day! I've only recently figured out my driver.

Thanks for the advice guys! 5SK looks like a great place to start. I've also got a lesson booked for this week where I'll get a swing video analysis. Hopefully I'll get a copy of the video so I can upload it here too!

Hi! I'm a new member... Been lurking for a bit and decided to come out of the shadows :) I used to play some golf from the age of 10-16 (before worldly distractions came along) and got to an 18 handicap. Back then I just used to try to swing the club straight and make decent contact, with no ideas or thoughts about swing paths and ball flight laws. After almost 2 decades (I'm 34 now) I decided to get back into golf... This was about 2 months ago. My ball striking is decent and getting better, but my shot shape has been all over... Some straight, some draw, some fade... Without any real predictability. So after studying countless threads and videos here I've been trying to put shot shaping into practice. It didn't really come together until today! I was at the range, not having great success until I just really over exaggerated the stance, club face, and swing path. I went from hitting big fades and draws (borderline hook/slice) to very nice, easily controlled shaped shots. It was great hitting a draw with my driver instead of my usual BIG fade that would end up in the woods on a course. So my question... Is it a good idea to choose a stock shot shape and work on it rather than mixing it up? How many of you switch between fade/draw on the course just for the hell of it? This place has been a goldmine of information... THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!! Chris