elcash

I was at the range the night before last when the gentleman behind me wanted to offer advice. I was polite but firm, "No thanks. Too much to think about disturbs my sessions, and I'm working on some specifics at the moment. I appreciate the offer." Low and behold, he tells me anyway. I mean, he wasn't really asking to give me the advice... The "hey, can I offer you a tip?" line was just a way to get my attention. The momentum was too strong. He was geared up to say somethin' and it was coming out no matter what I said in response. I was annoyed; people are pushy and seldom listen before they speak. Since I can't turn off my hearing, I'll just have to focus and ignore the noise...

Here are 6 off the top of my head: 1. Actually, this is just my 'hustle' swing. It must really be getting believable! 2. I don't have any money to pay you. And I tend to get what I pay for... 3. How do I know that I can trust you? 4. These swings I've been making weren't intended to be analyzed... 5. The last time I accepted advice, it made my swing look like this! 6. Only if you can answer me this: What's black and blue and red all over? (Gripping the club like a bat and grinning devilishly...)

You can always opt to "turn down" advice, because it's difficult to ignore it. I get better every single time I go to the driving range. Except when someone who is hitting behind me tries to make a suggestion. In that case, I always feel compelled to try what they are saying and it tends to disrupt my session. That's happened twice, now. I say, "Sure, shoot, what kind of tips have you got? I could probably use them." On the one hand, I always preach that you should accept any advice/criticism coming your way and learn to filter out what you don't need. That goes for anything. "Too much information and now I am confused" is almost never an excuse. On the other hand, misleading or bad information has twice led to disappointing evenings at the range. I don't want to hear anymore that I don't have a good "one-piece takeaway" - I don't even want one of those. The next time somebody's about to offer unsolicited range advice, I'm tempted to stop them and use one of many clever things I've thought of just for that scenario...

I played at a 9-hole par 3 course this Sunday and I learned a few things about etiquette that I didn't know. I'm in no way defending any players who knowingly and repeatedly breach the simplest rules of common courtesy or endanger others, but golf etiquette is not always so cut-and-dry and there is a learning period even for people who are not idiots. The first thing I did wrong Sunday was not read the score card. I wasn't expecting there to be local rules on this par 9 that there were to be "no honors." Nor would I expect a rule stating that if a group was waiting to tee off behind you before you had holed out, you were required to motion to them and let them play through. This rule doesn't make practical sense as stated, but I see what they were getting at... Finally, marked clearly on the scorecard was "White stakes are OB." So on the second hole I was outside the white stakes, but figured they may be for the adjacent course or set up as a warning that there might be other players on the other side of the trees. I looked both ways as if I were crossing the street, and saw no one in sight, so I was going to hit my ball back towards the green to save par. I didn't even see the ball, but my wife told me one went whizzing by me while I was playing. Still have no idea where it came from; it was my fault as I then saw `OB' marked on a post and ended up replaying the shot anyway. There was a twosome behind us, who were playing at about the same pace as my wife and I, which means that on some holes they were at the tees while we were holing out, and at some other holes, we were moving to the next tees as they were holing out. It seemed odd that they were never talking or taking practice swings or shuffling around with their gear when I glanced back leaving the green; it was as if they were glaring at us. I'm thinking now that this 9 hole was a "fast-play" course, and it was expected that we finish 9 par 3 holes in about an hour. All the signs (literally) I hadn't noticed before became apparent, including such favorites as "FAST GOLF IS FUN FOR EVERYONE" and the words SLOW PLAY jailed by the international "no" symbol. I now know that slow play is a relative term, and wouldn't have held up the twosome behind us if they were on the clock (we played 9 in about 75 minutes). I guess the moral of the story is to read the signs in the clubhouse to understand the nature of a course you haven't played, and read the score card for local rules. And if somebody's doing something that upsets you or you want to play through, motion to them and say something politely because they may simply not know...

I've bent over a few times for $3. This one time some guy dropped his fold right in front of me. His billfold. I picked it up for him...

I've enjoyed hitting the burner rescue 4H (22*) in the week or so I've had it. I can't speak for bridging yardage gaps, but it flies straight and it's really easy to control launch angle. I was enjoying hitting into the wind the other day and I can't really say that about any of my irons.

My left ring finger and pinky ache. Arnold Palmer suggests squeezing the steering wheel as hard as you can for 10 seconds every time you're in the car. He even goes so far: Golf Digest Sept. '09 - Arnold Palmer's Timeless Tips I've heard squeezing a racquetball could be a good idea, too... Also a better stress reliever...

I was actually going to post a clarifier about the last one because it does sound pretty ridiculous. When I looked up what "casting the golf club" meant, I chuckled at the thought of a swing where the club was already parallel to the ground when the swinger's arms were... Yeah it'd be hard to get power! Let me defend my suggestions as ideas for mental notes. My mechanical swing is a lot of muscle memory, plus a few minor changes effected by the simple things I might be concentrating on at the moment. But yes, advice only recommeded for someone who can filter out what they don't need and maybe someone who emphasizes how they think about their swing more than how they swing. And an excellent post, Zeph! I'm glad I mentioned how I had been thinking about my swing; I have much to learn...

Now that does sound like fun! So you won the bet? This reminds me of a story my friend was telling me about a guy he played who didn't carry a putter. I think he said the guy carried 4 clubs because he didn't like golf bags. A wood, two irons and a wedge?... My friend didn't say who won, but I'll have to ask him. I'm also going to ask what a guy (who I assume had a lot of experience putting with non-putter clubs) used as his go-to putter...

I was in a rush the last time I was on the course and I had forgotten to take my putter with me to the green on one hole so all I had was my lob wedge to try and putt with. It occurred to me (I must have 5-putted or more) that I would have done better with any other club in the bag as a putting device. I think I'm just really surprised to hear how many people use a high lofted wedge when they're just off the green. I probably feel more comfortable with my sand wedge than any other club, but it seems like choking up on a 5 iron (an easier club to putt with?) for chips that resemble putts would be less of a hassle. My chipping could use some work before I can make sound club decisions... Ooh, it's getting light outside! (and today's my day off!)

A great deal of information seems to be here already, but here's my suggestion from one night at the range. I hit about 10 hooks for every slice (except the driver) which I can barely hook if I try. I can remember up to 4 things while I swing, and tonight I was thinking about only 3 things when my driver was at its best ever. 1. Weight on my back foot. No matter what I might do with the rest of my body during the swing, starting with my weight back means I always hit the sweet spot. I think it just gives the club a split second more to come around. 2. Stand as far back as it takes to hit the ball on the upswing [this is for the driver, of course]. I tried moving the ball a little bit more forward in my stance (maybe 1.5 inches forward of my front heel). I forced myself to put the ball just a little farther forward than my brain was telling me was even sensible, and now my brain has a new 'sensible' zone. 3. At the top of my backswing, I started the forward swinging motion with my wrists instead of my body. This felt counterintuitive for me (I am a hooker and always thought my swing was too wristy) but I think starting with the wrists is what was subtly dropping my swing plane to start more inside... Seriously, how could my three tips NOT cure a slice? Weight back longer, putting the ball farther forward (club has more time to square before impact) and starting unhinging the wrists sooner... It worked for me tonight and I was thrilled so I thought I would share...

Brandel Chamblee makes it look pretty easy with a 3-iron. The video at golfinstruction.com The transcript at thegolfchannel.com

26 years old. I played my first 18 June 26, 2009 @ 7:36AM That'd mean I started playing about : 53 days, 16 hours, 16 minutes ago which is equal to 4,637,785 seconds passed or roughly 77,296 minutes ago or approx. 1288 hours of golfingness... so 7 weeks now...

After I stopped laughing. Or do you mean they looked at me like that? 'Cause, yeah, everybody gave me the 'WTF' look... And I gave a 'WTF' look to the golf club...

The idiot mark on my 3-wood is special to me... It hit the ceiling of the covered range so hard it sounded like a gunshot. People ducked and covered.