HogansAlley

thanks for all the replies. will try some of the mentioned drills. yesterdays round was better ball striking. moved the ball towards a little more towards the middle of my stance and started striking it much better.

Thanks for the help. I agree that when I hit a bad practice shot, either chunky or too thin then I get to thinking more about my swing than the shot at hand. I always have to practice chip and pitch shots because I am a feel player so I look at how far I am and adjust backswing accordingly. Thanks for the post.

I had the same problem in my round yesterday. I putted for about 20 minutes before and warmed up with a club for about 10 minutes. I know that some courses don't always have a range that you can warm up on but I know from now on I will take my pre-round warm-up much more seriously. I can't get discouraged when my play is poor when I don't properly warm-up. The biggest thing is ,like mentioned above, hitting some drives and getting that full swing motion muscles working. One last thing, I read somewhere that when warming up on the putting green it's good to try to putt from at least 40 ft away to get the speed of the greens down and putt those until you are hitting them or within tap in range. The reason for this is more often than note you wont have a 10-15 ft putt on your first hole so it always you to get a good feel for lag speed. Just a suggestion, I've been doing this for a while and it has helped me.

Thanks. Will definitely try that next time at the range.

Just inconsistent. I can't say that I consistently take a divot. I tend to hit my driver straight or fade it a bit. I feel like lately I'm hitting a lot of my irons close to the hozel. My favorite club is my 8-iron. My ball position is a little forward of center and I think that's why I tend to hit my shots high. I don't mind a tight grassy lie. The last few times I've played there has been dew on the ground still and I've hit a few of my opening iron shots fat. Could I possibly be standing a little too close and that's what's causing me to hit it towards the hozel?

Looking for suggestions on pre-shot routines. I know everybody has to use what works and feels right for them but just wondering what fellow Sand Trappers do. I currently with driver- take one full practice swing a few steps back and to the right of the ball and then place my right foot down to get the line and then set up and address the ball, irons- one full practice swing and same as with driver, putter- two looking down at the putter and two looking at the hole to try and feel the speed. I'm trying to find something that I can start doing more consistently. I tend to not always duplicate my pre-shot routine on every shot on every hole but I know this can be a very valuable mental preparation for each shot. Any suggestions?

Does anyone know any good range drills to improve ball striking? Also, this may belong in a seperate thread but I'll throw it in here anyways. I have a high trajectory on all shots. Is there any drills to do to help lower trajectory or is that a swing issue? I obviously know that moving it back in the stance will help but didn't know if there is something else I could work on.

I currently use the interlock grip and have since I began playing golf as a kid. Just picked up Ben Hogan's Five Fundamentals of Golf and in there he teaches and overlap grip. Has anyone experienced the switch from interlock to overlap? I tried to use this on the range today and did notice I could work the ball right to left a lot easier. Although sometimes it was a little to much right to left. Also, I did have the club twist in my hands a few times and lost the ball right. Anyways, just wanting to see from experience out there if the switch worked for anyone or what kind of results people who use overlap get? The reason I'm experimenting with a new grip is because my ball striking has been terrible as of late so I'm trying to go back to square one.

I am in the same dilemma. I just got a new set of Mizuno JPX-800 Pro irons & MP T-11 wedges and aren't crazy about the grips. I did the Golf Pride grip fitting and it recommended the New Decade Multi-Compound grips. Has anyone played with these? If so, how do you like them and how do they feel? I am starting to play more and more without a glove. Thanks.

Played with the new Pro V1x's today. They have good distance off the tee. Also have good spin on pitch shots and check up nicely. I like the way the feel off the putter face. I've also been playing Srixon Z-Star X. The only difference I can really notice is the feel off the putter face. Durability for the Pro V1x was better than I thought it would be. It'll take me a few more rounds until I decide which to stick with consistently.

Thanks for the help. I feel really dumb saying this but I should've asked more questions. I was confused on what the plus and minus was for. I will be changing that today and hopefully can get the results I'm looking for. Thanks for the post though. I'll let you know how it goes. Good luck with yours as well.

I will be putting the new Pro V1x into play today. I have previously played rounds with the Callaway iZ (very nice ball), Bridgestone Tour-B330S (very impressed and love the all around feel), and Srixon Z-Star X (love it off the tee, stopped good through the short irons). I got the Pro V's with a gift card so this test dozen won't hurt my pocket. I plan to use all these from a variety of shots to see their different performances. I'm on the fence about price. Although, it does hurt to pay that much from balls, I feel that if the performance is there from the ball than I am willing to pay the extra 5 or 6 above the other prices to get the results. My decision won't be based on wanting to play a Titleist just because of the name. Nowadays, all the other ball makers are producing very good premium balls too.

Last trip to Edwin Watts I bought: Mizuno JPX-800 Pro Irons Nike VRII Pro Str8-Fit Driver Mizuno MP T-11 54 & 58 Wedges Nike Method -003 Putter Hadn't bought new clubs in about 7 years so finally went and got fitted for a whole new set. Would recommend all these to anyone. Very pleased with them all.

Just picked up some of the new Titleist Pro VIx's. Will be putting them into play today after playing with the Srixon Z-Star X last round. Although there are some improvements to this years ball, I would still buy the old one and use them up while I can as they are still a great ball.

well i'll put it like this. i hit the adams driver, callway octane, r11 and the nike driver. i narrowed it down to r11 and nike. i went with the nike because the shaft the r11 came with just wasn't very good. At least it didn't feel or seem right for me. the nike driver comes with a verrrry nice project x shaft. i have already seen a good bit of added distance to my drives. also, even my mishits seem to still travel a good distance (longer than my normal good drives with old driver). my regular playing partner has the r11 and isn't impressed with the shaft either. my biggest advice would be to hit your favorites and go with what feels best. the only problem is you might have to put another shaft into whichever you pick. I will agree they are pretty pricey but i can say i got my moneys worth. don't blame ya for not wanting to spend that much. it took me a looooong time to decide to make that purchase. good luck. let me know which one you go with.