tigerwoo

I just did something selfish today and got an early xmas present for myself!! Couldn't resist... as I was just intending to browse at my local golf retailer and they just happened to have exactly what I was 'wishing' for at exactly the right price. I picked up two brand new Mizuno MP R Series wedges in Black Nickel (56.13 and 60.05) for $50 each (reg $149 each) and to top it all off... a brand new (though labelled demo) Titleist 585h in 19 degrees with an Aldila 85X Hybrid shaft for $125 (50% off)! I think I scored... had to do it. The wife wasn't totally onside at first but when I told her about the savings she seemed to be more at peace with it which ultimately relieves my guilt.

I 'PUSH'. One of those 3 wheel stroller/carts. Much easier to push than pull btw. I'll carry before I cart... but if I'm with alot of buddies and we're out to have a 'good time', carrying might be a bad idea due to the weight of those extra cans at which time I'll cart and bring along alot of ice!

Mizuno MX-500 with aldila nv65 stiff shaft. Since putting it in my bag, I've gained an average of 15-20 yards off the tee. I think alot of that gain has come from finding the right shaft as for my swing. I use to have a Taylormade 580XD with stock Taylormade stiff shaft which performed well but tended to balloon my drives and produce more spin. End result was usually on the fairway but around 260-270 yards when I know I have the ability to crank it out there 270+. With the new driver and shaft combination (shaft: aldila nv65 stiff) I am launching the ball lower and with less spin. The end result has been 15-20 yards further down the fairway. ;)

2 over 74 today in dry but wet (dry day wet course) conditions. Last round I posted a 75 and that was 6 weeks ago. We've had alot of rain the last month and timing to get out hasn't been all that favourable until today. I'm absolutely ecstatic with the round of course even though I managed to leave about 8 putts (all within 15 feet) short of the hole thus never having a chance to go in. Make 2 of those and I'm even par today. Regardless, it was my best round ever on the same course that I posted a 74 on a few years back when playing from the blue tees and in summer conditions. Today played from the tips (6700 yards, 72.0/124) in wintery conditions so I think I destroyed that old score even though I carded the same number.

New attitude, new driver, new game improvement irons resulted in starting the year at around 12 and ending the year at my current index of 6.3. Previous 5 years had me pegged between 12 and 14 so this year was a breakthrough year.

I absolutely agree with you ALLIN! Ever since I became more focussed on all the things you've said (feel, distance control, shotshape, shortgame) I went from a similar handicap as you (12) to where I am now (6). If you can save half a dozen strokes/round with the combination of a couple of putts going in, getting a couple up and downs and getting closer to the pin via a better shotshape or decision... you've now broken 80. Do it a few times more often and you're handicap will come down!

I'm a newbie single digit handicapper as of this year, but then again I haven't registered my scores formally until this year either. I decided to take it more seriously this year as opposed to past years even though I'm playing less!?? I've averaged around 25 rounds/year the past 2 years whereas in the past (last 10 years) I've played over 30 rounds/year. For me it's been about focusing and thinking about the game more and in different ways. Always making my practice shots count at the range. I pick targets and try to hit them 90% of the time before I move to another target/club. Same goes with feel. I try and make sure that when I hit the ball it 'feels' the same each time before I move on to the next club. This new breakthrough season has me believing that I can go even lower.

I carry 4: 46/50/54/58

About 15 years ago when I was just starting the game and using my Dad's Ping Eye golf set I hit a 360 yard drive with his persimmon Ping Eye driver straight down the fairway on a par 5. I had 140 in at which time I struck an 8 iron 10 feet passed the hole and made the putt for my first ever eagle. This hole was an anomaly as my swing was wild and my shot shape usually a huge banana slice into the other fairway. My swing speed must have been over 120 mph at the time as I was just young and much more flexible than I am today. Needless to say, 360 yards with a persimmon wood and old tech ball? I still 'brag' about this today.

Just wondering how everyone is impacted by winter conditions. Up here where I live (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) we do have year round golf available to us as the weather is milder here than any other Canadian city (winter average temps are above freezing). But it's no Arizona desert. Winter conditions make the courses we play up here much longer. The courses I tend to play are between 6500 and 7000 yards and in the summer time that is not an issue. However, when playing in soggy and colder conditions these course yardages can make it quite difficult as everything you hit is alot shorter due to less carry and no roll. For instance, I average about 285 yards off the tee in the summer and in the winter I usually see about 30-40 yards less off the tee. So a 400 yard par 4 in the summer which would normally be a driver, PW (assuming two good shots) becomes driver, 7 or 6 iron in the winter. The course ratings/slopes don't change so this has impact the handicap even though theoretically you can be playing just as well as in the summer time? So my question is, how do you take this into account when you fly south during the winter and play golf in a sunnier/warmer climate and have to report your handicap index for a tournament? I don't want to look like I am sandbagging anyone whatsoever. But I have come across this situation more than once.

75 today with a double to start the round on number 1. Then calmed down and had 5 bogies and 4 birdies with the rest pars. It was a good score considering the course had just had fairway and greens punched and sanded 2 weeks ago. Rained all week so the fairways were a little muddy and soggy for the most part... i.e. no roll. Greens were a little choppy and long.

Yes, but does Tiger feel pressure to maintain his performance level? What if he sags and isn't No 1 in the world? How would his sponsors treat him then? Less money? Less respect? That has to be on his mind.

Fringe Player: - pgatour player fighting to make the cut, trying to stay inside the 125 moneylist or go to Q-School, travelling with the public and having to claim your own baggage and/or even vanpooling with other fringe players to tournaments that are clustered together Tiger Woods: maintaining the #1 status, having to live up to everyone's expectations and surpass Jack's all time records, $100 million sponsorship dollars per year, having to be a spokesman and act a certain way in the public eye.

On a butterfly, quite pretty... on a golf club, very distracting! Sorry.

There could be numerous reasons why you are hitting predominantly in the part of the clubface as you've indicated. But first my question is: Are you addressing the ball correctly before you start your swing? 1) Where is the ball in relation to your left foot if you are a righty? Ideally teed up so that it is in line with your left instep of your left heel. 2) How high is the ball teed up? Ideally, with a big headed driver (400 cc's plus) half the ball should be above the crown of the club (though it all really depends on what type of ball flight you want but for new golfers this is a good 'default' setup). 3) Are your hands hanging freely below you or are you reaching for the ball or too close to the ball? Ideally, when you address the ball with the club, your hands should be hanging freely below you (vertical) so that gravity is dictating where your hands grip the club. 4) Posture... knees slightly bent in an athletic position, back bent slightly forward but fairly straight up so that you don't feel any pressure in your lower back to maintain this pose. Instituting these 4 setup fundamentals will help your swing be a bit more consistent. Once you start your backswing, however, that's a whole new beast! Other threads in this forum have that info for you.

The straightness of the left arm is a bit deceiving when you are looking at a person straight on as they swing. It's not really that hard to keep it straight and up to the top of the backswing as long as you are rotating your torso/shoulders along with your arms. As a drill try looking at yourself in the mirror and start off the backswing with just your arms (keeping the left arm straight) without turning your torso/shoulders. When you reach that maximum point where you can't swing your arms further start rotating your torso/shoulders only now with the straight left arm remaining still and you will see that the more you turn your torso/shoulders the shaft of your club starts to get more parallel with the ground. Note too in the mirror that your left arm appears to get more perpendicular/vertical with the ground. This is the illusion created when someone appears to have a very straight left arm. It is all about rotating your torso/shoulders along with the arms during the backswing to make it appear that the arms are straight up over your head at the top of the backswing.

For me, I've found that if you try too hard to do too much... weakening the grip, holding off the finish or rolling of the forearms there is just too much timing involved and thus really hard to hit shots with consistent results. I keep it as simple as possible. Aim slightly left of target (I'm a righty), setup is normal (grip etc), open the clubface slightly (depending on how much fade you want) and swing normally. Just let the angle of clubface do the work for you. Note too that, the more you want to fade it, the more you are aiming left, the more open the clubface is and the longer the iron is in your hand.

No I certainly agree with your statement... I actually hate it when guys say 'shoulda woulda coulda'... there is nothing more irritating. What I meant by what I said was really to illustrate the fact that my ball striking since owning cavity backs have been better and that my tee to green play during some of my rounds in the 80's were more like play in the 70's. My actual score was what it was... no excuses. My iron play was solid... my putting was not. Just my response to how much more cavity backs have helped my game.

I've posted here before about a week after I switched over from blades to cavity backs wondering if I had made the right move. Well, I have now played 12 rounds since owning cavity backs and I have dropped my handicap index from 10.3 to 6.9. I've posted 6 rounds in the 70's and all 6 rounds in the 80's have been 82's for some odd reason. Of those 6 rounds, I'd say 3 of them were really in the 70's as my tee to green play was very good but my putter let me down on several occasions... nine 3 putts in 3 rounds.

Welcome to the game! IMO though, I'm not so sure getting fitted at this stage is a good idea mainly because you don't have a swing that has any consistency nor any foundations to draw upon. You don't want to get fitted now and have your lie angles adjusted when all that may change fairly quickly when you adjust and readjust as you hone in on the mechanics of the swing as you play this technically challenging game. You'd likely have to do it all over again in a few years time. What I would suggest for the time being is to go out and buy a set of clubs (a decent set) that's on sale or value priced because it's last year's model or they need to blow it out because of excess inventory. I just went through this process with my very good buddy who decided he was also now going to try and learn the game. So a few months ago we went to our local golf retailer and he let me fill his bag up with all the necessities. The cost came to around $1000. What's in HIS bag? Driver: Callaway 454 Big Bertha ($198) Hybrid: Taylor Made Rescue Mid 22* Graphite ($120) Irons: Callaway Big Bertha 04, 4-GW uniflex steel ($450) Putter: Taylormade (I forget which model) ($75) Bag: Generic stand bag ($75) As you can see, he pretty much got all name brand clubs and along the way as he got a little better he picked up a cleveland sand wedge for $100 and an Adams Redline 3w with an Aldilla shaft for $110 all on sale/discount. He started shooting around the 120-130 range at first and now he's shooting consistently in the low 100's with his best score being 102. He's got a long way to go if he's going to start shooting in the low 90's or even breaking 90 for that matter but with the clubs he has he can definitely be happy with their performance and not have to worry about them being an issue. As he refines his swing and gets better he can start adding to his bag again with perhaps another wedge or perhaps even replacing a few clubs. Or if he never really gets better... and/or decides to take a bit of a hiatus from the game, his initial investment hasn't cost him a chunk of change that he could have used towards his mortgage! Good luck!

If the ball is starting straight or just right of the target then your swing path is not in question (inside-out). It's the angle of the clubface upon impact that's the problem. Perhaps, weaken the grip with your driver? How many knuckles do you see on your left hand at address? Maybe your grip is too strong with your driver? Thus upon impact you are rolling the clubface closed and thus causing the severe right to left spin on the ball. OR, the clubface is closed at the start of your swing. How do you address the ball with your driver?

One thing I've done in the past and still maintain in the present is taking back the club slow and then accelerating through the downswing. When I first started this method I use to count to 3 (in my head) during my backswing and only on 3 would I initiate the start of my downswing. This helps create a more consistent, tempo filled swing that allows you to hit the ball more consistently on the sweet spot of the club. Thereby adding more distance to your shots with a more controlled swing. Irons or driver, doesn't matter. When I use to think I needed to crank it out there, I made the mistake of trying to get to the downswing stage as fast as possible (i.e. fast backswing). This was a severe mistake and it cost me consistency and bad tempo thus resulting in wayward drives and inconsistent distance control.

Yup, I think that was the best you could do... though I would have used your lob wedge instead to get maximum loft as in these cases bounce has nothing to do with it since you are pounding your club in the sand with the leading edge of the club at a severe angle. What I do: Back in the stance, closed clubface using the most lofted club in my bag (58 degree lob). Put some anger into the swing and pray.

I had to read this thread based on the title as well and it is very entertaining, yes... but I will give 'GITrDONE' the benefit of the doubt. However, my assumption here is that because he is a beginner (and we've all been 'beginners' at one point in time) he is likely swinging harder than necessary because tempo is not in the vocabulary just yet and when a drive like this is indeed registered it indicates that this is 'potentially' something he can do consistently one day if/when he becomes really good at the game! Let me tell you my story of learning the game... I use to just want to kill the ball when I first started the game in my late teens and early 20's. I was at the time quite flexible given I was also working out at the gym 5 days a week. My frame was an athletic build of 6 feet and 195 lbs of weight trained muscle. Back in these days I was using my fathers old set of clubs which were the original Ping Eye's including the actually 'wood' woods (i.e. persimmons). My best and longest drive back then was 340 yards on a par 5 at a local course that I use to play with my dad from time to time. Now, again... that was with the persimmon driver and likely with some sort of balata ball that had no where near the technology of today's balls. I remember thinking when I hit that drive that I would be the 'next one'... if I could have only started this game earlier in life and why didn't my dad introduce it when I was a toddler just learing how to walk? Anyways, needless to say... that drive was like the one drive I had at that length and that straight for the rest of the year. My drives were otherwise 50 yard banana slices off on the adjacent fairway of the hole coming back. ;) Today, I resort to a more tempo'd swing where I likely only swing at about 85-90%... maybe even 75% depending on how tight the fairway is. I average 275 off the tee using 460 cc heads and Titleist NXT Tour balls. I have yet to hit a 340 yard drive this year... in fact I think I was close when I had played in the Arizona desert during a software conference there in April. A drive that measured 319 yards resulting from a power draw. So I would conclude by saying it is possible to hit these crazy yardages with any club... it is likely very impossible to hit them consistently.

Just be careful when/if you 'bend' your wedges. If you bend and 'de-loft' (i.e. 58 to 56) you lose bounce. I think for every 2 degrees of loft change in either direction you lose/gain 1 degree of bounce. This can be something that can affect your sand play... if you lose too much bounce, say from 12 degrees to 10, it may not perform very well in fluffy sand. So sorry to add further confusion, but you should get your bounce checked as well. In my opinion a sand wedge should have at least 12 degrees of bounce to help you out of the sand that much easier.