pond prowler

Quite the journey golf leads us on isn't it? If you've produced good scores before, then you know you can produce great resulsts now and in the future. I gave up on golf for soccer a number of years ago, but am getting back into it. I watched my best friend (who stuck with golf) go through the ordeals you're going through all through high school. He had a consistent "flaw" (straight pull/pull hook) in his swing that he was determined to fix even though he was in the top 10 at every tournament. Things got worse for him before they got better. There were times I'd play a casual round with him and it was painful to watch him struggle with his game. He needed a check up from the neck up. He even started the Sergio regripping thing... But things got better; and he was very successful at the college level. He realized things take time and putting extra pressure on new swing thoughts only compounded errors. The unintended benefit through the whole process was that his short game and scrambling were better than ever and stuck once he got things figured out. Golf is meant to be fun. PERIOD! Irrational expectations while going through a swing change lead to unwarranted frustration. Enjoy your time on the course and the company you keep while out there regardless of the final score. Life's too short to beat yourself up during the game improvement process. It is a "process" after all. Put away the score card (forget about the index!) and just focus on your swing thoughts and what you've done correctly. Those good shots have to be rewarding if you can ignore the bad. If you truly believe that what you're working on will ultimately lead to better results, stick with it! Just because you can do it on the range does not mean you will automatically be able to bring it to the course. Repetition, repetition, repitition... I think some folks are hard-wired to repeat their swing mechanics which makes changes that much harder. But once those sought after mechanics are ingrained, those people do REALLY well for an extended period of time. I'm the opposite, my good reps get skewed even after a few range sessions/rounds without constant monitoring. New flaws seem to pop up everywhere... Don't get discouraged if you really think the changes you're making are going to help you in the long run. Even try a couple of instructors to see what drills/insights agree with you best. BEST OF LUCK!!!

Great thread! I really enjoyed the previous posts. I purchased my gf (soon to be fiance) clubs a couple years back for her birthday so that she could take a golf class in college. Not so sure she's hooked, but does enjoy occasionally playing golf with me (and she has a lady friend who is trying to make it as a pro) so she supports my 'addiction'- not that I'm trying for pro aspirations. The scary part is that her short game is VERY good after very little instruction, but I don't think she has the patience for really improving her game. It's been an interesting process of being very conservative with suggesting 'tips' for improving play vs. just enjoying the game for what it is "for better or worse" that I will certainly try to hone with future children (certainly don't want to come on too strong). I don't like to give any sort of advice unless it's asked for, especially on the course! Personal experience, both success and failure, is what is paramount for a beginner IMHO. We've had some good times just chipping/putting around the practice green... At the same time, I'm glad she appreciates what I do, but doesn't (at this time) want to be a HUGE part of it. We each need our own "things" that we enjoy apart from one another. The same is certainly true for my bass fishing addiction! I've also purchased her fishing gear to make that option available. So long as I have to sometimes tag along on shopping sprees, I'm OK with her position on golf and fishing. Gotta have some time to yourself just relaxing on the course or lake, right?

Labeling him unmentionable names is not what I was agreeing with. I should've been clearer. Do I think he violated the spirit of the game? Yes. Am I no longer a fan of his? Yes. Will he be proud of his decision looking back at it later on in life? Probably not.

Quote: Yep. I watched the whole thing go down live on GC. Gutless rules official allowed Schwarzel to decide if he really was entitled to the drop after Charl insisted. Charl was dishonest and took advantage of the situation IMO. I think that's what other PGA pros would also say even if a rules official gave him the go ahead. That rules official is going to have to answer some tough questions I'd think. I won't be pulling for Schwarzel any time soon.

Thanks for the insight and OP. A couple of drills I like for better feel of distance: I like to gradually move farther away from the clubs as feel improves. (I think jshots referenced this drill among others above). Another drill is to try to hit three putts the same distance with the same stroke WITHOUT looking up at the end results until ALL three putts are hit. Try to get the end results as close together as possible upon repeating the drill. Vary distances. I try to practice with the same brand/model balls I play with to fine tune feel. Probably more of a confidence thing, but that's a major reason for drills right? Good luck! I look forward to seeing what works for you.

I'm 24 now, but the last time I took the game as serious as you are now, I was ~13 years old and playing in very competitive tournaments. One of the biggest things I learned was that physical conditioning and (for me) nutrition while out on the golf course were VERY important for the mental game. As the round goes on, you need nourishment whether your brain lets you know it or not. I was in very good shape playing soccer but I didn't realize how much mental thought is required for seemingly simple shots at the end of a round. "Deep thoughts" for a 13 year old looking back at things... For walking, I'd suggest scheduling pre-planned mandatory snack times thoughout your round with some good "snacks" and make sure you're staying well hydrated. Walking 18 holes of golf takes more out of you than you think. And can make thinking harder when you're tired and drained mentally. Extra cardio/strength conditioning can also help you bring your "A" game to the course all 18 holes. Even better, try to hit late-round-quality-shots once you're pretty tired at the range (maybe by even hitting the range after the gym or a run). Also, try to make the game less mentally intensive by thinking "relaxing" thoughts between golf shots. 100% golf focus for ~4-5 hours is pretty difficult! Try to relax and think about other things before getting into your pre-shot thought process. This can eliminate a lot of unnecesary mental effot. Thanks for asking the question as it's come up in my mind many times before. My solution is to re-create the end of the round scenarios as much as possible in a practice environment. Heck, even play 27+ holes when possible! Finally, realize reasonable expectations for each shot you plan to hit. As a ~23 handicap, don't put too much pressure on shots that don't come off exactly as expected. Make plans for shots that aren't perfect and select shots where undesired results are still manageable. And certainly don't beat yourself up on shots that don't come off perfectly (wasted mental effort). Good luck! Golf is a game that is meant to be ENJOYED! Treat it that way and enjoy the process.

An even better eagle since your daughter was with you! Good memories.

Thanks for your feedback. In retrospect, I think I should've posted this in the Instruction and Playing Tips (moderators, feel free to move this post). I'm still getting the feel of this site's layout... Clambake, thanks for the general guide line. I haven't heard of that one before but it makes pretty good sense as a general rule. One of the reasons I was posting was because I teed up from the men's tees (not back tees) on one of my first rounds getting back into things. I was paired with a couple of guys/hacks that gave me a few strange looks/comments after having flip wedges into a few of the first short par 4 holes where I hit my drives well. I'll ignore such reactions in the future and just tee off from where I think gives me the best chance to improve my game on a given day for that particular course. I should've been more clear in my OP. Short irons/wedges into the greens isn't the area needing improvement; it's the tee shots. As of now, there is a great difference between well struck tee shots and miss hits that makes choosing a tee box tricky. This then affects the rest of my shots from scrambling and scoring type modes. Four rounds under my belt went for 84, 81, 77, 78. I'm hoping to get the tee shots sorted out in the next few practice sessions. I hope to be confident on the tips soon. B-Con, good to see another Texan on here. I'm from Austin, but was in Frisco the other weekend for a Jimmy Buffet concert, good times!

Hi everyone, I'm trying to figure out what tee boxes I should be teeing off from on many of the courses I hope to play. I'm just now getting back into the game and my distance is still there. Length is not an issue on ~90% of the courses I play when ball striking is good (7100-6500), but I'm still pretty inconsistent when it comes to ball striking and short game until I can fine tune things. So I'm seeking advice as to what your approach would be for where to tee off until I have ~15 rounds under my belt. The problem is that when I hit my driver well, shorter tee boxes result in a lot of short approaches (8 iron or less), but when my tee shots are all over the place, I'm just punching out or hitting some low "curvy" shots aroung trees up to the green. If I play the tips on most courses, ~5 iron would be the longest approach on good driving days. From a game improvement stand point, would it be more useful to tee it up from the tips and work on some longer iron swings and drill the short game? Or would it be better to tee up closer and focus on the accuracy/consistency above all else? (Control vs. power) I'm just trying to pick the right tees that would be most beneficial/efficient for game improvement in the long run. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Since you seem eager for feedback, I'll give you a few things to "snack" on before the real pros give you some real things to "munch" on with fancy snap shots, figures, and drills... Take my comments with a grain of salt! First, I REALLY like your takeaway from the down-the-line perspective with one obvious exception. Your club face is pretty shut with a slightly bowed left wrist at the top. From your face-on setup, it's apparent that you have a pretty strong grip. Even more so with your right hand; I can see a lot of your right thumb pad. I'd prefer to see the "Vs" formed between your thumb and index finger pointing somewhere between your right should and right edge of your neck. Your hands are also behind the ball at the setup position; probably to make the club look square to your target line considering your grip. With such a strong grip, I don't think you could properly release the club in the "traditional" manner without hitting a pretty formidable hook. I can't quite slow down the video enough to see exact impact position, but it appears that the club is passing the hands without turning the club over causing the slightly open club face. So, if I were you, I'd first and foremost work on your grip- making it a bit weaker. From there, you're going to have to work on properly releasing the club with hands ahead of the ball at impact and the shoulders/arms/hands driving the club face more towards square and then closed well after impact. The grip and release are very coupled; so only fixing the grip initially, will probably exacerbate your open club face and fade/slice ball flight unitl the release is improved. All-in-all, I think you have a lot of VERY good things working for you in your swing: good take away and pretty athletic move on the downswing that puts you in pretty good positions up to impact. You're not far from really striping it! Other things worth consideration from others include: slightly slouched upper body and open shoulders at address (maybe pull your shoulders back a bit and square them up with your hips/feet), and slightly bent left arm at the top (although Goeff Ogilvy gets away with it). To me, starting with a bit more conventional grip is more important than all else. Then deal with the other issues as needed. I hope you post a video after working on some things, because you have A LOT of potential! Hope others give you better instruction! Good luck!

This is a great thread. Hadn't given much thought about this before. Getting back into the game again, I've found that my Scotty Cameron doesn't quite agree with my eyes the way it used to. I tend to aim slightly left. I've noticed that I've been making compensations, dying the ball into the hole on left-to-right putts and trying to power through the break on right-to-left putts. I'll take a look into this. This is just out of curiosity: Have you taken any data on aim with respect to putts that break (right-to-left, left-to-right)? That is, if you specify a particular spot that a client must aim the putter to start the putt in order to make it (assuming reasonable speed), does their aim seem to naturally vary from what is measured for the straight-on putt. My hypothesis is that the presence of a hole might change things around for the mind's eye. This is more of a psychological question than it is one of pure alignment or club fitting... Unless you want to carry multiple putters for various breaks! Again, just curious.

Nice! Looks to be pretty versatile. Thanks for sharing.

I agree with what iacas is saying (and no, my handicap is not accurate, but a guestimate as I've only played 5 rounds in the last 2 years...getting back into the swing of things though). Proper practice on the most prevalent issues with your game will allow you to succeed. Since you're in school, I'll use the following analogy. Golf practice is like homework and studying. Playing rounds of golf is like taking exams. You must do PLENTY of homework and studying on the right things to do well on your exams (unless you're extremely gifted which carries over to golf as well...). Treat your rounds of golf as an evaluation of your game (keep plenty of stats). Then proceed with practice on the issues that need the most attention. Also practice the things that are likely to come up on the next course you plan to play (i.e. your next exam). As mentioned before, cramming is not beneficial in the long run. If you find that an area of your game is hard to improve by yourself, get a tutor (i.e. golf instructor). Only playing rounds of golf has benefits and drawbacks. I feel that the drawbacks out weigh the benefits. Benefits: course management, handling pressure, etc. Drawbacks: intoduction of new swing flaws, inability to focus on areas needing improvement, etc. Although seemingly simple, improvement can be difficult. IMO the greatest challenge is to figure out how to effectively practice the right things and finding the right balance of practice vs. playing. Sounds to me like you've got the right idea for practice but your ratio of playing to practice might be off. Good luck with improving your game. If you find something that works for you, please share it.

Not sure I'd do anything differently than chip with the 56*. But, I use that club for ~80% of my short game shots. If you used the club you were most confident in for the shot, I wouldn't worry about it too much- just poor execution. High/irrational expectations can lead to a lot of undue frustration that carries over to other shots. FWIW: I have found in the past, that periodically practicing a particular shot with ~5 different clubs can lead to some interesting results. Sometimes the club you're most confident in is not always the best producer. You'll also begin to get a feel for the variation in results for each club. That is, you may be able to chip your SW within a few feet MOST times, but have outliers from skulling it or hitting it fat. Your putter, 7 iron, etc. may not get it closest to the hole every time, but the deviation in your misses is MUCH smaller. From there, you might be able to pick a club that's best suited for the shot at hand. I.e. intense pressure or questionable lie may have you reaching for the putter for consistency to avoid the bad miss. Just a technique I've used prior to tournaments to take inventory of my game when practice time is up...

Thanks for the info delav. I'll definitely be looking at used clubs. All the clubs I've purchased were pre-owned. They're going to get used one way or another... Thanks to you guys that buy this year's equipment and sell it off on Ebay two years later! Makes golf a little less expensive for the rest of us. jk

Thanks for the feedback. I'll take a good look at the 909D3. Sweet irons btw.

Hey gang, Now that I'm finished playing college soccer and getting back to golf after ~8 years (giving it up competitively just after the start of high school for soccer), I've started picking up the game again. Shot 78 yesterday and 77 last week at a relatively short course (6400 yards). I've got some equipment that was fairly "to date" at the time (keep in mind I purchased most of it used then): Driver : Titleist 975D, 10.5*, Ultralite50 S flex Woods : Titleist 975F 12.5* and 18.5* S flexes Irons : 3-PW Cleveland TA3 S Flex Wedges : Cleveland CG15 56* (new Christmas gift) and Reg.588 60* Putter : Scotty Pro Platinum Newport Ball : ProV1 I was a fairly consistent 70's to low 80's player and worked at a driving range through high school which at least kept me competitive (during high school) with my friends that went the golf route. Getting back into things, I've found that the swing is still there for the most part, but the sweet spot is a little harder to find with the irons. The short game has been the biggest need for improvement (as expected since I'm still developing feel) but I'm certainly happy with the clubs I've got in this department. My biggest questions are about (1) driver (2) irons, and (3) utility clubs/woods. (1) I love the 975D, but am wondering if I'm passing up on forgiveness for power with this club. The thing looks TINY compared to my friends' gigantic drivers, but I've tried many types of the larger drivers and don't achieve nearly the distance from trying them out. It feels like these bigger headed drivers create a lot more lag in the shaft than I'm used to and seem a lot slower club-head-speed wise... I've tried both my friends' clubs and those at retailers (although without enough effort to prove conclusive). Furthermore, the extra lag seems to jeopardize accuracy. Is there a "new" club head or shaft combination I should be looking at? I don't won't to be THAT guy who swears by old technology if it's not the best (been there done that with my Dad's old persimmons)... (2) The irons have been well loved/used over the years. The wear patterns on the faces are extremely visible due to rust on the forged clubs. I still hit my 9h ~150 yards and my 5h ~200 yards, but accuracy is much more of an issue these days. Block to the right or hook to the left are my typical misses with all of my clubs. Should I stick with these clubs that will provide me with instant feedback that I'm hitting the sweet spot on plane and try to develop my game around them or find more forgiving clubs? Are worn grooves something to be concerned about? (3) I have a ~2/3 wood (12.5*, S Flex) that I can no longer hit with much consistency and a 5 wood that I'm happy with at the moment. I'd like to replace my 3h with something else as I'll either hit a 5 wood or draw a hard 4h. What's a decent set of woods/ hybrids that I should at least try? I think this is a potentially BIG improvement area for my game. And I'm pretty sure my grips would be deemed illegal in competitive play as they are the same ones from ~10 years ago and pretty much a mold of my grip- which was nice each time I periodically played to keep the same decent grip, but will be replaced shortly. I can replace them on my own... Any advice, comments, or suggestions are greatly appreciated as I begin this addiction again! THANKS!!!

I've had this problem from time to time as my natural swing tendency is to hit the ball farther from the inside (draw) than these shots allow. In this position, I'm in trouble unless I pull off some fancy club manipulation that's beyond my ability most days. End result many times is a high weak shot to the right. When I get into this mode, I go back to a drill that really helps me out. I wish I could find a video of it, but my initial search came up empty so I'll try to explain... Heck I just saw someone on the Golf Channel explaining this drill two days ago... Place a shaft in the ground slanted ~45* towards you, ~3' in front of your stance, and ~3' down the target line (hope this makes sense...) Now proceed to hit 1/2, 3/4 shots making sure you don't hit the shaft placed in the ground. This will force you to swing more on plane and drive your hands and shoulders down and to the left of the target line producing a more decending blow and a club head that doesn't require manipulation to stay square. Your hands will stay in front of the ball and drive through the shot. I'm not sure I'd recommend this tip for someone with the classic over the top slice move, but you don't seem to fit that category considering your natural shot shape is a draw. Hopefully someone else familiar with this drill can chime in and do a better job of explaining it than me! I'll post up a video if I come across one...

Hi everyone. Been getting back into the game and reading this forum for the last couple weeks. Seems like a great site! I played a lot of golf and junior tournaments in middle school, but stopped playing consistently/competitively my freshman year of high school after making the varsity soccer team before moving up the ranks on the golf team (had to pick between the two...). I stayed pretty connected with the game even in high school working at a driving range down the street from my house. That was the best job I could've had as a teen. Free range balls! I lost touch with the game moving away to play college soccer and finally actually having to PAY to hit balls. It still pains me to fork over cash to hit those things. I'm now finishing up grad school at the University of Texas and trying to get out and play more when there's cash in the bank account and the bass fishing addiction subsides. I was encouraged that my swing seems to still be there almost like riding a bicycle. Short game and pitch shots are a different story but coming around. The golf obsession is starting to take over again... Looking forward to hanging around here from time to time procrastinating from research. Oh and BTW, don't be looking over your shoulder next time you hit your ball next to the drink because of my user name. It's the name of my small bass boat that I've used as a user name on some local fishing forums. Just trying to keep things simple... Hit 'em long and straight!