sonicblue

Oh Jesus H Christ on a popsicle stick... Before "the fire hydrant," Tiger was well known as one of the most knowledgeable guys on Tour regarding the rules. Now every half-cocked judgmental asshat wants to frame every single thing he does as dishonest, cheating, deceptive, etc... No rules official saw it, they don't have "aerial instant replay" available for the players. His playing partner AND his playing partner's caddie agreed on the drop. It's not like Tiger had free reign to do whatever he wanted.

All of the above puts the cart before the horse, IMO. For someone three-putting out of his mind, he doesn't need to hear about the 'trailing hand' or go hit 100 putts. He's got some fundamental problems that need to be addressed first. The first thing to note about putting is this: it's just tapping a ball and rolling it. The ball doesn't slice, or duff, or skull....you're bumping the ball to make it roll in the hole. It's dead easy......in concept. However, it is unquestionably the most unforgiving part of the game; you can't change that, so you just need to realize the expectation. I think too many amateurs get freaked out about a 30-foot putt. Pick a line, you're probably pretty decent at it, and then you're just hitting it a certain speed. Two questions need to be answered: 1) why are the pros so deadly lethal at it, and 2) why are many amateurs so god-awfully bad at it? 1) They're that good because they practice INCESSANTLY. Their putting strokes are so consistent, their aim so pure, and their feel so good, that they make the ball hit that 4" wide target more often than you ever will. They haven't found some secret to putting, they simply do it A LOT. Forget 'pro-level' putting as your standard. 2) A lot of amateurs are that bad for one main reasons, IMO: they do not TRUST themselves. It's very hard to become a deadly putter. It is VERY EASY to become a 'pretty good' putter. There's a good explanation for why the students of Dave Stockton (considered maybe THE authority on tour right now) adopt the following approach: get behind putt, get a read, get over the ball, hit it. I can virtually guarantee, with any putt I show you, you could easily figure out how to hit it too far left, or too far right, or way short, or way long. The right putt is simply something in the middle of all those. The ball has to end up somewhere, it might as well be right around the hole. It's all about trusting that fact, and just going with it. If I had to bet, I would be willing to say that 90% of amateurs miss putts because they change their mind about some aspect of the putt while they're over the ball. You can't do that. Read the putt, pick a nearby spot to aim, and set up. Once you set up to the ball, YOUR LINE IS DETERMINED. All that remains is deciding how hard to swing the putter. You can't wonder if you're aimed right, or if you read it right, it's too late. If you're unsure, back off and reset. But get over the ball and just hit it. I don't think many amateurs have issues with the putter face opening and closing wildly. A consistent three-putter is making it way too complex. Simplify the concept, clear your mind, trust it.......and just roll the ball.

Lest we forget that, as Rory, or Phil, or Dustin, or Keegan, et al, have all taken their turns as the media favorite 'next' contender, there's one guy that - save for about an 18-month period where his life FELL APART - has also been there the entire time: Tiger. I mean, through all this, after everything that's happened - the affairs, the injuries, the coach change, the swing overhaul - Tiger is NUMBER 2 in the FedEx Cup, behind the currently coronated 'next,' with a bunch of wins this year, very good play in the majors (yes, with un-Tiger-like weekends, but contending in every one) and now just a single step away from taking the Fed Ex cup. Even if he doesn't win it, to have yet ANOTHER year like this, winning tournaments, being in contention, missing a cut less often than Kevin Stadler misses a meal....Tiger is still the man on the PGA Tour.

Clubs are sold! Thanks.

Pics available later tonight, sorry, wanted to put this up asap, as I just purchased a new (to me!) set online. I purchased these used several months ago, and they're just not the right fit for me. The shafts are stiff steel. All clubs only show normal wear. The 4-PW grips were changed out by the previous owner to a blue Winn grip; the 3-iron has the standard black TM grip still on it (I guess he didn't even try to hit it, and neither have I!). I'm playing in a tournament on Tuesday, the 24th. If, by chance, the new clubs haven't arrived yet, I'll need these to play in that, but otherwise, I will ship quickly. Please post or PM with any questions. As I said, I will get pictures up asap, I wouldn't expect anyone to commit without seeing them. Will meet up locally within reason, 19426. Thanks.

Allison. So delicious. Aaaaaaaaannnnnnnndddddddddd.........I'm spent.

I'm on my 3rd round of P90X. The first round I did the "lean" program, after being inactive for quite a while. I then did a round of the "Classic" but, toward the end, I realized I was still in the mode of "taking it easy," and decided I had to tee it up again to see how much I could push. This morning was the Plyo workout in Week 3. Bring it!

When Tiger held the #1 spot, he was so far clear of the next player, that it took -- how long of his NOT EVEN PLAYING -- for someone to finally unseat him? I haven't bothered to investigate the math, but the occasional disapperance of Donald and McIlroy and Westwood from relevance in any given tournament, compared to how Tiger is already seemingly getting his flare back for always finding the first page, let alone winning, makes it nearly a lock that he will regain the #1 spot again very soon. I think he should, when I think of the #1 player in the world, that person should be someone who, when they're in the field, changes the competition level. The others who have held it haven't held up that definition. Regardless of how many wins/majors Tiger manages to rack up in the next several years, I think we're going to end up looking back on 2010-2011 as the Tour getting but a brief respite from Tiger strangling the #1 OWGR spot.

I was just reading the golf.com article on Tiger's win. I had to double-take: "Bay Hill marked Woods's last start before the Masters at Augusta National, where Woods hasn't finished worse than a tie for sixth since 2004 ." Take careful note of that comment. Just five months after "2-Iron-Gate" and then a year after that, somewhere admist the change in swing coaches (can't remember exactly when that happened) and the recovery from the "under the pine tree swing" injury.... Tiger kept the "top 6" streak alive at Augusta. Think of the number of golfers out there that come to Augusta feeling completely primed and ready, game in top form - without the media basically expecting/pushing you to win - who can't say that. It reminds me of what I like about watching Tiger: no matter what state his swing or game (or life!) is in, he manages to get out there and just grind, just manage, just keep working to get into contention. Even when someone isn't right there within a shot or two, you never get the feeling he pays any less attention to each shot. Here's hoping for a GREAT Masters!

It's really pretty amazing when you think about it. They were talking to Ernie about how off his game has been for a year and a half. Sergio is a mess (still). Phil had a horrible week. There are so many players out there who did not go through the ridiculous turn of personal events Tiger has in the last two years, yet they're still struggling to compete consistently. Meanwhile, we've all put this albatross around Tiger's neck of winning, but looking at his last few months, this guy is playing some staggeringly consistent, competitive golf, now finally getting a convincing win in VERY difficult conditions, with a guy in the last group with him who has taken him down before. And he's done it all after going through a period where people basically have been trashing the very fabric of his personal being. As a pure translation to the game of golf, I find it hard to say anything other than, Tiger is simply the toughest competitive golfer out there, ever. What he has had to grind through - physically and mentally, both of which have been astronomical hurdles - to come out and play like he did this weekend, manage his game, manage the conditions, and win by a bunch of strokes, is just amazing.

It's this easy: watching that kind of finish was awesome for golf. A 62 from a guy down the leaderboard, by eagling 18 no less, to put a scare into Rory, fantastic. Rory stumbling on a couple approach shots and hitting some amazing bunker shots/par saving putts, clutch. If you didn't like that, or you were influenced by WHO it was, then you suck - stop being such a gossipy school girl (or a self-righteous schmuck). As for "is Tiger back," "will he win again," or "is Rory the new face of golf"....man, are we as a society so desperate for a "story line" that we just can't watch and be entertained? It's always about something more. I've lost all patience. Every f***ing time Hunter Mahan wins (which ain't been a whole lot, let's keep in mind), I hear, "this guy could be a multiple winner, look out, he's peaking now," blah, blah. We had a thread here dying to crown Keegan Bradley the next great American golfer (I assume Kyle Stanley has jumped into that role?). In my opinion, and I've stated it elsewhere here, there is one, and only one reason, for rooting for Tiger's "return," and it's the same reason I rooted for him before. What's hard about golf - and even other-wordly hard at their level - is doing it "again." Over the years, so many amazing final round duels, or great finishes, etc.., involved Tiger. The fact that he, by either grinding through a wobbly game, or by just surgically deconstructing a course for 3.5 rounds, is in that Sunday drama so often....and that it usually is along side just "the guy playing well that week," is an additional piece I find riveting and awesome about him. Moreover, think about it, PFH (pre-fire-hydrant...stolen from Rick Reilly), you can quite literally count on one hand the number of times Tiger, in his career, was completely irrelevant. If he wasn't hunting for the win, or at least lingering enough to be scary, he was still top 10, top 15. He was NEVER out of it. If Rory takes that title from him, I'll find that riveting, too. Phil, as much as I hate to admit it, has showed much more consistency (I dunno...he's just so....aloof...or spacey....) but across his career, very often goes AWOL from contention. Will Rory be that 'in it every tournament' guy? It sure always looks like it when he's on, but he's not established that just yet. Golf's got a ton of great talent right now, let's just watch, eh?

Golf tends to move in opposites. Sounds like you're trying to drive the ball lower and it's only I making you come harder downwards. If I was a betting man, your weight is probably getting way over our toes, too, with a lot of bend at the hips. Work on standing a bit straighter, which will flatten your shoulder plane and swing plane. Then swing easiminot keep the spin to a minimum.

My one word: BELIEVE I remember watching a PGA broadcast a while ago, where they mentioned how Vijay Singh had been putting really well. They referred to the fact that he had adopted a method of saying to himself, "I'm one of the best putters in the world." I remember thinking how powerful that was. True? At the time, it seemed so, but historically, Vijay was erratic. I comes down to, what is the alternative, "I'm marginal"? I adopted it to my putting in this way: when you read a putt, there's really only two things you can say, "I've read this right, I've got the speed, it's going in," or "something's off, it's going to miss." The first won't always be true, of course, but if you thought the second, why bother? The bottom line is, if you're going to bother, then you must BELIEVE the first. I find this easier to do on putts because you're not worried about push cuts, smother hooks or water hazards on putts, it's just rolling a ball. That strikes me as more achievable on an given shot. My swing has been in an overhaul period, but I can tell you that, when I believe on those shots, good things happen, too. So, I'd say the one word is BELIEVE.

If I could strangle anyone in the world and get away with it, it'd be Gary Koch. What a pretentious ass.

I have a set of Cleveland CG Red Irons is good-to-very-good condition. They show signs of play but really no dings or nicks to speak of. DG S300 shafts with Golf Pride Tour Velvet Jumbo grips that are in very good condition. Pics attached. Asking price is from a quick check on eBay, reasonable offers considered. EDIT: 3-wood originally mentioned is sold.

I have a well-used but well-cared for Taylor Made r7 cgb Max 3-wood, stiff shaft. Currently gripped with a Golf Pride Tour Velvet Jumbo grip in very good condition. Magnetic-seam headcover included. Pics attached, more can be provided if needed. I also have a set of Cleveland CG Red irons if you're interested, with which shipping can be combined.

If you want to get into SERIOUS scoring territory, there is NO question, short game is where the difference is made. My argument is, most amateur golfers are poor golfers. That's a fact. There are a metric TON of people out there who can't break 110, or 100. Yes, those people waste a ton of strokes around the green, but they also traverse a hell of a lot of acreage before they even get to the green. I think, in terms of pure "value," for my game, it has to start with ability to keep yourself in play off the tee and on your approach. Those shots are where you risk hitting hazards, taking penalties, making big numbers. When a ball has 175, 200, 250 yards to cover, a LOT can happen. A solid, repeatable, true swing is necessary to control those outcomes, and that's where I think most of us would say we struggle. Once you get to 100 yards and in (let's say 50 or less, I think only pros aim for 'deadly' at 100 yards), I believe skill in that area is simply a matter of getting out of your head; the mechanics and physics are no longer so overwhelming. You can't pull-hook a half-wedge, or banana slice it. Sure, you can blade it or chunk it, but - I believe - those are ALWAYS simple mental mistakes. I absolutely guarantee I could teach someone a "very good" short game, from a variety of lies, long before I could get them puring 6-irons 175 yards. I've actually done it. On a golf trip with some buddies, one guy was about a 110 guy. The usual type of full swing flaws, would find lots of hazards, bunkers, topper-screamer irons, etc... I spent five minutes at the practice green, and gave him some basic tips on simplifying greenside short game shots. He told me after that he absolutely was much better around the greens that day. Now, I doubt he was holing out or anything, but he got tangible - for him - results after five minutes. He was still probably taking those shots at (for a par 4, let's say) his 4th or 5th shot or even 6th, though. Imagine the improvement in his score if his first chip is his 3rd shot. It'd be much more than five minutes to figure out how to get him to stop slicing a 200 yard drive, and hitting a straight 250-yd drive, and then stop skulling from the fairway and hitting 7-8 irons consistently straight and repeatable distance. My last perspective would be, and I'll say "usually" a bit carefully, but usually, a bad short game doesn't lead to additional trouble. That is, a tee shot can lead to a creek, or a hazard, or OB. A bladed iron can go in the water, or hit a tree and carom OB, etc... If you flub a greenside pitch, often, you'll just have another greenside pitch. Duff a bunker shot, still in the bunker. Yes, they all count as 'one,' but your variability just isn't that great around the green. Sure, you could blade it out of a trap, over the green and into water, it's not without risk all the time, but it's just much less. When it comes down to it, even a pro will tell you, what's their priority: fairways and greens, fairways and greens. Take care of that, you remove lots of bad scenarios, and unless your short game is horr.if.ic, you will be better than just about any golfer you'll get paired up with on the first tee. You can have a mad skills short game, but if you're playing the military left-right-left style game tee to green, I'll wager you'll probably be stuck at a 15-handicap at best for a long time.

You're saying the majority of your 22-handicap strokes come from around the green? I guess that's really just 1, occasionally 2, shots per hole, but if I got hooked up with someone who told me they were a 22, I would expect a whole lot of spray from tee-to-green. I know there's the school of 'learn the game backwards, green to tee,' but I think that's more in terms of constructing the golf swing, learning the fine motor movements, and then just extending that into a longer version. However, I envision playing the game tee-to-green, and it's like that adage, you can't win it with your drive, but you sure can lose it with your drive. You need to start with the first shot: can you hit a tee ball solidly and in control? If that goes off the rails, par is immediately in jeopardy; hit a good (not awesome, just good) drive, and birdie is still in play. Then, can you hit an approach shot - 175, 150, 125 yards - to a green? If your 7-iron may go 15 yards short or 20 yards long, or right or left, with equal probability, again, par is in jeopardy. If you can confidently hit the green, anywhere on the green, or just hit it close greenside, your birdie is still in play, and par is very achievable. Find bunkers, creeks, nasty rough, etc..., and birdie's gone, par's a struggle and big numbers are on the horizon. That last part, about birdie in play even if you're just greenside, I say because I believe someone can be taught a "good" short game pretty easily. I can't make you Seve in a week's time, but I can absolutely get someone to never duff a chip and get just about anything out of its lie, and toward the hole with some decent distance control. If you do that and get yourself a 6-8-something-footer to save a par, I think that's a good short game. I also think a player can be made into a decent putter, so that they make a bunch of those, or at the very least, never ever 3-putt them. The above adds up to a player who, will frequently get a FH, GIR, 2-putt par, get a bunch of near-FH, near-GIR, up-down for par, near-FH, near-GIR bogey, but maybe grab a birdie or two as well, and maybe a double here and there. That looks like a single digit to me. I had quite a long period where my long game was erratic, and my short game was money. Let me tell you, it's an EXHAUSTING way to play the game. I was scoring quite well, actually, but only because the course I was often playing was 1) short, 2) very forgiving for most tee shots), and 3) I knew it like the back of my hand. If I played elsewhere, or if caught a few bad breaks, or the short game wasn't SUPER good that day, the score ran up quickly. Something I realized, too, was, I was NEVER in the game for birdie. My course management led me to make good decisions, and fight to stay in the hole. I learned a lot of punch-out techniques, and it led to a LOT of par-saving putts, and when I was on, made quite a few, but a lot of times, I was "miss par save, kick in bogey." Throw in a OB here and there, and my card was: several pars, a lot of those near-miss-par bogies, and then a handful of doubles, maybe worse sometimes. But because of my bad long game, I knew that, every bogey or double was a shot I'd never get back, because birdie just wasn't even an option the way I played. I started working very hard on my full swing, started getting control off the tee and hitting better approach shots. It's only "ok," in all honesty. I occasionally hit big drives, but generally I'm only average-long (i.e., I don't dink it out 225 with a driver, I can hit it 260+, but rarely push the 280-290+ arena). My approach shots now are not pure, but no big pulls, or cuts, or thin-lizzies. I just hit it mostly on line and usually a decent distance. My short game has suffered from the lack of practice, but I continued to score pretty well. I don't get a ton of 8-foot birdie looks, but I may get a few 25-foot looks (better than none!). If I don't hit a green, I at least get a handful of birdie chips that are makeable, or at least can be gotten close. More than anything, the game is just much more 'playable' this way, and now if my short game tunes up to how it was before, I can get to low single digits.

The old "you take the most strokes with your putter" adage is played out, I believe. Yes, you may take more strokes with your putter than any other INDIVIDUAL club, but if you shoot 90 with 30 putts, you took 60 strokes with something that ISN'T a putter. Let's just imagine you are a dead-eye putter, but you can't keep your drive in same zip code, and can't hit an approach shot into a swimming pool. That dead-eye putter will - AT BEST - be trying to save your par, but will very likely end up putting out for bogeys or worse, depending on exactly how much trouble you got into along the way. On the other hand, if you can keep your tee shots reasonably in play (by that, I mean, you can hit a respectable distance and avoid hazards/jailing yourself), and can hit approach shots that find their way somewhere resembling on/around the green, I would argue you will VERY frequently putt for par, and if you're not a great putter, still kick in a lot of bogies, and pars and bogies puts you in the 80s. If your short game is very poor, and those approaches that miss greens are leading to your duffing chips or skulling pitch shots, or your first putt from 30 feet is consistently leading to three putts, I would contend I could much more easily fix that, and get you making up-and-downs and eliminating three-putts, much more easily than I could figure out how to reign your driver in, or teach you to hit solid 5-irons. Let's view it another way: who has ever played with a "great" player, by amateur standards, anyway (let's just say a low single digit)? Did the guy spray it all over, only to recover and make sick up-and-downs, or make a lot of putts? I feel like, the better players I've played with, often, I feel like they weren't dead-eye putters, or miraculous short-gamers. But, when you're on in two (and it's not always the case that they're on in two from a bombed drive or laser-like approach; you can get on in two with just "good" shots), you can just make an 'average two-putt' and walk away with par. Yeah, they'd make quite a few up and downs, but sometimes not and make a few bogeys, but then they generally grab a birdie or two, and they end up +3, or +4 for the day. If I look at that and say, well, what's most remarkable in terms of their physical ability, in terms of what would I tell you would require more practice, it's not how do you bump and run a ball ten yards toward the hole with a swing arc of 2 feet, it's not how do you manage to tap a ball with a flat-faced stick so that it rolls straight, it's how do you swing a club around a full arc around your body so that it flies anywhere from 275 to 150 yards in the proper direction a predictable distance. That's what I would tell you is the "minimum requirement for entry" into the "good player's club" and what the average amateur should spend his time on. If you can chip and pitch it close and make a bunch of 10-20 footers to boot, then you're in the elite club, but if a deadly short game with a lousy full-swing game will never be a great player, maybe not even ever a good player.

I have a pretty unusual opinion on this, I think. For me, when it comes to short game and putting, I just feel like 'practice' is difficult because, how do you truly replicate what you're going to find on the course? Every single putt is different, every short shot can have a vastly different lie, trajectory requirement, run/roll, etc... In my mind, 'practicing putting' is nothing more than convincing yourself NOT to think too much, and just roll the damn ball. I mean, you're tapping a ball with a flat-face club and making it roll. That doesn't require unusual mechanics, plane, path, lag, clubhead speed, etc... Often, my best putting days come after nothing more than a very quiet, relaxing five minutes on the practice green, where I just turn off my thoughts, look down at the ball and let my mind operate the putter. Similarly with chipping. Now, I will say here, that I take great pride in my short game, and believe it's better than that of a lot of guys I play with regularly. I 'have all the shots,' and feel I really know when to play each one. But, I don't spend a lot of time on that, either. My short game took a huge step forward, and has stayed there ever since, when I gained just a few tidbits of wisdom. For example: on any given shot, I think "ball first," Now, on some shots, it's just not possible, in thick rough, but that thought has all but eliminated ever chunking a shot. And very similar to putting, I take the mindset of, once the club touches the ball, your part is done. All you can do is watch it fly/roll and see how it turns out. That "letting go" of the uncontrollable, simply worrying about the controllable, may COME with lots of practice, but I don't think it has to. Sometimes, revelations like that just have to come on their own schedule. Now, full swing shots (or, mostly full swing, anything that - by most people's definition - "flies"): I think a lot of similar ideas hold, the concept of "controllable goals," not overthinking, letting go, etc... Those all apply to EVERY single golf shot, I firmly believe that. However, the full swing simply holds the potential for disaster, much more so than the short game. Sure, you could skull a simply chip shot over the green into the lake, but I guarantee you, if I saw a guy do that, I could give him a 10 second lesson, and he could instantly hit five good ones. Conversely, if a guy banana-slices his driver 80 yards right, it's a much harder proposition to fix him on the spot. The speed and length of the full swing shot brings about so many more opportunities to go off the rails. Full swing shots are the ones that will find hazards, put you in jail behind trees, land in bunkers, etc... Learning to hit and control a solid, playable tee shot, and learning to hit solid, playable approach shots, predictable distances, IMHO, is where the bulk of us amateurs should spend our practice. Once you can do that, I would actually argue that learning to get it in the hole from there requires much less practice "time," and more a player just "relaxing into" his short game. I'll finish up with my own example: there was a time when my short game was money. Like I said, I had all the shots, and was often getting up and down from anywhere, but my long game was all over the place. That 'great short game' was, at best, keeping me in for par, but if the long game was costing me penalty shots, or jailing me and making me punch out, then at best, I was in for bogey. If the short game wasn't fantastic, now I'm bogey/double-bogey. I spent a lot of time on my full swing, on just 'controlling' it, not learning to "pure laser" anything. Now, I'm in every hole, and now that short game may chip in a birdie, and now par is usually a strong possibility, and doubles (generally, lol) stay off the card. So, to sum up, my two cents: if someone looking to 'just have a solid game' is looking to focus practice time, I think it's best spent really learning and ingraining and repeatable, controlled full swing. Once you have that, relaxing yourself down and learning a solid short game, or even a great short game, can come much more easily, and with more benefits to your overall game.

I, too, now do yoga as part of P90x. I did a 'lean' routine starting back in September (didn't want to rush into too much weights after such a long layoff, I'm an ex-football player and long-time athlete). The lean routine was just what I needed, between the cardio, the stretching and the balance, the benefits to my game were almost immediately evident. I finished that cycle the second week of December, and jumped right into a 'classic' cycle. Not just due to winter, but also into next year, I'm taking a little break from playing a lot of golf, but I plan to work very hard on "golf fitness." I do want to build more raw strength now, and am pushing hard on the weights (still staying up at 10-12 reps, though, some even 15), but am also working just as hard on the cardio and flexibility aspects (so, plyo, core, cardio and especially yoga!). If I had to sum it up, yoga is about learning how to control your body through very precise movements that, at times, may require significant strength, balance, flexible or any combination thereof. Can you think of anything that utilizes those attributes more than golf? Controlling precise movements with varying degrees of strength, balance and flexibility? I sure can't, and I can't wait to emerge in the spring, knowing that yoga is a crucial part of that goal.

Absolutely. Unfortunately, it will be a while before I can comment on how the drills translate to play (as winter settles here in the Northeast), but I will at least offer some thoughts asap on how the drills feel and the quality of the construction/design of the Pipoe itself.

Yep, thanks, can't wait to try it out!

Thanks

Interestingly enough, I actually plan on taking a relative hiatus from playing golf in 2012. However, I want to try a little experiment while doing so. My swing actually came together quite well toward the end of 2011. I want to see what kinds of improvements I can make just by doing very simple, targeted drills (and also markedly improving my fitness). I think this seems like a great tool that can help with a wide variety of exercises. I'm also going to buy one for my dad as a tool to help get through the winter. But, I'm having an issue with your website, it says it can't ship to my address? Nothing remarkable about it, it's not some new construction neighborhood, just your typical suburban residence, no issues with any shipping carrier before this, zip code 19426, USA. Any idea what's wrong?