jcm011

I've broken one club when I was angry but did not do it on purpose and immediately felt stupid/ashamed even though no one else was around. Pulled my 7 wood off the tee (Mizuno T-Zoid), it hit a tree and went straight down into the water, threw the club at the ground and the shaft just shattered right around the hossel (graphite obviously). I loved that club and have kept my temper in check ever since because, not only can I not afford it, it is not the clubs fault :P. On the other hand-- someone I know with an historically bad temper once broke every single club in his bag over his knee, one by one, and threw them into a pond. Definitely not doing that.

I've read (don't remember where) that playing barefoot can make you get better contact because you're closer to the ground. And I think that's because being closer to the ground promotes better balance. Something like that?

I'm an hour away from Houston. Super sweaty hands are a very common here. My glove is nasty. lol

I wouldn't say it depresses me but it definitely puts me in a funk. Don't dwell on a bad round-- if it was that bad just go home, take a shower, and call a friend to go get a beer. I'm not saying forget the lessons you may have learned that day but when I play worse than usual I stay up until about 2 am watching golf videos, obsessing about what I did and swinging a club over and over; the result? I end up trying to fix things that weren't broken the next time I play... and play even worse. I can't really see any upside to getting upset. EDIT: And before anyone says they can't help if they get mad I just want to reiterate that I have a horrible temper and yell at myself that Helen Keller has better ballstriking than me. I'm speaking from experience!

I really don't get what the big deal is in this thread. It doesn't sound like the OP's buddy is constantly hitting him up to go play a round. I'm a bad golfer and I have friends that are closer than family to me who shoot (believe it or not) 50 strokes worse than me. I love playing with these two guys and when I go out with them I just try to relax, not take it too seriously, get a cart and drink some beer. You don't have to "break up" (lack of a better term, no innuendo or offense meant) because he isn't as anal about golf as you are... Just don't play with him as much. Like several other people have said-- if you've been friends for as long as you say he probably isn't going to get too upset about you passing on playing (then again you could have this predicament because he is super emo). Honestly if I don't want to play with someone, which is rare, I either just reply "No" or straight up don't respond. Call me a douche but I'm not out there telling them what they should be doing and gritting my teeth every time they swing.

I guess you could say I "give up the cart" to walk and pay less money but I think I would do that anyway as I always play alone. Plus, walking 9 holes at my home course is a whopping 5 bucks. Luckily, I don't have children or a lady to cut back on my golf time-- No offense to anyone who does but I'm a bit of a loner and I, currently, like it that way. :) "First, I was a one man wolf pack"

This didn't happen to me but I was there and it's just too funny. A friend and I were playing at Waterwood (a very nice Pete Dye course that is closed to the public) and we were on a long par four that had a pond wrapping around from the left side all the way to the right. I don't remember how many strokes it took but my friend ended up 10 yards from the water on the left and used his sandwedge to (attempt to) get on the green. The ball rolled off the green but was chippable/puttable so my friend casually flips the wedge back to his bag. He ended up "throwing" the club about 30 yards into the pond, the club head lodged into the mud so all you could see was the grip sticking out of the water. He rolled up his pants, took off his shoes, and went in after it. Lucky for him I was the only one present. (I think he carded a 10 on the hole btw lol) Edit: Also, I've hit such bad shots at the range (we don't have stalls) that I've come close to killing people both to the left and right of me. Also hit my sister in the chest when we were younger. I'm dangerous. ALSO: I have hit myself in the knee. With the ball.

Catching clean shots (ball striking) definitely has to be it for me. I'm a pretty good putter (for my handicap) and ball striking really brings confidence to my putting game. It seems like if I get on the green and need a 1 putt for par I'm probably going to get really close or hole out a lot of the time. But if I'm spraying everywhere my anger affects my short game BIG TIME. So, yeah. Clean contact on the fairway (And tee, of course) Jacob

If I feel my wrists and forearms flexing to "unhinge correctly" my shot is usually short, fat, and just plain bad. If I catch the ball well (and have "powerless arms") I don't feel my wrists at all until the finish of my swing when I stop the club. Dunno if that helps.

Not to preach but 1) Under a tree during lightning is one of the worst places to go and 2) if you can see lightning in the distance it is still close enough to strike you. But back on the topic-- I've never gone out and played in crazy storms like you guys but I play several times a week in 100 degree plus weather with extremely high humidity. My hat has salt deposits on it from sweating so much. I think I'd rather play in high wind and rain! lol

I'm going to preface this post by saying: Yes, I am very hard headed and a poor listener as you're about to learn. When I was in college (2 years ago) my roommate was on the golf team and was an excellent golfer (still is). One day, while watching me on the range, he suggested that I put the ball more towards the toe because my path was changing the impact position and I began to hit the ball better. I did this consciously for about two weeks and played better, started not thinking about it, moved back towards center and had ok shots. Well, not too long ago I noticed I was actually hitting on the toe (address at center) so I moved the ball way back towards the hossel and my game has been going downhill. Fast. I know I shouldn't have changed my game because of one day of playing poorly but I remembered that I used to do that today while hitting and my shots improved. I've looked all over the place for a similar situation but all I have found is that it is a swing flaw, which I agree with. However, if it works for me to address near the toe should I just continue to play with this swing flaw or should I try to remedy it asap? I know that's a pretty stupid question since we would all benefit from a pro but I am a pretty hard headed person and at the moment pretty broke. Thanks for any replies! Jacob

Hate to be the third comment on my own post but I want to make it clear that I am not complaining. I have been lucky enough to "inherit" great golf equipment without spending a dime and understand that not too long ago everyone was using difficult clubs. I know there are issues with my swing but am just looking for some input.

Also, because of hand me downs, my clubs are tiiiiiiny MaxFli's with what I guess you would call a cavity and Mizuno fairway woods. All of these have stiff shafts. My only other option is a set of Mizuno blades that are fit to my dad. Which do you think is a bigger impact? My left handedness or clubs that are way out of my playing range?

I'm not sure if this should be in golf talk or instruction tips so I'll just post it here. I know there have been good golfers that don't play matching their dominant hand (a lefty playing right handed) but I am not a great player and have been wondering lately... I'm a lefty but I have always played golf right handed because I've always used hand-me-down clubs from my right handed dad. I was wondering if maybe I have swing issues because of a "too strong" left arm and would it be COMPLETELY ridiculous to get a cheap set of lefty clubs to learn that way? I'm not blaming my faults on being left handed and playing right handed but I've always wondered if it could have an impact. All comments are appreciated.

Also, in the spirit of the thread, I am currently taking classes for Real Estate Appraisal and "interning" under my father.

My most embarrassing moment just happened two days ago. Our course is only made up of nine holes so, obviously, the ninth hole is headed back towards the clubhouse. It's a pretty long par 5 and there are bunkers to the left and right of the hole. I was about 90 yards out, flubbed a 52 degree and ended up plugged in the right bunker. I had a bad day so this was one more to make me unhappy. I keep the 52 degree (instead of my 60 degree) and line up for the bunker shot. My line of sight is: bunker lip, flag, 50 yard gap to clubhouse. The ball looked like it wouldn't even come out so I take a swing... I don't know if anyone has played Hot Shots but "LOOK OUT FOR FLIERS". The ball flies way over the green and is speeding directly towards a truck parked beside the pro shop. Somehow it carries the truck, hits the pro shop, ricochets back over the SAME truck, catches some spin and bounces into the parking lot luckily missing every car. Not only does EVERYONE know my dad (scratch golfer) but there happened to be an 8some waiting to tee off and watching me. Classic.

Thanks for the responses, guys. I just borrowed a camera (pretty good quality) and am waiting for it to charge and for the weather to clear up. Not gonna lie I'm a little worried about watching my swing because I think I'm going to be embarrassed lol. Pretty excited though because I've heard it helps point out problems! Thanks again, Jacob

Let me preface this by saying that I believe the biggest thing killing my golf game is that I am constantly attempting to make changes and end up destroying my swing. My "natural" swing (for better or worse) has always been a little more vertical with my head being almost above the ball on shorter clubs.However, in the process of trying to create a proper swing and using my body with dead arms I have been attempting to flatten out the plane a bit. It is not working. I am seriously getting worse at golf (7 out of 10 balls on the range with my most comfortable club were ridiculously flubbed today with an embarrassing loss of distance and poor flight path). My question is: if a more upright swing is what I have always felt more comfortable doing and I get ok results should I just stick with it and try to groove it into an excellent swing or should I avoid it being so steep and suffer the bad shots until I can get professional help. I'm only 5' 10" btw. I just want some opinions on this because the quest for a "perfect swing" is killing my timing, my results (slice on one shot, pull hook on the next), and overall, my enjoyment of the game. Ultimate question being-- Can I become a good golfer with a pretty upright swing? Thanks for your input, Jacob P.S. As far as lessons or getting my swing looked at by a pro; I simply can't afford them right now. I am technically an intern that gets housing and food but no paycheck.

If you find a good way to get over this, let me know. Imagine this: your friend is about to hit his tee shot, the flag (or whatever target it should be) is 12 o'clock, his body and club are aimed at 3' o'clock, he pushes AND slices but for some reason he believes that he closes the club face SO MUCH that he would end up at about 10 o clock. I have a friend that does this. Do yourself a favor... exaggerate the aim to the left and FOCUS on it. Don't think "Ok, I'm aiming at this tree to the left but my target is really waay over to the right". Actually try to hit that proverbial tree to the left.

Your handicap is much better than mine so you might not listen to me but putting is really my only strong point. On days that I don't actually play I practice putting for at least an hour. The practice green at our driving range has 9 holes-- I alternate between 1 to 9, 9 to 1, and putting to the hole opposite whichever I choose. If I three putt I start over from the very beginning (if I start on hole 1 and make it to hole 9 and then 3 putt I start over from hole 1). I also only use one golf ball because I feel that it really makes me focus on making the putt count. I got par on 5 out of 9 holes today and every single par was a one putt so it can't hurt. Actually. My back gets pretty sore from putting so much. Good luck out there!

Hello, everyone, I found this community frequently Google-ling golf questions and it has been so informative and interesting that I figured I might as well join! I am from southeast Texas and played golf for the first time around 11 years of age. At that time my father regularly shot below par and was an excellent player but I really didn't get in to it. I am now 23 years old and started seriously playing last year when my dad decided to hang up his golf bag and I, more or less, "inherited" his clubs. I use (my dad's) Max Fli Revolution irons (3-PW), Mizuno T-Zoid 3 Wood and 5 Wood, an older Callaway driver, Mizuno Faldo 52 and 60 degree wedges, Cleveland CG15 56 degree wedge and a Ping Anser putter (yes that is 15 clubs). Over a year of playing golf I've gotten down to about a 19-20 handicap and I am not embarrassed to admit that the only reason I can score is because my dad has coached me in the short game and I dedicated most of my practice time to on or around the green practice-- my long game...eh.. not so much. I played 9 holes today and shot par on 5 of the holes whilst the remaining four were +4,+2,+2, and +2 so I am obviously not very consistent (still working on "powerless arms" and correct weight shit/rotation). Anyway, sorry to be so long winded but I absolutely LOVE the game of golf and look forward to interacting with the community, learning, and hopefully, sharing one of the few things I've learned that might help someone else. Jacob