GlasgowsGreen

Eric, Why do you think that its very easy to get in the air? Do you mean for you personally or for the average golfer? Do you think that it's possible to hit a good shot with it without a forward leaning shaft?

With the thousands of YouTube videos, web pages and forums out there it’s hard to imagine how people learnt golf before the invention of the internet. In my desire to learn golf I’ve spent a lot of money on lessons and training aids as well as spending hours trawling through the internet. The training aids have mostly been a waste of money, and whilst I enjoy reading about golf technique online, I have to question if the negatives outweigh the positives? The problem with learning golf on the internet is that there is so much information, much of it contradictory or written by inexperienced golfers, or people trying to sell their magical products. Try it yourself – google a common piece of golf advice, then google the exact opposite – both times you’ll get lots of hits. There’s been times on this site when I’ve read someone’s detail swing advice, tried to apply what they are saying, then realised later that they are >30 handicap. I’m pretty sure even I’ve been handing out swing advice ;-) The real danger of the internet is the self diagnosis of swing flaws. You read about sliding your hips, for example, and become convinced that it’s the reason you are still slicing, and if you can only slide your hips more you will be striping balls up the fairway. But what if it’s not? What if you spend hours trying to slide your hips when the real flaw is far more basic. You are wasting your valuable time and may even be making things worse. For me there is no substitute for the advice of a good teaching Pro. Many a time I’ve gone for a lesson filled with ideas from internet forums/ YouTube videos to cure a swing flaw – and the actual advice from the Pro is completely different and much more effective. Just my 2 cents

I have now purchased the TS 7 Pro which is apparently harder to hit with. My plan is to get my Pro to record me and see if it’s possible to ‘cheat’ with it as well. It may be that a ‘fat’ shot off a mat causes the ball to lift slightly meaning that a flip can still catch the sweet spot? Interested to see how other people are getting on with their Tour Strikers?

How Are You Finding Your Tour Striker? The whole premise around the TS is that you must have a forward leaning shaft is order to get the ball off the ground. - Nice ball flight = great impact position/ forward leaning shaft/ hitting down on the ball - Worm burner = poor impact position/ flipping I purchased the Tour Striker 8 (entry level). It’s a wonderful moment when you start hitting nice high shots and you think you’ve cracked it. Unfortunately it’s not quite as simple as that. My initial optimism waned significantly when my pro recorded me hitting a good shot and I saw that I was still flipping. My gut feeling is that it’s a pretty good training aid, but not quite as good as it’s made out to be. It will punish a bad swing but won’t force you to get into the perfect impact position. i.e. It doesn’t do what the infomercial tells you it will do

Sorry, should have said stroke play

My friends and I like to play golf by the rules. No mulligans, no 4ft gimmes, no foot wedges. Something we don’t do however is take a distance penalty when we have an unexpected lost ball. You know the one – what appears to be safely in play is nowhere to be found when you get up there. We just take a drop where we think the ball must have went into the rough. Note – not on the fairway, but not in the deep stuff either! Obviously this aint exactly R&A; rules but no one wants to run back 200 yards to retake their shot. I suspect that this must be the most common rule breach amongst guys who otherwise play by the rules. Interested to see what the poll says..

It's very common for private clubs in Scotland to prohibit members from changing in the car park, even just your shoes. You have to do it in the changing rooms..

- American’s who shout ‘get in the hole’ after every shot on TV (even a par 5 tee off). Seriously – why? - Guys who park in the disabled bay at the driving range so everyone gets to see their new BMW - A four ball that spends an inordinate amount of time looking for someone’s ball which is clearly lost and will have to be dropped even if found - The guy who does everything your golf pro says not to – and still beats you - When I chip the ball one inch - When I drive what appears to be a perfect shot up the fairway and the ball is nowhere to be found - Golf clubs that don’t let you change your shoes in the car park

"Everyone replaces his divot after a perfect approach shot."

What's your favourite? Mine is; 'A "gimme" can best be defined as an agreement between two golfers, neither of whom can putt very well." :-)

Courtesy of http://golflifelessons.com/ Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots - but you have to play the ball where it lies. - Bobby Jones One of the most fascinating things about golf is how it reflects the cycle of life. No matter what you shoot - the next day you have to go back to the first tee and begin all over again and make yourself into something. - Peter Jacobsen Bobby Jones Golf Quotes No-one will ever have golf under his thumb. No round ever will be so good it could not have been better. Perhaps this is why golf is the greatest of games. You are not playing a human adversary; you are playing a game. You are playing old man par. - Bobby Jones You swing your best when you have the fewest things to think about. - Bobby Jones Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots - but you have to play the ball where it lies. - Bobby Jones It is nevertheless a game of considerable passion, either of the explosive type, or that which burns inwardly and sears the soul. - Bobby Jones A leading difficulty with the average player is that he totally misunderstands what is meant by concentration. He may think he is concentrating hard when he is merely worrying. - Bobby Jones I never learned anything from a match that I won. - Bobby Jones Golf is assuredly a mystifying game. It would seem that if a person has hit a golf ball correctly a thousand times, he should be able to duplicate the performance at will. But such is certainly not the case. - Bobby Jones Many shots are spoiled at the last instant by efforts to add a few more yards. - Bobby Jones The secret of golf is to turn three shots into two. - Bobby Jones The best exercise for golfers is golfing. - Bobby Jones The moment the average golfer attempts to play from long grass or a bunker or from a difficult lie of any kind, he becomes a digger instead of a swinger. - Bobby Jones Golf is said to be a humbling game, but it is surprising how many people are either not aware of their weaknesses or else reckless of consequences. - Bobby Jones Rhythm and timing are the two things which we all must have, yet no one knows how to teach either. - Bobby Jones You might as well praise a man for not robbing a bank as to praise him for playing by the rules. - Bobby Jones One reason golf is such an exasperating game is that a thing we learned is so easily forgotten, and we find ourselves struggling year after year with faults we had discovered and corrected time and again. - Bobby Jones In order to win, you must play your best golf when you need it most, and play your sloppy stuff when you can afford it. I shall not attempt to explain how you achieve this happy timing. - Bobby Jones I get as much fun as the next man from whaling the ball as hard as I can and catching it squarely on the button. But from sad experience I learned not to try this in a round that meant anything. - Bobby Jones I always like to see a person stand up to a golf ball as though he were perfectly at home in its presence. - Bobby Jones The best exercise for golfers is golfing. - Bobby Jones Arnold Palmer Golf Quotes How did I make a twelve on a par five hole? It's simple. I missed a four-foot putt for an eleven. - Arnold Palmer It's a funny thing, the more I practice the luckier I get. - Arnold Palmer I never rooted against an opponent, but I never rooted for him either. - Arnold Palmer I've always made a total effort, even when the odds seemed entirely against me. I never quit trying; I never felt that i didn't have a chance to win. - Arnold Palmer What other people may find in poetry or art museums, I find in the flight of a good drive. - Arnold Palmer Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening - and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented. - Arnold Palmer Concentration comes out of a combination of confidence and hunger. - Arnold Palmer Jack Nicklaus Golf Quotes Don't be too proud to take a lesson. I'm not. - Jack Nicklaus Nobody ever remembers who finished second at anything. - Jack Nicklaus A kid grows up a lot faster on the golf course. Golf teaches you how to behave. - Jack Nicklaus Professional golf is the only sport where, if you win 20 percent of the time, you're the best. - Jack Nicklaus It takes hundreds of good golf shots to gain confidence, but only one bad one to lose it. - Jack Nicklaus A perfectly straight shot with a big club is a fluke. - Jack Nicklaus Golf is not, and never has been, a fair game. - Jack Nicklaus If there is one thing I have learned during my years as a professional, it is that the only thing constant about golf is its inconstancy. - Jack Nicklaus Keeping the head still is golf's one universal, unarguable fundamental. - Jack Nicklaus When you lip out several putts in a row, you should never think that means that you're putting well. When you're putting well, the only question is what part of the hole it's going to fall in, not if it's going in. - Jack Nicklaus When I want a long ball, I spin my hips faster. - Jack Nicklaus Ben Hogan Golf Quotes As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round. - Ben Hogan Like most professional golfers, I have a tendency to remember my poor shots a shade more vividly than the good ones. - Ben Hogan I don't like the glamour. I just like the game. - Ben Hogan I play with friends, but we don't play friendly games. - Ben Hogan This is a game of misses. The guy who misses the best is going to win. - Ben Hogan A shot that goes in the cup is pure luck, but a shot to within two feet of the flag is skill. - Ben Hogan I never played a round when I didn't learn something new about the game. - Ben Hogan I have found the game to be, in all factualness, a universal language wherever I traveled at home or abroad. - Ben Hogan All other things being equal, greens break to the west. - Ben Hogan The most important shot in golf is the next one. - Ben Hogan Sam Snead Golf Quotes Forget your opponents; always play against par. - Sam Snead Nobody asked how you looked, just what you shot. - Sam Snead Never let up. The more you can win by, the more doubts you put in the other players' minds the next time out. - Sam Snead There is an old saying: if a man comes home with sand in his cuffs and cockleburs in his pants, don't ask him what he shot. - Sam Snead Of all the hazards, fear is the worst. - Sam Snead Lee Trevino Golf Quotes There is no such thning as a natural touch. touch is something you create by hitting millions of golf balls. - Lee Trevino Show me a golfer who doesn't have a mean streak, and I'll show you a weak competitor. - Lee Trevino Putts get real difficult the day they hand out the money. - Lee Trevino You don't know what pressure is until you play for five bucks with only two bucks in your pocket. - Lee Trevino Harry Vardon Golf Quotes For this game you need, above all things, to be in a tranquil frame of mind. - Harry Vardon Don't play too much golf. Two rounds a day are plenty. - Harry Vardon Never concede the putt that beats you. - Harry Vardon Dr. Bob Rotella Golf Quotes Golf is about how well you accept, respond to, and score with your misses much more so than it is a game of your perfect shots. - Dr Bob Rotella A golfer has to train his swing on the practice tee, then trust it on the course. - Dr Bob Rotella Hit the shot you know you can hit, not the one you think you should. - Dr. Bob Rotella Miscelaneous Golf Quotes Remember that someone, somewhere, is practicing, and when you meet him he will win. - Edward Macauley Every shot counts. The three-foot putt is as important as the 300-yard drive. - Henry Cotton A lot of guys who have have never choked, have never been in the position to do so. - Tom Watson Victory is everything. You can spend the money, but you can never spend the memories. - Ken Venturi Mulligan: invented by an Irishman who wanted to hit one more twenty yard grounder. - Jim Bishop Why am I using a new putter? Because the last one didn't float too well. - Craig Stadler You know what they say about big hitters...the woods are full of them. - Jimmy Demaret The mind messes up more shots than the body. - Tommy Bolt It's good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling. - Mark Twain Golf is a science, the study of a lifetime, in which you can exhaust yourself but never your subject. - David Forgan Golf is golf. You hit the ball, you go find it. Then you hit it again. - Lon Hinkle One of the most fascinating things about golf is how it reflects the cycle of life. No matter what you shoot - the next day you have to go back to the first tee and begin all over again and make yourself into something. - Peter Jacobsen Golf is the loneliest sport. You're completely alone with every conceivable opportunity to defeat yourself. Golf brings out your assets and liabilities as a person. The longer you play, the more certain you are that a man's performance is the outward manifestation of who, in his heart, he really thinks he is. - Hale Irwin Golf is like a chain. You always have to work on the weakest links. - George Archer Golf is a game you can never get too good at. You can improve, but you can never get to where you master the game. - Gay Brewer Golf is the only sport I know of where a player pays for every mistake. A man can muff a serve in tennis, miss a strike in baseball, or throw an incomplete pass in football and still have another chance to square himself. In golf, every swing counts against you. - Lloyd Mangrum Golf is a compromise between what your ego wants you to do, what experience tells you to do, and what your nerves let you do. - Bruce Crampton Golf isn't a game it's a choice that one makes with one's life. - Charles Rosin Golf is very healthy; it is better to swat pills than to swallow them. - Ted Osborne The woods are full of long drivers. - Harvey Penick Every golfer scores better when he learns his capabilities. - Tommy Armour You must work very hard to become a natural golfer. - Gary Player If you try to fight the course, it will beat you. - Lou Graham The mind messes up more shots than the body. -Tommy Bolt Be decisive. A wrong decision is generally less disastrous than indecision. - Bernhard Langer Keep your sense of humor. There's enough stress in the rest of your life not to let bad shots ruin a game you're supposed to enjoy. - Amy Alcott Hitting the ball is the fun part of it, but the fewer times you hit the ball the more fun you have. - Lou Graham Most people play a fair game of golf - if you watch them. - Joey Adams For this game you need, above all things, to be in a tranquil frame of mind. - Harry Vardon A routine is not a routine if you have to think about it. - Davis Love Jr. A man who can putt is a match for anyone. - Willie Park The better you putt, the bolder you play. - Don January Missing a short putt does not mean you have to hit your next drive out of bounds. - Henry Cotton Whatever anyone may care to say about golf, at least one thing is mercifully certain, namely it is a voluntary affair. - Henry Longhurst The proper score for a businessman golfer is 90. If he is better than that he is neglecting his business. If he's worse, he's neglecting his golf. - St Andrews Rotary Club Member I just try to put it on the fairway, then the green and not three putt. - Peter Thompson I've heard people say putting is 50 percent technique and 50 percent mental. I really believe it is 50 percent technique and 90 percent positive thinking, see, but that adds up to 140 percent, which is why nobody is 100 percent sure how to putt. - Chi Chi Rodriguez A good player who is a great putter is a match for any golfer. A great hitter who cannot putt is a match for no one. - Ben Sayers When a putter is waiting his turn to hole out a putt of one or two feet in length, on which the match hangs at the last hole, it is of vital importance that he think of nothing. At this supreme moment he ought to fill his mind with vacancy. He must not even allow himself the consolation of religion. - Sir Walter Simpson (The Art of Golf) The better you putt, the bolder you play. - Don January A tap-in is a putt that is short enough to be missed one-handed. - Henry Beard I have come to think that a person grows in his regard for the rules as he improves his game. The best players come to love golf so much they hate to see it violated in any way. - Michael Murphy (extract from 'Golf in the Kingdom') In golf, a player can step and mar the line of his adversary's putt. A player can also hit his adversary or his caddie intentionally with his ball and claim the hole - but it isn't usually done. - Charles B. Macdonald (1898) Forget the last shot. It takes so long to accept that you can't always replicate your swing. The only thing you can control is your attitude toward the next shot. - Mark McCumber Out here, it's just you and the ball. - Mike Weir I've spent most of my life golfing - the rest I've just wasted. - Unknown A "gimme" can best be defined as an agreement between two golfers, neither of whom can putt very well. - Unknown "The meek may inherit the the earth, but they'll never reach the green in two." -graham allebaugh Miscelaneous Golf Quotes - Source Unknown (If you know who said, please tell us know and we'll give them credit) Don't buy a putter until you've had a chance to throw it. Never try to keep more than 300 separate thoughts in your mind during your swing. When your shot has to carry over a water hazard, you can either hit one more club or two more balls. If you're afraid a full shot might reach the green while the foursome ahead of you is still putting out, you have two options: you can immediately shank a lay-up or you can wait until the green is clear and top a ball halfway there. The less skilled the player, the more likely he is to share his ideas about the golf swing. No matter how bad you are playing, it is always possible to play worse. The inevitable result of any golf lesson is the instant elimination of the one critical unconscious motion that allowed you to compensate for all of your many other errors Everyone replaces his divot after a perfect approach shot. A golf match is a test of your skill against your opponents' luck. It is surprisingly easy to hole a fifty foot putt . For a 10. Counting on your opponent to inform you when he breaks a rule is like expecting him to make fun of his own haircut. Nonchalant putts count the same as chalant putts It's not a gimme if you're still away. The shortest distance between any two points on a golf course is a straight line that passes directly through the center of a very large tree. You can hit a two acre fairway 10% of the time and a two inch branch 90% of the time. If you really want to get better at golf, go back and take it up at a much earlier age. Since bad shots come in groups of three, a fourth bad shot is actually the beginning of the next group of three. When you look up, causing an awful shot, you will always look down again at exactly the moment when you ought to start watching the ball if you ever want to see it again. Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of the universe. If you want to hit a 7 iron as far as Tiger Woods does, simply try to lay up just short of a water hazard. To calculate the speed of a player's downswing, multiply the speed of his back-swing by his handicap; i.e., back-swing 20 mph, handicap 15, downswing = 300 mph. There are two things you can learn by stopping your back-swing at the top and checking the position of your hands: how many hands you have, and which one is wearing the glove. Hazards attract; fairways repel. A ball you can see in the rough from 50 yards away is not yours. If there is a ball on the fringe and a ball in the bunker, your ball is in the bunker. If both balls are in the bunker, yours is in the footprint It's easier to get up at 6:00 AM to play golf than at 10:00 to mow the yard A good drive on the 18th hole has stopped many a golfer from giving up the game. Golf is the perfect thing to do on Sunday because you always end up having to pray a lot. A good golf partner is one who's always slightly worse than you are....that's why I get so many calls to play with friends. If there's a storm rolling in, you'll be having the game of your life. Golf balls are like eggs. They're white. They're sold by the dozen. And you need to buy fresh ones each week. It's amazing how a golfer who never helps out around the house will replace his divots, repair his ball marks, and rake his sand traps. If your opponent has trouble remembering whether he shot a six or a seven, he probably shot an eight (or worse). It takes longer to learn to be a good golfer than it does to become a brain surgeon. On the other hand, you don't get to ride around on a cart, drink beer, eat hot dogs and fart if you are performing Brain Surgery !!!!

I had a bit of a eureka moment 2 weeks ago when midway through a round I decided to do something a bit crazy with my driver....hit the ball with my normal swing! ;-) I’ve been playing for about 3 years and it’s only been in the last 6 months that I’ve been able to use my driver on the course at all. However, the only way I could keep it straight was to do some weird looking drop at the top of my swing. This resulted in about 2 out of 5 drives hitting on or near the fairway, which was an improvement. In the past I would even swing with my right foot back so as to have a more in-to-out line. So, about 2 weeks my driving was particularly bad and I was losing balls all over the place. Realising it couldn’t get any worse I decided to just swing as if I was using my trusty 3 hybrid RBZ. No weird drop, no right foot back – just a normal swing back and through the ball. The result – easily the best drive (and best looking technically) I’d ever hit, and that’s including on the range . Without even trying to hit the ball hard I absolutely ripped it up the fairway. I’ve played 4 times since and my drives have been fantastic (for my level!). I can’t wait to get on the tee now where before I would think about leaving my driver in the bag. My conclusion – I was guilty of giving the driver too much respect and putting it on a pedestal. It’s just a longer club with a much bigger sweet spot. So if you’re like me and either scared of your driver or trying some unique perculiar swing to keep it on the fairway, just get up there and swing normally like it’s your favourite club in the bag.

Thanks for this gents!

Thanks, I'll give those ideas a try

I had the shanks recently and on examination my pro told me that I was leaning forward during the downswing. He said I was too much on my toes at impact and should try to be more balanced. This is also evident with my right heel coming up early. I’m looking for some advice as to how I correct this. It’s said that if you want to make a change to your swing then you have to go from one extreme to the other i.e. to correct a slice you should try to draw the ball instead rather than simply try to hit the ball straight. Consequently I have tried swinging with my weight on my heels. Obviously this isn’t a long term solution, but trying to stay on the balls of my feet isn’t working. What’s your thoughts on this approach? Any other good drills to improve balance?

It's been brought to my attention that at some point during my swing a gap is appearing between my interlocked hands. It's hard to describe exactly where but basically below my pinky on my right hand. Does anyone have has idea of what could be causing this? Is it likely to just be grip pressure or am I setting up with my right hand too low down? I.e. Should it be more on top of the left hand at setup to give a stronger, more connected grip? I suffer from block shots and I'm wondering if this could be caused by the club moving slightly in my hands..

Martin Chuck (TS Inventor) actually wrote on GolfWRX "A lot of people like the regular TS, I'm just a fan of the TS Pro because it is harder. I tell people, if they have the patience, get the Pro model".

As a pretty consistent flipper, I purchased a Tour Striker 8 (the entry level TS) 6 months ago. It didn't take too long before I was hitting nice high shots instead of the worm burners I started out with. It felt good knowing that I was finally hitting down on the ball. However a few weeks ago I got my teaching pro to record me using the TS. To my disappointment, despite hitting the ball high off what was a hard mat, I definitely didn't have a forward leaning shaft. My hands were above the ball at best, and may actually have been a tiny bit behind. There's no doubt that the TS is a great concept and may be the best training aid out there, but my advice is to get the TS Pro 7. The TS 8 is clearly harder to hit with than a normal club and will point you in the right direction, but if you want the reassurance that your hands were ahead of the ball, get the Pro version.

http://golf.about.com/od/golftips/ss/club_throwing.htm "The idea of club throwing is not mine. Sixty of my closest friends and I learned this phenomenal experience from Fred Shoemaker, the author, golf instructor and founder of the golf school, Extraordinary Golf. Club-throwing was just a small part of the workshop with Fred, but very empowering. Throwing clubs empowers you to feel and be aware of your movement and tempo. And it's yours. Some people can't put the feeling into words, but after some practice they know their swing and own it." I have now had the opportunity to practice this drill on my own and I really think this will be a turning point for me. I have struggled with casting, loss of lag etc since I took up golf over 2 years ago. Now when I throw the club down the line I know what the swing should feel like - what my swing should feel like. The above paragraph really sums ups my thoughts on this drill. Try it ;-)

Thanks

It something I'm definitely going to continue doing. The hard part is finding somewhere where you can throw clubs without breaking windows or injuring dog-walkers! Any advice or suggestions would be welcome! e.g. is there a safer implement to use rather than a steel club?!

Has anyone tried the drill where you literally throw the club away? How did you find it? My golf pro had me try it the other night. Basically you swing without a ball and instead focus on throwing the club. The object is to release the club at the impact position and try to throw the club low and straight. Anyone who scoops or casts the club (even just slightly) will throw the club high and left. I picked this up quite quickly and was amazed when I looked at the video comparisons. Where before I would cast the club early, when I threw the club low and straight I had lag like Tiger Woods and an absolutely perfect impact position (albeit without a ball ). The intention then is to get the feeling of what this feels like, then try to slowly implement it into your actual swing.

I spend 6 months of the year abroad working in the oil industry. I use indoor balls (styrofoam not plastic!) and hit them off a mat in the squash court. You get a realiable ball flight and if you hit yourself in the back with the ball you know it was a good one! I also have a swing trainer club which has a short shaft and a weight on the end. It also has a moulded 'correct' grip. I bring it everywhere on my travels and its great for practicing in front of the mirror without the risk of putting your club head through the wall!

At the range last night I put a piece of tape 6" in front of the ball and also about 2" behind. Unfortunately I hit both! I was hoping to see evidence of a clean strike on the ball without hitting the mat first! i.e. I would only hit the tape in front of the ball! What does this say about my swing? Should I be concerned about hitting the tape behind the ball? Is it ok as long as I hit the tape 6" in front?

I put it directly in front of the ball on the target line. The object of the drill is to promote a downward strike on the ball, so I'm not too concerned about a swing path.