Ranger

Sometimes I get on as a single and get stuck with some dudes who bring along a half a rack of Budweiser on their cart. "Are you here to golf, or party?" I dunno...just bugs me. Another thing that bugs me is I sometimes play with a good friend who has a simply awful swing. Really bad. Charles Barkley bad. He has no idea where the ball is going (if he actually hits it). But what bugs me about this is he will set up and stand over the ball for an eternity like he's doing Transcendental Meditation or something...then he'll look at the target...at the ball....at the target...at the ball....pause..................look again.......... pause...... (you get the idea.) I'm standing there thinking to myself "good grief, what the heck are you doing....you have no idea where that thing is going!!! Just hit the ball so you can get another one out of your bag!!!" Then after all that production.... swing!! And the ball goes about 17 yards and I have to sit through the whole process again, only this time he intensifies his concentration. Oh well,, I guess that's what friends are for. (but it still annoy's me)

This very painful injury may be a real blessing in disguise. My pain was under my left pectoral muscle and hurt like hell. When I coughed it felt like I injured it all over again Don't even mention sneezing. I did a lot of research into this injury. It's the muscle tissue between the ribs and takes a long time to heal because just about anything we do flexes those small tender muscles,...like breathing. I suspected I got the injury because of a faulty swing. I am trying to learn this game at age 58. Been a hacker in past years but now I am trying to learn the way it's suppose to be played, and I may have stumbled (injured myself) into a very good lesson. I am a big strong guy and naturally I was depending on arm strength to do the job in my swing. This is what caused my injury. My upper body strength actually was what hurt me, in my opinion. It hurt so bad that I had to take some time off until I felt like I could risk it again. Today I went back to the driving range realizing I could not repeat what I was doing before. I really concentrated this time on proper shoulder turn keeping my left arm close in to my rib area, and using a good hip turn to lead my shoulders through the swing with my arms following along instead of doing the leading. All the posts on this web site and videos were a great help in getting me to realize what I was doing wrong. But it took this injury to make me attempt to really put it in practice. I simply did't have a choice anymore. I had to change the way I used my arms. I have to say the results are great. I used to shank a lot of balls, and was way too short on distance before. (even though I thought I was really smacking it...ha ha..) Anyway, this time using proper technique ( at least more proper than before) and not really using my arms at all,.. I not only did not shank anything, but was hitting the ball about 30 yards further. But the best part!! I did not re-injure my chest wall. Some tips that I kept in mind were the one about keeping a glove pinned under your left armpit throughout the swing, and one video where the instructor taught to think of slinging a heavy medicine ball out in front of you, with the idea that you would never use just your arms for this, but would utilize your whole body beginning with your hips and using the arms/hands only to grasp the ball slinging in out. There was a lot more I looked at the related to shoulder and hip turn etc,.. and it all helped tremendously. I think I am finally on the right track...(the hard way)

I think the consensus is it would be a great tool for someone who is trying to make some changes to improve their game or you might say "groove" that new swing. I think it would be a great tool for staying flexible and in swing shape for some of us older dudes. If one is trying to make a mechanical change for the better in their swing I would think (like others here) that ball flight is not so crucial at first as long as you know that change you are working on is proper improvement. It seems to me that when you are trying to improve lets say (angle of shoulders) during swing....that at first it may throw ball flight way off even though you are making improvement with the shoulders. If at the range, you actually may be fooled into thinking that the adjustment you just made is the wrong one as the ball burns thru the grass? I think the hitting net would be great "learning" tool (with a camera) and in conjunction with going to the range at least weekly. I need to check into getting one myself. JMHO.

Okay, okay... I made the proper adjustment to my handicap. I thought it was a hoped for score. I have no idea what it actually is. I just got back into golfing after about a 14 year layoff. I haven't even been keeping score. Just working on my game. I really want to do this thing right this time although my flexibility is not near what it used to be. Years ago when I was golfing frequently my best scores were in the low 90's with a mid to low 80's thrown in here and there. Lessons may be in the near future, but a set of new clubs...probably not quite yet $$$. I am 6-3 and just picked up a set of used clubs that are fairly modern good set and are a bit longer than the standard length. They feel pretty good. I will try and post a video soon, and am looking forward to the input. So far I have made great progress and feel I am on the right track. I am 58 but still in very good shape and have always been athletic and able to make the adjustments that are required. Thanks, and video coming soon.

I am just an amateur and I am sure you will get some better advice from others, but overall I think you are way ahead than most people with your experience. You are blessed with a very good natural swing that only has to be fine tuned IMHO. You shoulder turn looks great. I wished I had that kind of flexibility. The only thing that I might say is that you look a little tense at your initial setup. You might try relaxing just a bit more, and you just may get even more club speed out of that nice swing. Have fun!

In response to NAMKRATS posting.....Funny that you brought this up on this thread about using the "same swing" with your driver. I had the same problem you are having. Even on my practice swing, with the driver I could see the club head track a bit out and then come in producing a great big slice. The reason I say funny you should bring this up on this thread is because learning that the driver swing should be the same swing as the irons is what helped me cure this. I am assuming that you don't have this problem with your irons. Okay, go to the range and study your iron swing. Observe what your club is doing throughout the swing, especially the back swing. Look at how you do your take away especially the angle of the club head throughout the back swing and then do the same with your driver and compare. For me, one thing I was doing with my driver that I wasn't with the irons is I was rolling my wrists over to the right way too much on the take away with the driver. When I stopped doing that, right away I noticed my club head was tracking in a straight line through the ball instead of an outside in track. I was shocked to hear Jack Nicklaus say that all his swings were the same with irons and his driver. So I went to driving range and did this exercise and my driving took a giant leap forward. My problem now is transferring it to the golf course. (working on that). Anyway, it felt really weird at first to swing my driver the same way as my irons, but I couldn't argue with the results. I was so excited with the results I had a hard time sleeping that night. Good luck and hoping for more sleepless nights.

I just watched that video that playbridgestone just posted, and it really made sense. I especially liked the medicine ball analogy that Clement used. That really brought it home for me. I kinda knew about this concept of using the arms as simply a conduit for the rest of the body and pivot point etc., but this really helped. If you were trying to heave a medicine ball as far as you could, you would not use just your arms to do it. You would have to use your entire body as a means to get your arms swinging to sling the ball outward. Bingo!! Thanks for posting it.

I am a somewhat beginning golfer. I have played on and off over the years never giving it a real serious effort. But now I am and I have a problem that I am trying to overcome. The problem is transferring my perfect practice swing to the real thing. When I do my warm up swings everything feels great and the people I am golfing with tell me what a nice swing I have. Then I set up to hit the ball and I revert to all my old bad habits, with predictable results. Even after I hit the ball and I have to yell our "Fore!!!!!" because the ball is coming back at us ,.. I know what I did wrong and repeat the process over again. Great warm up swing, and then right back to my old swing falling back on my heels etc... Okay, I know how to swing properly, so this must be simply a mental thing. Is it just a matter of spending enough time on the driving range that I develop the proper habits? I do much better on the range. But as soon as it actually counts, I fall apart. Right now, my plans are just to keep practicing on the range to try and groove a proper stroke.

What I really meant about the "open face" is actually when I am about 1/4 of way into my back swing I had rolled my wrists to the right too much at the initial take away causing the face to point skyward at the 1/4 point. But you are right, when it is at top of back swing it actually pointed downward, not skyward. My bad. But my original point is the same, I was rolling my wrists too much to the right on the take away (with the driver). Correcting this, had dramatic results.. (for me).

I feel your pain and I would like to offer some thoughts. Did not read ALL the posts so sorry if I say something repetitive. First of all you need to realize that your baseball history may be partly to blame as a source of the problem. Two completely different swings. When you do learn to really groove your golf swing by habit, you will not be able to swing a baseball bat anymore. LOL! Anyway, I had same problem that you are having. I could hit my irons very straight most of the time, but with my driver I had a big slice no matter what I tried. Then I watched a Jack Nicklaus video where he explained that all his swings from 9 iron thru his driver were exactly "the same swing." He just was a bit further away from the ball on his longer clubs. So...... I went out to the range with that in mind. After some careful experimenting I began to realize that when I took my back swing with my driver I was rolling my wrist to the right just a bit producing a more open club face on my take away. I didn't think I was doing that until I tried a normal back swing with the driver and froze my swing at the top. Sure enough, my club face was facing a bit towards the sky unlike with my irons. So I then began to concentrate on taking my back swing with the driver exactly like I did with my irons. I had to literally watch my club on the take away to make sure the club face was facing the same on all my strokes. This was a very subtle change that made a huge difference. It completely changed my driving. Even though this was my natural swing with my irons, it felt very awkward to swing this way with my driver!! Remember, it is the same swing. It also helped me to stand more upright and with my hands a bit closer to my body (just as we do with our irons). For some reason, when we pick up that driver our whole thought about our swing goes haywire and we develop a entire new swing for that big boy. It's just another golf club, only a little longer. Final thought.... your baseball swing may be making it near impossible to keep your left arm locked straight during the swing. If so, this is something you must be aware of and correct. Good luck.

I just started playing again after a 12 year pause. And right away I got this same injury. A sharp pain that is centered right below and to the left of my left nipple. I can't even cough it hurts so bad. Feels like broken ribs, but I know it's injured muscles from swinging the clubs. I am pretty sure it is because I was using mostly my arms to drive. There is no way I am going to stop playing for a few months. I am going to give it some rest for 10 days or so and then go to the range and concentrate on using my body instead of my arms to drive the ball. Hoping for the best, as this thing is killing me. How much Ibuprofen can I take without risking problems? Help!!! I got the golf jones's real bad!!