Golfs-for-Fun

Thinking about it I seem to remember this same problem the last time I stopped by here...bad advice that contradicts pretty much EVERY decent bit of instruction out there. Seems that this may have been the site where the local 'instructor' told me that he never 'instructs' his students to keep their eye on the ball. Its almost as though said instructor doesnt seem to comprehend that in keeping the eye the ball the brain is constantly taking in information and then is able to coordinate the whole body using that information. Probably why we dont play baseball with our eyes closed...just a hunch, however. And we wonder why some of us refuse to just jump on every little tidbit of 'instruction' tossed out on the web...

I guess the question would be do YOU know what 'accelerate' means? See, I own a Websters and unless EVERY golf teacher out there DOESNT own one, then 'accelerate' MEANS 'accelerate'. And I understand what you mean to say, but the FACT is that if you are trying to let off the gas just after impact then you are clearly TRYING to slow down....which is hardly conducive to hitting the ball very far. Thinking about accelerating THROUGH the ball keeps the mind and body focused on keeping the club head speed up rather than laying off the gas. I hardly am able to accelerate much more than impact speed after the ball...it is the fact that Im NOT SLOWING DOWN, as per the article on THIS WEBSITE, that is the POINT of 'accelerating THROUGH the ball'. If YOU and iacas choose to literallly let off the gas a millisecond after you think youve contacted the ball, that is for YOU to choose. I choose to do what most professional instructors have said and what THIS WEBSITE has stated pretty clearly. Making sense yet? Argue with THIS guy, not me.

Quote: You've missed the point yet again. Your childishness, as last time I stopped by here, is becoming boring. This time around Im not letting you draw me in...sorry. I accelerate thru the ball AS PER a huge number of PROFESSIONAL instructors , and apparently sources from THIS website , and you really neednt concern yourself about it. What Im doing works for ME and thats all that matters....Period. Quote: Number One: Step on It There is no shot in golf that should be hit with a slowing clubhead . In other words, the clubhead should always accelerate through the ball . From drives, to chips, to wedge shots, to putts, the clubhead should accelerate on each. (I think this might be the only inarguable point in the bunch here.) http://thesandtrap.com/b/trap_five/my_nearly_indisputable_truisms_of_golf So...we done here?

Quote: Originally Posted by lumpuckeroo Tiger tapes his fingers for every tournament, so I would say there are no rules. cool, thanks :-) I thought I had read or seen that somewhere that some big player used tape. He still uses a glove too, right? My game has definitely become better since I stopped trying to force myself to wear a glove. Ive tried a few of them and its just so uncomfortable that I cant stop focusing on the glove and my hand. Not sure what the difference is with using tape instead...likely just a mental thing. Quote: No idea about the rules but I would think that athletic tape would lessen the feel of pitch/chip shots and in putting. Doesnt seem to be so far. Maybe because Ive only got the tape on two fingers of each hand and only one piece on each. Just enough to help with gripping the club. I'd probably notice pretty quick if something was making my putting worse because I just got to where I can putt pretty decently...lots of one and two putts instead 3 and 4s....and my short game around the green has been really good from pretty early on for some reason. Something about it seems to just come natural. Wish the hell it was like that off the tee box :-D

too much forward lean isnt a problem. Again, not really sure why 'acceleration thru the ball' is meant to say 'swinging fast'. If I swing at 28 mph I could STILL be 'accelerating thru the ball' at that speed. If anything my swing looks pretty slow. Club head speed for a 6 iron is around 80mph...certainly not breaking any traffic laws. And I never try to literally 'smash' the ball. The only reference Ive made to doing something like that was to help someone in the mental game as a 'distraction' to keep them from thinking about otehr guys watching them take their shot. Im doing what works for me and certain am NOT interested in changing things again for previously stated reasons. While I appreciate the effort it takes to type up a post, I already know what happens when I take random snippets of advice from internet sources. My swing is working just fine for me currently. I have distance and I have control. One shot being off the fairway due to a bit of a push and a hell of a lot of wind in 9 holes is pretty damned good for someone only playing 6 months.

I hate gloves. I really do. I have a glove that was about $30 sitting here and as much as I want to love it I hate it. Ive tried a number of them and its not the fit, it fits great, very comfortable, I just hate the feeling of the glove on my hand. Ive played with and without and it doesnt seem to make any real difference. My grips are all new and have a very tacky feel to them, so Im guessing that is the reason. Anyway, stepfather plays a lot and he suggested using athletic tape instead. I gave it a shot and absolutely love it. My hand doesnt feel trapped and I can feel the club better and the tape keeps my fingers from getting sore after 200 balls on the range. But my question is that are there any rules about tape being used...or the kind of tape? The reason is that this tape I picked up is also VERY tacky/rubbery to the feel and I know for sure that its helping me hold onto the club better than I would without it..and maybe even better than a white golf glove. Are their rules for tape and if so where would I find those rules?

Concerning 'accelerating THROUGH the ball', I'd like to offer a quote; Based on my experience the last 6 months, I agree wholeheartedly with the view above.

Which reminds me. I was on a long ass par 5 and my approach shot to the green was pretty much perfect as far as distance, but the wind carried the ball to the right of the green into a bunker. No biggie as far as I was concerned seeing that if the wind hadnt kicked up I would have been on in 3 using a 5 wood off the tee and two 7 wood fairway shots....but that damned bunker had a small backhoe sitting next to it. When I got up to where my ball should have been in the bunker I realize they had a HUGE hole dug out of the bunker and it was filled with water all the way and there pretty much was no sand to be seen where my ball was. The guy I was playing with said this was a free drop because of the construction, but I didnt see anything on a sign anywhere. Would this be the case if the bunker was filled with water because they were working on the underground water lines under that bunker?

I probably am being too defensive, Im sure iacas can fill you in on that little bit. Nope, didnt shoot par...not sure what my score was as I was just working on my long game and didnt putt most of the holes. I started putting after the two guys asked me to join up with them, got bogeys on the holes I did score. What I meant was that I played 9 holes.....my wording was definitely poorly chosen. I was thinking more about each 9 being 36 strokes normally. My bad on that point. What my point was that out of the whole 9 holes I only had one shot go off a fairway, which isnt too damned bad. Now that I think about it the comment I made was absolutlely stupid considering the fact that out of the 36 strokes for 9 holes 18 of them would be putts and not likely to be off of the fairway anyway :-D Lets put it that in 9 holes I had one ball go off the fairway. The rest were all in the fairway. Next time I'll have to make sure to insert the brain before posting :-D

Just tossing out my experience, please disregard if it doesnt apply to your situation. I spent a few months doing the routine of changing my grip, changing my stance, getting the left arm straight, changing the grip again, speeding my swing up, slowing it down, etc, etc, etc, etc. Many of these changes came by suggestions and advice of different people and articles and pretty much ALL of them ended up with slicing, hooking, pushes and pulls, fat shots, thin shots and a overwhelming desire to toss the whole goddam bag into the pond. Everytime I got back to the basics and forgot all that cereal filler my ball would start flying straight again. Heres what *I* have noticed. When I push its because my hands got too far ahead of the clubface at impact and the face was open. When pull its because the clubface got too far ahead of my hands at impact and the face was closed. The ONLY thing *I* do to keep from pushing and pulling is work at getting the timing right at impact and making sure my hands are not too far ahead or behind the ball. Now, for sure, someone will disagree with my assessment of pushing and pulling, but if you ever in my area (central Ohio) let me know and we can run out to the range and I can show you exactly what I mean. MY suggestion is that if you push the ball, trying to keep your hands from getting too far ahead of the club at impact. If you are pulling, try to keep the clubface from getting too far ahead of your hands at impact. *for me*, not saying a thing about anyone else here, this works EVERY single time. I rarely push or pull much anymore and I dont see a fade/slice or draw/hook at all since working on the timing and position at impact.

I know what you mean. I dont hit as hard as I 'can' either. I have hit a 7 iron 170 yards or so, but it isnt fun on my back, so I'll settle a 145 average yardage for the 7I. If I need to go further I'll pull a 9 wood out. High trajectory and plenty of distance. These guys I played with the last couple days were a bit funny. They clearly were trying to impress and so both of them nailed driver shot. One guys ball went left into the woods, the other guys ball went right into the woods and down into the creek. Me, I hit my 5 wood with a nice smooth swing and pretty much cut the fairway in half. A bit short because I had a hell of a head wind kick up, about 25 MPH at that point, so it stopped my ball a bit shorter than I wanted, but otherwise a fantastic shot. I'll take a 220 yard 5 wood shot down the middle of the fairway over risking putting my ball in the trees any day of the week. The one guy had to drop a ball, the other guy took two more strokes getting out of his mess. Me, I was on in 3 and ended up with 1 over for the hole on with my 2 putt on this 380yd par 4. I actually made my approach shot with a choked down 7 wood. Its a club I trust and am comfortable with. Ended up 8-10 feet from the hole on a pretty damned big green, so I was happy as hell. I think this hero mentality kills a lot of shots for these guys. They have to try to impress the other guys in the group by hitting that 6 iron 200 yards. The one guy told me he's been playing for 3 years. Three years and Im only at it for 6 months...over the winter even...havent even really been able to play much. But I play it safe and use a club that i dont have to kill myself with. 3 years hes been at it, and played 100 round of golf in the past year according to him...and he's blasting them off into the trees while a newbie is down the center. I can only imagine how good this guy would be if he'd stop trying to impress me with his driver and play a smart game instead.

The only two clubs I know pretty much for certain is my 7 wood (~180yds) and my 7 iron (~145yards). I dont carry a driver, only a 3 wood and up for now, and the only reason I know these two clubs is because they are the two I end up hitting most.

Now this is where my newbieness is going to show. What do you mean by 'transition' ? Im not familiar with many of the terms used. :-)

Well, obviously just starting 6 month ago, Im not hitting it 'as far as' I will someday, but here and now today in this span of time I am hitting plenty far enough, actually most of what Ive read says 180 is a very average distance for a 7 wood. Given that the shots are pretty much all straight and on target (no slices or hooks at all now, and only slight pushes/pulls and even that isnt much at all) Im content with where my long game is. I know how this goes. Someone gives me advice, I spend 6 weeks trying to 'figure it out' and end up pissed as hell and having to 'undo' it all which takes another 6 weeks. I played 9 holes on a pretty long course in the last couple days. Out of 36 strokes only one of them ended up off the fairway and the recovery shot for that one ended up on the green about 8-10 feet from the hole (196 yard par 3 from the whites). Frankly, I dont think that any change is going to make me hit much further than I am. I started playing at 46, Im out of shape, disabled to a decent extent, and have very little flexibility. Keeping the ball in the fairway and hitting the distance I do is good enough for me. All that will happen if I start taking advice again is my swing will get $#%#ed up again. Ive tried changing the timing and swing speed a number of times and this is what works great for me. That all said, EVERYONE is full of ideas and advice and in my short experience Ive noticed that the majority of it isnt worth bothering with unless a person is masochistic and just loves tormenting themselves. :-D