vvrinne

For anybody outside the US (like me). You can access the streams at cbssports.com and masters.com by going through a US proxy. There are several ways to achieve this. There are free proxies out there but most of the ones I have tried have been pretty saturated with users. There are several commercial companies that offer VPN services however that allow you to proxy all your traffic through their servers. Most companies have a server you can choose that is physically in the US. This enables you to bypass the IP-based checking on the sites. So if you absolutely positively have to be able to do this, it is not only technically feasible but quite easy. The downside is that these services cost something like 10-20$/month depending on the service.

Whatever his reasons I doubt it will be to show the world he can be #1 on both tours. Had he been a member of the ET he would have won the order of merit something like 6+ times in the last 9 years if I remember correctly. I think he would've been beaten only in 2003 and 2004. And this by participating in something like 7 tournaments compared to the usual 20-30 by the people that usually win the order of merit. Doesn't really leave much to prove I think

No it was in a local (finnish) golf magazine. I could scan the article but all of the text is in finnish so it probably would not benefit most of the people on the forum :) I'm not 100% sure if it originates from Hogan or not but that's what I remember. This drill combined with the idea of trying to feel the left arm pulling the club when rotating the upper body on the downswing have really been the keys for "de-activating" the arms in my swing. I still do it though, when ever I try to kill the ball but I'm sure it will get better with practice. I should correct my earlier post a bit that even though I saw results with this drill after just a few days it's not like it was an instant fix to all my problems :) There really is no substitute for practice practice practice.

The only thing that really matters afaik, is that you feel torqued up in your core muscles, like you said. Everybody can do a Daly move, but if they aren't doing it by rotating their body then it really has mainly a negative effect :)

I've been completely re-working my swing for the last 5 weeks now. Been seeing a pro once a week and practicing at the range/dome every day. In my new swing the arms are passive and the club is moved by rotation of the hips and the upper body. One major problem for me with this was that during the transition I was unable to begin the downswing from the hips and thus I ended up activating my arms which lead to all sorts of bad things. Anyways, I solved my problem by working on a drill that originates from Hogan if I am not mistaken. The idea is to do a little 1/5 of a swing by using only your hips to move the club. On the backswing the arms remain passive and the club is moved by rotating the hips (well really the hips force the torso, arms and the club to rotate). There is no left to right movement, you simply rotate around the center of gravity. You can easily generate enough power by this that the arms rotate the club and there is a little bit of wrist hinge at the "top" (remember the arms are completely passive, the wrist hinge occurs naturally). You then transition into the downswing by pushing your hips forward (they will basically then rotate backwards automatically). Again the torso, arms and club will follow the movement of the hips. It is also very easy to get a feel for how the proper weight shift should occur with this drill. After only a few days of doing this I had basically cured my problem of not being able to transition to the downswing without activating my arms. I think Hogan recommended that you do this drill for at least 3 hours every week. I have been doing it every day and see no reason to stop as it has helped me immensely. This might not help you if you swing the club by using your arms, but if you are doing that then you should really go see a pro and change your swing.

How do you know that he was using a 3/4 swing though? Maximum rotation allowed by a persons body should basically be different for everybody. Some people overdo this by moving the club further than their body will rotate by using their arms, but no additional power is gained by this (afaik). Activating the arms like that will also most likely lead to problems on the downswing with the arms racing in front of the body instead of following the rotation. So if Tommy Jacob had a shorter rotation than the other players how can you know whether that was the maximum his body would allow? A good rule of thumb for this in my opinion is that if you have to force it, it's probably not good. I also doubt that much will be gained by actively trying to prevent your body from rotating to your natural maximum since trying to control it will simply add complexity to what is basically a simple move. Somehow I can't help thinking that most amateurs think they have trouble hitting the ball because their rotation is too long when in fact they probably simply have timing issues and they are using their arms to move the club instead of their body.

Don't forget Charles Barkley

I completely agree about the plateaus. I was struggling to break 100 for a long time and within a time period of only a few weeks my game improved to a point where I had no trouble breaking 100 and actually played a couple of nines below 45. I only started playing the game this year so "a long time" is relative but the change from playing 105-110 to playing 95-100 occurred within a very short timespan compared to the time I was stuck in the 105-110 range. To me it felt like there was some kind of mental block in addition to my skills getting better. I remember feeling frustrated for a while because I wasn't performing as well on the course as I was feeling my swing develop. When the change occurred I went from being happy with a bogey and ok with a double-bogey to being happy with par and ok with a bogey.

Of course $144 000 in 1986 adjusted to inflation is about $260 000 today and $360 000 in 1987 about $638 000

Maybe the now wife-less golf addicts should hook up together, at least then you'd have a spouse that understands your addiction I have to agree that getting to an under 10 index in your first season takes some exceptional talent. Now that I think of it, I don't doubt that it's possible though. I got down to a 23 playing about 3-4 times a week (range or round), double or triple that practice and I probably would've gotten to 10-15, most likely closer to 15 and I truly do not consider myself gifted in any way that is useful for this game. There was an article in a local golfing magazine where the guy suggested that you chip 500 balls every day for 100 days. If you still can't chip after that you have then determined that you lack talent

I've actually been meaning to get fitted as well as I'm still swinging the stock Wilson's I bought with out ever touching a golf club before. Been wondering whether I should get fitted right away or wait till my new swing has stabilized. It kind of makes sense to get fitted right away since I'm changing my swing anyways but I'm not really sure :)

I've been hammering away at my new swing for about three weeks now. Right now I am starting to see results but the new swing doesn't really feel like my own. So mechanically I can do what I want to and I'm seeing results with it but I still have to force it. Obviously it will probably take all winter for my muscle memory to adapt to the new state of things. I am now swinging (or at least trying to) on a single plane and using my core muscles to move the club and drive the rotation of the torso. As a result I am now clearly seeing how weak those muscles actually are. So I definitely need some work strengthening my abs and lower back. Things have taken a pretty big leap forward this week as I have now begun to see real results. The first two weeks were pretty tough because after my swing "reboot" I was hitting the ball a lot worse than when I started my swing change. So for me it seems like two weeks of hitting the range (or the dome in my case) was enough to start seeing actual results. My day average was about 150 balls per day I think. Since I am putting strain on muscles I haven't been actively using before it probably would have been smarter to have a few rest days as well. I'm doing a daily stretching routine but that hasn't stopped my lower back from stiffening up. So from now on I will probably only hit the dome 5 times per week.

To be able to do this you have to be truly gifted. Most golfers never break 90 in their lifetime, not to mention being able to break 80 in 6 months. Most people should be happy if they are able to break 100 in their first season playing.

Here in Finland I know of only one course where the distances are not calculated to the center of the green but to the front of it instead. So I would imagine the correct answer is that they are almost always calculated to the center of the green.

It's full blown winter here in Finland and now that the season is over I've decided to undergo a swing change during the winter. I'm posting this hoping to hear from anybody who has undergone a drastic swing change. I begun playing golf this year, started early May. I took a two day course to start with just to get a feeling for the basics but have been working alone after that. I played about 80 rounds this year and have calculated that I've probably struck about 12 000 full swing shots. By the end of the year I got quite comfortable with my "homemade" swing and am now down to a 23 index. Even though I was steadily making progress I felt that I would probably reach a plateau with my swing and felt that unless I change it I would have a very difficult time in the future to improve further. I've now taken my first two lessons and have been working on my new swing for a couple of weeks. My swing has pretty much been totally rebooted and I am up to a point now where I cannot turn back as I can't really use my old style anymore. So if you want, please describe how your swing change went. Some interesting things would be: - How often did you take lessons? I am currently taking one lesson per week and am willing to keep this up for the whole winter season (about 4-5 months) if I have to. - How fast would you say that you progressed? How long would you estimate that it took for your new swing to feel like you could do it in your sleep? This probably varies depending on how big of a change you've undergone. Personally I feel like I am almost beginning from scratch. - How often did you practice between sessions with your instructor? So far I have been practicing every day and I feel like it's almost too much. The muscles in my lower back especially are very stiff. It's nothing I can't live with but I am wondering if it will have an adverse effect on my development. - How did you start your practice regime? I am wondering if I should be hitting like half-shots with a wedge for a month or what would be the most effective style of practicing the basics of my new swing. My current issue at the moment is to be able to use my hand less and be able to move the club by rotating around the spine. My old two plane swing required me to manipulate the club head with my wrists and in the new swing the arms need to be passive which is a big change. Any thoughts on this are appreciated. This is a hugely frustrating time for me and it would be nice to hear some swing change survival stories to be able to stay in a positive mood :)

Around where I live it rains often in the fall and this past fall has been especially wet. I wear glasses but for me just pulling a baseball cap down tight has mostly been sufficient for covering my glasses from the rain. Sometimes when the wind is acting up or the rain is some kind of weird misty drizzle there is no way to protect the glasses but most of the time the combination of a baseball cap and umbrella has been good enough for me.

I don't think game improvement irons really cover any swing faults. In my opinion a good shot can often be determined purely by feel and sound. Game improvement irons might make the ball end up where you want it more consistently, but you'll definitely feel and hear the bad shots. Personally I don't see much point in buying blades. As far as I know, most players on tour play with cavity backs. If they do it, I don't really know why anybody would choose otherwise. This would really only make sense to me for a person who doesn't have many challenges left in the game of golf and is striving to make the game more difficult. If this is your aim then why not. Of course with a high handicap this makes no sense either. I know a guy who switched to playing with lefty clubs after he got bored with the game. This makes no sense to me personally either, but who am I to judge :) Am I missing something or is it not the case that by switching to blades you are basically not gaining anything but stand to loose something, as the end results of your shots may become more inconsistent? If this is the case, what is the rationale in switching to blades? Other than the different look that is. One common sales argument seems to be that blades allow you to shape your shots more easily. I don't have enough information on this to know whether this is true or not since I don't attempt to shape my shots yet. What I've read about the mechanics of shot shaping don't really back this up, but I may be wrong. As far as playing the game goes I don't really see any rationale with switching to blades. Pimping up your gear is another thing. That's more in the deparment of "Should I shoot my pistol regular or gangsta style?" how ever. I agree that a person may be a better iron player than his handicap indicates. I began playing golf in May this year and now play to a 23 index. I have concentrated all my training so far on my iron play and driving and have really only gotten short game practice during the rounds I've played. My short game is not that bad but I think that with 50% of the practice time I've put in this year (about 10 hours/week + rounds played) I could probably knock about 5 shots off my index, based on my other stats. Obviously my focus for next year is on the short game, now that I've grown in confidence in driving and iron play (hey it only took about 15 000 shots!).

I don't think hitting of a mat is a big problem. You are supposed to hit the small ball first anyways, right? I doubt any serious golfer has a real problem recognizing when they've struck the golf ball cleanly based on the sound and feel alone. If it was just down to choosing between one or the other then I am sure I would rather hit off grass. For me it is a choice between driving 10 minutes to the closest range with mats or 35 minutes to the closest grass range, no contest. The ranges I frequent all have pretty new mats which are quite gentle on the arms in my opinion. Personally I haven't felt that practicing off a mat has caused any problems with my swing.

The winter is mighty cold here in Finland so I'm setting up a practice area in my garage as well. Bought a net for hitting into and a mat to hit off. Swinging a driver in the garage felt a little claustrophobic, even though there was enough room for it, so I think I'll just be sticking to irons. I'll probably try going to the dome once or twice a week as well so I can actually see where the balls are going :)

I've only been playing for 6 months, but have already had a handful of very close calls. Judging from my track record I have difficulty believing I won't eventually get hit :) I've played about 80 rounds and have had 4-5 encounters with the ball missing me by a few inches.

Since there is more than one reason why you might be slicing the ball I think it would be a good idea to figure out if you are swinging outside-in or if it is a problem with your release (or is there something else?). I started golf this spring and for the first few months was slicing the ball with my driver like there was no tomorrow. I gradually got rid of the slice and it hasn't been a problem for me in the last couple of months. For me the key was to concentrate on rotating my body and working on my release. I really have to actively concentrate on rotation (trying to get the left shoulder behind the ball) during the backswing when I'm driving. One thing that helped me in this department is lifting my chin a bit to have more room for the shoulder turn. As far as release goes I think that is something that takes some time to work out. I don't tend to get good results if I try to actively concentrate on release when I swing but it does help if I concentrate on it during my practice swings. Just my 2c, hope you are able to work it out. For an ex-slicer straight drives are one of the most rewarding things in golf :)