Augusta Hacker

Just wanted to update this thread. I haven't played much the past month but I got a chance to play Sunday and have been working hard on extending my driver distance. This is what I did.....I lowered the tee height until the top of the ball was just about at the top of the club. Normally, I would have half the ball over the top of the club. Also, I made a slight swing adjustment that I picked up from watching a PLFP with Anthony Kim. Normally, I would lift my left heel slightly off the ground and concentrating on a hip turn. I stopped doing that and kept my lower body quiet while concentrating on a full shoulder turn over my right foot. The results, average drive was probably 280....big increase over the 250-260 I have been at. Drive through several dog legs and over 1 par 4, these drives were at or over 300 yards. My playing partners could not believe it and neither could I. I knew that I had it in me but not at that consistency. I was straight and long...and blew by my group. Since I haven't played much...I shot a 92. However, it was one of those days where I missed several putts by less than an inch...missed the read/speed or just left it just short. Could have very easily been mid to low 80s with a few breaks. Plus I tripled 18 on a poor choice by me. Conclusion, I don't need to read all these danged magazines telling me to tee the ball up higher and moving the ball forward to achieve more distance.....keep the ball in the face of the club and swing away. Thanks for all the replies and help on this thread! PS. I recommend watching PLFP with Anthony Kim. Very good advice.

Hey Dub.....where were you playing? And I agree with what several posters already said.....you have to commit to the shot.....if you don't , you are screwed. I like to take a long swing with a very flat downswing so that I feel like I am sliding my 60 deg under the ball. I tend to let the club head out swing my hands and the ball just pops up. With the tight lies I am seeing out on courses now due to winter conditions, I haven't attempted any flop shots. When I am in that situation, I just take my 60 deg and chip it to the green with a steep downswing. I get a nice pop in the air and then a quick check on the green.

Yes it is.....ate there last night! Prime rib is excellent!

Trust Dub, some good shoes are a MUST at the National. Whether they are trail or golf shoes, they have to be light, comfortable, good traction, and somewhat waterproof. Pinestraw from the Georgia Pines can be brutal for the most nimble person! Also, if you get into town Saturday nite, I would suggest trying out T-Bones (for steak) or Rhineharts (for seafood) to eat dinner. Restaurants will be pretty crowded but everyone is in town to enjoy the Masters and will have a good time socializing at either place. Also, they are right down Washington Road from the National, you can take a quick ride by the course (you won't see much of it except the front gate and the logo of pansies at the end of Magnolia Lane) but it will get you familar to your surroundings for the next day!

Thanks for everyone's input....I am going to try some impact tape to see where I am hitting the ball. Then mess around with where the ball is in my stance and go from there. I will keep everyone updated to my progress and maybe it will help others!

Yea, range prices are pretty ridiculous....I would rather just go pay the green fees to play 9 holes than sit out on a range with a bunch of goofballs. LOL. I am going to set up a tee box in my back yard with a big net and then I can sit out there all night long practicing.

I don't know much about shafts but my 3W is a NV 75-S 350 and my driver is a NV 65-S 350 both by Aldila. I will definately try out some impact to see where I am striking the ball. Dub, how is Wedges and Woods looking these days? Last time I was there, it wasn't looking too good.

But it sure would be nice to get the 280 out of the driver if I could!

My driver (10.5 degree) and 3 wood are Ping G5s with stiff Aldila shafts.... My 3 wood will carry about 210-220 and then get a good roll out to about 250 or so....my driver will carry about 240-250 with very little roll. The 3W flight is low while my driver is very high. I tee the ball pretty high with my driver (bottom of 1/3 of ball at top of club) and the ball is middle of my clubface with my 3W. I would like to be able to hit my driver lower and get some of that roll out of it like I do with my 3 wood. Any suggestions? Should I just tee it down further? Put the ball further up in my stance (right now both setups are inside left foot)?

Good deal.....have fun! I will enjoy being at the course for the practice rounds but will watch the tourny on my HD!

I appreciate the replies.....the mental aspect of the game is what I am working on the most these days. One day I am shooting at 82 and the next it is a 96....and I believe that it all comes back to being mentally prepared and mentally tough enough to move on from the last shot. I guess this incident was a carry over from the previous week were I had a pretty straight forward 4 footer for 5 or 6 skins. As I pulled the putter back, one of the other guys yawned. I fully believe it was on purpose and that prolly started the fire and the latest incident was all the fuel I needed. I know I was an ass, I apologized to the group, they all thought it was no big deal and moved on. If one good thing comes out of it, maybe proper course etiquite will return in lieu of the foolishness. As far as spilling this on the internet, just curious to how other golfers would react to the story and their own personal experiences.....all part of the maturation process. No worries.

I agree.....and that is one of my big reasons I am still a 16......I have a hangover on a bad hole and then my 8 over round is now 18. I am really working hard on the mental part of the game.....if I can calm down when I play, I will lower that index.

LOL...that is our normal talk during the round but once you are ready to go, everyone is respectful and waits until you have hit. It is a running joke that we "congratulate" everyone "making" their winning putt right after teh ball is struck as a way of "reverse" psychology.

That is what made me so danged mad....he laughed it off and didn't say crap. I did, however, send all 3 an email the following day apologizing for my behavior on that hole. I appreciate the comments Jay-Bird....it is definately an experience I will learn from....that one event completely ruined my round and the rest of my day. I have no problem when someone hands me my hat on the course through good play. To add insult to injury, he won that hole and picked up a few skins. Fortunately my front 9 carried me so that I walked away with cash instead of just donating completely after my meltdown.

I play with the same 3 guys every Sunday in a friendly little skins game....nothing big, $1 a hole and winner has to be par or better. We normally have a couple of carryovers either by everyone getting bogeys or someone splitting with pars. Anyway, this past sunday, I won 5 of the first 8 holes and cruising. We normally have some "spirited" trash talking going on that occurs between shots or in the carts. Holes 9, 10, and 11 carry over and we are on 12 tee box. This is a par 4 that I try to carry the corner to drive the green or just off the green. Normally I will be in the trees and sets up for a bad score so I chose a 3 wood trying to play smart. As I am on the tee box, I go thru my routine with one exception. I stopped doing a practice swing and it seemed to help my confidence. So I pick my target, pick my spot in front of the ball, take a step to my left, line up, waggle, and JUST when I am going to pull the trigger.....one of the guys puts the cart in reverse and beeps. So, I back out....flustered.....go through again and freaking shank one. I was livid......the remaining holes, I hit shots without really giving a crap and just tripled my way to the clubhouse. For the remainder of that hole, I showed my ass and made sure I made noise during their routines to "prove a point".....I know, immature but like I said....I was livid..... Knowing this wasn't the mature way to handle the situation, how would you have handled this situation?

The best advice I ever received for hitting my driver was to try to hit the ball with a 80% swing. What that did for me was to limit my backwing because I was going past parallel. When I limit it, I still get a full shoulder turn and the club is near parallel.....but it feels as though the club shaft is pointing to the sky like a batter in baseball. Thinking about 80% relaxes your swing a little and helps tempo. Do this, go to a driving range and take 1/4 swings (to 8 oclock in your backswing) with your driver. Concentrate on a proper take away and release. Once you are making good contact and ball flight, go to 1/2 swing (just past 9 oclock) and do the same things as 1/4 swing and now shift your weight thru the swing....last time, go to 3/4 swing where your left arm is straight and parallel with the ground and put all this together. I do this little drill when I warm up before a round on the range with the driver or any other club. It really helps me groove my swing, and gives me some tempo. I also employ the 1/2 swing as my practice swing to help reinforce it. Works for me, may work for you.

I know for me, I have spent the 7 months on a mission to lose some weight and "tone" up a little. By getting into better shape my golf game has improved. The one thing I have noticed the most, I am able to be more consistent over the entire 18 rather than getting "lazy" on the back 9 and having a decent round go to pot. But, I have had some bad back problems and surgeries to overcome as well. With that said, I have noticed by strengthening my core and legs, I am much more consistent with my swing....and with consistency comes scoring and more distance.

This exercise worked the best for me. I dealt (dealing) with denegerative discs in my lower back. About 5 years ago, I had to have a discectomy to remove the excess from a ruptured disc from causing nerve problems. I still have one that is herniated and it flares up from time to time. I suggest Advil, and lots of it and doing the above exercise. Also, what helped me was hot and cold treatment. I would run a hot shower and then ice it down good. That always helped. But like others have said....go see a doc and hope that he gives you a prescription for muscle relaxors.

To me it is simple, just practice. I sit in my front yard and chip to different points. At first I had to adjust my distance based on how far I brought back the club (ie, 8 oclock, 9 oclock, etc.). After a while it became second nature and my scores have been dropping. Once I am on the course, I see a spot, and then step up and hit to it. No more swing thoughts or confusion, I just do it. Much nicer hitting 4-6 foot putts to save par than 10-20 footers.

I don't know if this is true or not, but at one driving range I was hitting from prior to a round, I grooved the driver and then went to the wedges. My driver was fine but when I grabbed the wedge, it was horrible. Ever attempt produced a shank to the right that didn't get off the ground. I told myself that because this particular range has a lot of sand on the range, that was messing me up. I am sure this is not true but I didn't have one shank on the course after that. Our courses here have a hard clay surface with grass on top and most ranges are thick with sand from maintenance. How does that difference affect ball contact?

I am in the same boat and in the process to "re-train" my body to make a 3/4 swing.....now a 3/4 swing for me is almost parallel. That is my way of tricking my mind. My first round after some driving range work was this past weekend. I played well in the front 9 but the swing began to unravel. 3 triples in a row on 10, 11, and 12 hurt. LOL. But, it will come around and I am hoping that once I get my swing groove back....I can get down into the low 80s due to more consistency. That is the goal anyway.

I just recently switched from a stand bag to a cart bag......and glad I did. The stand bag has its pros, definately.....but if you will be doing more cart riding than walking, the cart bag is the way to go. First, it fits the cart better than the stand bag with no legs in the way. The cart bag is designed to sit on the cart while allowing access to all pockets. I have a lot more room for rain gear, scorecards, water bottles, etc....for sure....I got the Titlelist S85 and couldn't be happier.

Thanks for the reply!

Anyone use one of these that are easy to use on your PDA phone? I like the oobgolf.com site but would like to find one where I can keep it all on Treo while I am playing.

Is the Boo Weekley video linked in this thread?