Tomboys

Amen to that. Trust me, I battled with that too, so you're not alone. When playing with my buds, they would sometimes ask what I hit (to reach the par 3 we were playing) and I would respond with, "Titleist". And, I wasn't trying to be a smart-ass, I was just embarrased that I used a 5i when the distance to the flag is normally a 7i. However, once you get the positive reinforcement of hitting the green on a consistent basis, then some of the "anxiety" goes away and you gain more confidence. In fact, after becoming more confident and relaxed, I found myself hitting too much club to where I was hitting the ball over the greens. Because of that, I've been able to trust my swing more, so now I tend to just select the club that I need to reach the flag and just swing away. More often than not, the results are pretty decent.

It doesn't matter how compelling our information is, the OP doesn't want to give credence to it. The data presented is refuted with sophomoric responses. At the end of the day, that says more about who he is than who we are.

Not to put words in anyone's mouth, but I think the message that was meant to be conveyed pertained to what is "natural" and what isn't based on the experience of his instructor. You advocate a "natural" swing method. A fellow instructor found that a "natural" swing method doesn't work. To each their own.

Well, children grow and become stronger, so their physical attributes change fairly quickly. As such, their equipment can be rendered ill-fitting within a couple of years. Edit: Booya--just saw your post and yes, more than swing speed, equipment obsolescence due to the physical changes of the user.

Could it be that children don't generate enough clubhead speed to make an appreciable difference in distance between say an 8 and 9 iron? There's a big difference between someone that swings at 60 mph and someone that swings at 100 mph.

IMO, you're just placing undue pressure on yourself trying to hit a perfect shot or trying to steer the ball on those par 3s. I went down the dominate eye route too, and it didn't do much for me (right handed golfer with right eye dominate). But, if it works for you, then great. However, I've found that my performance on par 3s improved when I effectively clubbed up. Meaning that I would find out the distance to the back of the green and select a club that would get me close to that. IME, since a mishit rarely goes further than expected (bladed wedges notwithstanding), I find that I'm more apt to at least find the surface of the green. From there, the worst case scenario is that I 3-putt for bogey, In contrast, when I miss the green (depending on how bad I miss it), I bring in double or worse.

Swinging a golf club is not that hard. Just pick it up and swing it. Viola, your "natural" swing. However, to be able to swing it so that the little white ball you're trying to hit goes relatively straight towards the target you're aiming for is a learned motion. You tout resistance and stretching. Great, wonderful. But, many of the bad golfers I play with hit the ground before the ball. How is resistance and stretching going to correct that?

Geesh, are most amateur golfers being misled on how to swing? Yes. And, IMO, after reading the opening post of the OP, the misleading continues...

I can't say for sure, but I don't think it'll be a problem. If the grooves are in relatively good shape, then I wouldn't worry too much about them. My clubs are starting to show wear and my 4i, 7i and PW are getting a black "dot" in the center because I tend to use those clubs to warm up and practice with. The ball still flies straight when I put a good swing on it and crooked when I don't. Maybe I'm just not good enough to notice any difference, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Thanks for the info because I've been getting intermittent pulls and wasn't sure why. Now that you explain it, I look back on those pulls and I do remember my lead leg straightening very early on my downswing. You just saved me a trip to my instructor. LOL. +2.

That's the way to do it. When the 695s get there, learn to hit that 3 iron high, low, cut, draw, good lie and bad lie. Basically, the whole shebang. You'll be surprised at how easy--well relatively speaking, they are to hit. When my pro handed me the 690 and told me to hit it, I said to myself, "I wonder how much this is gonna hurt?" To my surprise, it had very good dampening. You hear all these stories about how severe the feedback is on mishits. And, maybe they are on some sets. But, IME, it wasn't the case. In fact, I've hit shots that hurt just as much with my (then) set of Tommy Armour 855s. And, those were full cavity backs. If there's any concern about playing blades, it's the trajectory. It has a higher center of gravity, so it launches the ball lower. That's why the loft on those tend to be a bit higher compared to their cavity back brethren. So, if you're a low ball hitter to begin with, it may not be a good match. Other than that, shine those puppies up (windex works great on that chrome), and have fun.

If you really want them as a training tool, learn to hit the 3 iron (695). Once you can put a hit that club well, the rest of the set will be a cake walk. Before I got my 690s, I tested them on grass and while I hit the 6 iron really well, I wasn't convinced I should be playing blades. So, I asked for the 3 iron. I figured it would be the hardest club to hit out of the set. If I could hit that club well, then yes, those blades wouldn't be too much club for me to handle. Sure enough, I could hit it and as it turned out, it eventually became my favorite club out of the whole set.

My son had Lymphoma @ 10 years ago and I'm thankful that he's doing well. My heart and prayers go out all those affected by this disease.

What? No way. Hell just froze over. Quick, somebody send a copy to Brandel.

This. Are you slim or are you heavy? If you're slim, then you should focus on getting more cardio in a day. Go for 30 minute walks daily during your lunch hour. If you're heavy, then do the same but add in an additional weight loss component of reducing your daily caloric intake. I did the above (cadio and reducing daily calories) in 2008 and lost 35 lbs. I didn't have a trainer, didn't use a fancy gym and I didn't buy some custom daily meal package. In 2011, I had some medical problems and I gained back 25 lbs. At the beginning of this year, when I got back to full strength--and getting pissed at my weight gain, I started the whole process again. So far, I've lost 15 lbs.

Oops. Nevermind, I figured it out.

Thanks for the correction. Now, just so I don't go around doling out the wrong advice to my buds, when you say a push fade can occur with a path that's -3, you're talking about the path relative to the target line and not the body's alignment, correct?

They're blades. I played the 690.mb's for 5 years. Man, I really wish I never got rid of them (traded them in when I got my 735.cm). If they're anything like my 690 and 735, the sweet spot is about 1/8" inside-center. Supposedly, the "Z" design was used to bring the sweet spot to the exact center. The same thing was said about the 735 where Titleist took out some material in the hosel and put in some resin. Somehow, this was supposed to move it to the dead-center. IME, while it's closer to the center on the 735 relative to the 690, it's still slightly inside-center. At any rate, great find and I hope you enjoy them.

According to the Ball Flight Laws, a push-fade is when you have an in to out swing where the clubface is slightly open to the swing path. So, in your efforts to have forward shaft lean, you've somehow managed to have an open clubface at impact.

There's a lot of really good information given already, so I'll just add a little bit more FWIW: Understand there's a big lesson to be learned here and it's not about golf. It's about learning how to win by remaining focused on the task at hand under great pressure. Play the course (as Grndslmhttr3 stated) according to your strengths, not your opponent's. For instance, if he's a big hitter and you're only so-so with your driver, tee off with the longest club you can confidently hit well. If he hits a 300 yard drive, a 50 yard half-wedge and 2-putts that counts the same on the scorecard as say your 200 yard 5w, 150 yard 6i and 2 putt. They both equal 4. Is he going to try to throw you off by talking about how long his drive was compared to your "weak" drive? Don't guess, expect it. Never defend how you play your game to an opponent. Beat him to the punch by saying something like, "Wow, you're really long. You just bomb the ball. I wish I could hit it that far." This will disarm him and he won't have much to say. At that point, you control the tone of the match, not him. If it's the other way around where length is your advantage, make a smooth and committed swing. Don't try to mash it. It's real easy to mishit a shot because you've reached back trying to get just a little bit more. And, to prevent the above from happening to you, disarm your opponent by saying something like, "Thanks. But, I think the air must be really thin today because I never hit my drives that far." If you catch one of them giving you a wrong score--intentional or not, correct them on it and, if necessary, report it immediately. Don't fall for any "stories" (rationalizing their "error"). There's plenty of time to hear any sob stories after the round. Until then, it's all business. Watch them hit each shot and it make it clear that you're watching them by having your body facing them. You don't have to stand right next to them, but don't start wandering off towards your ball or have your head down when they hit. When it's your turn to play, focus on what you need to do to hit a good shot. Don't worry about whether they're watching you or not. It's not your responsibility, it's theirs. Am I going to tell you to have fun? Sure, if that's what you want to hear. But, that's up to you. IME, do I have fun when I play golf? Most of the time. Do I have fun when I win? Always.

Sounds like the dreaded shanks, lefty style.

This is fun stuff. In all honesty, I was never a fan of Tiger per se. But, I've always had great respect for him as a player given his accomplishments as a golfer. However, ever since "crash-gate", he's been the butt of many jokes with every Tom, Dick and Harry taking pot-shots at him. Some of them were pretty cheap and I'm sure some of them were well deserved. Either way, I felt it was a little overboard at times and, recently, getting really old. Because of that, I really wanted to see Tiger win. Nothing against Rory because he's a brilliant golfer with a seemingly warm and approachable disposition. And, without a doubt, he earned the win and his #1 status. So, kudos to him for a job well done.

This is Coby Bryant. My neighbor is moving, so he's selling him to me for 50% of what he's worth. This is Kobe Bryant. His wife Vanessa is moving too. And, once she leaves, Kobe will also be worth 50% of what he was.

Agreed with one caveat; you (and your group) keep pace. I've actually played behind a group of guys that hit the ball 3 or 4 times just to reach the green, but they kept pace with the group in front of them. It was actually kind of funny because they couldn't hit a shot over 150 yards (at least, that's what it looked like to me--and, yes, they were playing from the back tees) At first, I thought, "great, looks like I'll be napping between shots waiting for these guys". I see them drive up to their shots and without hesitation grab a club and just whack the ball again. By the time they were within range to actually reach the green, the group in front of them was just clearning off it. They did this the whole day, it was amazing. Also, probably the coolest thing about this group was that they were laughing the entire time. It was one of the most refreshing things I've ever witnessed on a golf course.

Unless I'm mistaken, a 5 handicap is a 5 handicap. So, if the two players in your example played together on the same tee boxes, theoretically, they'd be "equal".