Cawood

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I definitely need to video more on the range. I do actually practice with purpose. I go to the range thinking about the thing we worked on in my last lesson. But as I start hitting, if things go south, I start going through other things from other previous lessons to make sure I have everything together. I guess what I am ultimately doing here is venting my frustrations over this dumb game! It just gets depressing to work so hard at something yet, each day, never know if the swing is going to be there or not. Thanks for listening!

I have a net and mat that I bought at Golf Galaxy. I set it up in my garage and hit balls. I think its great for winter practice. Obviously you can't see the ball flight but you can certainly tell if you are making solid contact or not. Its certainly better than not hitting at all

I do film myself from time to time, but must admit I generally don't. Typically I just hit and keep searching for a swing thought until I find one that works. Make a fuller turn, stay back with the chest, come way inside, hands inside on the takeaway, left wrist flat, left wrist bowed etc.... In other words too many thoughts! I have a new iPhone 6 and agree the slow motion feature on it is awesome for filming the swing. The biggest problem I have is I don't have a secure way to set it up to record. I usually wind up trying to balance it somehow on my bag to record. Anyone have a good recommendation for a clamp that works well? I really don't want to drag a tripod along with me to the range. And Im not sure I could handle the amount of ridicule I would get from my buddies at the club if they saw me out there with a tripod and camera every day :-)

Looking for words of wisdom to keep me from going off the deep end over this maddening game! 4 years ago, I started playing golf for the first time since I was a kid. I basically took a 20 year hiatus from it. Since I was basically starting from scratch I figured it best to get a teacher, and develop good habits as I relearned how to swing a golf club. In the past 4 years I have practiced A LOT! I mean I literally either hit the range or play 5-6 days a week. Some days I do both. I am completely obsessed with the game. For the first two years improvement came at a pretty fast clip. When I first started I couldn't break 120. But within 2 years I was regularly shooting in the 90s and even the 80s some in the 2nd year. After two years my HC was a 12 In the third year I had more breakthroughs and started shooting in the 80s regularly and even broke 80 3 times. After 3 years my HC was 8.5 In the 4th year(this past summer and fall) my scores quit improving. I did not break 80 one time. I stayed in the low to mid 80s and would throw in a clunker in the 90s every so often. After 4 years my HC is now 9.1 My concern is my scores didn't get better in year 4. One thing I have noticed in year 4 is ball striking/contact is much improved. I am hitting the ball much farther than I ever did before. For example in year 3(the year I twice broke 80) I would hit an 8 iron for a 130-135 yard shot. I now hit an 8 iron for a 145-150 yard shot. Maybe even 155 on a good day when Im feeling it. I hit the ball a lot farther, but that also lead to getting into a lot of trouble. A 260 yard drive that misses the fairway gets you in a lot more trouble than a 200 yard drive. My shots are going farther but they aren't getting any more consistent than they were 2 years ago. Through it all I have continued taking regular lessons (about once per month) and this is where I am starting to get frustrated. It seems like every time I go for a lesson I have let something creep into my swing that I thought I had fixed months or years ago. For example, I'll go for a lesson and we will video my swing and I will be taking the club back way outside so we will work on it and I will fix it. I will hit the ball solid for a week or so but then it goes away so I will go for another lesson and I will be taking the club back way too far inside. It seems that something is always creeping in. My goal through it all has been to get to a low singe digit HC but I am starting to lose faith in myself. I wont give up and I am chalking it up to growing pains for now. SO I am just wondering if anyone here can relate and if so do you have any advice? Am I expecting way too much? Should I give it up and take up fishing(hahaha)? Have you dealt with these kids of growing pains in your golf career?

Thanks!

Is there a way to see more than your past 20 scores on the GHIN website? For example, I would like to see my past 3 years worth of scores. Any way to do so?

Anyone? Beuler? Beuler? Beuler?

I was at the store checking out blade putters today and noticed that all of them had either an 'open' aimed right or 'closed' aimed left face at address. Im talking about standing at address with the shaft perfectly vertical (not leaning forward toward the hole) and the flat side of the grip parallel to my body and putting line. Why is this? Do you normally have it bent so that it looks more straight to you?

These shoes look great but how long will that tread last? It seems like walking across parking lots, cart paths etc would wear the tread down pretty quickly. I currently have a pair of eccos and wore down the rubber spikes in just a few months. But I can replace them and the shoes are good as new.

It was mats

So today was a beautiful day here in KY. I found a few free hours and went and played 9 holes. I hit the ball well, was very happy with my score of 42(I am a 17.3). During my round I was hitting my 3 and 4 hybrids very well, very solid strikes, good distance, but slightly more fade than I like. So after 9 nine holes, I still have about 30 minutes before I need to be somewhere. I decide to hit the range and hit the 3 hybrid a few times and see if I can fix that fade. Well I hit about 20 balls and every single one of them were horrendous! I mean, topped, shanked, popped straight up, duck hook etc... I quit trying to fix anything and just wanted to hit another decent shot like I hit during my round, but couldn't. I finally just quit and went and practiced putting for a few minutes. I played a great 9 holes, but wound up driving home from the course feeling like a failure. So, how does that happen? How could I hit the ball so well while playing 9 and then 15 minutes later not be able to even make good contact? Has this ever happened to you? Any advice?

I want to get an R11 3 wood. Currently $199 at Golf Galaxy. With the new R11s coming out Feb 3, I am hoping that the old R11 clubs will be on clearance. What do you think? Will golf galaxy mark them down right away or will i have to wait a bit?

Hi all, Im from KY and new to the site. Thought I would introduce myself. I started playing golf again in April 2011 after a 20+ year hiatus. I played quite a bit as a kid, on a local par 3 course, untill I was about 15. I lost interest in high school and college, then had kids and no time, no money etc... I had not played for 20 years until this past spring. I bought a set of clubs, joined a club, and have been going at it hard for the past 10 months. I am completely addicted to the game. My first few rounds I quit keeping score but its safe to say I was well into the 120's maybe even worse. After several lessons and searching for the right teacher Im currently a 17.7 and my goal is to get that to around 10 by the end of this summer. I seem to be stuck on scoring between 90 and 95 recently and trying to remain positive and not allow myself to get frustrated. Hopefully its just a plateau and the next breakthrough will come soon. Anyways, thats my story, looking forward to being part of the forum at the sand trap.