HarryVardon09

I'm from Alabama... Thanks for the help guys, I would like to add to that and say that the biggest difference between tournament play at my course and tournament play elsewhere is the short game. I work at my course and I know the greens like the back of my hand. Getting up and down is usually a given, same with making a certain amount of Putts... When I go somewhere else my confidence around the greens blows up and I rarely make any birdies. It's always a struggle to score well when I break down in the scoring area.

This is an excellent golf forum and the best in my opinion... Does anybody here play in their state's amateur tournaments? Or big tournaments in general? I don't come to you with a swing problem... I have a mental problem. I play my home course all the time and have developed a trustworthy enough game to shoot Par every time I play. On good days I go low, on bad days I'll shoot a few over. But the problem is when I go to try to qualify for things like the State-Am. For example last year in our club championship I shot 71-69 and lost by a shot. I then go to a club 40 miles up the road to try to qualify for the State Am and drop a slick 82 that day... I do this all the time. I try to prepare, I have a very calm game... I'm in control of my emotions... I just hit bad shots at the worst time. It just doesn't feel like I can overcome the hump and qualify or just shoot a reasonable score at a course away from home. Any help would be great!

Nice 9 holes for Tiger.

Goals are simple. 1. Qualify for the State-Am 2. Win one of the two tournaments held at my home course this year.

To be honest Im glad to hear him speaking straight from his head, it definitely gives more insight than the usual political BS we get in interviews.

Thanks guys. I've started drills where I hinge my wrists 'up' as if the left thumb is pushing up, just to get in the habit. That should help the rollback if I can Ingrain it into my muscle memory.

I have a habit problem that plagues my golf game. My swing can't start unless I roll my wrists some, which causes me to 'slap' through the ball, or basically hit it with my wrists coming over the top slightly. I've learned to play this way and can maneuver around my home course at par but my consistency and confidence is usually awful. When I watch videos of my swing I see my body leaning over the ball slightly and the swing is an accidental 'Stack and Tilt'. My wrist roll the club over and fix themselves at the top. From there I hit down on the ball in a fashion that will cause a pull, straight but weaker than normal shot, or an ugly slice. When I'm actually playing I can control it enough to let my short game take over but when I'm at the range trying to fix it I can't hit anything. My range ball striking is porous to say the least. Any help whatsoever would be extremely helpful!!!!

Actually if his impact position improves that swing could take him a long way, he will be bombing it out there in a few years.

I used a 1 Iron for a while but sold it to young up and coming kid for $5 lol

Natalie Gulbis is my ideal woman. So fine that it is unreal.

I take the Seve Ballesteros route on this one.

I shot 74, The new swing overhaul is going great... a couple of balls O.B. didn't help much today. However, the highlight of the round was on #4, I finally made a Hole in One!!!!!

I shot 74, The new swing overhaul is going great... a couple of balls O.B. didn't help much today. However, the highlight of the round was on #4, I finally made a Hole in One!!!!!

I have a natural curiosity to know everything... So I'll have to read it.

The match play will be very interesting. It's always my favorite tournament to watch before the Masters.

I've been practicing with a weighted club. I've lined up correctly sideways to a mirror and practiced in very slow motion the takeaway in an outside pattern to the top of the swing where I reach full extension and feel the heat in my stomach.

My best shot ever was only possible from one of my best drives ever, we have a short 475 yard Par 5 at my home club and I hit one of the straightest drives I've ever hit with my driver over the corner just inside the 150 marker. The pin was a back pin on top of a small shelf. I hit my P-Wedge straight at the flag but couldn't see it. When I got up there I saw a divot and no ball. I had made my first double eagle. It was no more special than holing out on a long par 4 for eagle since I did it with a P-Wedge but It still felt special to me.

I think this is a great project. I hope it works out well for you from an educational standpoint. I've been obsessively studying Tiger's 2012 swing for a month now and my only hope is to fix my takeaway as I've stated in other threads. I understand your point about watching then duplicating. Its more natural than trying to read from that person's perspective... though in my case I want to read then watch.

If he wins two majors this year I think the discussions will lean heavily towards him being the best ever. He's not supposed to be dominant again in the minds of many, and if he can tear his game apart and rebuild it to a point where he's winning on the big stage consistently again I think most people will be on board. I love Golf history and would be hesitant to call Tiger the best ever but I definitely think we are headed that direction. I would rank them as follows: 1. Jack Nicklaus - Greatest management golfer ever and was just a winner 2. Tiger Woods - Dominance has been unparalleled, and I'm considering ALL he has done for the game. It has changed beyond dramatically since he stormed onto the scene in 1997. 3. Bobby Jones - Champion at the core, his amazing run in 1930 bumps him up here. 4. Harry Vardon - Before you laugh, consider what he did: Rose from pure dirt, absolutely nothing, to the best golfer of his time. Came down with tuberculosis at a period in history where that meant certain death... and overcame it. He also won more British Opens despite the fact the TB attacked his right hand rendering 3 foot putts hell on earth in his latter years. He still has the most Open Championship victories to date. 5. Ben Hogan - A true practitioner of the game, he would edge out his nemesis Byron Nelson due to the fact he also had to overcome great difficulty and literally dug his game out of the dirt and played pure golf as good as anyone ever will. Just my rankings, I apologize to the Arnold Palmer and Byron Nelson fans out there

I'm a huge Tiger fan and I'm even surprised that we've only seen shots from a select few. I've seen Tiger, Romo, Mickelson, Na, Stoops, Saban, and of course Murray. Haven't seen anything of Wi and he's the leader...

It's the same as thinking scientifically. The fact is that when something happens, there is always a scientific explanation golf-wise, usually under the laws of physics, that will explain what happened. If we stopped and went back to take a look at the ground beneath the 12th hole at Augusta when Freddie Couples ball stopped I'm sure with investigation we could tell you exactly why. Was this reasoning for or against Freddie? I would say neither. Had his playing partner hit the same exact shot he did then the outcome would have been the same. If you are looking to better your mental game this is a good area to look at, if you can accept blame and keep everything in front of you so that you understand why things happen then you can only get better. If you leave things out of your own hands then you will feel an internal feeling of being blocked. No one truly wants to believe they lost or won a tournament based off anything other than their failure or hard work. In the words of Ted Ray, "Luck is a residue of Hard Work." But that's not to say this opinion is totally right, if that were the case then golf would be totalitarian. Luckily the best thing about Golf is at the end of the day the Score is the only thing that matters. Regardless of what happened, the numbers are a canon truth. And there's more than one way to skin a cat.

Thanks Iacus, and also the reason I'm seeking change is because it takes time for my swing to develop if I continue to "wait" on my hands to get flipped back into the proper position, it will be much much much easier to just cock and load and fire when I can just carry it straight back and unload down the line. If not I'll continue to be the golfer I am right now, inconsistent with a dug from the ground short game. I've never thought about practicing feeling the right hand on top, I'll be sure to do that.

I totally agree, great thread!

I find this an interesting topic and I wondered what your opinion would be. Usually Golfers fall into a few categories on "Luck Theories". A) Luck doesn't exist, things happen for obvious observable reasons. ex) Ball his tree and kicks back into the fairway... well it hit the tree at an angle that was clearly going to project it towards that particular path leading back to the fairway. B) Luck is almost mysterious, like "Lady Luck" and helps or hurts us at different intervals in our round. C) Both A and B ex) You may say "You need luck to win a major championship." but what you really mean is "You need to get some good breaks, that obviously caused by a particular action" and just call this action "Luck" out of habit. I guess if I had to pick I would probably take group C. I often refer to luck when I'm having small talk but I don't really believe in it at all. I take a scientific approach to the golf course. When things like unfavorable bounces or lipped putts happen I don't get upset because I know the reason as to why they happened. Most of the time it's all my fault anyway :) At any rate I'm interested to know your thoughts, mine are humble and possibly unknowing but That's the approach I take.