behing19

Your swing looks pretty darn good. I can tell you we are very similar in the way we swing and play, but you are a little taller than me. I am also a 5 handicap and went to school to teach golf. My only advice is when you start to pull the ball concentrate on keeping your back to the target as long as possible. This will help you bump your hips to start the downswing.....other than that just more time on task repeating a good swing and you will get rid of the misses. Benjamin Ehinger

This is actually a drill I use for impact. It has to do with the fact that you are giving yourself the ability to get to a better impact position. With the hands leading properly you hit better shots.

Even if you keep the ball in the same part of your stance in relation to your feet, you might have moved it in relation to your sternum. This would be the first thing I would check. The next thing I would look at is your impact position. It sounds like you used to compress the ball better and now your hands may not be leading nearly as much. It doesn't take much to cause your issues and you might not be noticing it. If your off by just a little bit, it could cause your issue.

Good posture is seen in nearly every PGA tour players set up. You are absolutely right and you need to have good posture to move forward with the game. A straight back and broad shoulder constitute good posture. I could get much more technical, but if you are teaching posture to someone get them to stick their chest out, bend their knees slightly, and get into a balanced set up.

After everybody in your group has played you can ask, but he does not have to answer you.

Most players actually sandbag, but this does happen too. Some golfers just can't handle having a high handicap, but if you can't play to a 20, then you are not a 20. Honesty is a big part of golf and maybe it's time you confront your friend about this since friends are supposed to be honest with each other. Maybe then he will realize allowing his handicap to always be true will make a huge difference in how he views the game. It sounds like his expectations are at a 20 handicap and he rarely reaches them, which is a dangerous way to play golf.

No illegal, but when you try once and miss....you'll realize it's stupid and you won't do it again.

A couple things that might help.....If you are taking more than one practice swing before you hit, eliminate all the other practice swings. This will help you conserve more energy. Also, as far as snacks on the course, something that has helped me quite a bit it to make a peanut butter and banana sandwich, then cut it into four equal pieces. I eat one after three holes, then one after six, one at the turn, and one after the 12th hole. Many golfers don't snack until they start to feel hungry and this causes your energy to dip. You need to eat throughout the round to help keep your energy up all the way. One final trick, play 27 holes or 36 holes occasionally to help build up stamina. If this isn't possible, then hit a small bucket after 18 holes to help you build up more endurance. If you notice, the pros do this all the time. Benjamin Ehinger

I play more, but used to practice more. My advice, if you are above a 10.0 handicap, then practice more. If you are lower than a 10.0 handicap, hit the course. There are shots we end up needing to hit on the course we simply cannot duplicate on the range and better players need more opportunities to end up in situations on the course. However, higher handicap and mid handicap golfers need to work on their short game and their swing with less play. Once you get to a lower handicap, use the range when you have an issue or something you are working on and remember, the course is not for practice, but for play. We are all scratch golfers when we take mulligans. Benjamin Ehinger

I will give you full disclosure too....I graduated from the Golf Academy of America with a near perfect GPA and a teaching certificate. I went from a 22 handicap to under 6. I used to slice the ball like crazy and got to a pull fade like you did at one point as well. I smash the ball nearly 300 yards now and hit it pretty straight. First, you don't want to hit a pull or push regularly, even if it goes straight. Second, expect some curve on your tee shots.....it is very, very difficult to hit the ball straight, but you can eliminate enough curve to make it very powerful and controllable. I have two tips for you. One, remember, to hit the ball straighter when you fade it regularly, the toe of the club must win the race to the golf ball. If you work on feeling the toe of the club win the race, you will see straighter shots and maybe even a draw (which means more distance). Two, practice keeping your back to the target as long as possible in your swing. This will help you eliminate the pull, which is caused by opening your shoulder too soon. My teacher even had me working on this on the course for quite some time. He wanted me to only have the swing thought of keeping my back to the target as long as possible. Understand this is a process and you are not going to hit every single one perfect, but if you work on these two tips, you will learn to feel when you hit a bad one and you will know how to correct it. These two things can help eliminate the pull and cut down on the fade. This will give you more distance, and you will get the explosion you are looking for. Hope this helps! Benjamin Ehinger

I say ban them in all regulated tournament and league play. Maybe allow an exception for seniors since many started using them due to not being able to bend over nearly as we as they got older. Regular tour players should not be able to anchor any club to their body. The length, to me, doesn't create an issue, but the anchor point does. I don't like them one bit and I think it's time to put a stop to them. Benjamin Ehinger