LarryK

Usually, it wasn't something I did as much as something I suddenly remembered that I was or wasn't doing. I have been on the range or midway through a round and suddenly realized I was too close to or too far from the ball at address for the past hour. Or that I was sliding rather than turning my hips. Or (most often) just getting too damned quick with the back swing. Or jerking the club down with my hands as the first move on the downswing rather than uncoiling the hips. It could be any of a number of things. But the point is you instinctively know better, and as soon as you realize it, you think, "What the heck am I doing???" So you focus on that, life gets better, and a few days later, you realize you had "forgotten" something else.

This is one of the biggest cans of (golf) worms you can open. People have debated this one for years. I try to do straight back and straight through. Seems simplest for all but the very longest putts whereupon it seems harder not to emulate a short-iron swing.

I was pulling for Zach. He appears to be an outstanding young man who accomplished an amazing feat. As for the Grand Slam.......I think you need to shallow out your breathing, bring that pulse rate down around 20 points, loosen up those hands and arms, and slow the tempo of those practice swings WAY, way down. Let's play 'em one at a time, boss!

Fusion: I may have given you the wrong impression. Progression in golf, like many things in life, is hardly linear. Think "three steps forward, two steps back." You definitely would not want to leave here thinking that I entered year five nailing the ball in the center of the club face and have been drilling the sweet spot every day since. LOL!!!! Sorry. My bad. It sounds like you're doing fine. My point was simply as the years go by, you will find yourself concentrating on finer details of your swing and elements of course management rather than trying not to fall down during your follow through. Note to Sunchopper: You'll never convince yourself NOT to raise your head. The mind doesn't work well performing "negative" commands. What you can do is convince yourself that it is vital for you to actually see the club face making contact with the ball. You never will, of course, but if you can actually make seeing the moment of impact as your objective and make that more important to you than seeing where the ball went, you will keep your head down. See the moment of impact . It's a good tip for putting too.

For me, progress came in stages. Year one was spent just trying to hit the ball (with widely varying degrees of success) and scoring well above 100. Sounds like that's where you are. Years 2 - 4 were spent actually making contact fairly consistently, but all over the club face. Heel, toe, high, low, fat and thin. But I often broke 100 and even got into the mid-nineties. Main objective was to propel the ball forward. Years 5 - 7 discovered concept of hitting down on the ball to actually get it to fly high and land softly. Or at least soft-er than hitting screaming bullets. Scoring in the low 90s. Years 8 to present -- You don't "hit" the ball at all. You swing through it. Smoothly. With a consistent, controlled tempo. With arms, hips and shoulders all moving in coordination with each other (sometimes). Shooting in the 80s. Still to come: Appyling controlled tempo to EVERY shot, with EVERY club in the bag; Minimizing distractions imposed by poor score, slow play in front/pushed from behind, weather, course design, fatigue; Putting; Understanding wind; Bunker play; Evaluating lies in rough; Putting; Controlling ball flight (fades and draws); Reading greens; Recognizing and adapting to changing conditions during a round; Spin. And....putting. You've got a lot to look forward to. Good luck!

But that 8 mill ain't helping him stay on tour. I have no doubt he can buy all the beer and Marlboros his little heart desires through various endorsements and exhibitions. But if he wants to play on the PGA Tour, he has to make money.....on Tour.

Two cuts in eight stops........wow. And that is the issue. For as good a player as JD is supposed to be, he has to make cuts. He doesn't have to win a freaking major for cryin' out loud, but if he's going to move up the money list, then....well.....he has to make some money.

If my ball is on an upslope and I am trying to fly over something like a mound or bunker, I will use my 60-degree LW. If I'm landing on fairly level ground and want it to roll out, then I will likely chip with my 52-degree gap wedge whether the shot is three feet or twenty yards.

Almost anywhere between tee and green, but I figure I should at least get on about two-thirds of the time from the middle distances. And I don't. I should get on from short approach range 80 - 90 percent of the time....and I don't. Whenever I don't get on, I figure I should be able to get up and down ........well.....sometimes. There are a lot of places to lose strokes.

So what's up with the Golf Channel's highly touted flagship broadcast team? Three pro tours on TGC Friday and Kelly and Nick are nowhere to be seen??? I believe this is the second week in a row that Faldo has been absent. Seems a strange way to sell the product. Anyone have any idea what's going on?

Just to further underscore what has been established, in the Big Break Ladies Only match-play finals, Danielle putted to within three or four inches on one hole and then immediately walked up and tapped it in. Pam insisted Danielle mark the ball and to wait and re-play the putt after Pam attempted her putt. It did not accomplish a thing other than to irritate the hell out of Danielle, but Pam was completely within her right under the rules to do exactly that.

I have to agree, but you can get those birdies and eagles either of two ways: by putting lights out from 20 feet and beyond or by being a fairly average putter who is a superb ball striker able to stick your approach shot 10 to 12 feet from the pin. So, what is it more important to be: a great putter or great ball striker? Take your pick, but most tournament winners probably have both things going for them on any given week.

Having worked in golf retail for awhile, we saw this all the time. If you are genuinely shopping around and in the market for a new club, you are certainly under no obligation to buy. Everyone understands that. It would be nice if you were at least open to the possibility of buying from that store eventually or that you were a regular customer for other items. On the other hand, if no one there knows your name, but your face is instantly familiar because you drop by to hit balls for 45 minutes every time it rains, then you've already been given a name by the salesmen. First name: "A--" Second name: "Hole".

If It Doesn't Stop Snowing SOMETIME IN THE YEAR 2007, I May Break Everything In This Damn House!!!!

I may be wrong about this, but a golf pro seems too high up in the food chain to be scrounging for tips. I would never think of tipping my golf pro for the same reason I would not tip the sales rep at the store where I bought my clubs. I tip waitresses, bag boys and cab drivers. Not golf pros who make more money than I do. It may be that you were at a high class club where that sort of thing is expected. Kind of like Vegas where everyone is running around with their hand out. But I would not think that the average pro at your local muni makes a significant amount of his income from tips.

If you happen to become such a "highly skilled" player that the shape of your grooves is an issue, chances are that someone will be paying you to play their clubs. For now, you would probably be wise to buy a set to help advance you to that next level.

Thanks to everyone for their calls! We have a winner!

I didn't shoot anything today, but I was so happy to finally get on a driving range after three months of snow and cold, it felt like I escaped from prison!! I actually went outside . Had a golf club in my hands , and hit a bucket of golf balls . WOW!

http://www.coloradoopen.com/ Couldn't find how the purse is distributed. There is also money to be won in the qualifiers.

I actually like her quite a bit. She is as cute as can be and has a great game. OTH, I understand that she doesn't give off a warm vibe. She is just wound too tight. She seems very anxious about her performance and somewhat unsure of herself in interviews. That doesn't make her a bitch, however. As for "ripping" Michelle, she really did nothing of the sort. She simply gave an honest answer (which an awful lot of other golfers seem to share) to a direct question. But no matter how she words it, it comes out as an attack on Michelle. It would be great if Morgan had the competitive fire AND the happy-go-lucky, sparkling personality of Paula Creamer (my real favorite), but that's just not her.

I have no major problem with most of the celebreties mugging for the crowd a little bit, but Danny Gans needs to be thrown in the trunk of a car. He reminds me of the guy at the party who finds himself far more entertaining than anyone else does and whom you can never get away from. Give it a frigging rest!

SEE??!!! That's why this was the one "most important" tip. Not that all the others aren't important, but you can get by with a lot of other faults just by gripping softly and swinging smoothly. You're right. It doesn't make any sense unless a slower, smoother swing would still put you into the stiff flex category. But it sure sounds to me (and you've already confirmed it once yourself) that a regular shaft might benefit you -- IF you can find the self-discipline to smooth things out. Not only will you probably not lose distance you might even gain some. I swing a regular shaft. Everytime I overswing, I am not allowing the stored energy of the bowed shaft to fully release its power at impact. When I slow it down and think smooth, the ball almost always travels much farther than I think it should based on the amount of force it felt like I put into it. This is one of the most satisfying feelings in golf right along with hitting the ball squarely on the sweet spot of the clubface. Squish! Then, of course, the "rational" mind takes over and says, "Heck, I didn't even do anything. Wonder what would happen if I let it all out?" Another thing to consider is that there is quite a bit of variability in the categories of regular and stiff. For example, the regular Aldila NV shaft in my 3-wood feels a lot softer than the Graffaloy Pro Launch regular shafts I have swung. So don't just blindly opt for regular or stiff. If you can't get on a launch monitor (or even if you can) try several different manufactuer's versions of regular and stiff. You may be surprised.

Correction. "Now imagine you had it .....in your grasp and you pissed it away." It's not just that he lost it. That would be bad enough, as you say. It's how he lost it. And I think he is more painfully aware of that than anyone else. I would like to see him rebound because I think he and Singh are the best two candidates to challenge Tiger at any given time, but it may take awhile.

"Soft", gentle grip. In fact, don't grip the club at all. Just hold it. Soft arms. No tension. Nice, easy complete swing through the ball.

Which gets back to my original point. If $10 million is the minimum investment for obtaining the "best job in golf" and I've got that kind of money lying around (or even the net worth necessary to secure that kind of loan), then I'm guessing I already have enough money to tee it up whenever and wherever I want. In which case, I hardly need the "best job in golf" to order to enable me to play more golf. It's like the old elephant joke (substitute "golf course" for the animal). "I sure wish I had enough money to buy an elephant?" "Why, the heck, would you want an elephant?" "I don't. I just want the money."