kehanra99

I'm hitting a 9 hole exec course after work, I'll let you know how it goes.

I have finally gotten pretty good consistency out of my driving and irons...but my putting still sucks. I can go to the putting green and spend an hour draining puts or getting within a few inches pretty regularly but then I'm still bad when I play. I have literally hit the green in two shots, been 15 feet from the hole, and 4-putted. What is the best advice you have for putting well?

I had the typical baseball swing problems too. I used too much upper body and arms and not enough legs and hips on the swing. My downswing is triggered by the thought of starting my hips. I just let my arms feel as though they're coming along for the ride.

If you are using your arms too much in your swing you will flip those shots. You still have to rely on should and hip turn for your swing when you swing these lower clubs. Your wrists will lock a bit to help guide the club through, and you won't have the opportunity to flip them before striking the ball. Think of brushing your lead hand forward through water on your way through the bottom of your swing.

I read something similar in another thread on here recently. I went out and was absolutely nailing my drives with what seamed like no effort on the swing. I'd come back and see how far I could hit it, and it would shorten about 30 yards. The more I used my body to pull the club through and let the head come down on an easy path through the ball the better my contact and ball flight was. Not only better, but more consistent. The nice and easy practice swing I take now is also the nice and easy swing I use when I address the ball. Things are going better.

My putting sucks and it's the reason I don't break 90 with regularity. I'm willing to try anything at this point. Does anyone have a picture or video of this?

I might be the exception here. I am just a tad over 6'2" and I've gone to 3 different club fittings. Every time I am told I don't need an adjustment from "off the rack" on length or lie. I guess I'm lucky in that I can pick up almost every default club set and just play it. They done tape measures, impact marks on practice swings, video, etc...

So, I played this last week in some high wind and I've noticed I have a problem I can't figure out. All of my shots, from wedges on down to the driver, are very high in respect to those I play with. Normally, it's not a major problem except for the longer clubs since I still get good distance and control with it. However, I can't lower my drive or any other shot for that matter. I move the ball back in my stance, I try to keep my wrists cocked longer, etc...The more I try and fix the issue the worse it gets. I moved the ball back and tee'd it lower for a drive and actually hit the drive higher. Does anyone have some tips for this? Hitting into the wind was killing me when I couldn't hit a lower shot.

I have no idea what's going on. I get great distance and above average accuracy with irons. I can pitch and chip pretty well, my putting is poor but shows good signs of improving.\ However, my driving has sucked since I started playing golf. I have had the same problem over and over again only with a driver. I swing what I believe to be the same as with my woods, hybrid, irons, etc..., but the ball shoots way up in the air and drops 200 yards out, or goes 250 yards but has a ballooning slice pattern. When I think I really hit a drive well, I look up to find it's a hard pull...straight, strong low flight but going left. Is there any known problem you can think of that causes that? My other clubs have been fantastic. I can hit my hybrid 3 230 yards, but I can't drive to save my life.

Strange enough, when I started getting really solid contact with my different clubs I started to push the ball for a while shortly afterward too. For me it was a timing/power issue. I started getting good contact so I was trying to add more power. I was forcing my turn faster than my arms, which would cause my arms to try and catch up. My arms would tighten, I couldn’t get proper wrist action, and even though my swing was good the clubhead wouldn’t close fast enough to hit the ball straight. So, much like what you describe, I’d nail the ball but it would shoot right of the target. Make sure you’re getting the good contact before worrying about distance. Golf is funny that way. You can’t be flat out lazy, but the less effort you put into getting distance the more you get…don’t underestimate what the sweet spot of a clubhead will do to a ball on a slightly slower, more controlled swing.

I hit the ball the furthest when I have a good swing from inside out, have a loose feel in my hands and arms and don't force anything. The biggest part of it is concentrating on a slow start then accelerating once the club head gets below the shoulders and down through the ball. I've landed balls close to 300 yards when I really get a hold of it. Weighing 230lbs might help too though...

My driver and my putter are the only problem clubs left in my bag...since I've been playing about 14 months now that's not too bad. I putt poorly because I haven't been playing long enough to develop any kind of feel yet. I can work on that, and I have started to. I can hit my irons with a nice arch and a very slight draw with some consistent distances, but I suffer from DRS (Driving Range Syndrome) with my driver. I can bomb the ball at the range, every once in a while pulling one or hitting a weak fade/slice, but mostly nice, semi-straight, landing around 230-260. When I get on the course like I did this last Saturday, I had 3 drives stay in the fairway. Every time it was a bad shot it was a long soft slice. No hard curve, just a shot that starts slightly off to the right and then drifts further on a slow consistent pace. Finally, the 18th hole, I take out my hybrid and hit a 220 yard shot almost right down the middle. I'm about positive that attempting to get a good distance in my back swing has me starting my hands/arms way too far ahead of my body on the backswing, and I just never catch up. My recovery shots are good on my bad drives, so it will probably only help me 4 or 5 strokes to start getting my drives in the fairway. My big problem is over-reading breaks on putts, and hitting them too hard. Gotta love this game. What else can you be so bad at and still want to do every day? (keep it clean...)

The last time I was at the range, 2 days ago, I noticed the same thing. I was getting tremendous distance (150 with my 9i and carrying 215+ with m 3i.) but I was mixing in alot of pushes falling short and pulls getting even more distance. However, when I started making sure of my shoulder turn (indirectly the spine angle) I was hitting with good distance and getting the accuracy that should accompany. I was even able to work the ball depending on how far forward or back it was in my stance. Hopefully the swing stays with me.

Played some Taylormade Black X-outs from Dick's and they felt like rocks. I like the feel, I like the E6+, and I also like NXT Tour.

I got a set really cheap, under $100 new. I've a few really positive reviews on them. Has anyone actually used these on here and have any opinions?

Move the ball forward. Your hitting the ball as your swing bottoms out instead of just after, on your way up, when the face of the club will square with the ball. The other thing to do is to move just an inch or two further from the ball so your arms have a better extension, though that's more of a compensation for ball placement than anything.

I like the Nike clubs I've hit..obviously... But, after trying some more sets I think if you're going new you can find some better irons for the same price.

I have a much easier time hitting the ball straighter more consistantly with a limited hip turn, of course I learned most of my swing form Hogan's book to begin with so that might tie together.

I read that book a while ago and it really helped but I forgot about that section. Thanks!

I have read and seen over and over again that to make solid consistant contact the wrists should pass the contact area before the clubhead. I don't know for certain whether or not I do this naturally with the swing I already have, but given that my ball flight is a bit loftier that most people I play with I would determine that mine don't. The problem is, whenever I follow someones advice and try to work on drills that put my wrists ahead of the contact area, I end up shanking the ball pretty badly. Does anyone have some good tips on getting this done? The one I've been trying and failing at is just basically to set your wrists ahead of the ball with the club head at address. Then aim for your wrists to cross that area as your club comes into contact. I haven't been able to make good contact doing that, everything just shoots off low and to the right. Any help is appreciated.

I'm not a good putter, but one thing that has helped me see some slow improvement is the same thing many instructors recommend for any other shot. I line up my put, get a feel for the speed with a few practice strokes, then line the ball up with a spot a few inches in front in the direction I want to start the ball path. It's helped me limit those 1-2 inche misses to the side.

There was a 1/2 hour special on the Golf Channel that focused almost soley on the relationship of Nike and Tiger Woods a few months back. He has a clause in his contract that says he can use any clubs he wants, that's why he's had the same non-Nike putter for 10 years. From what he and Nike said (granted it was a bit of propoganda), he works very closely with them even in the design stage of the new equipment. He did come out and say that what Nike is developing is geared more toward every day golfers. It was interesting to watch, but I wonder how much of it was actually true...

It's almost always grip and hip turn if you can hit the driver well. Make sure your grip is neutral or neutral/strong and get your hips moving before you start your downswing and you should be fine.

Put a ball marker about 2 inches in front of the ball. Line up normally, then try sweeping the marker off the ground after making contact with the ball. You'll find after 50 swings or so you're hitting the ball with a solid sound and your swing will bottom out in front of the ball. This drill took me from hitting my Hybrid 200 yards to hitting my 4 iron 200 yards. I have rolled my hybrid 240 since doing this... People tend to take less stock in the advice of someone with a 20 handicap, but when you consider I started playing last June and hit a 124 on my first round, you can imagine the kind of work I've put in. I got addicted...my scores are higher because of consistency and putting, not because I can't make the shots.

I had a problem pretty similar to this and I had to take 2 steps to correct it. 1. I adjusted my grip...it was too weak to begin with. After that nothing about my wrists felt forced going back or forward. 2. I stopped trying to force my shoulder and waist to turn as far as possible and left it turned just to the point where resistance began, and that let me turn back to the ball much more consistantly and with a better weight transfer so my wrists would be at a better position when my club strikes the ball.