hendog

I've had days where I keep finding the same type of ball in the middle of the fairway I am playing. I've come to the conclusion that someone in front of me has a hole in their bag or otherwise has left it open. Its nice when they're Pro V1s. Not so nice when its Top Rocks. As for over estimating distances. I really don't ever think about how far it might have gone because if its not in the fairway I've most likely mishit it so who knows plus it might hit a tree and go anywhere. Running through doglegs I guess is different but I will not have picked a club that will go 100 yards through the dogleg :) I always go to where I last saw it for certain (a tree, bush, fence line whatever) and go from there. Usually I'm right on because I have good eyes but sometimes if its blind then who knows. I've been way to far and way to short. I almost lost out on a par a few weeks ago because my ball was 60 yards past where we were looking with a clear shot to the green. Good tip: Get the sun at your back when looking. That way you see the glimmer of the ball and not a shadow. So if sun is in front of you, go as far as reasonably possible and work backwards and vice versa. Super tall grass is a little tougher obviously but in general this works great.

Buddy has one. I'll give it a try.

Yeah it's weird because after I saw this, I realized that I have to swing nice and easy to limit the shaft flex before I make contact and my tempo improved and surprise surprise I started hitting the ball better. So at least knowing my faults helps me work with them. I'm sticking with what I have for now.

I have played it that far back for quite some time. I think it migrated there because of the cast to your point. If I play it further up I have trouble striking it on the down stroke. I played baseball for 22 years. Wonder if there is a correlation.

PW - 125 7i - 155 4i - 185

I recently grabbed some simple video of my swing to check out my weight transitions but quickly focused on the casting I was doing. I ran back to the range to work on it but I quickly had the realization (be it right or wrong) that my chances of fixing this and continuing to play the kind of golf I am playing are low. I've been playing like this for a long time and I can hit the ball pretty good, shoot in the low 80s or upper 70s so I believe that I will just keep doing what I am doing and manage it. I do feel like now that I see it I will have a better chance of controlling my tempo etc knowing that if I get crazy it will only get worse and I won't be able to hit the ball at all. Golf swings are all about what gets the ball from point A to point B but am I wrong (subjective I know) to ignore this and just keep on casting? http://thesandtrap.com/t/68199/my-swing-hendog

I've been Playing Golf for: 13 years My current handicap index or average score is: ~9 My typical ball flight is: Both draw and fade. I enjoy hitting both The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Wipe right or flip left I was shocked to see how badly I cast the club. My question now is do I try to do anything about it or just roll with it. I can hit draws and fades with this swing and can play to a single digit handicap. Videos:

Lie Angle, Shaft Flex, Shaft Length These need to be right from the get go or you will risk losing interest due to constant struggles. Kickpoints, Grips, Lofts, Face Angles etc These are more tweaks and fine tuning and should not impact your ability to learn how to swing correctly. Some might have a slightly different opinion but I stand by the first 3 for sure. Quick Edit: Shaft Lengths of .25 etc are not a big deal but if you are shorter or taller than average then you could be a full inch off and that would be no good. Lie Angle is the same way. If its "close" then you'll be ok but I found out after many years that I needed to be 2 degrees upright and that changed everything.

Total wild guess but perhaps when you are way out like that you feel no (less) pressure to hit the green while in close you stress to much. I know for myself when I have a 9i or less I expect to hit the green 90% or more of the time. Sometimes that expectation backfires and I miss a lot of them. With anything longer though I am just trying to get it close to the green so I can get up and down so there is much less pressure and its more like being at the driving range. I have hit 5 woods from 215 out to 6 feet and in the same round missed the green completely from 110

Does anyone make a golf bag that comes in two pieces? For example, a small inner bag that can be used as a light weight carry bag and then slide that into a larger bag and lock in place to use as a cart bag? I'm always trying to find something that is good for carrying and cart riding but it always seems like I make a comprise somewhere. Either too heavy to carry comfortably or to small to ride smoothly in a cart and carry all my stuff. I can use two bags I guess but the idea of moving 14 clubs and various paraphernalia gives me tired head.

First time I saw this I saw that guy fire the starters pistol behind Tiger and was like "What the HELL!!??" I had to rewind it and watch again and even then I had to let it roll forward to understand what was going on. Needless to say I felt like an idiot but it was pretty funny. The putting with the crowd behind the hole is the best. That should be a challenge on The Big Break.

I've had this happen. Partner hits a shot down the middle, his first one of the day. Group on adjacent par 3 (which means they must have hit a ball 45 degrees right) comes over, looks at it, picks it up and drives off. We yelled and they threw it back without a word. Luckily it was early and we could follow the tire tracks in the dew back to where they circled and picked it up. I was dumbfounded though. As others have said. Common Sense. If there's any doubt let it go.

Just a small clarification and apologies if this is what you meant but the average is of the differentials which is different than your scores due to the rating and slope of each course. So two 88s on two different par 72 courses are not equal. Also, there is a final multiplier of .96 which is the "potential" piece I guess, always pushing you to play better if you want to shoot net par. To the OP: When you are in the teens lots of things can happen. I was 17 a couple years ago (so around 90 for Net Par) but I figured something out and played a stretch of several months shooting 84, 83, 85 etc. The handicap went down but a few of those scores were shot whilst playing at a 17. People were not happy with me but I just told them to wait and it would all flow back and sure enough it has. I still shoot those low scores and ever lower but my handicap has caught up so instead of -5 Net I'm 0 or +1 etc. Personally I would only get upset if I noticed someone over time stay at a high handicap but always seem to play really good for money. I might check the handicap system to see if those rounds are going in or ask around. Even then I only care if I am forced to play against this person as part of some regular game that I don't want to simply quit. Otherwise I would just avoid him/her. At the end of the day if you are honest then you can sleep well.

If you are looking for a permanent solution then try some new shafts with higher kick-points. This will lower your ball flight quite a bit depending on what you have now. If you are looking for a new shot to add to your bag then you have to stay over the ball longer and keep the hands in front and really get that weight forward. I am not a golf pro so consider that just friendly range advice. I have a shot I call the wind cheater and this is what I do. Drive my weight forward and make sure I square up the face. Basically just trying to get the club head to travel parallel to the ground for just a split second longer slightly de-lofted. It was trial and error and that's where I have landed. Works really well except when I spin out and duck hook it. A lso great for my 4 iron when escaping trouble. Keep the hands in front of the ball at impact. My 2 cents

Nature of the beast at public courses. 5 hour rounds, no play-throughs, dressed to the nines with no game or dressed in jeans and flip flops with lots of game. Carts on the fringe, bunkers left unraked, divots not repaired, the list goes on and on. There are plenty of folks not like this but that's what you have to expect. There are also lots of people like this at private courses but publics get more than their fair share. Tearing up the practice green is another one I'll add to the list. The only thing I can say on that is that perhaps you should have just told someone at the course and let them handle it if for nothing else to avoid a confrontation. You never know when you might get a broken shaft in the neck (I'm only half kidding). Every time I play at the public course near me I fall in love with my club all over again and it reminds me that it is worth the money. Finally, to be fair, I think about it like me going to the bowling alley. I don't bowl much and when I do its probably me and some friends just goofing around. I can imagine a serious bowler near us getting mad at the noise, dropping the ball, not waiting for the person on your left to go first (is that correct, the left?) etc. That's just the way it goes. Roll with it. (get it?)

Pete and Repeat. Mark scores but forget about total. 1 hole at a time. It should be "Oh S@!t I just shot 78!" Do this a few times and then you won't care as much. And once you do shoot 70's frequently enough that you don't care then you are done because the chances of ever breaking 70 are remote for most of us.

I play 99.99% of my golf with no money on the line. I've played tournaments and really love the added experience it provides. I've played regular weekend games at the club but find the level of sandbagging and cliques to frustrating. If I had my way I would always play for money. Its fun. Plain and simple. I don't need it to have fun but competing is fun and golf is fun so 2 funs equal more fun. My regular golf friends either don't want to bet or bet and never really pay up (well not never but not often). I don't even need money. Just running points would be fine for long term bragging rights or to get fired up and maybe pay up a given amount at a set number of points. Focus? Maybe to a certain degree since my focus can wane during rounds especially when things are going bad. Try Harder? I try to hard as it is. Playing for money helps me realize that and understand that I need to relax or I am going to be buying somebody a new boat.

Stopping trying to make putts. Start focusing on making a good stroke. If you do that and your line and read is true then the hole will get in the way. Sometimes the harder you try the worse you get.

We have crows here that do the "AH-HA" voice from the Simpsons. Right above you in a tree. Very reassuring when you are about to hit

The thing that gets me is the sudden noises. If people are talking or geese are honking or even kids playing in a yard not far away I can handle that so long as its fairly consistent. Its when all is quiet or calm and then something moves or clicks. The cart brake has been a big one for me lately. Its usually the group behind us at the previous green so its not even something that's inappropriate but that click just pops in my head. Or everyone standing on the tee nice and quiet and then someone bolting for the cart because they forgot something. Very unsettling. The other one that gets me sometimes is related to another thread going on and that's the advice guy or general "how do you do that" guy. I try to be conversational and discuss how I approach my driver but then I start thinking about it so much I over think one and shank it. This one is totally my fault but its just another gremlin.

I'm having a lot of trouble backing off a shot once I get set and ready. Several times over the weekend and many times over the last month or so I've been ready to pull the trigger and something gets my attention. Could be someone clicking the parking brake on a cart, someone walking off the tee (not cool of them but not that big a deal for a casual round) or anything else. My mind just goes into this loop of "Don't think about it. Just hit" Of course if I am thinking that then I am not thinking about the shot. It happened Sunday on the first tee and I started with triple! The rest of the front 9 I just wasn't comfortable and shot 49!! I took Romeo's advice on the back (hat on backwards, tee behind ear, double tie shoe etc) and shot 39 and that INCLUDED me again losing focus on 17 when I heard a cart brake click and yanked it OB for what ended up being a double. I don't really want to play every round looking like a douche bag though. I don't know what I'm looking for here other than maybe some experiences others have had and how you approached it. Thanks

I turn in everything and I mean everything. If its not mine and its not part of the course its goes in. I've lost nice head covers before and never found them. The kind you get as gifts from your kids and it just sickens me so I turn it all in so no one has to go through that same thing.

IMHO... Never offer advice to a stranger. Period. If stranger asks your opinion, start with obvious observations with the chance that they are not obvious to them. If they persist and want help you should simply help them score better by offering smarter strategies for their game. Like teeing it up on the right side and aiming down the left for slicers or not always going for it and hitting easier clubs more often. Course management stuff. I played with a kid yesterday who was pretty good. He needed a bogey on the last hole to shoot 79 which he said he had never done. He hit a poor tee shot and had no angle to the green. He tried to punch it through the trees to get a short pitch to the green. He hit another tree and still had almost no shot at the green. He pulled off a great shot to get over the green but could not get up and down and shot 80. I simply told him he should have pitched his second shot out to where I was and then hit it on and 2 putted. The golf swing is very personal and even if you do the same things as I do the way we each think about it are not necessarily the same. If more people simply understood the basic shot shapes and what swing paths and club face angles caused them they could make adjustments themselves. So if someone asks, just educate them or suggest they educate themselves.

Gets pretty windy here as well and one thing I have learned to do is control the flight of the ball with the driver. Whenever I step up to a drive with a stiff wind in my face, I declare I am going to hit a "wind cheater". I do everything the same except I tee it down and really make sure to shift my weight forward and stay over the ball as long as I can. IF I pull it off the ball comes out very low like a line drive up the middle and since their is a decent amount of spin it will fly that way for quite a while and I lose very little distance. Of course having a straight hole with no obstacles and a dry fairway helps too. Also important to note I have an 8.5 degree driver open 1 degree which effectively makes it 8.25. I use to try and do the opposite with a tail wind (tee it up and launch it high) but I would always over swing and hit a nasty high slice so now I just hit a normal shot and let the wind do whatever its going to do.

I am saying wedges but its not the full wedges. Its the 3/4 and 1/2 wedges. Very hard to repeat a less than full swing. Even if I have a good day with the length of the swing I might be inconsistent with the contact and have some that go nice and high while others are lower. I think the expected precision is also a factor. The longer the club the less precise you expect it to be but when you are 70 yards from the flag you expect it to be pretty precise. Hitting a wedge 78 instead of 70 feels worse than hitting a 5 iron 178 instead of 170.