hendog

A big key for me is to not OVER compensate. I have many times flew a green because the wind was in my face so I took 2 more clubs or vice versa being short. Same with lateral wind. I expect the wind to move the ball to much and end up missing the green. I have started doing this: Get a real distance to the pin. Laser or GPS. +/- where I want to be. +/- wind (best guess while considering safe misses). I choose my club based on this distance and from there distance is set. Hit that club normally. Finally pick an aim point taking wind into account such that I have plenty of room for miscalculation and still hit the green. If I am off with the distance I will note it for future reference and move on. Some days I'm a genius, some (ok most) I'm clueless. That's when my short game comes into play. Up and Down, Up and Down.

I'll tell you the same thing I tell my wife when she is being a brat. The next time you ask a question, please provide a list of acceptable answers so I don't walk into a trap. My natural shot is a draw so when I say my "stock" shot is a fade I simply mean that with no other outside forces influencing my shot, I now choose to hit a fade which for me is working the ball. I do this because it helps me focus. Have you ever walked out of a room and reached for the light switch and missed? You stop and take another swipe at it but miss again. Then you turn, step towards the switch, place your hand on it and flip it. Focus. The same thing happens in golf. You know that guy who hits after you hit a bad shot? The guy who hits it perfectly? I'm talking about yourself when you shank one from the fairway into the lake. You throw another ball down and hit a perfect shot. Focus. Some people are blessed with it, others have to work at it. I am the latter. Finally I guess this is your lucky day NM Golf because you just met a 9 handicap who has the clubhead control to work every shot. I guess the lesson here is that no matter how much control you may have over your club head, if you can't control your distances from 100 an in and chip and putt any better than average then you will lose 9-10 strokes per round. If you have any advice for that I'd be happy to listen. Otherwise I will simply be sure to avoid you on the range so I don't upset you with my sweet shot shaping

3 wood and 3 hybrid would be similar to 3 wood 5 wood I would think. I carry 3 wood, 5 wood, 4 hybrid, 5 hybrid. 3 hybrid would be too long and clash with 5 wood and I love my 5 wood. 4 hybrid filled a gap and 5 hybrid replaced 4 iron. I had no 3 iron so I guess the 4 hybrid kinda replaced that in the sequence.

I work the ball on just about every shot with the only exception being layups where it doesn't matter although even then I may alter the shape to get the desired length (if I want it to roll out I may hit a little draw, if I want it to stop at a certain distance I hit a high fade). I play blades (I consider them blades at least) explicitly to work the ball. I do it for 2 reasons: 1) Its fun and 2) its tangible. I don't know how to hit it "straight". I do know how to draw it or fade it. So if I am thinking about a nice fade, I can set up and execute that. Same with a draw. If I try to just hit it straight its like I am just trying to not mess up with no specific plan. That's just me though. Everyone is different. I also like the fade because it stops better on greens vs the draw I use to hit no matter what. Mainly talking about my longer irons here. My stock shot now is a fade. I hit it most of the time. It stops faster and at least for me is more controllable. I will hit draw into a wind, when the flag is tucked on the back left behind a bunker (not very common on most NON tour courses but it happens), when I am escaping danger or am otherwise forced to or when the hole calls for it (dogleg left for example). I enjoy playing the right shot even if I fail because I can just as easy fail hitting a safe shot. I'm only a 9 right now but my issues are around distance control inside 100 and the short game in general. I would say that my ability to work the ball is a big reason I am where I am because I have so many more options and can play just about any hole on any course since I am not stuck hitting one type of shot. Again this is what works for me and I am not prescribing this to everyone. Simply telling my story.

A fitting will have nothing to do with how good your swing is. It will measure swing speed to determine flex, imact with ground to measure lie angle and, if you get someone who knows what they are doing, wrist to floor measurement to determine length. If you shoot upper 90s legitimately then you are better than you think. I assure you the club fitter has seen worse and he won't care anyway. If you have some money to spend and you want new clubs then by all means do it. You'll find many threads in which people swear by the fitting. I am one such person. If you find that your current clubs are the right flex, lie and length then you may choose to save the money, but if these things are off, you will be swimming upstream trying to get better. At least do the fitting and then make up your mind. You may be able to simply get your current clubs adjusted for a fraction of the cost. By the way, finding out I needed to be 2 degrees up right on my lie angle changed everything. If I remember correctly I was about 32 and was shooting in the upper 90s. Now that was 6 years ago but I shot a 78 last Sunday with a 9 on a par 5. I'm just saying.

Uphill you have two things stopping the ball. Gravity and Friction. Without friction it would eventually stop and come back the other way. Downhill only friction is acting on it. Obviously without friction it would roll forever much as it does at the Masters at times. The point is it will not roll past the hole downhill the same distance it stopped short uphill. Don't have the exact numbers right now. I'd have to dust off my slide rule. Who am I kidding, I mean my TI-86.

I dropped my Club membership in Feb to build up savings and prepare for more bad news. I still hit the publics but not nearly as much. So I think this is very valid. Things like golf, pool service, lawn service etc are the first to go when times get tough. Tiger is a personality more now than a golfer to many people. A personality will not have much effect on participation. Personally though if the participation rate goes up much more the courses will be even more packed than they are now.

I have the opposite issue. One weekdays the range uses mats. Someone will always step out in front to hit driver or just hit off the grass. Then I'm worried I am going to shank one and hit them. I never shank like that anymore but you know how your mind will do the thing you are thinking about even if you DON'T want to do it. I have to just stop and either move or take a breather until they are done out there.

This is huge. Many clubs are full of retirees and if they bring their grand kids out and you treat them like royalty the members will be beaming because they will be the awesome grandma or grandpa who has the coolest club. Of course it doesn't have to be grand kids. Everyone loves it when you make kids feel special. Even members who don't have their kids there but see you interacting with other kids and taking care of the little ones will remember it.

I think routine is a big part of this too. Do the same thing on every shot, every hole, every day. Even at the range. It's not a magic wand but it helps the body and mind repeat complex actions. The subtleties can be as simple as your shoe needs a new cleat so those things are tougher but if the big stuff is consistent you at least won't have the HUGE differences day to day. IMO

Who cares what this guy says? I like playing golf. I want to go play right now but I have to work. Bummer.

It was ironic that this thread came alive when it did. Just this weekend I was thinking "I'm so close". I then realized I've been saying that for 10 years. When I thought about it I started to understand that I am always going to be close and I am never going to be there, whatever there is. It use to be, I'm so close to breaking 100 consistently. Then it was 95, then 90, then 85 and now I am SOOO close to breaking 80 consistently. But its the chase that I love. The battle. The triumphs and the struggles. The enigma that is golf.

There are a lot of variables here so let's speak in generalities. I play a lot of used Pro V1s simply because I am cheap. I am mainly interested in spin. In general how much better would a new Pro V1 spin compared to a used one? Assume the used one is AAA quality and let's focus on approach shots. I am finally to where I can play a round with 1-2 balls so I want to know if buying some brand new balls will do anything for me.

I have not. I wonder if TaylorMade makes any (I'll go look). I have all TM stuff and while I am not advertising it would be nice to stay consistent (just in case they want to sign me )

LOL. I can't argue with you on your last point. The plus side is year round golf Your cooler idea is obviously the logical and smart route. The problem is I am lazy and don't want to do all that. Well maybe not lazy but its just on the course I am focused on other things and often forget even the most logical things (I've gone an entire round without drinking any water...in Houston...in the summer!) Maybe I could scotch guard all the bills of my hats. That might make it worse though. Two hats might be the best. Wear one until its soaked and then hang it on the cart to dry and wear the other one for a while.

Problem: I live in Houston and needless to say it gets hot and humid. With the golf hats I have (standard issue Taylormade or similar) the bill gets so wet that it starts to drip as I am over a shot or putt. This is of course very distracting. The best I can do is take my hat off after every shot and wipe my head and then eventually start squeezing the bill in a towel to get the excess moisture out. Not exactly something I always remember to do and it can be a pain. (Maybe two hats is a better option) Does anyone know of a hat that addresses this issue? I don't know exactly what I am looking for here as far as a solution but I was just wondering if anyone had come up with something. I've done searches but anything with "golf" and "hat" in it is just a barrage of resellers so I just thought I would cloud source a little. Thanks!

I can understand the points made above but... If you have clubs that are completely wrong for you (swing weight, lie angle, flex etc etc) then you will have a much harder time enjoying the game. I'm not saying go spend $1000 or even $500 but maybe go and do a few things like a swing speed check and lie angle check. These you can do for free most places and then do some simple self research on swing speed and flex to see if you are even close. If these things are all close then by all means go with what you have and see if it sticks. If they are way off though then either get those clubs adjusted (lie angle about the only thing you can do cheaply) or invest in a starter set with correct flex etc. All depends on you and your disposable income. You are on a Golf Forum though so I sense you have caught the bug... Had to add one more thing: Correctly fitted clubs can make a WORLD of difference. I played for years and struggled and one day some random guy was talking about his lie angle and getting it adjusted. I went and had mine checked, found out I was 2 degrees upright, had them fixed and literally overnight my slice was gone. Not saying I was instantly a better golfer but I found it much easier to work on my swing since I wasn't fighting my clubs.

This shows how personal this stuff is. I set up the EXACT opposite. Weight on the left side with some forward shaft lean. I've even developed a slight pre-shot head turn to emphasize my weight staying forward which I thought was weird until I read that JACK himself did the same thing (the head turn thing). That is the only thing we have in common though but at least now I don't worry when my friends make fun of it :) Also if I see my club head on the left then I have most likely dropped the club :) Whatever gets the ball from point A to point B though right?

My 5W (215) is MUCH longer than my 4 iron (180). This is mainly due to the fact that with my FWs I take a bigger swing with more focus on distance and with my irons I take a much more controlled swing focusing on accuracy. Going to be different for everyone though.

Try some gravy. Gravy makes everything better.

Weight transfer. If I hang back Willie Mays Hayes style bad things happen. My last thought before I pull the trigger is "Walk it in". In general though there are no swing thoughts. Its all about getting the right distance, the right club and having a smooth tempo. I lose 5-7 shots a round because I miss clubbed or focused too much on distance to the flag rather than distance to where I want my birdie putt to be from.

You can play an A and B ball and see which wins. Both could be played exactly the same with respect to club choice and shot choice so you can see if you are able to make adjustments on the course (if B is better then you are learning from that first shot for example). You could also play them completely different and experiment with club, shot and course management to see what works better. Like Cole Trickle running 50 laps his way and 50 laps Harry's way. Try a 1 man scramble. Play the best shot and see what you are capable of. Or you can just wing it. Whenever you hit a shot that doesn't feel right do it again. Or you want to try something different take a couple shots. No plan. Just practice. But always putt a few extra balls no matter what.

I wanted steel shafts when I started as well. I remember having V-Steel 3 and 5 woods with steel shafts because I liked the weight. I was use to swinging a baseball bat and if the club was too light I felt no control. That was 12 years ago. Now I only have steel in my irons, 2 hybrids with graphite, 2 fairway metals with graphite and of course a Driver with graphite. You can always re-shaft a club with what ever you want. I don't think graphite is harder to control though as long as you have the right flex. That's what matters IMO.

I have played in local tournaments yes. These were flighted net handicap tournaments mind you but it was a start. The first few I played terrible. Nervous, shanking the ball. Pretty funny now. Then I settled in and won several of the events. I was not in the top flight but rather 1 below so I was not winning low gross for sure. Certainly continued participation in things like this would be part of the plan. More than anything though its just a fun goal and makes me start thinking about the things I need to do that I don't do now like lots of short game practice for one.

That would explain why he retired the next day :)