rydaddy

This was exactly my problem. Keep it simple and swing as you normally would a shorter iron. Adjust your stance as was already stated. Your head saying that you are hitting a long iron so you have to hit it harder. Wrong. The loft of the club will provide that extra distance.

I suffered through a round today.... not being able to decide whether to keep the windbreaker on. Two holes it's on... two holes it's off. It was killing me!!

I would say in most cases you don't want the ball to spin back. Are you usually short or long of the hole on your approaches?

Shocker isn't it!

You should if you want to be respected. If you write like a moron you will be treated like a moron. Hey, maybe that should be in your sig!

Thanks for the laugh.

Thanks for the tip! I'll check it out this weekend

I read Utley's putting book. I have a hard time figuring out how to keep the grip end of the club quiet and not be handsy, i.e. breaking my wrists. What seems to work for me is I am focusing on the hinging of the elbos. My stroke feels most natural when I allow my right elbo to hinge on the backswing and my left elbo hinges on the downswing. I have more hand movement than Utely but less wrist movement than what I see in his photos. I have decided that putting is a thing of personal preference. I can't completely mimic Utley's putting stroke but I have adopted many fundamentals from him. I'm also having a hard time keeping my back straight while bending at the waist. I think I need a longer shaft on my putter.

I thought everyone knew, Northern California is where it's at!! Just tune in to the Pro-Am and you'll see. Of course, I may be biased.

I just bought the Momentus Power Hitter iron. I intend to use is more for practice swings at home to build the golf muscles. I can definately feel when my swings are out of whack. It has already helped me with tempo and prevents me from swinging out-to-in, which is a bad habit I picked up. I'll go the home made route for a heavy driver though.

I am 6'2" with a 36.75" wrist to floor. I was fitted with a white dot i10's and +1/2" on the shaft length. A few days ago I went for a follow up fitting and the lie angle looked right for me. I also tried a web fit and the only difference was green dot instead of white. I am loving the new i10's!

Thanks, Bignose, for cleairing that up. You beat me to it. After catching up on some reading here, I have to say that the term amatuer is too broad - and there are too many factors going on when selecting a club. The better amatuers have a better idea of what club to use, duhhh! It makes no sense to pick a club and then, by default, grab the next one up.

I recently read a few books based on some recommendations on this site. Harvey Penick's Little Red Book - Great book, easy to read, and a nice reference if you need to freshen up. Art of Putting (Stan Utely) - I wanted to try something new and I have seen good results so far. Five Lessons (Ben Hogan) - It's a little tough to read being that it was written 50 years ago. Still good knowledge in there especially the fundamentals of grip, stance, and setup. Probably not a great book for more advanced golfers. Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect (Bob Rotella) - I can't wait to put this book to use. I have never been able to play with a clear mind and I honestly believe this will drastically keep my head in the game. Highly recommended! I'll be checking some others out from the library soon.

Harvey basically says that a lot of pro/teachers suggest to go one club up. However, he does not believe in it. I respect the man as a golf instructor so I'll put my money on him. It makes sense to use the club you genuinely believe is the right one. Otherwise you have another voice in your head when you should be focusing on the target.

Next time tell them to read page 66 of Harvey Penick's Little Red Book.

My local 18-hole muni runs $20 on weekends walking. Its par 67 but still well worth the money. Most of the time I can book a tee time online a day prior at $8-$12. The other courses I play in the Sacramento area run between $40-$60 on the weekends. I have so many options. This year I hope to play Edgewood in Tahoe but it runs $200+ (see my avatar)

On a scale of 1-10, 10 is your fastest, 1 slowest, enter your backswing at 3 or 4. Downswing 7-8, or whatever speed you feel most comfortable with. Rarely should anyone go with a 10. An instructor had me go back in super slow motion (1) and down at the same speed. Then more swings with a slight increase in speed each time, until finally I was going back at 4 and down at 7. You'll have to decide the right downswing speed for yourself. I still haven't figured mine out since this lesson.

Like you, I have a great woman. She recently gave me the go-ahead on a new set, which also replaced my 845's from 1992! Enjoy the new set.

Your style of writing makes me laugh.

Wow. That's all I can say.

Utley. I just read his book and have put 2 rounds in since making some changes. I have noticed immediate improvement thanks to this book. I had rounds of 31 and 32 putts this past weekend, and my previous 2 rounds (before the change) were 35 and 36 putts. And I haven't nearly perfected the stroke part! I always putted inside-square-inside but pretty much changed everything else (grip, stance, stroke). Maybe it's just me, but think many people claim straight back-straight through and don't realize they are on somewhat of an arc.

I was about 30 yds to the pin, steep uphill lie and in a hazard (my previous shot cleared a creek but rolled back and stopped before getting wet). I swung the 60*, too strong I first thought, and the ball literally flew straight into the hole. Easy bird!

I'm thinking about picking up the same putter. I am using an old Anser 2 but I think the technology has advaced enough to justify a new one. I'm still drooling over the Redwood Anser but times are tough right now.

I happen to be reading Harvey Penick's Little Red Book. One of his Maxims.... "Hold the head of the club off the ground if you are inclined to be tense."

Old irons (845 Tommy Armours), old swing: 3i: 225 4i: 215 5i: 200 6i: 190 7i: 185 8i: 170 9i: 160 pw: 150 56: 125 60: 100 New irons (Ping i10's), new swing (no more delofting): 3i: 200 4i: 190 5i: 180 6i: 170 7i: 160 8i: 145 9i: 135 pw: 120 54: 100 60: 80-90 I was once the long ball hitter and now I feel like I have no strength Hopefully with time my adjustments will pay off though