Raidermatt

Currently a 29.0, which is the first month I've ever been below 30. Down from 34.8 that I was at most of last year, and 36.4 that I've been at pretty much since I started playing about 8 years ago. So I'm definitely still a high-handicapper, but I am FINALLY making progress I'd say woods and chipping/pitching. At 29.0 I obviously need work in all areas, but I'd say those are the weakest. Been playing about 8-9 years, so I'm not a new player, but I also didn't play at all when I was a kid. I'm trying to get in a round or two every month now. I practiced pretty regularly for the first year or so after I started playing, and made some progress. I went from shooting 130's to 110-125. But then the progress stopped and so, of course, I stopped practicing for the most part. But last year I finally started to understand what it meant to swing without tension and that helped quite a bit even without the practice. This year I've been practicing when I can, mainly just a small bucket or short game on my lunch. Honestly not sure. I've been using the HX Hot, which is a mid-priced ball, because of the low driver spin ratings I've seen it get. But since my swing has been changing lately, it's tough to really tell if the ball helps. I've taken the approach that if I'm getting better, then I can consider some new equipment. Partly as a reward to myself, and partly because I know that the equipment alone isn't going to help THAT much. So that's why I hadn't really got anything new for the last 7 years or so, but this year I did get some new clubs. Very true. People ask if I like this or that club that I have, and I usually say "Yeah, but if I make a bad swing/stroke it still doesn't help".

Sorry if I mis-heard, but I thought there was a comment on the GolfTalk podcast that the LPGA wasn't on TV last weekend (The Safeway whatever at Superstition Mountain), but it was. All four rounds were on The Golf Channel. All of the LPGA events so far have been televised, with the exception of the tournament in Mexico. Again, sorry if I didn't hear the comment correctly, but I wanted to clear it up just in case. Thanks.

As others have said, it's a classic issue in all parts of life. Some people are sent to the best private schools, some go to school in places that have to have metal detectors and a police presence. Everybody else is somewhere in between. Regardless, your education will be what you make it. Same with golf, other sports, work, you name it. Some will always have more advantages than you, some will have less. All you can control is how you respond to your own situation, and that is what will determine how successful you will be.

To me, there's really two issues. One is just controlling anger so I don't get destructive. That's just bad form no matter how you look at it, and if it happens on the golf course, it can happen anywhere. For that, I think you just have to find a way to calm yourself before you break a club, throw a club, or hurt somebody. A deep breath often does it for a lot of people, but whatever it is for you, it's a good idea to find it before something worse than breaking your own club happens. Once you have that under control, it becomes a matter of thinking about your actual game. I haven't had issues with throwing clubs or anything, but certainly bad shots can frustrate me. What I've finally come to understand very recently is that the single biggest thing CAUSING my bad shots was tension in my swing. Tension from trying to hard, from frustration, etc. So it's a bit of a vicious cycle... tension causes bad swings, bad swings cause more tension, and so on. What's helped me before I take a shot is to make sure my practice swing is completely loose and tension free. Yes, I try to make a "good" swing, but that comes with practice and repetition. Once I'm on the course, my #1 thought is RELAX. Take the club back slowly and keep the swing loose. Even though I hardly practiced and only played about 6 rounds last year, my handicap went from over 36 to 32. As of 3/1 I'm now down to 30.5. I spent about 7 years at 36.4 (that's the highest they recognize for men). I can now practice and actually work on my swing in a productive manner. When there was so much tension, it was pointless for me to try to make any mechanical changes because (I think) they were all being caused first and foremost by the tension. I tried of course, but practice was mostly just an excercise in futility. Not so anymore. I can feel and see the improvement, and it just gets me out to the range even more. I can't say for sure that this is the root cause of anybody else's problems, but if you are throwing and breaking clubs after your swing, I'm going to guess you are winding yourself up WAY too tightly during your swing as well.

If you throw yourself in front of a moving car is it the motorists fault if he hits you? "Cause" is the key word. Mr. Three Putt makes a good point that it sometimes is going to depend on the circumstances. Maybe it's because of the ridiculous home values in this area, but it seems many developers are putting the houses WAY to close to the course to reasonably expect them not to get hit quite a bit. I know if it's my property I expect people to take reasonable care not to damage it, but at the same time, I have a reasonable responsibility to keep it out of harm's way. That's the way I look at it anyway.

Wie is a special case and for all of the criticism of her, I have a hard time going along with a lot of it. Unlike Fujikawa, she has enough sponser money to fund the rest of her life, if she chooses to do so. She is also getting to attend one of the most academically prestigous schools in the country. If she doesn't let the struggles on the course negatively affect her overall outlook on life, she is going to be just fine. Maybe a pro golfer, maybe not, but certainly she has not ruined herself in anyway. Fujikawa is different in that (A), he isn't going to make anywhere near the endorsement money Wie gets, and (B) he's not the natural phenom Wie is. But the same principle applies. If he stays strong mentally no matter what happens on the course, he's going to get a lot of opportunities that he wouldn't have otherwise received. I tend to think that in MOST cases, if somebody has the mental and physical tools, they will eventually succeed. So if Fujikawa and Wie really have all of "it", they will do well in time. If they don't, whether the issue is mental or physical, they are still better off taking the opportunities when they are open to them, because they will eventually close.

It's funny, there's a lot of sports announcers out there that it seems a lot of people hate, yet many of them stick around for decades. I think Johnny Miller does a very good job. Is he perfect? Of course not, but the question becomes who are they going to get that is going to be BETTER? Be able to to all of the analysis and top notch experience Johnny does AND conduct themselves professionally and with a personality everybody will like? That's a very short list. In fact it's probably a blank sheet of paper. I actually think both CBS and NBC have put together a couple of pretty good announcing teams. I think overall I do prefer CBS, but NBC is good too.

I actually think the jerk factor is a bigger problem on golf courses than slow play. Some people just never learn that they are the only one who believes the world revolves around them.

Since the question is who SHOULD be responsible, I answered the homeowner. I realize that's not the legally correct answer, but there are many cases of the law not being strong with common sense, and this is one of them. Errant shots are a reasonable thing to expect on a golf course. Just like wild pitches, foul balls and broken bats at baseball games. The fan accepts this risk when he buys a ticket, and the same should be true of a homeowner who buys a house on a golf course.

As others have said, I think your theory is correct. I'm a recovering slicer myself and still fight it, though to an ever lessening degree. The problem with slicing is it rarely is consistent. Sure, I would lineup and aim left, but I could never guarantee whether I'd slice back into the middle or clear across to the other side. What's more, a head wind makes the slice worse, so a high spinning ball becomes even harder to control. So yes, a ball with low spin off the driver should help a bit. Of course, as everyone told me when I asked this question, the real solution is to stop slicing, but I'm sure he knows that. A weak grip and too much tension in my swing were the primary culprits for me. The weak grip encouraged an open club face, which of course is the real reason for a slice, and then the tension resulted in a steep outside in swing path, and resulted in all kinds of other issues. Like I said, I've still got issues, but it's getting better. But yeah, the best ball should be one with low driver spin. It also seems most slicers don't benefit much from spin around the green, so it's not likely he needs that anyway. If he needs to have a "name" ball, from what I know the Callaway HX Hot has low driver spin.

When you talk about cost you have to look at what alternative sports/activities cost. $25 twilight greens fees might not sound like too much, but it's $20-25 more than it costs in most cases to play basketball, tennis or go hiking. Plus, that's twilight rates (and pretty darn good ones for this area), and it's per person. And if twilight doesn't fit your schedule, you're out a lot more. There's ways to get cheap clubs and balls, but most thinking of taking up golf don't know about those "tricks of the trade". Further, even cheap clubs aren't really cheap when you consider a basketball can be bought for $10. Sure, if you play tennis you have to buy tennis balls, but you aren't likely to lose any either, so you only need 1 or 2. Then, what does everybody tell a new golfer who wants to be able to play without embarassing him/herself? Get some lessons and practice. There's more money. When you break it down, golf is pretty expensive when you compare it to a lot of other activities. This becomes even more true when you consider how difficult a game it can be for a beginner.

I leave it in for downhillers, take it out for uphillers. My reasoning being I shouldn't have much of a problem with running the ball well past the hole going uphill, so I shouldn't need the pin to stop the ball. Going downhill speed becomes tougher to control so I prefer to have the pin just in case.

Here's what I do when I want to keep the ball low through the wind or under a tree: 1- Play the ball back in my stance. 2- Set my hands ahead of the ball. 3- Try to maintain that wrist angle through the backswing and follow-through. 4- Focus on making a low sweeping swing. 5- Take about a 3/4 backswing. One thing I fight with this is keeping the swing nice and relaxed while still maintaining the wrist angle. When I do misfire, it's almost always a hook.

Played on Saturday and shot 104 at a course with a 70.8 rating and 130 slope (from the whites). As you can see from my handicap, that's actually a good score for me. I've been practicing a lot lately and feel like I'm really making progress so I was anxious to get a round in. A storm was coming in but other than the wind and a few sprinkles, we were able to escape unscathed. I had 4 pars including 3 in a row which is a first for me. After a top on the 1st tee I drove the ball pretty well. Irons were pretty good with the exception of two five irons I pulled into the water on two different holes. Wedges were decent. Was in bunkers at least 5 or 6 times but got out in reasonable shape each time. Didn't putt very well. 3 3-putts and only 1 1-putt.

I agree, but I don't blame Wie for that. She's not forcing The Golf Channel to follow her around with cameras. That's their choice.