sofingaw

Like I said, I won’t be/am not. But I’ve seen in the past some guys come out against women playing events on the PGA Tour for various reasons. I’ve heard: ‘waste of time’, ‘waste of a spot for a guy trying to make a living’, ‘publicity stunt’, ‘feminist/liberal agenda’, etc.’ Some folks get QUITE worked up about it.

I mean, reading her (Lincicome’s) comments on this, she claims that she’s not personally trying to prove a point or make a statement or anything, but simply taking advantage of an opportunity. Of course the narrative changes if she does well and contends. And of course the narrative will be also filtered through many agendas along the way. But I fail to be riled up about this, and most certainly not in a negative way like so many seem to be. I’m interested to watch, and I hope she does well and enjoys herself. And I take her comments at face value as they stand for now. Would definitley be entertained to see her contend or win. It would

Absolutely! Practice and lessons are vital for improvement. But that’s not what I’m looking for here. I would have posted that in ‘Instruction and Playing Tips’ But thanks for the advice. Good point. I mean, I definitely want both. But I’m looking to prioritize which to get first, I guess.

Compulsory education (with suspension/revolution of play privileges possible for non compliance) on the specifics of proper pace of play (ready golf, taking clubs, moving to ball immediately when safe, not waiting excessively for others to play, proper use and parking of carts, etc.. and etiquette would go far, but of course would be nearly or completely impossible to institute, require and enforce. I guess the best we can do is teach everyone we can the right way to play as we meet and play with them.

I shoot over 100. Want to buy one of two. Which is likely to be better for my game? Portable Launch Monitor like Mevo? or Stat/Shot tracking system like Game Golf/Accros?

I play only once every month or two on average. Twice a month max. For me it’s because my job and family take up a lot of time and focus. However, if I could play more I definitely would. And I fully intend to. (Someday...!) And i’m certainly practicing (often) now in order to play better later. But if asked right now, I would also be forced to say that more than once a month for me would be a lot. Perhaps once I get very old or injured, and can’t hit it far enough to score well, I could be satisfied with only practice. But hopefully that’s many, many seasons from now.

That’s three VERY makeable putts he missed, not to mention the one he barely missed from the fringe. Could be sitting on 9 or 10 easily right now.

Interesting. It makes sense. Even if we only consider one factor. Even looking at the distance factor alone, doing complete ‘ballpark fuzzy math’ and assuming that technology has allowed the average player to gain between 5-20 yards depending on the club (say 5-10 per iron and 10-20 per wood/driver) over the last 20-25 years’ clubs and balls.... We have increased distances by 5-20 yards per full shot, so you’re effectively playing a course that’s anywhere between 200 and 800 yards shorter (assuming about 40 full swing shots a round) each round compared to how the same length course played for you 20-25 years ago. 200-800 yards a round is between 3 and say 6 shots per round that we aren’t taking now. Of course that’s just one factor to consider, and complete ballpark stabs around numbers, but it is sensible to me that everyone’s scores are dropping.

Damn, Matsuyama was impressive! To recover after that nasty shank, and reel off birdies like that, of course the hole out, and then leaving his putt just about an inch short from another birdie on 18. He has won here before, too. Let’s see if he can keep rolling. Lots of firepower in the field who didn’t have great days today will be hungry to make up lost ground tomorrow and Saturday.

Couldn’t agree more!

I also LOVE hitting balls. I’m truly convinced that I could spend a full day hitting shots every day if I didn’t have to work a real job, and as long as I avoided injury. I’m reminded of the classic Hogan quote: “You hear stories about me beating my brains out practicing, but the truth is, I was enjoying myself. I couldn't wait to get up in the morning so I could hit balls. I'd be at the practice tee at the crack of dawn, hit balls for a few hours, then take a break and get right back to it. And I still thoroughly enjoy it. When I'm hitting the ball where I want, hard and crisply—when anyone is—it's a joy that very few people experience.” Ill of course never match Hogan’s accomplishments, but I share this exact feeling with him. The good news for me (and my family, and probably my game, and body) is that I work 5 days a week and have two kids under 4 years old, so I only get to play about once or twice a month, and I have to hit the range before work each weekday. My range opens at 6, and I have to be at work by 8, with a 30 minute drive. So I can practice max 1 1/2 hours a day on the weekdays. This probably keeps me from reaching burnout. But I have NEVER left the range ‘done’ with practice. Even when I was single and first starting out, and spent whole days at the course.. I l’ve always wanted to hit ‘just one more..’ (bucket!) I feel like if I had taken up the game in my early youth, instead of my mid-20’s, who knows how far I could have gone? I definitley have the drive to spend the time on it.

Agreed, impossible to say without seeing your swing, and I’m also a very bad player, not qualified to assess. However, two things that seemed to cause me to hit nasty hooks off the tee were: 1) Not getting my weight forward enough/not getting ‘through’ the shot. I would ‘hang back’ on the tee when playing, and hit a very weak shot (snap hook or slice) due to not committing, and not wanting to swing too fast and mishit it. Ironic that taking it too easy caused just that. 2) Alignment. I often still line up inconsistently, and will make weird swings at the ball including the dreaded ‘double cross’ where I think I’m set up to specifically avoid the hook, and ‘fade’ (slice) it, but end up smothering it left in some awkward last second compensation as I swing through. Again, I suck, and I haven’t seen your swing, so either, or more likely neither may be what you are doing. The reason I decided to drop these in here is that you specifically mentioned the range being much better. On the range both issues are not present for me generally either, because: 1) I swing away on the range, with no fear. I get forward and through on most of my shots. 2) Alignment basically takes care of itself after a few swings and minor adjustments on the spot. And hitting from one bay (‘tee box’) again and again gets me used to where to line up to get more consistent results. Just some thoughts. Good luck on your issue, and I hope you’re able to cure the hook. It’s a nasty bastard.

A good number of guys within reach if they go low. But looks like they’ll need to. Rose probably won’t back up. 62-65 has been out there this week though. Golf comes on early in the AM here in Japan, but I have tomorrow off. Will be watching! Pulling for Rose, Kodaira, and of course my favorite Louis O!

Yes, very cool! Thanks. First seen for me.

Thread resurrection!!! I have a question that is tangentially related to this topic. For those who have played full rounds on these simulators: Based on your current average score or handicap, how much better do you generally score on the simulators compared to on the course? Estimates are ok. And I’m ASSUMING most everyone scores better on the simulators versus a real course since there are so many variables removed on simulators. Just curious, and thanks!

So, I saw the video and the fact that he took 24 mulligans on hole 1... How many total for the round?

Yeah, try not to get discouraged. 6mo. Is a long time, (though not a record by any means) but all you can do is to keep at it. I will say that some range sessions, I hit the first 50 balls or more pretty (very) badly. Then I get into a groove of sorts, and/or make some changes and hit them better for a while. It is recommended repeatedly by pros and great players not to simply bash ball after ball, and to limit how many you hit/take your time. That’s sound advice that many of us, myself included should take more often. But I must admit that in my own experience, sometimes you may have to get a bunch of bad ones out of the way first. I also second the recommendation to read through a bunch, or all of the thread linked to above. Simple things like grip and stance can make a huge positive difference. Good luck, and keep at it!

Thank you gentlemen kindly!

These were consecutive swings with 6i this morning. Trying to get the hands deeper, and to come down less steeply than the swings in my previous post. I felt like I hung back on the first one and slapped at it, sending it low and left. The second and third ones had better results and felt better. I’m still pretty steep, but I think my downswing move has improved just a bit. I don’t feel like I’m ‘chopping wood’ straight down at the ball as much. Thanks for the look! As always, I appreciate any and all comments and critiques!

I also do it this way. No particular reason, I just always have, and so it’s part of the routine now.

I’m sure you’re right. I come up with failed ideas all the time, so no worries!

I think that many (all?) of us have tried to do things with our swings that somehow made things worse due to being either: 1) Incomplete or nonspecific in description (you thought of or were told something wrong) or execution (you understood or wrong and/or did it wrong/overdid it). 2) The opposite of beneficial or intended, due to it being counterintuitive and/or flat out wrong. Or even: 3) Impossible to actively ‘do’, for one reason or another. 4) Some other problem. (Feel free to describe!) Then hopefully, we realized the issue with our false fix, or were shown the light by a competent pro. I’d love for his thread to serve as a compilation of pitfalls and more importantly, ‘a-ha moments’ that we have had over the years. Hopefully a long enough list of these will allow others to avoid our specific pitfalls. I’ll start: Issue: Hitting fat shots. False Fix: Actively attempt to hit ‘down’ on ball in order to ensure ball-first contact. Problem with False Fix: Swing became far too steep, causing continued mishits due to smaller, and thus harder to reach ‘impact zone’ Real Fix: Shallow out swing, increasing serviceable ‘impact zone’, allowing for more consistent ball-first contact, reducing number of fat shots. Very interested to see what we can come up with and glean some tips!

Last time I played, there were 4 of us, and we all shot over 100. Course was not busy, and we took right at 4 hours for 18. We played ready golf the whole time. I’ve played the same course on a busy day full of very slow, deliberate Japanese local players and took 5+ hours with the same foursome. Waiting on every hole, etc. Sometimes you can’t control how it goes.

Also, a lot of you speedy guys are talking about playing alone, yes? Playing with 2 or three other people will make the round longer for sure. It’ll make a 2.5 hour solo round into a 3.5-4.5 hour round, even if everyone is playing at a decent/normal pace.

My problem with aiming to compensate for a big miss is that I’ll aim ‘properly’ for the miss, but then either double cross myself and hit the opposite miss, or hit a ‘good one’ that goes dead straight where I was aiming (away from the fairway or green). In short: It almost never works. At least for me. I’m currently working on getting manageable and predictable misses from as neutral and straight a setup as I can, and of course, improving my swing as much as possible. Best of luck to you!