Audaxi

To answer your question about ballflight laws, I'll give you an example that should help you visualize what might be happening in your swing. Imagine setting a ball on an endless desk, and sliding a ruler with a straight face at the ball and through it. This will create a shot that starts straight, and stays straight. If you stay on that straight path, but close the ruler's face to the path, the ball will start left, and curve left. However, if you keep a straight clubface to the path you want the ball to start on, and slide the ruler outside of that and through the ball, it will start straight, but curve back to the left (assuming a right-handed player's perspective). The clubface dictates somewhere around 85% of a ball's starting direction, while the difference between face angle and swing path is what causes spin. From what you are describing, it sounds like you are timing it correctly, and releasing the clubface to square, but you also seem to be swinging straight towards the target at impact. Also, I would advise against swinging on a 10* in-to-out swing path, unless someone you really dislike happens to be a fairway or two to the left of your intended target. A 10* difference between clubface angle and swing path will cause tremendous sidespin, unless that is what you hope to accomplish with your swing.

I believe you mean a clubface open to the swing path will create a fade. A closed clubface (relative to the swing path) at impact creates a draw.

Did you even read my post that describes exactly how you do it, and saying that I did it myself? Did you try what I asked you to so you could see that it is possible?

I hit my drives not extraordinarily long, but the real key here is consistency for me. My drives carry from 240-270 depending on the wind and the day, and roll depends on the hole and conditions. I could work on my swing with the sole purpose of hitting it further in mind, but why should I want to do this? What is the point of hitting it further? I play on a few local courses that are short (~6500-6700 yards) and I play on one course that is quite long (7200 yards). My drives have worked for both courses, even though my approach shots are different. If I hit it further, that I'd find it more enjoyable to play only the long course because I'd always be hitting 3/4 wedges on some holes on the short courses for my approach. If I work on ballstriking, however, I can get a bigger impact on my game while keeping the local courses enjoyable for me. I also know that if I was to try for only distance, I;d probably lose what consistency I have and my handicap would balloon. I don't see why hitting it longer is a big issue for people, because my length off the tee suits me perfectly for the courses that I play. I don't mind hitting longer irons for my approaches on one course, because it helps me sharpen that part of the game. If you never have to hit a 6 iron or higher, it's likely that your long irons will fall to the wayside slightly, and you'll be less prepared when you mishit a tee ball or you need to hit a long iron for some shot. Anyways, that was a slightly long rant, but the point of it is this: I don't need to hit it further to lower my handicap, I need to hit it straighter.

I used to open the clubhead at impact. It happens when you have too strong of a grip, and you end up closing it on the way back and opening it back to square on the way through. I've fixed this, but offset irons do make that worse. However, whenever I start to see 4 knuckles on my left hand at address, I know it's just waiting to happen again(I normally have a fairly strong grip anyways). It happens if you have a clubface that points to the sky - or worse - at the top, provided that the person has a normal swing except for the wrist rotation at impact. In this scenario, you can either choose to hit the ball with a fairly closed clubface, or you can rotate it open to square through impact. In that case, the offeset will give you more time to open the face than an iron without it. However, it could also be purely mental (like it is for me) if he doesn't have a swing like that. I apologize if this was hard to visualize, but to understand it you have to just try to swing from the top with a fairly to very closed clubface, and I guarantee that you'll end up opening the face through impact unless you do something odd in the downswing.

I would highly recommend you at least try the clubs on CL at a range. Maybe ask to meet at a local course, and see if you can hit them as well or better than your current irons. If you buy in-store, make sure to compare on the launch monitor against your own irons, not just against your current numbers (launch monitors at stores tend to add a few yards of distance). Just remember that you will still need balls, gloves, and spikes for your shoes that the gift cards can be used for as well.

I think it sounds like a great idea to slow down until you have your swing thoroughly grooved. What helps you regain some distance is to make sure you have a full shoulder turn, which helps me hit it just as far without having to try as hard. Rather than thinking of how far to take the club back, just try to turn your shoulder underneath your chin before you start the downswing, and you'll regain some distance if you aren't already doing this. However, it's likely that you are playing better than you were before if you are hitting it straighter with more control.

Congratulations! I know how great that feels, since the slice was one of my biggest issues earlier. When I finally turned it to a draw it felt amazing watching the ball curve nicely the other way, but keep practicing. I had figured out the draw before last winter, and ended up back to my usual fade or slice in the spring again.

Here's an excellent video describing how bounce works.

Well, if he had been hitting directly onto the grass, there's probably enough there for it to have sun back a foot or two before the grass grabbed it. Either way, I would've at least hoped the announcer would say, "Quiet please." when he stepped up to hit.

I'd say Taylormade should have used a loom more like this. The original is just too complicated to look down, it takes your focus off the putt and directs it onto the topline of the putter.

I noticed the same thing when I tested Mizuno blades (which I hope to buy sometime in the near future). My natural ball flight with the trusty Eye 2's is a 5-10 yard fade, but it turned into a draw when I hit the blades. I went into the store expecting to be slicing and really needing to rotate my hands through, but was pleasantly surprised. The fitter's best guess was that it was how the offset looked, and it caused my swing to change enough to turn a fade into a draw. I'd believe that, and it wasn't the machine considering that I compared it to my current clubs without any adjustments to the system.

As a Colorado resident and native, I firmly believe Mickelson should not use a mat and just try to hit the mat while swinging from the Chargers endzone. In addition, he ought to make sure and take a few beaver pelts, and dig a few trenches while he's at it. While I think Payton Manning was a waste of money, I'll still be wearing #18 when the time comes.

- With my ball marked, I pace off the putt to the hole and take that opportunity to look at it briefly from behind the hold to determine which way the ball will break. I also try to notice if there's a huge spikemark I need to avoid or a subtle ridge on my line. - I pace the putt back to my ball to confirm the distance and try to fine tune my general read to include a line that I visualize the ball traveling on. I actually seem to watch the ball roll into the hole. - Behind the ball, still looking at the line and hole, I make one practice stroke and watch it roll in the hole. - Repeat (or at least try to) my visualizations with a real golf ball Obviously, if the putt is longer than about 30 feet I will skip the pacing of the putt just for the sake of speedy play, but I focus on distance a lot since I like my putts to just die on the edge and fall in.

I think that this, while it may be a nice set you've put together, would be a tad bit out of the price range of a high schooler. Maybe look at a generation or two older of these clubs and it might bump the price down a bit if it's too high.

I wouldn't be surprised. I have to force myself not to ever play the Tiger Woods wii game, or at least just swing with only my wrist because of this. If you actually pretend to swing, you groove in sloppy habits.

I've hit an RBZ adjustable driver, and I can say for certain you need to play those shafts one stiffness up. I'm almost to a stiff shaft, with a SS of about 105, and I hit it with a stiff and one with my current shaft in it. I found that the Taylormade shaft was far more inconsistent, and softer than even my PLR regular. It spun far to much, causing my ballflight to balloon, and it also seemed to be inconsistent about where/when it would kick, but that could just be me and my swing. Overall, the clubhead isn't too shabby, but I don't find it a huge upgrade to what I'm currently swinging and would never think about getting the stock shaft in this.

Are you trying to hit a draw/trying to swing from in to out? Try hitting slice after slice on the driving range. It helped me hit the ball more in the center of the face, and it's relatively easy to straighten back out.

My guess is Fred Couples, Johnny Miller, or Paul Azinger.

I only feel that when I'm trying to hit a punch shot, and that's because the iron digs into the turf, which is generally pretty hard at my home courses. Either that or I feel it do that when I really blade it. If you don't want to spend $200 on C-Tapers, you can always go to the hardware store, buy a couple yards of adhesive window stripping, fold it around some fishing wire (for easy removal) and slide it into the shaft next time you regrip your irons. Helps minimize vibrations, or at least absorb some of them without dimishing the feel all that much.

I always bring a wedge and a couple of cheap golf balls with me when I go to a lake or beach. A firepit makes a great landing target, so long as there isn't currently a fire and/or hot coals in it.

I love the feel of KBS C-Tapers myself, but in the irons I'm saving for I plan on getting the regular KBS Stiffs in them, mainly because the C-Tapers gave me a low 40* landing angle with a 6i compared to 45-46* with just a Stiff.

One thing that helps me is that I never hit a wedge with more than what feels like a 3/4 swing. My 56* goes about 100-105, and my 60* goes about 85-90 when I do this, and the gap between them and between my sandwedge and PW I fill by hitting it slightly softer or harder. Since I started doing this, my distance only dropped maybe 5 yards, but my consistency improved greatly as well as my ballstriking.

The problem you mention here is the problem that I have that keeps me from shooting lower than I am sure I can. I know that, physically, I can shoot better than I do. However, when I get on a roll I lose focus thinking that if I'm playing good that day I'll just keep on playing well. It's inevitable, without fail I'm distracted by one thing or another after a birdie or two. The times when I have a good day it's because I can focus on the shot at hand and actually visualize it well.

I would wager that there is not one perfect swing, but many depending on what you want to achieve. However, in my opinion, there is no need to have a "perfect" swing, but you need to have a consistent one. The ball doesn't care what it looks like until impact, and it doesn't watch what your finish position is. If you can square the clubface on a straight enough swing plane with a relatively good angle of attack, the ball will fly through the air. If those basic parameters are met, and swing speed/other conditions are similar, you could swing holding the club in your teeth and get the same shot. It's just easier to have consistency and good results with a good swing. I know I finish my backswing with the clubface closed, but I still hit a fade that works for me. I could probably fix this problem and gain more shot variety in terms of being able to hit it higher than normal, but I play on courses with lots of trees and in a windy, high altitude area, so this swing is what works for me. As long as your swing is giving you the results that you want, it should be fine as long as it is repeatable without harming yourself and/or others.