rogerhuang

+1. Well said my Asian bro!

I agree that this is bad news for American fans, but its GREAT news for fans in those Asian countries (all who have trouble pronouncing American names!). I believe this is why Bivens is planning to move the LPGA overseas to asian countries (where all the money, sponsors, and fans are). The LPGA will host its first tournament in China next year, with many more to come. I don't take offense to my heritage. Like I said, the American girls won't have to look up to all the Kims and Parks in golf. There are plenty of other sports out there from which they can pick their idols.

Let's hear it for Asians on both tours! Granted, Asians don't have quite the stranglehold on the PGA as they do on the LPGA. Still, with an Asian (Tiger Woods) as the world's best golfer and Anthony Kim charging up the ranks, it won't be long until Asians dominate the PGA as they have already done on the LPGA. Go Tiger and Anthony (and all the Parks, Kims, etc. on the LPGA)!

They won't help the LPGA fan base in the US, but it's irrelevant, since the LPGA fan base in Asia is much larger and more profitable. That's why Bivens secured the first LPGA event in China and has plans to get more events in Asia, while eliminating events (e.g. Corning Classic in 2009) in the US. She is moving the LPGA to where the money is. Great news for Asian players. Bad news for our American players. Might as well, since it's the Korean players who are dominating the LPGA more and more each year. Still, the American players can move on to their second career: modelling and other eye-candy jobs....

If you all are looking for compliments at the right time, then quit complaining and join a private country club, Nationwide Tour, or the PGA instead of playing at these muni tracks where you're bound to find less experienced golfers who don't know (or care) about proper golf etiquette. Good job to those of you who suck it up and ignore the inappropriate comments from those hackers who only mean well and want to be sociable when they say "good shot" at the wrong times.

+1. Agreed. Exactly what I've been trying to explain to the OP all along....

I believe this is the best book for all beginners to start with. It gives a comprehensive overview of the golfswing (grip, stance, backswing, downswing, impact, followthrough, balance, weight shift). However, as players become more advanced and sophisticated in owning their swing, they will notice that their are some subtle nuances that no longer apply necessarily. Case in point: Hogan always feared a dreaded snap hook that would come out of nowhere. As a result, he would alter his mechanics (as described in the book) to prevent a hook from happening. Readers of the book, who imitate his teachings to the letter and who don't worry about snap hooking would find themselves fading and slicing the ball more often than not. Still, it is the best book for beginners and a great refresher for better golfers who may happen to forget how to swing their club from time to time.

What I love about golf is that playing well requires complete mastery of one's emotions and resolute discipline. Your playing opponents and the field cannot directly influence or negatively impact your shots (indirectly is another story). Only you can beat you. Again, if you let people anger you when all they are trying to do is be nice with a few words, you have no discipline and certainly have no mastery over your emotions. As a result, you will never truly play to your true potential.

I'm 100% positive. CBS broadcast had a video yesterday showing how his plane was the same at address, on the backswing, and the followthrough. Shorter swings do not mean less width as you stated. You can have a 1-plane swing with maximum width. It's all about how you position your hands and how straight you keep your left arm during the swing. AK gets great width on his swing and a moderately long swing (great rotation of his shoulders during the backswing while keeping his hips still). Go to youtube and look at his swing videos. You'll see what I'm talking about. By the way, I agree with Mark O'Meara: AK has a much better swing than Tiger Woods. Better mechanics.

I like the 1-plane swing. Simple and repeatable under pressure. Definitely helps with consistency of golf shots and results. If it;s good enough for Anthony Kim to win 2 tournaments with, then it;s certainly good enough for me.

Here's an idea. Instead of worrying and complaining about people who are just being nice to you, how about learning about how not to hook a ball into a lake. Focus on learning to play good shots. That way, when people say "nice shot", you'll know they really mean it, as opposed to being nice to you. This board is about playing good golf and reviewing golf equipment. Posts like yours belong on the Montel Williams show....

Sorry, but that's an uneducated comment. Having more layers in a ball does not constitute having more technology. Iacas is absolutely right. You need to revise your book a little and understand more about the ball manufacturing process. Golf Magazine had a good article a year ago or so on this.

I know AK through a close buddy of his. He grew up playing OTR (off-the-rack irons), like most of us have done. His parents weren't poor, but they weren't rich at the time either. As you stated above and as I've been trying to explain to you, AK had to choke up on the grip to get the proper lie angle because the OTR irons are designed for people who range in height from 5'11 to 6'11 in height, with the corresponding lie angle. If OTR irons came in shorter shafts as standard length, AK would never have grown up choking up on the grip as he does now. Kostis is correct: iron makers make OTR irons with a certain player height range in mind, and that results in the specific iron length and lie angle. You are also correct about Nike: they can and would make irons to AK's exact specifications if he wanted them to. You are also correct about AK: he gets whatever he wants from Nike. What you still have failed to grasp is the following: AK DOES NOT want Nike to build irons that are fitted to him with shorter shafts (so he wouldnt have to choke down). He has grown accustomed to playing irons that were designed for taller players (just like the OTR irons he played growing up) and adjusts to them by choking down on the grip. If it were me, I'd get Nike to build me a set where i wouldn't have to choke up (I'm AK's height). As it stands, I also choke up to get the right lie angle and proper ball contact (too cheap to get the shafts trimmed or lie angles bent flatter).

No, you still don't understand. AK chokes up on the irons because the standard length iron shafts that he has are TOO LONG for him. However, he doesn't want to trim his shafts (or adjust his irons flatter). He plays the same length shafts that anyone would get from Edwin Watts. Nike does NOT trim them shorter for him. The standard length irons that AK uses are the right length for people around 5'11 to 6'1. At his length, AK must choke up on his irons to get the proper lie angle and ball contact. He refuses to play with flatter lie angles.

AK's irons are standard length. He doesn't want them cut shorter to fit him. As a result, he chokes up on the irons to have the right lie angles and ball contact (rather than having the irons adjusted flatter). Kostis has it right. You are missing something. Sorry.

+1. Well said!

Lack of trajectory control and workability. Good players are above average ball strikers. As a result, they value better ball control over forgiveness for mishits. If you play in areas where the wind can be a factor, playing with super game improvement irons like Callaways is death. All they can do is hit the ball high in the air, where the wind basically either kills all forward momentum (against the wind) or makes the ball sail completely over the green (with the wind). If Rocco had played Tiger on a windy day at the US Open, the outcome wouldn't even have been close....

+1. No argument here. I still can't believe how many pages the Putting Bible has, yet it has so little to really say (vs the Short Game Bible). I thought I was the only one who felt this way about the Putting Bible. Glad to see that I'm not.

I rest my case....

It's been my experience that this happens most on public courses where most hackers simply have NO CLASS. I have never lost a ball at the private country clubs that I've played at. In fact, the opposite has occurred, where I've had groups ahead of me wait until I arrived to point out where my ball was located in the rough. At the public courses, the ball thieves were usually old (50+ yrs) or young (under 21 yrs). Those 2 age groups shared the same common denominator: they simply do not care what people think. Both age groups walk around with the attitude that society owes them and that they aim to collect. Those age groups have no qualms about picking up other people's golf balls and then lying about it when confronted. Don't believe me? There's a reason why both those age groups get charged higher car insurance rates than the 22 - 49 age group. Again, both those age groups drive around like society owes them the road and right of way. On a final note, I once had a group of 50+ yr old men (yes, at a public course) hit several times into my group. We were not slow and always waiting on the group ahead of us. We finally confronted the group, only to hear them say "Is anyone dead? Did we kill anyone in your group?" Called the pro shop, who sent a ranger out to investigate. The old guys didn't even deny it and repeated the statement to the ranger, who promptly threw them off the golf course.

Well said!!!

It's funny how most people think that Tiger Woods is black when it comes to his minority status. Those who know him well are aware that he considers himself asian first, and black second. Makes sense, as he has more of an asian genetic makeup than black. His mother is 100% asian (Thai) and his father is a mix of black, asian, american indian. Yet for some reason, the mainstream media keeps portraying Tiger as black. People keep labelling him black. He doesn't understand why, and frankly, neither do I....

I agree! Gulbis has turned into the Anna Kournikova of golf. I know she won the Evian, but that's still only 1 tournament. She's in danger of becoming a 1-hit wonder.

ha ha. Being that you're korean, I'm not surprised at all....LOL

LOL. That's ok. We asians have trouble telling all you round eyes apart as well. All kidding aside, I can't tell if you wish American women could practice harder, play better, and win vs. your inexperience/ignorance in identifying asian names and faces. Let's be frank: asian men do not enjoy the same dominance on the PGA for the simple reason that the American men (e.g. Tiger Woods) practice and work much harder than their American women counterparts. Until that happens, you better brush up on your asian identifcation skills, becuase the party isn't going to end anytime soon.... In fact, the Koreans aren't even worried about American women players. They're more worried about the Taiwanese and Japanese players nipping at their heels. Can you say "Natalie Gulbis who?????" LOL!