neophyte

I have arthritis in my knees, shoulders, wrists and fingers. Even putting more than 2 or 3 times of 15 or twenty minutes will give me a difficult time getting out of the car after driving home. and the next morning my shoulders and hands are giving me trouble. So I only play 2 times a week and maybe 3 times. I am sorry if I sound like a whiner but I am hopeing someone can help me.

Your conscious mind is too involved in your swing. You will have trouble fixing your problems until your basic swing is completely in muscle memory. Plus you probably have too many different swings since your conscious mind is in control of your swing. Pick out your basic simple swing and practice it until you can do it without your consicious mind telling your body parts what to do. At this point you will find that you have become really consistent in your swing and the flight of the ball. Even if you are hooking the ball you are hooking it the same amount and distance everytime. At this time make changes or additions one at a time. When the new change is in muscle memory, make another single change or addition. In fact at this stage you will notice slight differences in basics that make big improvements in ball flight. These oops will tell you what your next single change will be.

I retired at 62 and figured I would practice enough to become a good golfer. Well, it isn't working like I planned. I had ulcer surgery last year and lost half of my stomach, and the operation went south and I got infected. Spent almost four months in the hospital. My stomach is very sensitive and I have to be very careful with medications. I also developed arthritis and I can't practice or play more than a couple days a week if I am lucky. If I do I am in severe pain and can hardly get around. Can't take pain killers because of my stomach. I now have the time to play every day but physically can't do it. Besides being thankful I am alive and can play golf. Does anyone have any ideas on how to work around my old age problems.

I would like to start saving money to spend a week playing golf especially at St. Andrews. Do I need to save 5 or 10 or 15 thousand for the whole trip. Everyone I have asked has been reluctant to say anything.

Unless the Rolex rankings are almost the same as profession sports betting odds then the rolex rankings are useless and meaningless.

I played golf today with two men who seemed like they hated golf. And when I think about it - most of the people seem to hate their jobs. What happened to enjoying going to work, and being at work? I just started to watch last weeks LPGA tournament and their faces seemed to have the same stress and unhappiness that shows on the troops in Iraq and Afganistan. Is joy and happiness in our lives a choice? Or are our lives so bad. Do you think any of the LPGA and PGA players are happy, and would they play golf if they didn't make a lot of money or have the chance of making a lot of money?

I played with a player who could hit his drives 300 yards. A typical hole: was first drive 300 yards pull into the lake, Second drive a push slice out of bounds to the right, Third drive was topped fifty yards infront of the senior T. Tell me what his driving average is?

I think quality shoes that fit are worth every cent. My pr oblem is standard sizes don't fit. I cannot find any golf shoe that is made to custom sizes. There are a lot of companies that make custom shoes with custom materials, but they don't make custom sizes. I need a EEE front box and a C Heel and a high instep, with room for custom orthopedic insoles. I also need a shoe that breathes since most waterproof shoes soak my feet in sweat. I also want a shoe that doesn't feel like the sole is nailed to a board, because they cause internal brusing even with custom insoles . All the manufacturers claim to make an extra wide but the sizes don't run true and have a low instep and wide heel which I can't use. I am wearing the new balance 993 in 11AAAA I would be willing to travel anywhere and be fitted for custom shoes that fit. Does anyone know of custom making golf shoe makers of good looking shoes.

I haven't played all the courses in my area. But most of the courses usuallyl have less than fifty yards between the ladies and back T's making comparisons hard. There are a group of older silent low scoring golfers in my area. I am not one of them but have played with them. Bob, an older gentleman I got teamed up with when I walked on to a local course. He lived in florida and was in Pennsylvania to help move his sister into a nursing home. He played 6 days a week all year long. he played an old 3 wood off the T around 150 yards. He never missed a fairway and believe me he seemed like he could hit a cart parked in the fairway every time. He played an old 7 wood for his accurate second shots to any distance he wanted up to about 150 yards. He either landed on the green close to the hole if he was in range or in front of the green when out of range. He chipped with a 7 iron and he either chipped in or was less than 3 feet from the hole. He putted with an old ping anser and never seemed to miss. He said he was 81 and admitted he almost always shot under his age. He said real long holes were his only problem. He shot 4 over par with me that day. Another golfer I have played with only drives 225 to 235 and scores 73-75 playing from the back T. I have gone to the GHIN site and looked up peoples handicaps. Something I noticed is that if you go to their listing of scores, you will find that the scratch golfer mostly scores 75's and a 15 handicaper scores 90. If you look at the positives of Bob, all you need to do is be accurate with your shots. Long drives can help produce a scratch handicap, but those who don't drive long, don't have to worry. There are many ways to score low. Being accurate and short is another one of them.

I was reading that the old balta ball would stick to the club face and create more spinthan the balls we play today. What if titliest or bridgestone made a new ball that would duplicate the old square grooves advantage. Would the "powers to be" declare it illegal?

I was having a lot of trouble with the driver. So my new pro had me practice 1/4 and 1/2 and 3/4 shots with my driver. The best drills I have ever found for the driver is to practice chipping off the t with the driver.

PGA instructors can help a lot, but they are not a miracle workers. I wonder how the legacy of Hogan, Nelson, Trevino, and Furyk would read if they went to Leadbetter? Ray Romano was taking regular lessons from a Pga pro before he went to Haney. Most of the 70's scoring golfers that I personally know did so in around a year and a half or dug it out of the dirt by themself through years of hard work. And none took more than one or two lessons in the beginning to get the basics. Most of the teaching pro's hate these questions "How many students of yours were experienceds 120+scorer golfers when they started with you and now score regularily under 80, thanks to your instruction?" And could I have a list of them to check as references? My point: If you are not a super gifted golf athlete, you will have to practice and play a lot for a long time. No teaching pro can make it quick and easy for a non athlete like me to become tour player. And If I want to be an 80 or 90 player it will take a lot of time away from family to be able to score in the 80 or 90's.

As a beginner learning golf, I had ten years of more trouble than success. I was taking lessons once a week, worked with a succession of four different pros, playing twice a week, and at the range 4 times a week. I was hitting 14,000 practice balls a year. It wasn't until I started with the last teacher that I realized that most teaching pro's don't really have a handle on how to teach someone who is not able to be a single digit handicap without lessons. The biggest problem is (1)that the pros teach completely different techniques for each of the different swings. What that means is that the different swings (putt, chip, pitch, full swing) do not use the same basics whenever possible in each swing. (2) Most pros start teaching the full swing with the driver to the beginner. This is like teaching Calculus in first grade and addition in twelth grade. (3) Most pros only know their own swing and don't know what to do with you if you are built different and swing differently than they do. My current pro looked at what I could do and told me not to swing like he does, and to not try to swing like anyone else while he was working with me. We started with putting, When he was satisfied with my putting technique and we started working on chipping. I realized that chipping was a lot like putting. My putting had become consistent and better. My chipping became easier and more accurate. When he was satisfied with my putting, and chipping we started on pitching. I was again surprised to find that pitching was a lot like chipping. I think you get the picture. In the first ten years of lessons and practice I was struggling with all my golf. In one summer my present pro helped me to progress until I am now working on shaping my drives, and the rest of my game feels like I am playing golf. Find out how many golfers your pro has taken from beginner to scoring in the low eighties. You will find most pros don't have one who has gone from over 100 to the low eighties. And You probably won't be their first. Find a pro who enjoys teaching beginners, has helped many unsuccessful beginner golfers to score in the low eighties. And has been teaching for 10 years. A good teaching pro will not be cheap, and is going to be expensive. But you will get something for what you pay. Ten $10 lessons that don't help you improve are more expensive that ten $100 lessons that lower your score. I hope my failures and success help you have confidence to find a way to become the golfer you know you can become.

I thought appearance money was illegal to pay players or for players to accept when the PGA has scheduled tournaments that week.

Has anyone compared the whether the Q School or Development tours (Nationwide or Futures tours) are better at predicting and preparing golfers for success on either the PGA or LPGA?

jschen. Torry Pines sounds like a great place to have a joint tournament. I like your idea, and would love to watch a joint tournament with good golf and good friendly competition.

I don't believe Oakmont could make the holes that long, so their course would be playable at around 8000+ yards. Realistically, I have been persuaded the men are at a severe disadvantage that would be impossible to overcome. The PGA's scores could be over 90 or 100 for18 holes. Even if the men only moved back 25 yds per regulation shot it would take a special course to have the room. First- Design wise some of the holes would be impossible to play from that far back. The men would be playing some weird holes, where they would be T'ing off on a severe down or up slopes. The T could be down in a ravine or in the woods. A hole that never was designed to be played from those distances and would also be extremely difficult if not impossible because doglegs, hazards, and landing areas are in all the wrong or impossible positions. In fact some of the T shots might have to be pitch or chip shots, to get out of trouble. Second - after all the trouble getting in range of the greens, some of the shots into a distant green might be like hitting to a long Par 3. Even with the easier rough, the men's short game advantage is all about hitting shorter clubs, and that probably won't happen. I have to admit, I originally thought the men would easily take the first two places. And I didn't thing about the fact that the course might be impossible at those distances. It would take a special course that would be playable from those distances.

Golf World Dec 28,2009 No 1. Vicki Hurst 272.5 Pa A19. No 2. Bubba Watson 311.4 Pa A10. 311.4 - 272.5 = 38.9 Why do the men need help, a 15 yard per shot advantage? It makes them look weaker.

If the LPGA invited Tiger, Phil, Steve, and AK to the 2010 Women’s Open at Oakmont in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And to equalize it, since the men are approximately 40 yards longer with each club, the men would back up 40 yards for each regulation shot. Would you put $1000 on a woman or on a man to come in first. To flesh out this so called match 1. The women will play from the T’s to be used for the Women’s Open. 3. The men will back up 40 yards behind the women on the Par 3’s, 80 yards back on the Par 4’s, and 120 yards on the Par 5’s. 4. Stroke play. 5. Good luck. PS: I thought this was a simple question until it was asked of some serious betting golfers I know. I was told that If I didn’t understand how complicated it was, I shouldn’t bet a lot of money until I did.

I know that Pebble beach is a beautiful and great course, but is it really worth $500.00? To me it's like the question- Is a BMW that sells for $50,000 really worth $500,000?

Put a 45 second timer on every shot. This would speed up play and cause more mistakes. And let viewers call in and give a penalty stroke every time a pro takes more than 45 sec. to hit a shot. I have watched pros take over a minute and 30 seconds to T off.

1. Put out of bounds along the sides of all fairways. Today in tournaments you can hit in the middle of the next fairway and it makes no difference. In local high school tournaments at Scenic Valley, the boys started hitting into the 18th fairway from the par 5, 3rd T because it was cutting the corner and a way of avoiding trouble in the third fairway and made it easier to go for the green on the second shot. 2. Have hitting into bunkers earn a 1 shot penalty. According to some golf history I have read, hitting into a bunker used to cost a player an extra shot which is no longer a problem today. 3. Don't mow the straight fairways between 290 yds and 350 yards from the T.

If I had too much money wagered on the US to win the Solheim. Would I want Wie on the US Solheim team? Wie is way ahead of a lot of players when my wallet is involved.

Several of my golfing friends have played with seniors who are not good enough to make it onto the senior tour. The typical report is that they usually shoot 4 under par most of the time. And that the tour wannabees shared that the players on the senior tour are a whole lot better than they are.

I have trouble maintaining blood sugar levels when riding 18 holes. After medical tests doctors say I am not diabetic, or hypoglycemic but I thing I have something like that. When walking 9, I have no problem using plain water does the trick. Walking 18 will tire me out but I don't crash. But when riding I crash around hole 10-13, drinking lots of water and eating snacks. I can't take drinks with High Frutous corn syrup, I go sugar high then crash in 20 minutes. Meat, protein sandwiches with low sugar seem to help the most. Can't take peanut butter sandwiches with/or without jelly- I go sugar high then crash, both ways. I am looking for help. Any ideas?