Gary W

Thanks - that is a good illustration. I still don't see how you can strike down on the ball with the more lofted irons. In that video, there is zero compression against the turf (or mat in this case).

Does anyone have a photo of a well struck wedge at the moment of impact? I am trying to understand where on the club head of a sand wedge does the club contact the ball at impact (playing from the fairway, not a bunker). When I look at the loft of a wedge, even with a few degrees of forward shaft angle at impact, it seems as though there is no way to get the face of the club cleanly on the back of the ball as you would with a mid- or long-iron. Does the leading edge of the club face strike the ball first, slightly below the equator relative to the line of travel of the golf club, thus forcing the ball to travel up the club face?

Soooo.... I am into winter and doing way too much internet reading versus outside playing golf or cycling, and come across this video from the PGA: http://www.pga.com/golf-instruction/why-you-should-have-hybrid-video Does anyone else find this a bit revisionist? The hybrid was invented for the new design golf ball?

I actually have the tape, and I think he describes gripping in the palm with the left hand, and in the fingers with the right hand. I like Hogan's setup with the grip running across the middle of the top joint of the index finger of the left hand, and crossing the palm ending up against the heel of the palm.

This thread reminds me of a comment that David Leadbetter made years ago - for the average golfer who cannot break 100, he contended they would shoot a personal best if they carried just a 7 iron and a putter. I think his point was that the typical duffer ends up wasting so many strokes getting out of the woods that they would settle down and get a consistent (and relatively straight) 130 ~ 140 yards, and find themselves on the green much sooner than when they have a bag full of long irons and drivers. I have seen golfers that absolutely would benefit from that strategy. Actually, on some days I am that golfer.

Subtle distinction here - new drivers versus new & expensive drivers: Regarding new technology - absolutely. I just got back into golf last fall and bought new clubs. When I last played using an early 90's Palmer driver I would expect something around 210 to 215 carry. And I constantly had to fight the fade. Bought the new Cleveland expecting to maybe pick up 10 or 20 yards. It's much better than that. Now, a good drive carries around 240 - 250, and last weekend I hit 2 drives in the same round that carried close to 270. I've hit maybe 5 or 6 like that so far, which is encouraging because that means I have the potential to hit that far with a normal swing. Before I saw it for myself, I would have said that kind of distance was physically impossible for my swing speed and strength. And there is no way I could ever hit the old driver over 230 if I killed it on the screws, and those two things never happened at once anyway. And as far as accuracy, no comparison - now my main fault is trying to overswing which just kills any chance of a good drive. Now that I've seen a few long drives I want them all to go that far... Whether a new $500 driver is better than a new $300 driver - someone else can offer commentary from their experience. Cheers.

In all deference to the better golfers, isn't the important thing to create tension around the hips? My understanding (generally based on Hogan) is that power comes from winding the upper body against the resistance of the hips. So it follows that if you have great flexibility through the hips and upper legs, you will need a longer backswing to create that tension. If you're tighter through there, you can generate sufficient tension (stored power) without trying to go back so far. Also, I have noticed on some days my swing feels longer or shorter, without any real correlation with ball striking or distance. (It's usually equally bad all days... )

I have not played Gateway, but do intend to get over there this season. From friends I've heard it is a decent links style course. The consensus seems to be that the best choice is Annbrier.

It certainly seems like the current version of the 'moden golf swing' is a bit flatter than in years past. Faldo is one notable example of someone who consciously flattened out his swing when he rebuilt it early in his career. Among the previous generation golfers, Nicklaus is probably the ultimate example of a more vertical swing. One advantage of that was the tremendous height he was able to generate with his long irons. Maybe that's not so essential in today's game. With the average drive being 40 to 50 yards longer, they are not often faced with a 2 iron into the green.

Where is the best place to download music? Best as in legal, won't plant a trojan horse on my computer, won't sell my credit card number, etc. I'm not even close to tech savvy, so keep that in mind. Thanks.

How could a single photograph (instant in time) provide evidence that you were not stopped? Hopefully it was just intended to catch the idiots that blast straight through the intersection as the light turns red.

I can't imagine a player on the tour who doesn't think he's using the clubs that fit him best. If not they'd switch in a blink, endorsements be damned.

I thought the PGA had virtually nothing to say about how things are done at Augusta, including who plays and who doesn't. How can they count that as a PGA event? They seem to think any event where PGA players are teeing it up is under their control.

Good question - there is a quite a gap between #6 and #7 in my case. I can usually figure out what I need to do/not do, but generally don't know where to start in offering suggestions to others.

Based on a few of the stats from last year, there doesn't look to be any contest for now. Garcia/Scott: GIR: 72% / 67% Birds: 3.74 / 3.56 Putts: 1.827 / 1.79 Final Rd. Scoring: 71.44 / 72.29 Top 25 Finish: 65% / 42% One caveat - they're both 25, which means they have a lot of untapped potential. So long term, whichever one has enough humility to continue grinding on their game will come out on top.

What is it about range balls that knocks down the distance? They seem to be hard as a rock, yet even when I catch one pure they just die out before the top of the trajectory. It seems like they launch the same, but then the air brakes kick in. Are the dimple patterns designed to kill the distance? Something else?

I did not realize Faldo had such a personality... However, Golf Channel had him on "Playing Lessons with he Pro's" last week - I was surprised to find he has a natural sense of humor, that you'd never have guessed watching him play during his peak.

Do you have a standard practice routine? Sometimes I work my way through the entire bag from wedge to driver. Other times I take only a couple clubs and alternate back and forth after 6 or 8 balls. Just wondering what others do.

1. "185 yards with my 9 iron - damn, I knew I should have taken a little off that..."

What is really staggering to consider about Bob Jones' achievement is that he only focused on playing 4 tournaments a year. During the off season he played recreationally, a round or two on the weekends. There were a couple of years where he did not play more than 20 rounds over the winter. And if he spent an hour on the practice tee it was an extended workout. Take nothing from Nicklaus or Woods, their accomplishments are phenomenal. But in terms of most naturally gifted golfer, a strong argument could be made that no equal to Jones has yet to arrive.

When I was just beginning to learn the game in my early 30's, I told my wife that I did not want an expensive set of clubs. The main reason is I didn't want to be "that guy" who shows up at the first tee with the finest golf equipment available, promptly slices his drive into the woods, tops every shot, and generally makes a fool of himself. In other words I wanted to be better than my clubs, at least until I could get around the course in decent form. I had to give up the game a few years ago, and just picked it up again last fall. Being somewhat of a purist, I had my heart set on a traditional set of irons that were playable, but I could "grow into". There is no doubt that the MP60's I am playing are better than me. But then, that may be true for most of us, since I don't think you can buy a bad set of clubs today. I know this is going to sound heretical, but honestly I hope to never replace these irons. Or better stated, I hope I have to replace them but only because I wear them out. There's something about the idea of playing with the same set of irons for many many years that is appealing to me.

Okay, all you Harvard yard braniacs... why is it when you see a shot on TV it often looks like a huge slice that's headed OB? I know its something to do with the camera angle and all, but even when it seems like the camera is right behind the player, sometimes the shot takes off dead right off the screen. Wazzzup with that?

Did anyone else have trouble with the list of players not displaying? I think maybe my firewall is blocking the free agency list? I can see the header info, but no players are listed. Tried disabling privacy protection temporarily, but did not help...

Why are graphite shafts considered optimum for drivers and fairway woods, but not irons? Seems like the conventional answer is because of shaft rotation, i.e. torquing. But that doesn't seem to be consistent with the fact that the higher swing speeds achieved with a driver would only aggravate the torquing problem. Anyone know? BTW, you've a nice web site here. Good work.