SwinginCaveman

I do not advise buying used balls. Go to your local golf retailer and buy the X-Outs. They are brand new balls that didn't pass the rigorous inspection at the factory. They still play great and you would be hard pressed to see or feel any difference. Hell, a lot of mine just have the logos off center. Big whoop! You can get em for $30/dz at any retailer.

Keep the 5 wood in your bag and forget about the 3 iron. The only time it really comes in handy is on the 2nd shot of a par 5 and that's usually a 3 or 5 wood anyways. Wedges are your scoring clubs. Those are the clubs that get you low numbers. The more you can have in your bag the better. You want to be lethal from 120 yards and in. If you are, I guarantee you will have some great scores.

A gap wedge is a 52, correct? As for me, if I'm just off the green I will usually grab anything from a 9 iron to a PW to a 56, play it back in my stance and try to get a couple hops and a bite. Flop isn't used unless absolutely necessary.

I played a course today that I haven't played in a long time. It's a Metroparks course, so the natural terrain is very hilly. I completely forgot how different it is from the range. You almost never have a great lie, even in the fairway, so adjustments are key. They also use small creeks that run in front of the greens that you can't see if you're in a small valley. I've lost many a ball that way.

Alright went out and played 9 this afternoon. Not a good day. I didn't get to hit any balls on the range as the course I played at didn't have one, and I quickly slipped into old habits. Right arm was bending at the top causing me to come down inside out and push the ball. Did an alright job of getting up and down on some ocassions but I was really hoping to have a solid round without facing any prior swing issues. I'm going to go out tomorrow and try it again. I went by myself so I could concentrate but it was very busy so they stuck me with some random player who didn't make me all that comfortable. Was always standing in my sight, talking on his cell phone, coughing, laughing, cussing etc. Not a complete failure today, but I'll let you know how round number 2 goes.

All really good advice. Thanks guys! I think the biggest reason for the nerves is that I didn't take golf too seriously last year. I didn't know as much of the technical aspect of it and kinda played just to play. This year I'm taking a much different approach. Many hours were logged reading magazines and watching the GC, and I have been to the range everyday for the last 10 days. I figure I don't wanna go out there before I've shaken off some rust. I think the first tee shot is gonna be the clincher. If I hit a great tee shot on the first hole, all the nerves will be gone. If it's sketchy, the nerves will grow a bit and will continue until I make a good swing. I've been on a strict stretching routine for a couple weeks now. My dad actually got me into yoga so it only took about a week to get limber, now it's just a matter of maintaining it. I never realized how much of a factor that played into it. Endurance needs some polishing, but golf carts help, and power is where it needs to be, so the actual physical aspect of it is covered. All in all, some really good advice. I appreciate it and I'll let you know how the round goes.

I'm not trying to sound sexist here, but I'm not a fan of the new season. I don't see the purpose of having an all women show. For the most part, golf is a male dominated sport. The problem I think there will be with the women is that it's going to be more drama and "he said-she said" nonsense and not enough competition. Plus I liked the idea of having male/female teams on the Reunion. Thought it brought a new element into it.

The weather is FINALLY clearing up over here. Just a little wet from some rain, but definitely playable. I think I may be going out for my first round tomorrow or Thursday. I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous. I re-dedicated myself over the winter and really became a student of the game. I have a lot of confidence going into this year, but that first round is always a little nerve racking. What do you guys do to relax before you hit the first tee? Also, what is the most important thing to do when playing the first round of the season? I would figure consistency and patience. Anything else?

Unfortunately, CARMELO Anthony isn't much of a golfer, but CAMILO Villegas is a very good golfer, though he endorses a worthless product. I keed. How's the weather where you are? We've had 50's the last couple of days but it's been a little too wet to go out. Hopefull tomorrow or Thursday because it's supposed to be a wet weekend.

plastic bags over the socks! ok bad idea. When it's wet I usually just wear an extra pair of no show socks so they don't interfere with feeling too much but cover my feet.

Both thumbs are pointed straight down the grip. That part is comfortable. I just don't like the feeling of having fingers overlapped or interlocked. It feels like it restricts my movement. Everything else about the grip is the same though. After swinging around with the momentus I realized that I was gripping the club too deep in my hand; i.e. it wasn't in my fingers, which would explain why I wasn't hitting consistent. The reason I always swing with a firm grip is because I feel like I'm going to throw the club if I grip it loosely. Is that a normal feeling or is that TOO loose? I just don't want to embarrass myself by wandering 20 yards down the range to pick up my club

Gary Player is still competing in the Masters for a few reasons: 1. Bring young players into the sport. 2. Raise awareness for obesity. That's one of his major platforms and a big issue for him, thus why he can do 1200 situps in a week and play golf at 72 years old. 3. Break the record. He has already said he will come back next year. He told himself if he shoots 83 or better on both days then he will be in next years field. I think it's great what he's doing. You also have to remember how many people actually competed in that tournament. Of the entire field, only about 6 or 7 people had the opportunity to win. So you can argue that the spot he took could have allowed a young player to come in and surprise, but if you say that then you have to say that for every tournament because it could be anybody's day. You can't allow everyone to play every tournament, especially majors. It's an exclusive group of players who have accomplished something. That's just the way the cookie crumbles.

Does anyone know what irons Immelman plays? I didn't get a really good glimpse during the Masters but they looked like CCi's. That would be so damn cool if he does; although I think they may have been the new Slingshots.

Now, all that said, what do you guys think about using two different grips? Ten finger with the driver because it's the most similar to a baseball swing and an interlocking with the irons since distance isn't an issue and it usually warrants more control. I'm not a stickler for grips and can hit the 3 big ones all fairly easily. I've played with guys who hit righty all the way to the green then pull out a left handed putter.

Traditionally, a 10 finger grip would promote a slice as your hands don't always want to turn over. However, I played a lot of baseball so I always swung a bat like that and always turned my hands over. I was a pull hitter all the way I've found that it feels more natural and actually helps me avoid a slice. I always had a problem with swing plane which is what caused the slice. I took a few half swings with different grips, stopped at the top and looked at the angle of the club and it was never on plane. I tend to swing too vertical. Well, I found out that my wrists are very stubborn and an interlocking or overlap grip was not allowing my wrists to hinge correctly, thus making me push the ball. The ten finger grip allows me to get my wrists into the right position to come down on a good angle. There's one thing I never took into account with this grip, though. I was hitting before the ball on most iron shots and wasn't getting any distance at all and pushed a lot of em short and left. What I didn't compensate for is that extra 1/2" of length you get out of the club by having the extra finger. The driver was fine because I always stood far away as is, so I ended up hitting the last bucket with my driver and 3 wood because I was going nuts not being able to diagnose the problem. I'll know better for next time and expect much better results. All I know is that I took my driver out of my bag because I could never hit it, but now I can pipe it 250 yards with range balls and a beat up clubface. I took a dirty Nike Platinum out of my bag from last year that wasn't gonna get used and it ended up about 260. I'm completely satisfied.

It only happens on my left pinky and ring finger. It might be the grip pressure because I have a tendency to grip a little tight. I'm going to try a 2nd glove and see how that goes.

He was paid a HUGE compliment by Gary Player after Gary finished his 2nd round today. He said Trevor has the closest swing to Ben Hogan that he has ever seen. Also said he's one of the best ball strikers he's seen and that's saying a lot. He has high hopes for Trevor.

Does your bottom hand start to blister after hitting a couple buckets of balls? I'm not sure if I'm gripping the club too tight, but if I can't figure it out I might start using a 2nd glove. Thoughts?

I was using tgw.com's guide to find the handicaps. When you click on an iron set, under the Specifications tab it says what handicap the club is meant for. It could be completely wrong, but that's what I used when making my statements.

You misheard the commentators. The 1200 was right, but that was per week, not per day. Either way, for a man of his age that is really good. Someone posted a video of Camilo Villegas earlier claiming that he looked like he was on roids. That's false. They had a show on the GC about him, one of those "follow me into my life and stuff a camera in my face all day" kind of things. He is a gym rat. He went to UF, played college athletics and worked his ass off. They said the janitors would have to kick him out of the weight room at night.

I always looked at irons as player's clubs and never though I'd be able to play a set. After some research I found that some forged sets are meant for the low-mid handicappers and a couple others are meant for mid-high handicappers. The Titleist AP2 and Mizuno MX-25 are a couple better known forged sets that are meant for the mid-high handicappers. I was always under the assumption that forged clubs were much harder to play. I associated them with blades and player's irons and never bothered to hit a set. Now that I take a closer look, blades and player's irons seem to be a bit different. Player's irons have a very small cavity, much smaller than your game-improvement irons but enough to differentiate it from the straight blades. So what is the major difference between these two types of clubs? Are they just the same with different playability? I would love to have a forged set of clubs as feel is a really important part of my game.

Well you should really find a better way of making your point. "Have you ever heard of Google?" is seen as a smartass way to say something over here. I apologize if it's different over there, but a lot of people would take offense to that if they heard it. I'm sorry for getting upset, just watch that next time.

I read that a good time ago before there was much for comments. Sorry for not making it my homepage and religiously checking to see if any new comments were posted.

Then I guess I have to ask this question. I bought a set of Nike CCi's last year because I was just getting serious about golf again and they were dirt cheap. They're cast, not forged, but I've been having trouble hitting them. Would they be considered a "blade" or are they one of those combo irons that use a little bit of both? It never occured to me why I'm not hitting them well. I'm also the kind of person who doesn't really care to work the ball. I'd like to learn how to do it but it would be like a flop shot for me; only use it when you need it. Not to hijack the thread, but advice?

So once you fill it up, can you delete maps and reload different ones or are you stuck with what you have?