SwinginCaveman

I completely underestimated Skycaddie. I figured they wouldn't have much for courses in my area since it's not what you would call a golf mecca, but it turns out that they have every course I would ever think to play, even the below average airport course down the street. I'm a bit confused on some of the membership specs, though. You download the map to your computer, plug in the skycaddie and download it to the device. Simple. But what's this stuff I'm reading about Playlists, online Skyvaults and buying additional playlists? How does that differ from the number of courses stored on the device? Then there's the same situation with user-recorded courses. If I'm only limited to downloading a couple before I have to spend MORE money on top of the initial purchase price and membership price I don't see how it's worth it at all. It would make more sense to allow unlimited downloads for your membership package as they're already finished and uploaded. I don't know what other costs they would have to cover by charging for additional courses except that little greed tax. I may be wrong in my assumptions, so can someone please set me straight?

When buying any new golf related items I always look at Nike's offerings first. I'm not just a produt of propoganda, though. There was a show on the Golf Channel a little while back about Tiger Woods and Nike and how they work together to produce the best product. Tiger said they have butted heads many times but always come to a happy medium. Outside sources also said that no company has a better relationship with their tour players that Nike. I was amazed by the amount of R&D; that Nike puts into their products. Their facilities are top notch and they really go above and beyond to find the best technology to suit their products. Their demo days are also really nice. They have state-of-the-art fitting systems and will spend immense amounts of time at a particular golf course to make sure everyone who wants to gets a chance to try their equipment. This show was produced by the Golf Channel and Nike had nothing to do with what was shown or said so don't give me the propoganda/bias excuse. I am also not affiliated with Nike in any way. Just love their product.

How much did you get yours for? I got extremely lucky and found an amazing deal on ebay. I got 4 dozen of the 2008 platinums (the new ones) bnib for $117 shipped. That's $29/dozen. Not bad when you consider that last years ball is on CLEARANCE for $30 and the 2008s are selling for $43/doz. That's a pretty good bang-for-the-buck ball if you ask me.

I'm not trying to be mean, but please work on your grammar and punctuation. I had a hard time figuring out what you were trying to say.

That's what I thought but I found out I was wrong. A show called How It's Made, can't remember what channel it's on, did a segment on Titleist golf balls. They said it's actually very expensive to produce a 3 or 4 piece golf ball and that the profit margins aren't terribly high despite the hefty price tag.

I have to ask...what's up with your sig? I'm not sure if its a joke or if you're really an Ohio State fan that lives in Michigan. Either way, GO BUCKS!

Consistency. Plain and simple. That's what separates tour players from amateurs.

I'm about as far north as you can get. I'm in Cleveland in a suburb 15 minutes east of downtown. If I pull out of my development and make a right I can see the lake in the distance. You're in Akron, so I HAVE to ask the question....have you played Firestone? It would be awesome to walk the same fairways that so many great players have walked. Also, where else do you usually play? I don't know much about the courses down in Akron; maybe you can post some links of nearby courses.

I would give that a try, but I just worked all of the kinks out in my swing and I'm hitting the ball better than ever so I don't want to go and undo all the work that I did. I'm gonna be at the range in an hour or so so I'll give your suggestions a whirl.

Correct. I might be exaggerating the closed or open face, though. It's gonna take time to get the feel down. I think it's a more subtle change than I've been trying.

That, in essence, is what I was trying to say. I set up to the ball where I want to start it, all body parts included and aim the club face where I want the ball to land. The only thing that I had messed up is the order in which I did this. I set up my stance first and grip second. I'll have to try it in the order that you gave me and see what results I get. Assuming everything is lined up correctly, I just take a normal swing and the alignment does the rest, right? Thanks for all the help so far, guys. This is something I'm trying to incorporate into my game this year and I want to get off to a good start with good fundamentals.

So obviously the Golf Channel is hosting a nationwide tour which is really cool for people like myself who can't travel all summer long. Although in my area it is quite expensive when compared to the everyday greens fees for the courses I would be playing on. I remember hearing about a similar tour that kind of competes with the Golf Channel's. Can anyone help me out? If there's any others that you guys know of let's hear em. It would be great to play some competitive golf around here.

1. Bubba Watson 2. Phil Mickleson 3. Mike Weir Pullin for the leftys

I don't carry any clubs that wouldn't lend themselves to being worked. If you look at my sig there's nothing there that screams "I don't curve!" One other thing that I want to clear up before I go on, and I'm going to sound like a total noob for this, but it's always confused me. I'm a lefty, and some people have told me that draws and fades are opposite for me while some have told me that dexterity doesn't matter and that it's only the shape of the shot that dictates it. In other words, a righty's draw is my fade and vice versa. If someone could clear that up it would make my life wonderful. It never occured to my to try moving the ball in my stance. I remember the announcers talking about tiger teeing the ball low to set up for either a draw or a fade, I can't remember. I would think it would be easier to start practicing with irons, which is what I've been doing as they might be a bit easier to get down due to their shorter length. My other question is where do you draw the line? Meaning are there certain clubs that are a waste to shape? I could see arguments both ways for hitting a 100 yard draw into a green, but that seems a bit extreme; though I could be wrong.

Callaway because it was on sale.

I'm surprised at the lack of votes for the new Callaway ball. I haven't hit it yet but I've heard nothing but good things. Why no love for Nike? I've been hitting the Platinums for a little while now and love them. They have the perfect amount of spin and a great feel coming off the club. The Pro V1's spin a bit too much for my liking and their durability just isn't there. I'm a 15 handicap so I will sacrifice a bit of performance for the extra life span. I'm starting to think that people are just automatically turned off to Nike products because they use the most well-known golfer to market the hell out of their stuff. I think some people just see that as a way to generate sales, but Tiger plays a big part in the development of their products. He tests them, gives input and really takes a hands-on approach to make Nike's products the best that they can be.

I believe the Karstens come in blade or mallet form, right? If so, I did hit the mallet version at a golf galaxy. They have a very large putting green with slope so it's really easy to figure out whether or not you like it. The ball felt really good coming off the face and rolled well but I was missing a lot of putts. I don't put that on the putter, that's my own fault. I've used blades forever and I've found it really difficult to putt with anything else. From my limited experience, though, it did have a good feel and nice roll and the price is right so if mallets are your style I recommend it.

So I have been trying to learn to draw and fade the ball but haven't had much luck. I know my distances with each club and I can hit it straight without much problem so I want to learn to work the ball. I've used the body alignment method as opposed to changing my swing as I'm comfortable in it right now and don't want to mess it up. So I know that an open stance and opened face will yield a fade and that a closed stance and closed face will yield a draw. I also know specifically where to aim. For a fade, you set up your feet where you want to start the ball and aim the face where you want the ball to finish and vice versa. What I don't know and haven't figured out yet is do you swing your club along your foot line or along the same line you would take if you were set up square? Logic tells me that you have to swing along your foot line or else the alignment is for naught, but it seems that I get a mean snap hook that goes 80 yards and ends up way off-center when I do this. Am I just set up too extreme? I'm not sure how subtle the alignment changes need to be but I haven't had much luck so far so any input would be appreciated.

Just a little update on my progress. I've been to the range 4 times since my lesson and it seems as if it worked TOO well. The push is long gone except on lazy shots, but now I end up with an ocassional pull. Not nearly as often as I pushed, but when I overexaggerate what I learned I pull it. However, it's not as strong as the push was. It's subtle, and would end up in the rough worst case scenario instead of in the adjecent fairway as was happening before. It feels weird at first but once you get your muscles used to swinging around your body life gets much easier. Everything is much straighter. I still have a good amount that don't fly down the center of the fairway but they would be in the light rough at worst. I've also found that I'm getting much better distance that I was before. Swinging around my body has allowed my left side to generate more torque whereas my old swing was all arms and didn't have much on it. I feel myself swinging much lighter now also. Instead of swinging 100% with my arms I can swing 80% with my whole body and still net more distance. It's amazing what a half hour lesson can do for your game. I hope to go in for a couple more soon to fine tune some other aspects of my swing.

I actually use a 60* wedge out of bunkers. My problem was that I always hit the ball too cleanly and skulled it across the green so I gave up on a SW. With a 60* and an open stance, you have enough loft that your chances of flying it over the green are slim and worst case scenario you get it 2 feet out of the bunker and leave a lengthy putt to get up and down. Ideally, I can still take some sand to soften the landing, but I won't dig the club in and I won't fly it over. That said, it's tough for me to stick it to 2 feet from across the green but I definitely don't put up high numbers. Just another part that I need to polish to bring that handicap down. I would say go with what works for you. There are a few ways to attack it, so your best bet is to drop a few balls in the bunkers next time you play and experiment. (Assuming no one is playing behind you)

Just remember to make a pendulum motion. There should not be much wrist or arm action in your putting motion, nor should there be much body movement; it's really a shoulder-dependent swing. As for lag putts, which I end up with a lot , I use this rule of thumb: 60 ft putts should stop within 3 feet 40 ft putts should stop within 2 feet 20 ft putts should stop within 1 foot Obviously the closer the better but if you can do at least that you will have a much better chance of getting up and down.

I do what you do with my driver only because it's one of the harder-to-hit clubs in my bag. For everything else, 3 wood included, I focus on the ball. I've found that when I make my mind do too many things before a swing I'm not going to concentrate on impact and I'll end up with a poor shot. I go through everything I need to do before I address the ball. That way I can just approach the ball and swing away. I make a much more rhythmic and smooth swing when I just go with it and let my muscle memory take control. Someone earlier used a car analogy. I use the same one. You're not going to drive a car while trying to do math and read and fix your hair. It's just too distracting. You drive better when you just let it happen; unless you're road-racing of course.

Got my Cobra 3 wood for $33 on ebay in absolute pristine condition.

Assuming weather is perfect, 200 yards is a solid 4 iron.

Apparently you haven't seen the new show Tiger 360. It's on every Monday night and focuses mainly on Tiger's performance. Only golfer I've ever seen who has an hour long show dedicated solely to them. Also, someone mentioned it on the 19th hole, as was said. So before you go trying to blast someone, do some research. A NON-preposterous and ridiculous suggestion.