TristanBlevins

I'm working on 2 things: One course management related and one technical related. 1) I am trying to hit more greens; I tend to go at tucked pins too much. I am a good enough putter to where I can make a few 15-20 footers during a good round, but my short game is not good enough to give me stress-free up-and-downs when I miss a lot of greens. 2) Regarding the short game problem: I noticed that if I use my body more than my arms and wrists when hitting chips and pitches then I am a lot more consistent with distance and trajectory control. I've been hitting little short shots in my back yard the past few days and it's worked wonderfully. I'm going to try these 2 things the next time I play and see if I can't improve a shot or 2

I appreciate it. I'm here to share opinions and learn more about the game, so anything of the sorts is accepted by me. But yeah, it makes total sense that I don't fit into regular length shafts, considering I'm probably like 4-5 inches taller than the people they are made for. Had I known it was causing me to hit shots off the toe then I would've gone sooner. I love the Apex Pros. Something about smaller clubheads and thinner toplines really suits my eye, and I had never realized how unnecessarily large my irons look until recently. Plus the Apex Pros feel SWEET. Nothing better than flushing one of them.

I do understand that. Maybe I'm just leaning towards the irons because the irons I'm hitting now are super oversized, strong lofted and the shafts don't fit me. They were bought when I was just starting out and there was no thought of fitting or longevity going into them. The ones I hit in store just looked and felt better, probably because they were made better than mine, as they should be when they are newer and more expensive than mine were. And I also didn't get a chance to hit my irons with the new shafts in them. But honestly the performance was that much better in look, feel, distance, and accuracy that I would be willing to get a new set. On another note, I hadn't actually looked up a way to buy just the shafts until just now, and I cannot find any that are an inch longer like I need them. I haven't heard good things about shaft extender inserts, so I'd rather not go that route unless I need to.

I don't know why I didn't go on and reply to this too, but what I was told is that since my irons are already at least 2 years old, it would be cheaper to go on and get a new set with the new shafts instead of reshafting my irons because irons are meant to only last 3-4 years. That way I am just getting a new set rather than reshafting and then getting a new set in a year or two.

I'm just putting this on here as an experience I had. It's your choice whether you believe me or not. But I only hit 3 different demo clubs, I don't know why that's unbelievable, they have a relatively large stock of lefty clubs there.

I actually hit the same 6 iron both times with 2 different shafts. It was a Callaway Apex Pro, which does probably have strong lofts, but so do my Taylormade Burner 2.0s

Seeing as I have never had a fitting and my driver is seemingly producing unreal spin rates, I decided to go to Golf Galaxy and go get fitted for a new driver shaft. I expected to go in, hit some balls with some different shafts, see which one worked best, and leave with just a new shaft, but I ended up spending much more time and facing a harsh reality; something that may not be such a bad thing. I got there and the fitter, Bobby, greeted me and had me hit a few shots with my 8 iron to warm up. The first shot was a bit off the toe and chunky and carried about 140 yards; 25-30 yards shorter than I usually hit an 8 iron. After a few more swings, I started hitting shots that were going about 165-168 yards. Nothing out of the ordinary, no "power boost" that some people say that GG has in its launch monitors. Bobby then had me hit 5 drives with my driver. I averaged about 280 yards with a 115 mph swing speed and 3500 rpms of backspin, which even I knew was WAY too high. He instantly told me I shouldn't be hitting a stiff shaft in my driver, and that my swing and ball speeds put me almost to a 2x-stiff shaft. But he also said that my driver head (I have a Callaway RAZR Fit) wasn't doing me any good at all, and no matter what shaft I put in it I'd still have too much spin. To prove it he had me hit the Callaway Big Bertha with an x-stiff shaft in it. I got about 5-10 more yards and my rpms dropped to about 3000, but it was still too high. He then put the same shaft (which he said was the stiffest they had in store) in the Big Bertha Alpha, and I hit a few with it. Not much difference, my rpms were still in the 3000 range. Then he flipped the "gravity core" around and it helped a ton. Rpms were down now to the 2500-2600 range and I was hitting the ball about 315 yards and all with almost the exact same ball flight every time. He said he had an idea and called over the club tech to ask him. Basically what they decided was that I needed a driver with a lower CG and an x-stiff shaft tipped 1/4" to make it a little stiffer and reduce the spin rate more. This gave me a bit of an interesting question, so I asked Bobby if I need to get my irons reshafted as well since I went up almost 2 flexes in my driver. He gladly gave me an easy way to find out: hit balls and see. He handed me a 6 iron with a stock shaft in it and had me hit a few balls and put some impact tape on the face. They went about 190-200, the usual distance for me, and felt decently solid, but looking at the impact tape they were all at least a little bit on the toe. So Bobby put a TT XP95 S300 shaft in it, and because I'm 6'3, it was an inch longer than standard, and told me "just watch this." I took a smooth swing and hit one perfectly flush with a tight little draw. 225 yards. Instantly 25-30 more yards than I've been hitting my 6 irons, and it was much easier to control too. I took a few more swings and was getting the same distances with those, and finally I decided I'd really take a swing at one. I hit a high 15-yard draw that carried 235 and rolled out to 245. I couldn't believe my eyes. Even though 230-240 yard 6 irons are never bad, there was something that sucks; I need to get a new driver and iron set or have all my irons reshafted (I was told the latter would be more expensive and that I should go on and get a new iron set as well) . Normally I would think that this is just a way to earn some extra money, but I was never pressured to buy anything from GG, and Bobby recommended that I really decide on what I want to do regarding what to buy, and never shoved anything in my face. I think I'm going to take his word and get both a new driver and iron set with all the specs he recommended. I know I will probably not be hitting 240 yard 6 irons on the course, but I had distance and accuracy gains on the monitor so I think it was a good fitting. I had all my questions answered and then some, and even though I basically had a full set fitting, I was still only charged for the $15 shaft fitting. I was very impressed with everything.

Yesterday, in 35 degree weather (and in a tournament!), I hit a 4 iron 195 yards into the wind to about 3 inches. As we were walking to the green, 2 tournament officials and a parent all passed me and said something along the lines of "great shot!' Nobody in my group realized how close it was until we got up there and saw it sitting practically on the edge of the hole. Closest to a hole-in-one I've ever gotten

I sadly only have 4 in my last 20. I live in a somewhat small town, and we only have 2 golf courses anywhere near here; 1 public and 1 is private country club. I only get to play at the CC during high school season, as it's where we practice, and it is SUCH a fun course. So I haven't gotten to play there since October, but hopefully July will come quick so I can get back to playing it!

I played in a 2 day tournament Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was almost 70 degrees, and I was burning up in the slacks and golf shirt I was wearing. Sunday was 35 and sleeting. I was wearing 4 layers and was still cold. Not to mention we got about an inch and a half of snow last night. Today it's about 40, and the snow's already melted, and tomorrow it will be 68. Weather has never made me so frustrated before.

2 main things: 1) like Hammer 4 said, one piece takeaway. Turn with your shoulders, keep the same position with your wrists for the first few feet of the backswing 2) to stop the pull hook miss, post up onto your left side. this involves sliding your hips SLIGHTLY forward to start your downswing, and then getting your weight all the way to your left foot at impact. If that doesn't help, also feel like you're pulling your right elbow into your side on the downswing and it will help you hit the ball from the inside as opposed to coming over the top.

Being 16 years old, I have never had the chance to play with the old persimmon woods or blades of "yesteryear." However, I've always been intrigued by them. I've heard they're harder to hit, but feel great when you do hit one solid. I'm already what I consider a pretty good ball-striker, but I'm always wanting to get better. Do you guys think that buying an old set of clubs and using them for a month or 2 at a time would help my game? I'm really wanting to try some blades, as all I've ever hit are my Taylormade Burner cavity-backs. For the blades specifically, are there any big disadvantages technology-wise?

I'd love to have the creativity and confidence that some of the guys have around the greens. I am very much an up in the air player - flops, open face pitches, lots of 60* wedges in my round. I would love to be able to play a bump and run with the feel that the pros do.

I usually do play the ball down and don't use any mulligans (If I do I usually just use 1 or 2), but sometimes when I'm playing with friends we'll give each other putts, like match play. We never really do wagers (as I typically play with guys who are better than me) but we will say "Okay, this is for the *insert major here*" and play exactly like we would in a PGA tournament, in which case I usually hang with these guys up until the last 5 or 6 holes when I typically have an inconvenient bogey or something and sort of fall apart.

Whenever I'm playing by myself or with a few friends I always play really well - usually shoot low-mid 70s, I've even shot in the high 60s a few times. But, whenever I play in a tournament I always play AWFUL - I've only broken 80 3 times in about 20 tournaments this year. I actually shot +1 on 11 holes yesterday and then went and shot 86 on 18 today. I know there's nothing wrong with my swing, it's all mental, but does anybody have any tips to help? Much appreciated.

I've been Playing Golf for: 14 Years My current handicap index or average score is: 76 My typical ball flight is: Used to be a baby cut, has turned into monster (Push?) slice The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: Slice (Or Push slice) Videos:

Hey guys! I'm 15, and I'm just getting back into junior golf after taking a 3 year "extended hiatus." (I actually quit golf, but I'm playing again, so who cares?) I had never played an 18 hole tournament until last month, and I ended up playing pretty well - I finished T5, 5 shots off the lead. The thing I realized after the tournament is that I went into it with no game plan. I could only hit fades then, and I decided to get aggressive on a few holes on a limb and got a double bogey on two of them and a quadruple on the other. In the past 2-3 weeks, I've learned how to hit a decent draw, and that's opened up a lot of doors for me playing wise, I can go at some pins and greens that I couldn't before, and some of the stupid aggressive shots that ended up costing me the tournament last month I could probably hit now. This weekend, I have a 2 day tournament coming up, and I've spent time coming up with a specific game plan. My plan right now involves 7 "green light" holes, in which I'll play aggressively, as minor misses are not that bad, 6 "yellow light" holes that I'll play semi conservatively, going mainly for par but hopefully getting a few birdie opportunities, and 5 "red light" holes that I'll play super conservatively, going for par and nothing more. My question is, being about a 6-8 handicapper, really mainly due to putting, (which I'm working on a ton this week) is this a good game plan to have for both days? Or should I go out and just play really conservatively both days? Or even conservative the first day, and then my "plan" the next? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

If you're hitting the ball straight, I wouldn't worry about the heel lift. That's actually good for power. One thing that I see is how you bend your knees on the backswing. If you could keep them the same flex from setup until the transition into the downswing you should see a significant power increase. If you could actually draw power from your legs as if you're jumping through impact it'll give you more distance. The left arm bend isn't that big of a deal, but if you could release your right arm more at impact - sort of like you're trying to punch the ball if it were your arm instead of club - that will help with power as well. I would suggest to watch this video of Tiger and notice how he "jumps" through impact and also makes the punching motion with his right arm as he releases. http://youtu.be/FNh6mGTfK-w

Honestly to me it just looks like you're ridiculously uncomfortable throughout your swing. It all just looks unnatural. Relax, take a loose grip. Really for me when I swing I get most of my power in my wrists by leaving them loose and "flinging" the club like I want to chuck it in front of me. You look like you're swinging WAY too hard, also. Back off a little bit. Start with those, try to make solid contact the majority of the time and then fight the slice.

Here's an updated video. I have been trying to incorporate more lower body into my swing. My hips are way forward at impact though, so I'm wondering if this will hurt my back eventually. [VIDEO]http://youtu.be/qe5xYcJvJu0[/VIDEO]

The closest weight I can find is 94g. Will that have any significant impact on feel/playability vs. my other irons?

I play TaylorMade Burners right now. And I figured that wouldn't be smart, but I can't find a shaft close to 85g anywhere.

I was out playing the other day when I looked at my 6 iron and noticed it was bent just a little bit to the heel side. I have my first tournament of the year in just a few weeks, so I'm kinda panicking. I pretty much have 4 options that I can think of: 1) Bend the shaft back and hope it holds up/works for at least the first tournament 2) Get it reshafted, but the stock shafts in all of my irons are 85g with a .370 tip, I cannot for the life of me find another shaft with those dimensions. (Closest I can find is around 120g) 3) Get 4, 5, and 6 irons all reshafted with a shaft around 120g, the only problem is that I already have trouble hitting my 5 and 4 irons, would a heavier shaft make it harder to get them off the ground with? Or should I get a regular flex as opposed to a stiff, which is already in my irons? Would that help me get those clubs up in the air? And the only thing about reshafting is that the only place I know of around here to get clubs reshafted is Dick's, but I don't see them offering steel shafts - only graphite. If I order shafts off of somewhere online could I take them and the clubs in and have them reshaft/regrip them for me? And does anyone know how much this typically costs?

My step-dad played there a few years ago, he seems surprised by not necessarily angry about this. I kinda like it, Trump said he was wanting it to live up to its name as the "Blue Monster," and it's about time courses got more difficult, in my opinion.