elnocho_3

I find it a bit worrying that he is giving lessons to you that you dont completely understand what the lesson is trying to do. If i were you i would make comletely sure what the pro wants you to achieve in future lessons.

I would say a cross between a hogan/faldo backswing with a tiger downswing. LOL i wish!! Dont like to compare to proffesionals as then i think that i should be able to hit theball like them and get annoyed when i dont (all the time then )

I listen to music when practicing short game for any length of time as it stops the boredom if you are singing along to The Kooks when chipping .

The simpler the better, is the best answer. The simpler the swing the more consistent the results will be, a one-planer is using the big muscles involved in the body rotation to square the club face, the two-planer has to rely on hands and arms to square the clubface which can lead to inconsitencies as these are smaller muscles and thus more prone to the effects of pressure. Saying this there are good players in both catergories but the more consistent ball strikers tend to be more one plane (up and down on the same line).Ben Hogan was a one planer-need i say more.

Go to http://rehabworks.ksc.nasa.gov/educa...wristelbow.php I do the stretches before and after a practice session or a round and sometimes during.

They normally do this to confirm there original read in their head, to convince themselves that "yes this is definately the right read for this pace". I mark my ball with a line if you are interested. The big thing you have to understand if you want to mark your ball with a line is how pros get the ball to roll end over end, they do this by reading "true break" not "visible break". Tiger Woods when he holes a putt rolls end over end, you ask anybody to line a putt up where they think it breaks and putt it, if it goes in it will not be rolling end over end! They read "visible break" not "true break". This is due to what was a BIG discovery in the golfing world called "The Amazing Truth about Putting" that every golfer (proffesional or amatuer Jack Nicklaus used to aswell) compensates for the lack of reading true break. IF you are interested in the way of holing more putts and reading true break have a look on the internet for Dave Pelz True Break, or Dave Pelz Putting Bible Chapter 7- Green Reading. It will without a doubt if you stick to it improve your putting, the pros all do it now (Darren Clarke is a classic example of who doesn't but he holes putts bcus he practices the "visible break" way so much "true break" is best! Look at his putting stroke it changes for the type of break!!)

I use score saver. www.scoresaver.co.uk , it does the usual statistic stuff and shows you easily what you need to improve on,you then set targets for each key stats. If you tend to get nervous it is agreat way of relieving pressure when you are n a comp becus instead of worrying about the score you just think, hit this fairway and i can get closer to my target of 9 fway hit (or wotever). Annika Sorrentsam is meticulous about statistics she takes a laptop to each event and enters statistics so she can see exactly what she needs to work on, statistics are objective they dont pander to your ego where as you can feel like you are driving well or putting poorly when in fact you are not.

Swing looks nice and centered, however couple of big fundamentals wrong though, ball position for a 7 iron is much too far back, and the hands are much too far towards the target which is delofting the club even more. The hand position plus the ball position may help you strike the ball better but it will come out much lower than the proper trajectory. Just a cuple of things to work on as i hate to see poor ball position as it is so easy to fix but can cause so many other problems,

Living in the UK its glove for me anyday as the weather is usually s**t, its either wear a glove or risk killing someone with a club flying out of my hands because of the rain on the grips .

Swing pretty good, club is pretty square to your left arm at the top which is always something i look for and the downswing looks solid, i agree though that you could do with having a look at your setup you are a little hunched up. If you were asking us what needs to be done if you want to improve then i'd say a key thing would be to keep that right elbow closer to your chest. Although looks like you strike the ball well, and its your handicap and scores that count.

I buy a yardage book if i haven't played a course before and try to plan each hole on the tee, based on the length of shot i want to have left to the green center and the risks involved so whether 4 wood, long iron or driver is required. As for my own course i have a game plan for each hole and try to play the game plan, this helps in pressure situations. I write in the yardage brought for my own course what i want to hit off the tee, where i want to aim for on the green (aiming at the pin is not always the best choice), the grain of the grass of the green. The yardage book for my course is pretty good with yardages for most positions. Have times when i need pythagoras theory though I have also put more accurate yardages from within 80 yards as these distances are more important to the score.

1. Get rid of stupid 3-putts 2. Book lessons to work on swing 3. Play in more tournaments

I have just joined this forum which looks like a great place to talk to like minded people about our passion ,golf. I live in the UK and get to play about 2-3 rounds a week. I know the Dave Pelz books nearly inside out (lol) and have put many things into practice so any advice needed on that front just ask.

I used to think golf was a game of distance and accuracy, but it is a game of recovery i learned this when playing with a decent pro, yes his ball striking was ok but it wasn't great but his short game was top notch and as result he shot 71 (par 72) , i then started to see that most bogeys are silly short game errors or things that could be recovered by having a good short game. So i read the Dave Pelz Short Game bible his techniques make sense,are proven and work under pressure and put into practice the things he suggests. The book is one of the main reasons how i reduced my handicap as i still only average 7 GIR which is poor considering my handicap. What ragontona says makes sense Dave Pelz says that your makeable putts (putts less than 30-35 ft) you should focus on rolling the putt at the correct speed to roll the putt into the hole no matter the break or slope not just be happy to get it close, he proves the optimum speed is 17 inch past this may seem odd but the book explains it, but over 35 ft you should focus on 6ft diameter circle. Sports pyschologist Bob Rotella says that you should pick the smallest target possible this is how your brain works best, dont aim at a tree in the distance aim at a specific branch of the tree. Davis Love III worked with Bob Rotella and won many tournaments in severe pressure (obviously) he said he aimed at a specific letter in a sponsor banner when he won one tournament, it helps because you are totally focussed in what your doing. In the short game your targets have got to be even smaller. I recommend reading the Dave Pelz Short Game Bible especially,this really helped my handicap, and also the Dave Pelz Putting Bible is good.

I have been working with the pro i have lessons with on stopping my arm swing when my body stops turning (90 degrees) to keep everything synchronised. My backswing is now just short of parallel with a driver and the irons short of parallel. This has actually increased the distance i hit the ball not to mention the consistency of strike and direction i now hit the ball a 1/2 to 1 club more with my irons due to the proper use of my body (being in sync and timed properly) so the main point in the backswing for amatuers is to have the arms and body in sync so however far you turn your body your arm swing and therfore club is proportional to this.

I too am right eye dominant and putt right handed, I however use a balance line (line drawn around the ball which is also the balance line) which i aim along the true break aimline from behind the ball so dominant eye doesn't affect me as long as a i trust the aimline and practice preview stroke. I also suffered from peaking as Chicagoland Nick said, which can screw up your stroke. And i too since reading the tiger book close my left eye on all putts which really helps you to make sure you feel the perfect preview stoke first and then you can execute that stroke properly over the ball.

I too pulled putts with Pelz method of PILS(Pure Inline Square Stroke, or Square to Square) , after checking again the problem lay in the setup. I had grooved a stroke in the putting track, but my hands were not directly underneath my shoulders(just less than 1 1/2 inch too close to my body, hardly noticeable) which meant that the only way to keep the putter online was for my arms to slightly (only noticeable on close up camera) go away from my body. This meant that it was not natural as described in Dave Pelz (DP) Putting bible. I worked hard on checking that the center of the back of my right hand was directly underneath my shoulder joint and my arms and shoulder worked together as a unit, with shoulder moving in vertical plane (the shaft,rubber band and door frame drill in book for vertical shoulder rotation helps this greatly). This means gravity will (as long as you dont hit your putts but instead stay in rhythm) keep the putter square and online for you. So check your setup carefully before you discredit DP PILS method. Make sure your shoulders move up and down not around your body and that your hands are directly underneath your shoulders, with a little practice and fine tuning it will feel perfectly natural,stay square and online and work more consistently than the Screen door method (inside to inside). Sorry about the length of post but had to put up a fight for the DP method, anybody need any help just ask. P.S How do you change your profile details (my handicap index is not 36,lol)