jeffhale08

Driving...Getting off the tee box...whether it be a driver, 5 wood, or an iron on a par 3 box, if I don't start the hole out right, I'm in trouble the whole way. When I score good (par / subpar), I have driven and putted well. Having never been a real good putter in my 25 years of golf, I've always put an emphasis on driving and iron play.

Hate 'em. Their kinda like ball retrievers, usually left for hacks. Sorry to offend anyone, but thats just always been my opinion.

Had 5 birdies and 4 pars on front for 31, proceeded to birdie #10 from 15 feet with the short, 500 yard par 5 11th on deck. My previous low round was a 68 and all I could think of was how low I was gonna' go. Promptly bogeyed 11 and continued in that fashion wrapping up the back nine with a smooth 40. I don't know that I have ever been that disappointed leaving a course.

There is something to be said for playing behind a bad group and getting to enjoy some amusement from them, but they are the ones who do not have a clue when it comes to etiquette. You know the ones who have 3 holes open ahead of them and don't know to let you play through. The only saving grace sometimes is they have to run to their truck after nine to load up more beer and we get to jump ahead of them.

74, Bayou Din (Old Front / Back), Beaumont, Texas. Hit everything except the putter well today. Missed birdie putts inside 15 feet on holes 1 thru 3 to set the tone for my round, never found the stroke after that. Hit 12 fairways, 15 greens, no birdies. Teeing it up at Belle Oaks in Port Arthur tomorrow hoping to putt better and maintain the ball striking. Fall Classic Individual Tournament next weekend at Bayou Din and Babe Zaharias.

I hate slow play...did I make that clear enough...I hate slow play. It is not only the high handicappers, but it is the money game players as well. Those guys playing for their $5 skin and reading a putt like it's for the US Open title. Just play. Me and a buddy try to be the first ones off on the weekends and after about the 2nd hole, we never see anyone again. Occassionaly the pro will have sent a few off the back and we catch them around 15, no problem, we will still finish in less then 2 1/2 hours. I think all courses should put a triple bogey rule in play, or at the very least a double-par rule (our local high schools do that during regular tourneys). I know not everyone will follow it, but it might help. I mean, isn't 126 shots in one day enough?

For a cheap, but playable ball, I use the Precept Laddie. Obviously not the stopping power of the high end balls, but for the dollar figure, a solid ball. I hit 'em straight and long, with decent control on and around the greens.

Great topic, great info, extremely well done, 'iacas'. In lessons that I have given over the years, including to my 2 kids who play the game as well, I do alot of slow motion, swing position drills, sometimes with a weighted club (old 8 iron I filled the shaft with BB's). I have simplified it to P1, the setup, this is where we work on grip, alignment, stance , etc. P2, is the backswing at waist high, (where is the toe of the club, where is the shaft pointing at this time, full extension of your left arm, straight, not stiff). P3 is the rotation from from waist high to the top of your backswing, (where are your hands in conjunction with your shoulders, straight but not stiff left arm). Then we work on swinging smoothly from the top of the backswing to a balanced, belt buckle at the target finish. Thanks for explaining and displaying these positions for examples, great info.

Grip pressure and tempo are the 2 biggest differences between the practice swing and the real deal for me. I do work on the driving range where I step back a bit away from the ball and take a smooth practice swing, maybe 2, then immediately step into the shot and try my best to repeat the practice swing and just let the ball get in the way. This has seemed to work best for me to ingrain a smooth, flowing swing. Over the years as I have gotten older and fatter, I tend to stop my backswing short sometimes, this causes me to come down quick and lose tempo and timing. This drill has helped me alot over the past few years to slow everything down and keep good tempo.

I agree with everyone. I see both sides of the arguments and philosophy. I have played with a number of 'poor' golfers (shooting over, well over 100) and I have played with a number of 'good' (shooting well below 80) golfers. Ball striking is first to me, if you can't advance it and advance it somewhat straight, you will have a tough time breaking 100. The short game, however is a close, very close second to ball striking, but typically only with a lower handicap player, do you see the difference the short game makes in a score. If you are in the hi 90's or 100's, short game may not make up enough shots to break 90. But, a good short game can send an 80's shooter into the 70's quickly. Personally, hitting the fairway from the tee (backing off to a 3 wood) and improving iron play are the quickest routes to get to the low 80's and upper 70's consistently.

Two of the main reasons I really started improving as a player 15 years ago, was the fact that I beat balls with my irons for hours each week and became a solid if not great iron player, the other was I pulled the driver out of my bag and only tee'd off with a 3 wood or a 5 wood at times. Becoming a better iron player (hitting on average 12 to 14 greens per round) can drop shots as quickly as being a great short game player, but there is little doubt to the fact that on bad ball striking days, my scores drifted from low to mid 70's to mid to hi 70's, occasionally heading into an 80 or 82, because my short game was not as good as it needed to be. As ar as pulling the driver, just simply put, I kept the 3 wood in play and only lost 20 yards or so from the driver. As I have gotten older, my short game has gotten better, maybe I am just smarter than I was 15 years ago, but my iron play comes and goes. I can still get it to the low 70's, but I have to have either a great up and down day or hit 12-14 greens that day to do it.

Although I firmly agree if you are slicing, there is a flaw in your swing. But, if you did not have your current driver custom fit, it could be a bad match for your swing. Then there is the "honeymoon" period mentioned above, most times a new driver does instill that little confidence kick you need to swing more free and not worry about your current swing flaws. If you could go out and play without thinking, we would all be much better golfers. Good luck with your new stick!

Second round back out after 5 month home building hiatus. Shot 84 (44-40) last week on the same golf course (Wildwood Golf Club, Village Mills, Texas: 72 rating/127 slope), struck it poorly as expected. Bounced back today with a solid 78 (38-40), more solid shots today. Irons felt better, still weak off the tee, maybe 250 at my longest all day. Putted and chipped well, which really helped out keeping the score manageable.

When you can, obviously practice on real grass, but if you want to improve your ball striking, a good mat session can help with that. Because of the lack of a divot and thin lie, you will really make a marked improvement in your contact. The biggest problem when heading to the course, will be the lack of divots, possibly some thin shots at first. We use a mat here at my house, we have 10 acres of land and can hit up to 175 yard shots, if we did not use the mat, we would have no grass left. Mats are not all bad, but you can't beat the real deal.