Moppy

That sounds like a book I am ready to read. Thanks. That's exactly what I am trying to do is take the thinking out, of the stroke, anyway.

I have a putting mat in the back room and hit a few putts whenever I can and I was trying it when it was kind of dark there, I could see the ball and the hole, but not the head of the putter very well, since it is black. I tried anyway and after missing the first two wildly, I started making putt after putt without seeing how the club head was aligned. So I started trying it with my eyes closed and that worked too, and looking at the hole and not the ball. Admittedly these are close range, 5ft putts which I rarely miss on a mat anyway, but is this a thing? I sometimes feel like visually lining up the putter head is distracting and leads me to make in-swing adjustments.

I feel like my execution errors are dropping a little bit, and my strategic errors are not yet. But I think that my game is in flux right now, but discipline can save strokes. For instance, I have begun to try to make one good practice. swing before every shot; two if I am in some difficult or uneven lie. I still forget on some shots, but this has lowered my score. I have begun doing a countdown from 5 before my drive, to sort of go through stuff mentally, this has cut strokes since I usually slice when I fail to concentrate on a hole. I rarely slice when I go through my routine. The slice happens at address, if you ask me. Figuring out which club to use based on wind conditions is another place where I make mistakes, but I feel like they will drop over time as experience grows. I suppose if I was playing at the same level for years and said this, I can see how people would roll their eyes. I make mistakes sometimes because as I improve ball-striking I get longer. Yesterday I hit the same six iron I always did on a certain par three, when there was no wind, and overdrove it by 15 yards. Next time it will be a seven iron, and if I come up short, I know it is an execution error, but yesterday, it was a strategic error. So I think the answer depends on where the golfer is on their journey. I have spend many hours and a few lessons working on execution, guided by pros, but strategy is something that I feel like I am on my own, and I have to learn by trial and error. Do I think that if I hit the perfect club each time and aimed at the correct line I would break 80? No. If the player isn't improving every month, leaving the "strategy' excuse behind in a year or two after he acquires some skill, then I agree. Not taking lessons is a strategic decision...

A single with a cart, unless the course is on the empty side, is always going to be disruptive. The guy should be prepared to wait, chip balls, practice putting, or whatever. I Always let them play through, even if there is not an empty hole in front of me, because, frankly, who needs it, and it probably won't slow me down anyway by more than a minute or two. Another single walking or even a twosome? I will join up. It's more fun.

I can't find the thread here, and this has been posted before, but watch the beginning of this video, the second time he drops the basketball off the dam. Same applies to curve balls, sinkers, tennis shots, those curvey soccer shots, field goals, etc. http://mentalfloss.com/article/81275/surprising-science-dropping-basketballs-dam

This entirely depends on where you play. I play courses that usually have three groups and a couple of singles out per side, and I would say no, but then I get to an urban course, like Long. Island, or South Florida, and it's anger management time. I like to watch my friends's shots, and compliment their successes, I take a couple practice swings if I am in an uneven lie, or whatever, but I am not going to spend time searching for extra balls while walking between shots, or sit and BS at the tee before shooting. For some reason I am always ready to hit first, honors or no, and I just don't get why people take so long there. As long as I can do the things I enjoy, like watching my shots and my friends shots, and take due care taking my shots and putting, I don't feel rushed, but three hours for a foursome means you have four serious golfers. My golfing is more social so that is unlikely to happen. I play with one guy who takes pace seriously, and we do fine. If we want to pick up the pace of a group, we play best ball. Maybe the conversations on the tee are because that's where everybody gathers together for the next hole and people like to talk. I like to play golf.

But I could man!

I'm glad you got it under control, slices suck. I think the reason they are so difficult is that the cause seems different with just about every guy.

Former banana slicer here who still hits one once in a while if I don't concentrate. What I have found helps me is to aim my shoulders slightly to the right of the target, when my feet are set up aimed at the target, this promotes an in to out swing. If I overdo it, though, or do it with a hybrid, I end up with a hook. A little goes a long way, is what I am saying.

This little change turned my game around. I don't lock the knee into a position for the full swing, but I keep my right knee forward of my right foot, is one way to say it, on my backswing, as kind of a brace. It's not so bad to sway a little forward during your downswing, and most people with good swings do it. I also stole something from Ian Poulter, and when I am putting or chipping, I flex both knees inward, to freeze my lower body in place, bracing on both sides. At least I think that is what he is doing. If I maintained flex in both knees during the swing, I know I am simply not athletic enough to hit the ball with all of the unpredictable movement going on.

I play golf in jeans all the time. In Vermont. Until I switch to shorts. Wouldn't do it down south though. I have a nice pair of golf pants for when I get invited to a private club, and they probably are more comfortable than the jeans, in some abstract way, and as comfortable as the shorts. I just don't mind the jeans either and feel more comfortable in them. If they were banned, I could live with it, but I wouldn't like the social message it was sending. But I don't mind the message about t-shirts, so go figure.

Unbelievably for me, I parred four and bogied two out of nine. The rest were @%#&! I have never parred more than two in my life. Spent two months this winter on the range nearly every day, and took a couple lessons. It seems like it is paying off. One three putt from the far side of the green for one of the bogies. The bad scores were from mishits on approach shots.

I have plugged a ball a few times, once I knew it because as I was searching for my ball, I found the skull cap of another ball right near where I saw my ball hit and not bounce, I played that one. (I don't keep a handicap) Also I have noticed that if you inadvertently hit into another group, because of a blind shot when you think you have waited long enough, of which there are a few on my home course, you can "lose" a ball in the fairway pretty easily.

I have been copying his knock kneed putting style and it works for me. Especially for chipping, keeps me from rocking around. I always liked him as a player.

I used leave it in all the time when playing alone to save time, which is cheating, (I don't keep a handicap) but I have noticed, since reading the flagstick rule post, that you can sort of hammer short putts into it, straightening out the putt, and they will drop if you hit the stick dead on, so now I have started taking it out on the short putts anyways since I would rather have the challenge. I think that leaving it in slightly increases the odds of a long putt dropping. I live with the guilt.

I recently took a couple lessons a week apart and I liked it and it helped me a lot. Less to work on at the range at one time, and a quick checkup for stuff I might have gotten wrong. But for me, I have plenty of time, so that is not a consideration.

Does getting fitted for irons make a big difference if you are still working on your swing? I kind of have my swing settled down but not completely, and TBH, the money is not a big consideration for me, but I don't like to just waste money for no payback.

The best PGA percentage is Dustin Johnson with 75% greens hit, there is a guy with a PGA tour card who is just barely over 50%, so adjust your expectations accordingly. http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.103.html It's good to have high expectations, and to put in the work and the thought to improve, but don't beat your head against the wall. Maybe there is other stuff in your game that has more room for improvement for the effort you are putting in. Is missing greens wide costing you the most strokes?

I think age comes into this a lot. I can understand why a young man, who can keep in good shape easily, and who doesn't have as much time, would prefer to ride. For me, riding is a complete waste of money. I carry, I have a lightweight bag, walking on the golf course is my workout, keeps the pounds off and keeps me away from the biggest killers of retirees, the fridge and the couch.

Well, it is still kind of cold here. Played nine yesterday dodging snow flurries. But I can feel the improvement from the lessons and range time over the winter, so I am going to be more specific with my goals and make them things I can do without some magical increase in skill or athleticism. Improve concentration by reciting mentally my short checklist before every swing. CARE ABOUT THE SCORE. Keep a handicap index. I guess these are more tactics than goals, but that's where my game is right now.

There is a similar hole on my home course, except it is tall trees, and I am like your buddy, but you know what? After losing a ton of balls I have started to have about a 50% success rate driving those trees, and when I do it, it becomes a birdie hole. I guess I play more for the memory of my better shots than I do for score, which is something I have to work on. I think if I cared more about the score, I would concentrate better, and lack of concentration is my biggest killer right now. I guess I treat that hole like a tennis serve, if the first one is a "fault," I hit into the elbow with a five hybrid. (Never do this if there are people behind us, BTW, which is rare anyway)

This was kind of funny.

Yup.

It turns out I was still rocking back on my back swing, even though I thought I had it under control. Now I know what absolutely NOT rocking back feels like, I am hitting it fat a ton less, and have gained a little distance.

There is so much it could be, any response would be shot gunning.