QWKDTSN

Well, I had a flight that ran late today (but was fun!) but I managed to hit the range before they closed in time to swarm through a bucket of range balls, then went out on the course for a quick 6-hole loop, no putting, just focusing on ball striking. When I hit the range I put just a few new swing thoughts into play: 1) Good posture, feel like the back is a little straighter. 2) Relax the shoulders, let them hang to clear under chin. 3) Use pronation of left forearm to trigger backswing. 4) On backswing, think about putting right elbow into right hip pocket. 5) Keep left arm low, bring club back outside, make a full shoulder turn keeping left shoulder under chin. 6) Keep right elbow tucked into pocket as long as possible while unwinding. The first swing I took, the only ones I thought about doing were keeping the right elbow in close to my side, and turning around my body, not using my arms to swing up and down. The very first ball I hit was struck purely and it came off in a beautiful ball flight, with a perfect little draw. I was so excited I went back and did it again, and again, and again. I was hitting these little draws so purely with my 6 iron again and again. It was really awesome. The swing felt really weird, but the results were not to be denied, and I kept at it. Some thoughts: Driver still needs work. I have my ball flight straight, or with a VERY slight fade. MUCH better than my old big fade/slice. Driver swing feels very much more uncomfortable than iron swing but I will keep working on it. I have a big mental block in that I am so used to aiming at the left rough to fade my ball (hopefully) into the fairway, that I feel so uncomfortable aiming down the line, I have a hard time smoothly pulling the trigger. I fear my ball slicing OB to the right. When I went out on the course, I threw a bunch of balls around to hit with different clubs from different lies, using my new swing thoughts. The biggest improvement by far is the fact that almost every shot I hit with my hybrids were pure. I have struggled more with my hybrids than any club and they just take up space in the bag. I never use them on the course because I strike them so poorly, I am lucky to hit the ball 30 yards. (with my old swing, of course). Using my new swing thoughts, I pured almost every ball and they went straight, which is amazing, because they used to push and slice every time. They were unplayable. I will go back tomorrow and bring the video camera to keep working on grooving this swing, and simplifying my number of swing thoughts. I will post it ASAP to see how it looks - and if there are any more tweaks I should implement as long as I'm doing a complete revamp.

I am a new golfer still working very hard on grooving a good swing and good ball striking. I play golf almost every day on the course or at least practice on the range. I am seriously considering picking up a set of used Mizuno blades (MP-33s or MP-37s). A 3-PW set in good condition can be bought for $200-350. I have an idea that I could use a set of forged blades to help me build a repeatable swing and ball striking due to their very unforgiving nature. I probably would not play them on the course until I felt very confident, or for practice gaming. I have a hard time believing that you have to be good in the first place to play blades, when blades are the only clubs that will give you immediate feedback on your swing... anyone else gone this route? Did you regret it or did it make you a better ball striker?

You just overdid it and pulled a muscle. I have done this about 4 times in the past two months to my back and neck, including the exact area you are describing... Just go easy for about 4-7 days. My doc recommended a good dose of Motrin and heat to relax the muscle and help the medicine get to the area. I go to sleep on a heating pad which automatically turns off after two hours. Take it easy for a while and work on your putting game instead of beating balls at the range. By the way, I am 23 also. Nobody's immune!

I hope he can spare some time for me. Avid Golfer is the man when it comes to swing breakdown!

I think I am going to try keeping my right elbow tight to my side through the backswing and downswing. When watching these videos full screen in slow motion, I can't believe how outside-in my swing is, especially with the driver. I think it's too upright in general. I am going to try working on letting my shoulders relax and turning my left shoulder down and under my chin, while bringing the club back on a much flatter plane. I didn't videotape any swings, but today I was actually playing around with a Moe Norman swing and I was amazing myself with how consistent my ballstriking was off the range mat with my 6 iron and what a nice ball flight there was. Then I went out to play a quick 3-hole loop to try it out and it fell apart on the course so I didn't pursue it much further than tucking it away as something worth pursuing if I keep having problems.

Human nature is funny. Guy stole your ball, probably knew that it might still be in play but decided to anyway. Got confronted, and wouldn't admit he was wrong, and lied to you. But his conscience made him leave your ball behind right where you'd find it, without him having to humble himself and apoligize. I find a lot of stray balls, but it's only because I'm in the woods so often looking for the ones I put in there of my own! There have been many times I have found a ball in the rough in an out of the way area, and hesitated, and decided not to pick it up, and then had someone ask me a minute or two later if I'd seen X brand ball come through. Knowing that I can tell them just where it is, rather than guiltily knowing that it's in my bag, is great. Don't pick up balls unless you know they're lost!

I agree with the sway... I think that I had corrected my sway for a while but it is back. Dent, yes, I slice all my long clubs... Driver, 3w, hybrids, and my 5 iron tends to have a baby fade... it is cavity back, so I have the feeling that if it were a blade I would be slicing the heck out of it. The shorter irons generally go straight. My other problem is distance. I play with a guy of about the same handicap with a ridiculously fast swing speed who also, has good ball striking. He will hit these moon balls into space, and he's always asking me how I get such nice low ball flight onto the greens. I always just have to tell him that where he's hitting an 8 or 9 iron into the atmosphere I'm struggling to make the same distance with my six.

I have been playing golf a few months and haven't taken any lessons... Just looked at a few tips online and in magazines. My scores decreased pretty rapidly to low 90s, scoring 89 once, and I thought I was well on my way. I had to take a few days off of golf due to muscle spasms in my neck and came back to find all my momentum gone. I have been shooting terrible rounds including a 104 this morning, my whole game is messed up. I have no comfort in my swing anymore. My drives, which used to be very predictable, very playable 240 yd fades, are now slices. The ball will start left (where I'm aiming) and then be moving with so much sidespin that even if they land in the middle of the fairway they will bounce OB. That added several strokes to my card today. My basic posture feels very uncomfortable and I feel very off-balance when swinging the long stick. The video includes a 6-iron from behind and face on and a driver from behind and face on. These are average shots I picked out of the video I took. I'd love to be able to hit the ball straight, and I'd absolutely love to play a draw. My home course has a lot of left to right sloped fairways that fall away down huge hills to other holes below - There are fairways I have no chance of sticking the ball to because with my left to right action it just takes one bounce and flies off to another fairway. It sure adds a lot of hiking to 18 holes. If I could fly a draw I'd have so much more confidence curving that ball right to left and sticking it into the side of the hill. Will anyone please take a look and tell me what you see - starting with basics of posture and swing rotation? I know I am really armsy and my shoulders don't clear under my chin. I think my fade could be attributed to coming in strongly over the top and I see my club pointing right at the top of the backswing. Please let me know what you think.

I hit the Cleveland CG12s and Vokeys back to back and the CG12s were the big winner. Give them a good look, they are great clubs.

I am glad he did, I like Kenny. I did not follow the Buick Open closely but when I saw he was in contention I was pulling for him.

I have to say that was a stellar happening... like something out of a movie. I was watching it on TV while enjoying a reuben and Heineken in the clubhouse after my round and everyone else watching on the big screen erupted in cheers. What a moment

I was playing with a guy who got a call from his wife, his son had taken a bad spill on his bicycle and was going to the hospital. He had rented a cart and gave it to me for the rest of the day no questions asked. I owe him some beers next time we play. I did see him again and his son was OK. I have walked off the course right after drilling an amazing drive on #12. It was my 30th hole of the day and something in my back went POP right in the middle of the swing. I had to pick up my bag, go pick up the ball from where it was sitting in perfect position for a PW approach to the green, and go home. My back hurt so bad, but fortunately a night of heat, ice, and Motrin fixed it up.

I do not count a PW as a wedge despite its name. To me it is a 10-iron. I carry a 56 and 60 degree Cleveland CG12 wedge.

When I am really striking the ball well I play a predictable fade. I turn my feet and aim at the left rough, and it curves its way to land in the fairway. I think it is a good shot but I would love to be able to hit a straight ball or a slight draw. My problem is that when I am not striking the ball well my power fade turns into a slice that goes half the normal distance and into the opposite fairway (or the street).

You bet, I would not have the motivation to practice and improve. I would have no way to track my progress without Scorecard and I have learned a lot of great tips.

You shouldn't do this IMO, the software is meant to count putts only on the green, period. Erik designed it that way because that's the true count of putts. You can sure do it that way if you like but you have to know your statistics will be skewed! Lowest putts I've had is 31 a couple of times, I would say mine averages around 35 per round.

If you have waterproof shoes and clothes and bundle up in the winter, sure, you can play all year here. I miss living in San Diego...

I know you are looking for a swing tip but you could simply try new grips - ones that are more resistant to moisture and humidity, or even larger sized ones. Maybe your grips are too small for your hands. Or, you could start playing with a Bionic glove, which I hear is awesome for exactly the issues you're describing (though not tournament legal).

I was just watching Golf Central and Corey Pavin is using a Bulls-Eye putter, he is tied for the lead after the first 18 holes of the Buick Open. He says, "It's one of those new designs, haha." he got it in '84 and brought it back out recently.

I am not lying about breaking 100 in a couple of months or breaking 90. Trust me, I have no life. When it started getting warm out this year, I went to play golf a couple of times with the boys. We drank beer and didn't keep score. I got hooked. I went and bought my own clubs and played a couple more times. Then I joined a club which is one mile from my house. Par 72, 6334yds from the back tees, course rating 70.3 slope 122. When I say I have no life, I mean I started going straight to the course after work without going home first. I go and hit the pitching / putting greens after work for 3-4 hours and hit a bucket of balls at the range. Then I started going out on the course by myself to play rounds. I keep honest score - I count all strokes, not just ESC (except for handicap purposes in the pro shop computer). I want to play honest golf, not just drink beers and joke around. If you think I and the rest of us are lying about doing what we can to lower our scores quickly, it's not my problem. Don't cop an attitude.

I am going down to the Monterey area in July to work as a corner marshall at Laguna Seca Raceway for the MotoGP race. Last year I rode my motorcycle down with 4 friends; This year I have to go solo as the rest of them are unable to go. I figured I am going to have some extra time on my hands during the drive down and while I am in the area. Does anyone have any recommendations on golf courses nearby? I will likely check out the Laguna Seca golf course, as it is right there, and inexpensive. I would like to keep greens fees down (say below $50-60) but any recommendations are welcome. Thanks!

I drive an '01 Audi S4 Avant with a bunch of mods.. And I have a Triumph 675 trackbike. My username comes from the license plate on my other car which is at my mom's house in San Diego... I only get to drive it once a year now when I go home to visit. QWKDTSN = Quick Datsun, it's a '71 240Z with a Chevy 350 conversion I did a few years back.

It took me around 7-8 serious rounds by myself to break 100. I have shot in the 100s more than I have shot in the 90s (8-9 times in the 90s) and I have broken 90 once. I have been playing since May of this year.

Does this seem like a poorly thought out set of rules to anyone else (hypocritical even?) Why are you not allowed to show your ankles by wearing quarter socks (no-show socks) when wearing shoes, but you are allowed to show your ankles and your pasty, hairy toes while wearing tacky golf sandals?

I have found what could be the answer to many of my putting problems. I recently bought an inexpensive book - Golf Magazine's The Best Instruction Guide Ever. It is about 140 pages of drills, tips, and instruction from their Top 100 Instructors. I have browsed the book thoroughly but have not tried to put too many drills into play yet, in case I get paralysis by analysis. I would like to highly recommend one specific tip the book provides - When putting, especially long distances, look at the hole from the moment you set the club at address until you finish your stroke. This goes against the conventional wisdom of picking your line, setting up your club, looking once at the hole to gauge speed, and then staring down at the ball until well after the stroke was completed. I tried this tip a while ago and found it awkward, so I didn't pursue it, so I went on practicing my normal putting routine, which is the conventional one. Today I decided to give it a try again, and I spent a little time getting used to the odd feeling of staring at the hole while performing my stroke. Once I became used to it, I noticed dramatically improved performance on the practice green. My new routine goes like this: Look at the line to judge the break. Step up the the ball, feeling the green with your feet, and set the putter behind the ball while looking at the hole and visualizing the ideal putt line. Look down at the putter to make sure it's square with my intended line, pick it up off of the grass and prepare to make my stroke. Look up at the hole and perform my stroke, focusing on keeping a smooth rhythm without jerking the putter through the ball. I found that when putting long distances (30-50 feet), I was able to very consistently lag the ball up to within 5 feet of the hole. It was a dramatic improvement over my previous lag performance. From distances of around 20 feet and in, I was able to consistently put the ball within 2 feet of the hole. The key to doing this - looking down your intended line at the hole, instead of at the ball - is trusting your putting stroke 100%. If anything my putting performance increased because I was not watching my putterhead at all with any of my peripheral vision - instead of focusing on making a perfect stroke and striking the ball with the exact center of the putter face, I was focusing on the results, and as a result, my whole stroke relaxed and I was able to put the ball on the line and with the speed I wanted to. When looking down at the ball and trying to perform a smooth stroke, especially to a hole a long ways away, I had a very difficult time simultaneously keeping the putterhead moving smoothly as well as striking the ball with the right amount of speed. Having a simple, repeatable stroke is a big part of this, and I am happy that I've done enough practicing to have a basic stroke. I am not saying it is perfect but it is good enough to get the job done while looking up at the hole. Distance control is one huge advantage I found in looking at the hole instead of at the ball while making my stroke; All I had to do was imagine rolling the ball underhand along the line - I guarantee anyone who rolls a bowling ball is looking at the target, not at the ball in their hand to make sure they have a good release - and I very quickly dialed in my speed much better than I have ever been able to do while just looking at the ball. So as I've said, my lag putting on the practice green improved dramatically. The second huge advantage I found, and this is even more key, is that I found an incredible amount of confidence in performing strokes in the very difficult 3'-6'-10' range. I know I'm not the only one who has lined up over a six foot putt that I know has a small amount of break, aimed my ball where I know I need to start it rolling in order for it to curve into the hole, and missed the hole by inches because, during my stroke, my body fought me and re-aimed at the hole, or forced a little extra speed. A 6' putt is not hard, but it's hard mentally to force yourself to make a smooth stroke on the right line. When I was standing over a 6' putt and looking at the hole, I could literally 'see' the line the ball had to take - after making sure my putterhead was square to that line, I just kept looking at the hole as I made my stroke, and the ball just kept going into the hole. Where I might make 1/5 breaking putts on the practice green normally, I started making 4/5 immediately. The putts that missed were almost all lip-outs; None of them missed the hole as greatly as they would have if I had been looking down at the ball. I was really raining them into the hole from everywhere, every kind of tricky break. It's hard to describe how much easier I found those tough middle distance putts today while looking at the hole instead of at the ball; I just visualized the line, and made my stroke, and it was like rolling the ball in with my fingers. My body just automatically 'got' the right stroke, and the right speed. So I'm really sorry for this rambling but I was having such a good time I spent a bit too much time in the sun. Seriously, I recommend trying this - I have not taken the technique out onto the course to pressure-test it, so feel free to think that I have no business in recommending it yet - but I have 100% more confidence in my putting now and feel very confident that I can eliminate three-putts in the course of a normal round and increase my one-putts from within the 10' range. If you are looking for anything that might increase your made putts, if only during practice.... try looking at the line of the putt, and at the cup.... judge your distance... don't even look at the ball after you've set up the putter and taken your stance. Trust your stroke 100% and stay smooth and relaxed. You might be surprised.