postmanclark

Thanks for your advice, I shall remember it -when I play in a few hours time.

So on Saturday I am due to play for the 2nd scratch team sat my new club (hcp 7 - 12). I'm not really sure what to expect - I know, of course that it is match play, where there aren't any shots given; but apart from that I don't know much more. I have played competively in other sports, so I'm not that alien to the situation - but I would like to know about things such as: do you talk to your opponent (or not), do you have a beer afterwards; whether making my own score saver from the pages on the course of internet is a bit too keen and OTT. Then there is the strategy side. I haven't played at the course, but I know someone who used to be a member. It is short and has fast greens. I can hit a longish ball, so an option is to a driver and reach a few of the par 4s in one and the par 5s in two. Or in matchplay is it a better idea, just to take an iron and have wedges into the green for the second shot, making sure I hit a high percentage of greens? Thanks for any input.

What kind of problems biomechanically speaking, does not completing a full shoulder turn lead to? I ask this because it seems when I am swinging well, my 'back is pointing to the target' and when I am swinging poorly I am not completing the shoulder turn. It leads to all sorts of problems for me such as low hooks, thinning the ball and pushes. Hopefully, in future I just need to have the one swing thought and not worry about anything else lol.

I enjoy watching and reading information from this section on the forum - as it is more informative than the section 'Instruction and playing tips'; that's why I have posted on this odl . Anyhow in the original video posted, I noticed with the golfer on the right, that his head on the downswing moved closer to the ground and to the target (although it was only a small movement). Is this acceptable? Or should you be trying to reduce all head movements in the golf swing, even on the downswing? I say this because I recently posted my swing and @ @mvmac and helped me reduce head movement in the backswing (thanks again). However, at the moment I am pretty sure I am not getting onto my left side very well. Having tried to replicate the initial downswing move to the left, I find that my head moves lower and to the left, just like the golfer on the right of the video does.

Some good points made by all, so thanks. The 64 degree wedge option seems to be have been debated against - which is fair enough. Unless your Phil Mickelson, a 60 degree wedge is enough around the greens. Also I wouldn't be needing it for a full shot, you would just hit another wedge, softer. The 3Hy would fill in the gap nicely; particularly in the winter time, with the ball flying shorter and there being less roll - it would become more important. Practicing with the lower irons is a good point. It would save me £120, which sounds good to me. For me the biggest issue with the mid to low irons, is I have a very low ball flight with them. Although I did hit two cracking 5 irons today (which surprised me), both dead straight and pretty accurate; so perhaps I should give myself more credit. I will practice with the 3 iron in the next few days, and see if I can inject some confidence into that part of the game and increasing the height of the ball.

Hello all, I've got a bit of a dilemma with the clubs in my bag - I'm basically wasting one club. G25 driver - carry 250 / 260 G25 3 wood - carry 235ish 3 iron - don't use 4 hybrid 23 degrees at 210 carry 5 iron etc 4 wedges - PW, 52, 56 and 60. My weakness lies in the mid irons. Anyway, as you can see I am not using the 3 iron at all. My suggestions are to fill the gap between the 3 wood and 4 hybrid with a 3 hybrid - or get a 64 degree and carry 5 wedges. 5 wedges would be over the top, but I would use the 64, more than 3 hybrid.

@mvmac , just wanted to put another thanks on this thread to you. I've been working on the set - up with flaring the feet out to stop the swaying and I can honestly say that I've never hit the ball better. I haven't played that much recently, because I have been in the process of changing clubs. My contact with the irons are so much more consistent and I have never hit the driver further. The only issue I have at the moment is that with the driver I am typically hitting straight - draws; unlike the rest of the clubs where I am hitting push - draws. Any thoughts on why?

Thanks for the informative response, I will get to work on the advice given. Cheers!!

I've been Playing Golf for: 3 years My current handicap index or average score is: 18, however normally I score in the high 70s My typical ball flight is: push - draw The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: pull Sorry for the quality of the videos, I only used an Ipad 2 - as that is what I had to hand. Personally, I believe I get into some nice positions and the plane of my swing seems to be pretty good. However, what is not very good - is the large amount of lateral head movement and a standing up at the very end of the backswing. I think this also leads to a loss of spine angle before impact and results in a slightly flippy release. However I think that is all of a result of the lateral head movement. I have already read and started working on the maintaining inclination to the ground thread. All comments appreciated.

Thanks for the input guys. If I'm not getting much roll - out when the summer is truly here; I'll get on a launch monitor just to double check my current set - up.

So I was playing at a different course on Friday, and the fairways are a bit firmer than those at my current home course. I play in the UK and the weather has just started to be good. Anyway, I was playing with a couple of hackers and on one hole I hit a pretty good drive - I have a high ball flight (now) and I carry 250 yards, if I don't hit a bad one; my pitch mark was close to my ball, so I know there was no roll out. On this hole,one of the guys hit a ball and it was a fairly low cut, and I noticed that it almost got up to my ball on the fairway. The question is, in these conditions do you think there is any logic - between lowering my ball flight and getting less carry; in the hope of achieving more roll out and getting more distance.

So, just recently after getting my swing some what in working order, after the winter relapse - I was trying to improve my launch angle on my driver and hitting up on the ball. Having read the advice given in Iacas' thread on it, I tried it to some degree of success. However, what I need help with is that for the few days that I have been trying to practice it - some days I hit pushes / push - fades and other times I hit pull - draws. Does anyone have any kind of 'feels' where you know what shot shape you can try and hit?

This is a problem that is dependent on a) how often you play golf, and b) if your technique changes, or your body and you start hitting the ball further (or shorter). Personally, when I used to play golf non - consistently, I found that my 150 yard club was an 8 iron and my SW was about 90 yards. When I joined a golf club, after a couple of months, I started hitting the ball a lot better and was having a real problem with distances. I started hitting loads of shots from the markers of 100 yards and 150 yards. I worked out I had picked up about an iron in distance. If you can find a quiet time consistently at your local course and with mid - range conditions; you should be able to find out what you hit 100 yards, 150 yards and 200 yards. Anything over 200 yards, you'll get an idea what you hit, but it's likely to be that inconsistent that the exact yardages won't matter. You should be able to roughly work out the distances between the clubs in between those yards. The only caveat that I would have on that advice is your PW. I don't know the exact angle of mine, but I hit my 52 degree 115 yards, my 9 iron 150 yards and my PW 135 yards.

So as tends to happen to all golfers I'm sure - I was looking for a new hybrid and ended up finding a putter. I wasn't that impressed with my old putter, but as I bought it when I was very new to golf, it done the job, I bought a Taylormade Corza Tour, blah blah blah putter (the same one that Justin Rose uses I believe). Anyway, on my old putter I had a 2 thumb grip fitted; simply because coming from cricket I liked the thicker grip and it helped when I started using the claw grip. Anyway, I have purchased a 2 thumb grip for this putter; however having putted with the new putter briefly, it felt pretty good. Now I'm unsure of whether to go with the original plan, or whether this might ruin the feel of the putter. Ideas?

For myself personally, I have had 2 lessons so far and neither one of them have been great help. I know that it is down to the golf pros in question and there will be some good coaching ones out there - but that's kind of put me off for a while. I have played golf properly for 2 years now (I'm 26) and I have really good hand - eye coordination. What with studying Biology at university and there being a large amount of biomechanics involved - I pretty much taught myself my swing. Added to the fact in the last 2 years I have probably been averaging 5 rounds a week, I have managed to shoot some really good scores. I have gone through a few different swings in a couple of years Stack and tilt, one plane swing etc., at the moment I have just found the swing that works for me and although it took me a couple of years to get there, I couldn't ask to hit the ball better in the last couple of weeks (70% GIR, although that's probably down to nice. soft greens in the winter). For the last 2 months, I have been using some of the square - to square methodology and it really has been good for my game. Whilst, it definitely would of been quicker in terms of time, to get lessons; one of the negative aspects of getting coaching is that pros can teach you their idea of a perfect swing, rather than one that suits you. For example, whilst I am quite strong - flexibility wise I suffer in the shoulders (dislocated both of them) - so I tend to have lower arms than most. However, one of the pros was trying to get me to raise my arms higher, that was definitely not good for me. What could of helped me a lot more was getting coaching for my putting and my rhythm of my swing. Both have taken the longest time to get right. Putting, I think maybe gaining more experience has helped me improve and with regards to rhythm, I need to remember not to hit at the ball.

Thank you for all of your responses - you have helped make my mind up. I have decided that my plan of action will be to try a 4H on a launch monitor and see how I get on there. Hopefully it will work out well, as being a shorter club, then I was planning on getting, it should be an even safer club than my 5W. I have my eye on either the ping i20 or G25 23 degree.

After playing in the recent wet weather, I have decided to get a hybrid - as out of the rough and not having any kind of roll on the course is hurting my long game, with no hybrid . I have used a hybrid before, however I had to get rid of it, when I got better at golf - because the shaft was regular flex and not the stiff that I now require. Anyway, I have a bit of a dilemma. With regards to my bag at the moment I carry a driver, 3W, 5W and then 4i etc. I hit the woods fine, but the long irons I hit a little bit low (due to my swing and overly hitting down on the ball). I was tempted to get 2 hybrids and then dump the 5W 18 degrees and the 4i and get a 20 and 23 degree hybrid. However, I have now decided to only get one hybrid (to save money), so that would mean getting rid of the 4i. Question is now: do I get a 20 degree or 23 degree. With the 20 degree the drawback would be the compensation of not having a 4i, by choking down on the grip. Or do I get a 23 degree and have a bigger gap between my 5W and hybrid. I would like to hear some opinions, because I am entirely in the middle of what club to get.

Thanks for the replies. I seemed to have solved the problem, perhaps it was a swing issue I had that day. I basically decided to hit the ball a bit harder, as due to the swing changes I have been swinging quite a bit 'inside of me'. The harder that I tried to hit the ball, the higher it got. FYI I play a 10 degree loft.

Hello, I noticed today, that when I was hitting my driver well - that it wasn't flying in the air, as much as I thought it would do - even though I hit it pretty well. Basically, I was playing a draw and hitting up on the ball, which I have been trying to implement on my drives. When the ball was in the air, instead of carrying as far, as I thought it would do - the ball dropped like a stone. I didn't know if that could of been for a couple of reasons. There was a strong wind, and this happened with a wind - assisted drive; did the ball simply get knocked down by the wind? Or is it the fact that when I got my driver fitted (G25, tour stiff shaft), I was hitting the ball worse, than I am now. When I got fitted earlier in the summer, I was hitting a fade / bit of a slice and down on the ball; so the spin rates were higher and the stiff shaft was needed to keep the spin down. But now, whilst hitting up on the ball and not fading it / slicing it, is the shaft too stiff and not enabling me to get the spin rate that I need, to keep the high ball flight ( FYI swing speed is 109 mph). Should I just go and get on a launch monitor to see where I'm at?

Thanks for the advice guys. My putting is pretty bad, but it's slowly getting better. Unlike ball striking, which I picked up really easily - because in one regard it's just like any other ball sport, see the ball and hit it. Obviously, I know it requires a lot more technique then most of the other sports, but still. I have got a few lessons for a birthday present, which I will use soon. I'll update on the progress. I'll also be sure to post my swing - my brother is around at the weekend, I might get him to film it.

Quote: You play off 20 but can hit 15 greens and shoot level par? Yeah, my handicap is highly dubious - I don't often hit 15 GIR; perhaps once every couple of weeks. I also don't regularly go round in level, again probably once every couple of weeks. I'm usually around the 4 - 8 mark at the moment, when I am playing a lot of golf (5 - 7 times a week.) The reason my handicap is so high, is that I posted 3 cards before I had really started getting into golf last March and I rarely play competitions. Not because I don't want to, but because I work nights I don't often know when I am going to be awake, so I can't book tee times. Needless to say my first competition in July last year, I went round in 8 over and I was off 27, so that was a net 54, with 54 points lol. The regulars weren't too happy. I got dropped 7 shots in one round ... Quote: You should learn to putt. If you're a 15 handicap and you hit 15 greens, which is a lot more than the average tour pro, even on a good day, you're getting about 50 putts a round. Or you're not close to a 15. If you really can hit even half of greens on any kind of basis, you should be breaking 80. A lot of people post on here claiming to have great swings but none to my knowledge have ever produced satisfactory proof. Usually they get told to hit 5 mid irons off the ground on video showing the divot after the ball. If you can do that then congratulations my friend, you have a fundamentally sound swing, no matter what sort of flight you play. My putting is ridiculously poor, a month ago, I went 9 shots over and had a 4 putt and 3 putt, from 15 feet on both occasions for birdies - I had 38 putts or something. I wasn't too happy. I am working hard on my putting and chipping - it doesn't come natural - but I'm getting there, I had 28 putts the other day. That is my best ever. I maybe didn't put the correct word, 15 greens, was my best round. I am usually around the 10 - 13 mark. A consistent divot with a 5 iron is no biggie, not that I use a 3 - 5 iron that often in a round on my home course (6300 yards). I maybe use the long irons 4 - 5 times a round. I could try and post my swing, although it's kind of getting off the point lol and it would be to merely proove you wrong - which is not something that I want to start off doing with my first post lol. Any chance that I could get opinions on the original question, in a polite way? ps. apologies for the lack of quote boxes, I'm not sure how you do that.

So I've been lurking for a while and have decided to post on a question I have. I play off 20, but that is not enough of an explanation of my game. I have been told I have one of the best swings in the club and on a good day I can go round in level and on a bad day it can be 25 - pretty inconsistent. It's probably down to the fact that I only took up golf a year and a half ago. I have only had one golf lesson, which was a while ago; I have been working on a one plane swing for a while now. Anyway, when I have been playing a lot and my swing is in a good place I hit a consistent pull draw, with all of my clubs - where I aim at the right side of the green and bring it back to the middle. It's probably about a 5 yard pull and a 5 yard draw. I realise that this isn't the desired ball flight - however, if on a good day I can hit 15 out of 18 greens playing this way, should I accept it? Or should I continue refining my technique, and go and get some lessons. In sports I am a bit of a perfectionist, but I don't know if it would be better for me to work on my rhythm and tempo - in order to retain how my swing feels throughout all of the days I play and get more consistency. Or whether I should continue looking for the answer, and make changes, so that I can find the desired push draw.