chdduncan

No problemo. I hope you feel that lag. Its a great feeling.

Much appreciated motown!

LOL yeah your right. I am on a graveyard schedule so this is like 2 pm for me.

No one else?

You seem to have a proper grip. I would only suggest that you make it a tiny bit stronger with your right hand. Going towards your collar bone is a good place for the V to point to. It seems to me that you might be setting up pointing a little to the right. Correct me if I am wrong. When your pointed right your going to "push" every shot. Your right forearm should be a little lower that your left because when you set up your left shoulder should be a little higher than your right. I suggest a slight forward lean of the club. This creates a great set up with your forearms in the correct position. Ben hogan had a very "weak" grip set up that created a very powerful fade. I suggest to you the above and to prevent any grip related faults to grip the club lightly and then focus on your grip pressure at impact. It should not change. People have the tendency to tighten their grip at impact and this causes a ton of inconsistent shots. If you focus on grip pressure, slight lean of the club toward the target and your left shoulder a tiny bit higher than your right should really make a difference in your swing. A weak grip set up can cause you to open the club face to much on the back swing and when you arrive at impact your clubface will be slightly open creating a fade or even a slice. If you have any questions please let me know.

A bump and run is the same as a chip in my mind. Their both the same in regards to low flight time and max ground time.

The leaking to the left shot is called a draw. To do a flop shot you got to open up your stance quite a bit and open the clubface a lot as well. Set up open like that with the ball a little forward than center in your stance and swing back low and keep the tempo rythmic... when I say rhythmic I mean not choppy or decelerating. You must accelerate through the ball. Its similar to playing a bunker shot from close to the green. I play a fairway shot by first going up a club because you will lose a little distance in the sand. I open my stance and my clubface very minimally. I'm pointing generally 5 yards left of the spot I am aiming at. I tend to hit a small fade as well. I also put the ball a little further back in my stance to permit a ball first then sand contact. You do not want to hit the sand first like in a greenside bunker. Your distance will be terrible. As well, I tend to go for the fat part of the green from a fairway bunker. Its never fun going from bunker to bunker. Other tips. I would suggest you to stick with one shot shape for now. I suggest a fade but I am a Nicklaus kind of guy anyways. Its all about feel. Whatever shot shape you feel more comfortable with you should go with. Going with one shot shape makes golf into a percentage game. Think about it this way. If you aim on the left side of the fairway and hit a fade it will go into the middle of the fairway right. If you hit it straight it will go on the left side of the fairway, or if you slice, it will end up on the right side of the fairway. Either way your in the fairway. Make sense? Its the same way with hitting to a green. It just provides more room for error when you stick to a shot shape. When you get down to single digits with your handicap you can then worry about working the ball into tight pin positions and dogleg fairways. But for now I suggest sticking to your best shot shape. Hope this helps

I would like to know out there which golf courses people love to golf and why they do. I absolutely love playing the reserve golf course in Aloha, Or. I do because I use to work there and got pretty good at that course. I love it because the fairways are cut really short and the greens roll true. It has like no blemishes on that entire golf course. Its one of the best I have ever played. The second I would say is Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course in North Plains, Or. I love it for the same reasons above and because I shot 4 under their the first time I played. It was an insane putting day. Fast greens though.

I absolutely LOVE talking about golf with like minded people! It just gets me so motivated to keep practicing and get my game to an even higher level.

Wow. That's a great answer to my question. :) Do you have a regimented practice routine before you play? If not I highly suggest it. It just puts you in a focus that I cant replicate with anything else. Putting is by far the most important part of golf. Asides from the mental game. I feel that people should spend so much more time on putting than they do. Do you agree? I can see that you weren't trying to kill the ball to impress golf buddies. Its important to stay within your comfort level. All the pro's I have talked to since I started rarely hit outside of 80% and when they hit all out its pretty much a gamble. Most high handicappers don't know this. They tend to go up and smack the crud out of the ball and hope it goes straight. The shanks. It happens to even tiger woods. Thank you for your reply!

No one?

Best advice to you is to have a great pre-shot routine. This is the determining factor that has made playing nervous a lot easier to deal with. You got to practice your pre-shot routine on EVERY shot. No matter if your on the course or on the range. It develops confidence. Hope this helps

I am wondering what is the best score you have shot and what you were feeling that day? Was it calmness, confidence? What do you think contributed to that feeling? I want to see what attributes to playing the best golf of your life and your exact feelings during that round. I personally shot a 66 at my home course. I felt a kind of numbness to doubt and whether or not I was going to hit the next shot into the water or O.B. I felt really focused on the task at hand and my pre-shot routine just felt like it was the exact routine for me. I felt in tune with my swing and my feel of the course. Not to mention I visualized my shots like never before. It was like a movie playing in my head. What I think contributed to the amazing game I played was my practice session before I got to the first tee. Its a practice session I have used since that day. It goes something like this... 1. Get a large bucket of balls and set up at the range. 2. Stretch for about 5 min 3. Hit 5 golf balls with every club in my bag. 2 soft, 1 medium, 1 hard, 1 medium. (I do that to feel what 80% is) 4. I do whats called the "clock drill" with my wedges and practice at 7, 9, 10 and 11 o clock. (I do this for distance control) 5. I then hit 5 shots with my 6 iron to see my yardages. ( some days are further and some days are shorter) 6. I move to the putting green and chip 10 golf balls to 3 locations. short, medium and long distance. 7. Then I putt with 3 golf balls to short, medium and long range holes to get the feel of the greens 8. I go play. This is what I do every day and it gives me amazing confidence before I even tee up on the first hole. It sure gets rid of the first tee jitters.

Whatever feel you use is up to you as long as your left leg starts your transition of the downswing. I focus on keeping my arms really light and my hands even lighter when i'm starting my downswing. This causes a tremendous amount of lag and drops your elbow in a perfect slot. Try that thought next time you go hit some golf balls. You will find that its weird at first but you will get tremendous lag and really crisp contact. Take a video of the practice session and then review it. You will see the lag for yourself. Hope this helps.

I like the swing. Do you feel that your left knee starts your downswing?

Try stretching your wrist before you hit a golf ball. When you start hitting golf balls, hit them very softly until you feel that your wrist is warmed up. Only then you should start hitting at normal speeds. I had the same problems before. Do you have any wrist "cracking" when you release the club through impact? If you do...shift your left wrist to a more weaker position to where the V of your hand is pointed more towards the center of your body and then relax your hands and maintain good pressure through impact. Its hard at first but then gets better after a little practice. Hope this helps. Let me know what happens too!

You can also be slicing your drives because at impact your tightening your grip. Next time you go out try and focus on keeping a relaxed grip. To do this just hit some golf balls really softly and try and keep constant grip pressure. With you drawing your irons its probably due to your set up being slightly closed. If you want to continue hitting a draw with those don't change a thing. When your setting up with your driver like that and do not have the right club face angle at impact you will push fade it. It will start way right and then fade pushing it even further to the right. To offset this aim for a small object or leaf a foot in front of the ball and draw train tracks in your mind toward your target and then set up square and relax your grip. You will see that you will begin hitting the ball starting straight and slightly fading to hitting the ball dead straight with practice. hope this helps!

Welcome to the forum Arkansas.

What helps me is focusing on my breathing. I have played with extremely good players and they don't even have to trash talk to make your nervous. Imagine playing a match play tourney with a guy that never misses a putt. :( I just breath in and out and count the breaths and forget everything around me before I even begin my pre-shot routine. I guarantee when you do that the trash talking and the other guys "tiger like" shots wont bother you.

I ride a 2008 Triumph Speed Triple. Its blazing orange and 1050 cc of pure testosterone. Its a street fighter so its more upright, you can feel it when you give it throttle the front tends to come up. :)

With your driver i suggest teeing it up a little higher than normal and keeping your grip light all the way through your swing. Don't focus on trying to turn your hands over, your just going to cause inconsistency. Focus on grip pressure and then move your ball position a little further back to permit a push draw.

What I have always done is set up to the ball and grip it only with my left hand and then place my right hand between me and the grip. I touch my pants with my pinky finger and touch the back of the grip with my thumb. I make a "call me" sign with my hand and that creates consistent set up position away from the ball. Let me know if this helps...

Hello steveinator, Try and hit a draw. Set up how you would normally hit a draw with a closed clubface and pointing a little right of the target. Also try and think about keeping your grip light all the way through the swing. Let me know if this helps.

If you bend too much you will find yourself coming out of your swing. Stand comfortably and try not to think about casting or coming out of your swing. Instead you should be focusing on keeping your grip loose throughout your entire swing. This will help with your shots going high and right and as well as keep you from casting the club early. Hope this helps