Michael Lee

Why don't we just wrap up this thread with that - God Bless you All

The face of the club must be perpendicular with the intended flight path at impact. Grant me the supposition, according to Ben Hogan, the path of the club head must be "on plane" during the swing. I almost always go over the top and cause the club head to come in too steep. This results in chunky shots with divots that always point to the left, instead of straight or right of the target. I also notice, with photographs of my swing, I tend to transfer my weight to the left foot prematurely, that is, before the ball and the club make contact; I believe this is what Lee Trevino was trying to say, "keep your head behind the ball." or do not allow your head to move laterally towards the target. I've solved slicing by rotating the wrists clockwise on the backswing and counterclockwise on the downswing and try to hit it square with the club face. Tiger does this in the photographs of his swing I've seen. But also, as the club goes back with the hip turn, turning the wrists prevents from "crossing the line." This makes it easier to want to swing out at a forty five degree angle to the target. I feel as if I'm going to miss the ball entirely, but that doesn't happen. Occasionally, and remember golf is a game of consistency, not necessarily strength, I can cream a drive two hundred and fifty yards and I'm middle aged Please keep in mind my handicap is 21, but that is owing to my pathetic short game, in particular, my putting.

Since I am a slicer, I try to swing the club head at a forty five degree angle to the right of the intended target on the downswing. This never actually happens and it feels as if I'm going to completely miss the ball; instead the club takes a more "in to out path" and the ball flies away like a dove. I also think about rhythm in the swing; I try to feel for when the club is almost weightless in my hands (don't let go of the grip); only then is it okay to "apply the throttle." My worse enemy is "coming over the top", whereby I lean ever so slightly to the left before the club strikes the ball; this always results in a chunked shot where the divot points to the left. Instead, as Lee Trevino would say, "keep your head behind the ball."

I sincerely apologize for my brain fart post about the Ravens; I had too much on nineteenth hole that night. It's really not advised to combine this forum with alcoholic beverages. My mind tends to drift from one thing to another as I think about them. But what is seek is humour on the golf course. Getting angry while playing will do you no good. Instead, if one is able to laugh at their poor shots, anger disappears. Try vocalizing words such as: pathetic, oh beautiful, pitiful, that's ridiculous, oh that is so ugly, etc., all the while smiling . Try it! I already have a reputation as being an intellectual freak and I like birds. I saw one of the Ravens today humping our plastic owl

What is really funny on a golf course are these ravens hanging out at my club. Not are they really noisy, but they're smarter than humans to some extent. The club tried scarecrows, plastic owls, plastic snakes, playing the sounds of hawks, etc. Ravens, crows and magpies are much too intelligent to fall for such things. These birds, according to scientific studies, can recognize peoples' faces. They did so at a university where familiar people causes them no distress, but when these same people wore halloween masks, the birds did not recognize them and thus began to "sound the alarm" by making calls. Instead, they hang out in a spruce trees above the garbage bin and watch when the employees leave the lid open and then they ring the dinner bell.

I laughed when Henrik Stenson broke his club on his knee at the British Open, but he could have impaled himself with it and that would be horrifying. Also, never under any circumstances should a player throw his club or beat it into the turf, especially on the greens; that's just called being a total golf jerk; there ought to be a four stroke penalty for doing such a thing. Besides, if anyone was hurt as a result of such a club throw, not only could one, depending on the damages, be sued for everything they have, but embarrassment, expulsion from the club, getting arrested or, more importantly, the weight of doing such a thing on the human conscience, implies throwing a club is really dumb! And since that has been said, please do not throw your cigarette butts on the golf course; it's littering!

Of course it's immoral to laugh at the misfortunes of others if they are of a serious nature. Flipping a golf cart is not funny as people get hurt or even killed by such events. In the film "Caddyshack" it was hilarious when Judge Smails threw his putter and hit someone in the head, but that was just a movie.

I apologize if I shifted scope from a philosophical question to one concerning golf. Then again, I've played with the more Stoical golfers who say nothing at all the entire round as they try to become "One with the golf course." Of course, since it is my "friends" who conveyed this information to me, I must confess it's hearsay evidence and ought not be relied upon. I'm sure this guy is a wonderful man deep in his heart. So wonderful, his wife left him because he had other girlfriends and gambles too much. Is it bad manners to laugh at other peoples' pathetic shots? It's certainly not very friendly. Laughing at one's own cruddy shots, if it can genuinely be done, is helpful as it vents anger. Hearing other people laugh at your shots is unnerving, and those doing it are not acting like ladies and gentlemen.

There is this guy at my club who said to my friends, I have the intellect of an artichoke. Even though it's true to some extent, it wasn't a nice thing to say about a fellow member. In the club championship this year, he lost by one stroke by missing a three foot putt on the final hole. The look on his face was hilarious, his eyes suddenly went wide in horror and his jaw dropped. I controlled myself, but Lord it was funny. The phenomenon is called schadenfreude; that is to laugh or derive amusement by contemplating the misfortunes of others, in particular one's "enemies." Some say it's a sick form of humour, but I've yet to meet someone who isn't guilty of it from time to time. Why is it improper to laugh at the cruddy strokes of other players? Because only jerks do that? Because I would not, after my pitiful shots, appreciate being laughed at (do not do unto others what you would not have done onto yourself by others)?

I do not believe Tiger's problems are his golf strokes. As I'm not his physician, I'm unable to even speculate what the nature of his injuries are. I believe he needs a little help feeling good about himself again. I also think every human being deserves that kind of thing. As I am now middle aged, I can attest that life is too short to worry about what others think of you.

The only thing I'm certain of is not death and taxes. All I know is, from one moment to the next, I make many mistakes. Mistakes while golfing, working, loving, etc. Tiger is going to soar high again, because he's as human as all the rest of us.

Trying to convey golf knowledge is problematic from the beginning. As I'm a slicer, my instructor told me to swing "from in to out". Somehow, I must use my mind to interpret what this might mean into signals into my muscles during my swing in order to correct the problem. I discovered a partial cure, as I still slice from time to time, I should just take a shorter backswing; that leaves less room for errors. I might sacrifice distance but better accuracy is more forgiving. Besides, nothing can be done about my ridiculous putting :(

Equitable stroke control should help improve pace of play by not penalizing beginners who should pick up their ball and proceed to the next hole unless holing out is required. So if equitable stroke control says the maximum one can take on any given hole is eight, then if after eight shots the ball is not holed, then the player should pick up, mark down an eight, and continue to the next hole. It's nothing to be a shamed of and will turn our next four and a half hour round into three and a half hours.

I have tried various tips and swing thoughts throughout the years and none of them actually work. Can someone provide me with a categorically correct theory of the swing that isn't cloaked in controversy?

Sorry, I didn't know the thread was that old. I was merely investigating how to "lay off the club" and I thought I'd share my results. No harm intended.

Forearm rotation is key on the backswing and downswing and at least one organization agrees with me.

In my biased opinion, I believe the key action of ensuring one is "laid off at the top", is to rotate the forearms clockwise around each other during the backswing. Try this at home, take an imaginary club in your hands and address an imaginary ball. Start your backswing in slow motion (that's why I chose an imaginary club) and rotate the forearms clockwise around each other. Stop when one's shoulder is either at ninety degrees or less depending on one's flexibility. Turn your head to the right and look at your hands and which way the imaginary club is pointed. It should pointing to the left of the target. From that position, rotate your forearms around each other counterclockwise, examine your hands and where the imaginary club is pointed. It should be across the line. I tried this with a real club on the driving range and it seems to work quite well.

If the swing is shot from above the golfer, as Shawn Clement did here, it's easy to see he points the club to the left of the target at the top of the swing - sometimes.

Although, according to this short video of Daly's swing, at the top he is clearly across the line, namely his club points very right of the target.

Heavy hitters like Daly, swing past the point the club becomes parallel to the ground. This is because not only is the momentum of the club head at impact proportional to the amount of force placed on the club through the grip, but also how long force is applied, so theoretically a longer backswing is highly desirable. The difficulty I have with your theory of turning the shoulders no more than ninety degrees and keeping the hips quiet, is at least some of us are too inflexible to make that much of a shoulder turn without turning the hips to some degree, although you seem to say some movement in the hips is not detrimental. The condition of my body prohibits me from even making it to parallel, however I believe my problem is "jerking" the club down at the top of the swing, this always happens when I over extend myself or I keep my hips stationary. I can sometimes manage to be "laid off" at the top and an incredible feeling of golf ataraxia ensues at the finish.

The more momentum you can put into the club head, the further (not necessarily up the fairway) the ball will go. This can be done in one of two ways, make the club head heavier or make it go faster. The former is set the moment you buy the club, so it's not a factor per se, but its velocity or swing speed is not only directly proportional to the amount of force applied to the club, but more importantly how long the force has been applied. Heavy hitters, like Daly, have long swings, however I'm sure even those guys run into problems if they go beyond their physical limits.

While trying to "get my swing", if I'm swinging inconsistently, often shortening my backswing helps a lot. Overextension beyond my physical capacity, causes me to reverse pivot and hit chunky shots.

What does it mean to have a smooth transition at the top of the swing? Is it desirable?

Okay, weight forward and hands forward at address and at impact. I can hardly wait to try these ideas, however in Canada our groundhog messed up seriously and we aren't going to be playing until at least May. It's sad but true.

It depends on one's school of thought. I've had some instructors tell me they believe keeping the head still is a bad thing, while others say the opposite. However, while watching the professionals on television, if the background consists of stationary objects such as trees or spectators and the like (i.e. not the sky), any movement of this kind can be detected by a shift in their head position relative to the background - this is called parallax. Davis Love III's head doesn't so much as budge throughout much the swing while others do indeed move their head.