kc8kir

Sorry buddy, although I understand your opinion, this post was over the line and I found it offensive. Paddy didn't live up to all the hype for the Fedex Cup playoffs, but no-one is really sure why. Maybe to him, winning 10 mil really isn't what the game is all about. Don't demean a proven champion caliber player just to satisfy your own need for self affirmation on an internet forum.

I agree. The end of the season should be 8 to 10 guys, in a mano-a-mano match play bracket playoff. This is competitive golf. Make it a real competition already. Make someone really EARN that 10 million at the end of the season. Now that would be fun to watch.

Yeah, don't overlook the Wilson Staff line! Very good clubs at good prices. Just stay away from their ProStaff or Ultra line (that's the Walmart stuff). I love my ci6's.

Because golf is one of the first sports where I seriously think "hey, I could be pretty good at this". That's a really good feeling. I started 1 year ago, and broke 100 (legit, all rules) after less than 10 rounds. Pretty dang good if you ask me.

There is a great book called "Golf in the Kingdom" by Michael Murphy. Highly, highly recommended. In it he describes imagining the ball and the sweet spot as already connected. When you aim the club at the ball, aim the sweet spot at the back of the ball. I think it is really easy to get distracted by the overall shape of the head of the club and not focus on exactly what you want hitting the ball (the sweet spot). I have been testing this out, and so far the results are good. I normally focus on the back of the ball, and the line of the clubhead, but I think focusing on the sweet spot makes for better strikes (more precise).

I like to think, especially with the longer clubs, of turning my body back and through at the same rate. In other words, I feel the timing of my backswing and downswing are equal, neither being rushed. This really does work (I got the idea from a golf book, then heard some tour pros talking about doing it). Of course the timing of the actual club swinging is not the same (as you load the club and it whips through) but the thought and the feel is one of just turn and return. It is very easy to time. I have a horrible tendency with longer clubs to swing too hard, and turning back and through at the same pace helps smooth things out and take out the "hit" impulse. Maintain your lag, and the length and loft of the club will take care of the distance. Try it!

I always focus on putting to a spot on the grass. For really short putts, that spot is right in front of the lip. For short putts, it is usually halfway between the ball and the cup. For long putts, I pick a spot about 2 feet in front of the hole, allowing for break. The idea is to turn every putt into a straight putt in your mind and give yourself a precise target. I think a lot of people miss short putts because they focus on the entire cup (or nothing at all) and just expect the ball to go in. Use a precision approach and watch those short putts dive into the cup. I really started improving my putting once I focused on: A) Reading from behind where binocular vision is most accurate B) Picking definite spots to roll my ball over C) Moving the ball back to center in my stance, instead of off my left toe. D) Trusting my aim once I stood over the ball (for me straight means I feel like I am aimed a bit left - sounds like the full swing doesn't it?) Thinking about it now, my short game is really the only reason my scores have gone down.

You know, if you are getting blisters, the reason is more commonly that you are gripping too hard and trying to control / steer the club through impact. The only place the grip is tight is the last three fingers of the left hand. The rest of the fingers just stay in place for support. The club must be allowed to drop into the slot from the top of the swing, then whip through the ball as a result of your body movement. Hitting at the ball with the hands only leads to inconsistencies and battered hands. Take it from Ben Hogan himself, there is no conscious hand action in the impact zone.

Thought this would make a really good topic for discussion. My golf instructor really favors an open stance to the ball, with all clubs, loaded into the left side. The downswing is initiated with breaking the knees towards the target and then just turning to the finish. The club just drops to the ball. It reminds me so much of Lee Trevino's swing it's crazy. Best of all, I am starting to hit shots so solid, with little effort, I can hardly believe it. What is everyone's opinion of Lee's swing and the open stance setup? I noticed looking at youtube videos that even Tiger sets up with an open stance, left foot flared and back about 2 inches from the line. Hogan did the same. I am wondering if it wasn't just for conjuring a fade, but to promote overall great ball contact. I read a very interesting article a while back talking about how it was a shame that what Lee Trevino discovered in his swing, more amateurs don't use. Lee's swing could actually be very easy for the amateur, because it promotes body movement, and not a really high degree of athleticism. I'll see if I can find the article. In the meantime, thoughts anyone?

Update 2: Had a lesson with the local pro this Saturday. He said my problem is loosing connection into impact with the upper left arm (relative to the upper torso) and as a result I have to flip the hands and can't maintain shaft lean. My chest ends up way open at impact and my hands just aren't fast enough to compensate. I am way out of sync with arms versus body. He also noted I move the club handle too much down the target line and away from myself and not around my body, which just accentuates the fade. Basically I am making it really hard to square the face and keep the path straight at the same time. This is something I never would have thought of by myself. He has me working on swinging with a glove under the left armpit and making sure I finish around to a complete finish position. My flexibility is an asset, but he said I need to "tighten the screws" before I go using my flexibility for more power. So far so good. At the range on Sunday I could already see it was making a big difference in my shot consistency. My timing with the arms vs. torso must have been way off. Now we just have to see how long before this change helps straighten out the long clubs (practicing 3/4 shots with short irons right now, under the pro's advice). Then I can get back to actually playing real golf. My advice to everyone. If you get as stuck as I have been (3 months and counting), go find a pro you can trust. The good ones really do want to see you play better golf.

That makes sense, and it's good to hear Tiger knows what he is going to correct (a la Ben Hogan). If Tiger can improve his consistency off the tee as a result, his play will become even more incredible. Any link to the interview video or transcript?

My advice is to seek lessons from a good pga pro. I really was in the same bind as you until I had a lesson and the pro showed me the difference between feel and real when it came to that "hitting from the inside" thing. It is much more subtle than I made it out to be. In trying to hit from the inside the wrong way, I was really messing up my total swing action and seriously hampering my shot making consistency. Getting back on track now, but it's taking serious work...

I have 14 clubs in my bag that I could hit 100 yards if I needed to.

Complete set of Ben Hogan irons in my grandpa's attic. Needed some cleaning, but that's about it. Fantastic forged clubs.

It's called a push. It means the club is passing from in-out on the downswing with the club face square to the path of the club (not the target). If it was square to the target you would hit a draw. Check www.golf.com in their instruction section. They have a particular video on fixing pushes. Don't worry, it's not that difficult to fix and it's way better than fixing slicing.

Update: Just returned from the range. Chipping is going awesome, and pitching is coming in line. The best news however is with full shots. I had one of the best days at the range I have had in months. My massive slice and deep divots were practically gone and I was drawing most shots. Besides the pronation, I focused on keeping the right leg solid and making sure my backswing was on plane. Then just rotate through the shot. Ben Hogan, right as always. You have to pronate. I was hitting 130 with my pitching wedge today (normally I guess 95-100 for that club!). More to come...

I try to abide by the rules as much as possible, within reason however. For example, if my ball ends up on rocks (which it does here in Texas), I'll take a drop no closer to the hole to get onto something softer. I don't get paid to play this game, and I've ruined enough clubs hitting off those rocks / pavement. That's about it. I also play most rounds as practice rounds where I'll do a shot over just for practice (still counting and playing the original ball though). An actual mulligan is very rare. And who can forget the "breakfast ball". Once I start hitting the ball off the tee more consistently though, that goes out the window. My long game has been horrible lately, so I'll give myself one there so I can still go out between range sessions and enjoy a round. Hey, I still want to enjoy this game while learning it ya know. Now if I was playing with others, in competition, or betting, you better believe I would count everything down to the last unintentional ball quiver. I refuse to cheat under any circumstances.

I really like Shawns stuff, I even bought his dvd. His explanation of whipping the golf club is very good because he uses a swingset analogy. If you are going to add arm power to the swing, it must be at the right time. You wouldn't push on a child at the top of the swing arc in a swingset. You push almost near the bottom. Momentum takes care of the rest. Until it is time to add the power, you must hold the lag in the swing. The body creates the majority of whip in the club, the arms assisting only when appropriate. There is another good video on youtube by Brian Manzella where he talks about "float loading" the golf swing. Shawn does this as well, but I really like Brian's explanation. Worth checking out.

Good thought. My problem is that I would probably still flip my hands in the release, making contact very difficult. Have to stop pronating and start supinating!

Played a par 3 course yesterday. Started raining on the 17th green. 18th tee I sliced my shot (don't ask... it was only a 110 yard hole...) and landed about 10 yards to the right of the green. Now in pouring rain, I proceed to quickly hit a soft flop that hits the front of the green and rolls to the hole. Stopped 1 inch left of the hole. Unbelievable. Grabbed it and ran for the car! Total for the round, +5. Aaarrgghh. But I was only using SW, GW, 9, 6, 3, Putter, so I suppose some forgiveness is due.

So I decided this weekend I really need to work on my wrist action and improve my contact. Been having way too many open face slices / fat shots lately, especially with longer clubs, and I suspect I am throwing / flipping my hands at the ball. Here is the approach I am taking. 1) Reviewed Ben Hogan's writings on supinating the left wrist. 2) Practicing this movement with chipping, to strengthen the left wrist and forearm. 3) Working this move into pitching to learn solid ball first contact without flipping the hands. 4) Start with short irons and move up. I already noticed, just trying the move, that it makes a huge impact on the control and balance of my swing. Flipping the hands throws the entire body sequence out of whack (for me anyways). I end up fighting the club rather than simply directing its momentum. Any comments, drills, or suggestions as I continue forward?

Not neccessarily. It's more complex than that. You can still over-spin the hips and cast the club out-in. I do it all the time.

Uh huh... and what is this digital tome of magical golf knowledge you speak of?

Dent, sounds like you need to play like Padraig Harrington. He looks at every shot as a life / death situation. He welcomes the fear of mishitting into his game, then takes it on. The look in his eyes after some of his shots is pure focused aggression. Some of the latest interviews with him have been very interesting. You might do well to try putting that pressure on yourself and see if you are more of the "attack the golf course" mentality (ie Arnold Palmer).

Padraig Harrington uses it. He does ok.