GangGreen

Interesting thought, I do find that my best swings with the driver are when I'm taking more aggressive/full swings. It's a fine line for me, though, since those aggressive/full swings can (and often do) morph into overswings where I lose all my fundamentals. Most of my lessons actually have been centered around me taking less of a backswing and getting into a good position but still maintaining a full downswing/finish. I struggle with that too, though, since I had previously always wanted the length of my backswing to equal my downswing (if that makes any sense).

Excellent, thanks @saevel25

I'm a hybrid convert myself. When I first started playing 20 or some years ago, my set had a 3 iron and I loved it, especially off the tee on shorter par 4s (they were Spalding Executives, which I suppose could have been considered one of the SGI irons of the time). Got back into playing 3 years ago after a long time off, bought a then new set of irons that came with a 4 iron (TM Rocketballz) that I could never get comfortable with so eventually swapped it out for a hybrid (23 degree Ping G25) and haven't looked back since. Got a new set of irons this past Christmas (Ping G30s) and was very happy that I had the option to only buy up to the 5 iron. It's different for everybody, but for me the hybrids are just easy to hit and between my 3 and 4 hybrids I have my distances covered between 175 - 200 whether off the tee, off the deck, or out of the rough. As a side note, I have a buddy who just started playing and I think it's just easier for someone new to the game to learn to hit a hybrid vs. a long iron so I figure why make the game any more difficult then it already is.

I'm guessing that, like many high handicappers, the most inconsistent club in my bag is my driver. Looking at my typical practice routine, I usually hit the range 3-4 times a week (not including lessons) and spend on average about 70% of my time working on fundamentals with a 7i in hand. I find it easier to practice swing technique with a mid-iron and, conceptually, I would think that the fundamentals gained would transfer over to my other clubs. Unfortunately that doesn't leave a lot of time to work specifically with my driver and while I know it should be the same basic swing regardless, I'm wondering if others take a different approach to how much time they spend with each club. I mean if I'm struggling with my wedges, it would make sense to spend more time with them at the range, so wouldn't the same thought process apply to my driver...thoughts welcomed.

I play Callaway Supersofts in the beginning and the end of the season because of the colder weather and the fact that I lose a lot more balls those times of the year (knocking the rust off in the spring, too many leaves in the fall). I switch to the ProV1x during the peak season, yeah, probably more ball then someone at my level needs but I just can't find a ball that I like off the putter like the ProV1x so I'll stick with it for now.

Almost always a gap wedge for me.

Shot a 43,48 - 91 at the home course yesterday. Overall swing started to feel like it was coming back, especially off the tee. Really focusing on a shorter, more controlled, and flatter backswing (I tend to over swing and get very vertical at times) which I was happy to see translate into a lot less trouble without any noticeable loss in distance. Pitching/chipping/putting were about were I'd expect this early in the season, however, the full swing wedges were REALLY bad (a lot of thinned line drives from 90 - 110 yards out). So happy the season looks to be here to stay!!!

I'm a little late to this thread, but I've been taking lessons myself over the last 2 years and always struggle with this a bit too. I just had a lesson this Saturday as a matter of fact and played on Sunday. What seems to work for me is if I take my practice swing with the "new" swing thought in mind (right now for me it's about my backswing position) but then as soon as I step over the ball for my actual swing I just clear my head, focus on my tempo, and swing. I figure the range is where I need to work to make those swing changes permanent, if I start thinking too much while I'm playing it usually ends up in disaster.

First round of the new season, 48-49-97. Struggled off the tee and the pitching/chipping was a disaster but felt really good to be back out again!

Not for me but, then again, I don't think I'm the target age/market they're after either with this look.

I have a 20* and 23* PING G25, easily my favorite clubs, for whatever reason they're the only clubs in my bag that I don't have to think about when I swing them.

Suppose to get into the upper 50s here over the weekend, trying to get my first lesson of the season scheduled for Saturday and maybe get a round in on Sunday.

+1 to this. If there's a particular aspect of the round that was really off (ie. driver, pitching, etc.) then I might spend a little more time practicing that part of my game but if what just a bad round all around then the best fix for me is just getting back out there.

Good question, I typically go for a with a 2:1 ratio (2 practices and one full round a week) with my current schedule. If I had more time, I'd probably look to practice 3x a week, play one full weekend round, and add one 9 hole weekday (after work) round if I could.

I have no issues with shorts on the tour. Sure, pants look more professional, but it really wouldn't effect my image and/or view of the players or the events. I may be in the minority, but at the end of the day I tune in to see great golf being played and care little about who's wearing what. That said, I do think it would look bad if it was taken to extremes (ie. gym shorts, etc.) but you could say the same thing about some of the long pants you see out there now (ie. the old John Daly type pants look absolutely ridiculous to me on a golf course and far less professional then a nice pair of golf shorts). Times change too as does what's considered professional, I'm in banking and when I started my career 25+ years ago you wouldn't be caught dead without a suite and tie on (and anything but a white shirt). Now casual business wear is totally acceptable and the world hasn't stopped as a result.

Got what will probably be my last round in this past Saturday. Wasn't too bad temperature wise, but the course was pretty wet so with Sunday's light snow (and forecast for more this upcoming weekend) I'm guessing it won't really be worth trying to get out again until early spring. Tough to complain though, given how mild it's been up until this point and how much late fall/early winter golf I was able to get in this year.

I tend to agree, I took a fairly long hiatus from golf and returned only a few years ago. Since I've been back it does appear that there are fewer casual golfers out there these days, particularly within the 20 and 30 something crowd. Not sure if that would be reflected in the results though since, presumably, casual golfers probably didn't maintain official handicaps back then any more then they do now. I can't seem to open up the article link from my current location so this information may already be contained in it, but it would be interesting to see the data further segmented by golfer "type" if you will (ie. by average number of rounds played per year), that way you could compare improvement in casual golfers now vs. 20 years ago and more serious golfers now vs. 20 years ago. I would think that information would be readily available since the system tracks rounds entered.

Yep, at least on the golf course you don't get the screaming kids or lunkheads who've never swung a club trying to impress their girlfriends by trying to out drive each other...oh look, I just creamed it 100 yards...BEAT THAT!!! haha. Funny story (somewhat off-topic) but I remember one time at the range when a group of 10 or 11 year olds were standing behind me the entire time betting on how far my next ball was going to go and then judging every shot, I found it hilarious (although talk about performance pressure!).

I put moving during a stroke (especially if they're standing directly off my right side so I see them during my backswing). I probably see people walking on the line of a putt more often, but honestly that doesn't bother me at all. Talking/making noise during a stroke does irk me a little, but the driving range I go to is always noisy so it doesn't really affect me when I'm playing since I'm used to it.

I'm 48 and had the same issues 2 seasons ago, it got to the point where there were times I couldn't sleep at night without taking Advil because of the pain in either my back, shoulders, and/or right elbow. Even if I took time off of playing/practicing, I never seemed to be able to entirely get rid of the related aches for good. For me the fix was getting in better shape (not saying you're not, I wasn't for sure). I started doing yoga and then progressed to more strength training with light weights this past winter and the results have been amazing for me. I probably played/practiced twice as much this most recent season with hardly any issues at all and when I did experience the occasional pain it never lasted long.

Agreed, I can't stand the golf dinosaur commercials.

While I certainly agree the "internet" age hasn't helped (for the reasons cited in the article), I also believe part of the problem is there are probably just as many kids out there that are way too "over-scheduled" these days. I have 3 fairly active ones myself and, sadly, between everything else they have going on, there's just not time on any given day for them to take up golf even if the interest was there. If you have a kid who wants to say play soccer these days, maybe lacrosse, or, god forbid, swim...then they pretty much have to give up any free time for other activities outside of their school work. A little off-topic, maybe, but sad really.

Have to agree with the above, it seems I need an extra club when the weather starts getting cold but not sure if that's a function of the temperature or the restricted swing due to the extra layers of clothes, etc. I have to imagine its a little bit of both. As for balls, I switch over to a yellow Callaway Super Soft as soon as the leaves start falling. Partly due to lower compression but mainly because they're cheaper and easier to find when the leaves are down.

Callaway X2 Hot Driver and a brand new set of Ping G30 Irons that I just got for Christmas!!!

Just to close the loop, got the G30's on Xmas and it was warm enough to get a round in the next day. Have to say I really really loved them on the course. Took a little getting used to the big club face but was very happy with the performance, especially considering the course conditions were less than ideal (very soggy). Side note, I always get beat up on this particular course, so it probably helped my overall impressions of these clubs that I shot 7 stokes better than I did my last time out here. Also got in a range session with them over the weekend. Ball flight was a tad lower then I had with my prior set but nothing material and could be due to the cooler weather. Yardage wise, it seemed like I gained about 5 or so yards on my W through 7i although I struggled a little with the 6i and 5i but I fault the golfer not the club. I'm guessing it will take me a couple more range sessions to get those dialed in. Overall, looking forward to having these in the bag next season!!!