zenbudda

I thought the OP said he hit it high? I was responding to him, not the general public lol.

things to ask yourself if all you are interested in is breaking 100: 1. how many 3 putts are you making? if you made 3 3-putts, then you should have made a 99 to break 100. this means you work on putting only (which is very easy on the back lol) 2. how many 5 foot putts did you miss? imho you should never miss these putts. maybe 1 putt every 2-3 rounds, but never more than 1 a round and hopefully not more than 1 every few rounds. 3. how many 10-15 foot putts did you miss? if you missed more than 10, then you need to work on getting that down to 5. That saves you 5 strokes! 4. how many chip shots did you scull? not land on the green? not land within 25 feet from the hole? 5. how many easy bunker shots did you not make within 25 feet from the hole? these are all easy things to train yourself to get better at by simply getting repetitions in. remember, don't burn yourself out while practicing. take a break. mix it up. have fun with it. practice distances on putting by trying to hit another ball. my goal right now is to break a 70 (70-79). after examining my last card (an 85) I could have shaved 6 points by doing the following: 1. not flubbing a bunker shot (1 stroke) 2. making 90% of my 10 footers (i missed 2 so 2 strokes) 3. laying up on short par 4's and not losing my ball by going for a big drive (happened twice so 2 strokes) 4. hitting better shots out of the rough (winter rough) (2 strokes) The easiest to practice out of all of these is putting and bunker shots. Hitting out of winter rough can only be practiced in the winter. My issue was coming down too strong on the ball. Anyway, food for thought.

do this. get 5 feet from the hole. leave the pin in. take 10 balls. putt them fairly hard (data set A). how many of those putts go in and how many bounce off the pin? do this 10 times to have a good set of #'s to work with. then do the same thing with soft putts (data set B). now ask yourself this question: when you are putting/chipping from the fringe, are you trying to jam the ball into the hole (data set A) or roll the ball into the hole (data set B). what % gets you into the hole more often? that's the answer to your question. for me, the answer is: i only leave the pin in to tell me where the hole is, otherwise, i want the pin out.

It seems to me there are 2 answers. One for the average golfer, and one for the tour level golfer. The average golfer's answer: Lower lofted driver Learn to hit a draw Play the ball just a tad further back in your stance but keep your hands out front like you are hitting it as if it were further up in your stance The tour level golfer: deloft the club before impact but do not swing down on the ball. play the ball further back in the stance

the same squat posture at the top, the drop, then the unwind with a standing pop-up finish.

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for this, if not, feel free to move it. Check out this young man's swing: Just wow. I wish someone had instructed me on these things when I was strong and limber and overloaded with testosterone. lol. Anyway, my eyes may deceive me, but is he moulding himself into similar fundamentals as tiger/rory?

iacas, then it seems what i read is either wrong or just from a different swing philosophy. my body position does not seem to support letting your arms fall wherever if your shoulders pull your arms. would you say your arms need to swing "more towards the ground" than where your shoulders pull them? it seems my hands drift way too far away from me if i let my shoulder turn put them over the ball. it would be nice if there were a simple drawing tool to illustrate. so i'll go with a video instead. It sure does "look" like he initiates the downswing like this: 1. slight thrust to the right followed with a hip turn 2. torso and shoulders start to turn 3. right arm drops but left arm is still connected to shoulder turn 4. when club is parallel to the ground, shoulders appear square (considering his tilt) 5. shoulder rotation "slows down" and obeys his tilt as club head "releases" into the ball 6. after contact, left shoulder whips around tilted spine axis Am I missing something? It seems there was a moment where his arms went faster than his shoulders. I know that's a different assessment than what I asked about.

I am having a problem right now with an outside-to-inside path. I video taped myself from dtl and fo views and I think I have most of my early extension and too-much-forward-lean problems solved. However, I do know that I am consciously thinking to myself that I have to 1. slightly shift weight to left 2. start unwinding hips 3. start rotating the shoulders 4. start swinging the arms I just read some stuff online that says you should start swinging with your arms BEFORE you rotate your shoulders. So the sequence in that case would be: 1. slightly shift weight to left 2. start unwinding hips 3. start swinging the arms 4. start rotating the shoulders Any thoughts?

If "I" were in your situation 1. I'd stay away from letting Golfsmith making decisions for you. Everyone else can get up-in-arms about this, but they are there to make money first and foremost. Their "expert fitting" consists of some +15 handicapper attempting to "guess" which clubs will work for you that will max out your gift cert. 2. Instead, talk directly to your trainer. If he's worth what you're going to pay him, HE/SHE will analyze your swing (swing planes, swing speed, ability to hit crisp shots) and give you some recommendations on club head types and and shaft flexibility (senior, regular, stiff). Just be sure to tell them you have a Golfsmith gift cert. 3. I'm going to make a shrewd guess that you will most likely be in the "regular" flex range. You might benefit from a senior flex, but let the person checking your swing speed and style decide that. I'm also going to guess that your trainer will want to set you up with some cavity back club heads since they have a bigger sweet spot, are easier to hit, and easier to get good distance out of them. 4. Don't forget that you will need at least 1 glove, shoes, tees, balls and a bag. Right there can already add up to $75-$125, depending on how tight you want to spend. This leaves you with $500 for clubs. Your trainer "probably" knows someone who can fit and build your clubs for you. You may also be able to find a used set either online (Craiglist...only buy local!!!) or even at Golfsmith. Also, get to know your club prices because Golfsmith is notorious for overpricing their used clubs. Remember, what are YOU willing to pay. You see a set of Ping G15's for $400? Tell them that's old technology and you're only willing to pay $300. They may drop them to $350, which, imho, is a great deal for a first set of clubs! (those prices are completely bogus, but you probably catch my drift). But that leaves you missing a driver, 3w, 5w and your wedges. I went out to GS this weekend and could pick up several older model woods (still decent) for $150 (for the set) and another $150 for a set of 52, 56, and 60 degree wedges. They were older, yes, but to get started, this is what "I" would do. In fact, Dick's Sporting Goods was selling last year's Cleveland wedges for $70 a pop. 5. Just remember, the game of golf to a man is a lot like shoes or purses for women. lol. There's always something new out there. Be careful on wanting the next latest and greatest thing. Think of these clubs as an old trusty dog. You'll get more love out of em that way lol.

I have 2 tips of play. Keep in mind, I haven't had too many good days myself in recent history. But today I found "a plan" and stuck to it. I based it on how I was doing at the driving range before the game. I was hitting tons of blocks and pushes/fades when I'd swing "full speed". I then started hitting chip shots and was able to even out my ball flight to a slight draw. I slowly built back up to normal swing speed and found that when I got to that speed, the blocks/pushes/fades came back. This was being 100% relaxed and not-frustrated, so that meant (to me) whatever flaws were in my swing expressed themselves fully when I went full speed. This meant I either had to play a block/push/fade on the course at full speed, OR, taper down to 3/4 speed and up-club my shots. That being said, you are "more likely" to be "more hyped up" when in competition mode than practice mode. This means you have to consciously take it easier. Punch every shot on the first hole to the green. Do this for 3 holes. After the 3rd hole, pull out your normal club and take a normal swing but try to feel that same tempo you had for the punch shot. Tip 1 Just before you play, take 10 balls out on the driving range. pull out an 8,9 or PW. i say take those clubs out because they are shorter and easier to work with (imho). hit 3/4 punch shots. "to me" a 3/4 punch shot means you take the club back 3/4 and you follow through 3/4. This is a "controlled" and "even tempo'd" swing (like a wedge approach shot). No fast swings. No hard hits. No "going for the distance". Feel comfortable with this swing as you're going to use it on your first approach shot on the 1st hole. Tip 2 On the very first hole, punch shot your driver. It's going to feel weird, and you're probably going to draw it if the ball is played in front of your stance. But just hit that same 3/4 punch shot with your driver type swing. On your approach shot (assuming it's a par4), whatever club you "should " hit, hit one club longer. On "these" shots, I usually put the ball a "tad" forward in my stance so I can hit a crisper shot through (not down on) the ball. This will cause a higher-than-normal flight path for that specific club but it will be reduced distance and should land softer than a normal swing of the same club. I'm making a lot of assumptions here about your ability to adapt to a punch shot. Also, everyone's definition of a punch shot is different. Hopefully I've made sense and added some insight on "how one might slightly change their game to be consistent with their practice round".

Q. What am I working on? A. I am working on early extension Q. Why am I working on this? A. Because my shots are insanely inconsistent and nothing ruins the game of golf more than hitting a perfect drive, shanking your next 2 shots, then 2 putting. Q. What am I doing about this? A. Watching many youtube videos on early extension and working on the drills they teach. I practice simple rotations with my hands crossed over my chest and look at myself in the mirror, doing sets of 10 watching my front view, dtl view, and up-the-line view. I then take a few slow practice swings to see if I can maintain my "butt out" posture. I"m also looking into strengthening my core, and lower back, while increasing flexibility in my calves, hamstrings and hips. Q. What results do I expect when I combat early extension? A. I expect to stop shanking and hitting off the heel of the club. I expect to hit more crisp shots and have a more reliable flight path. Q. How long do I expect to wait until I see results? A. Given my age and reduced flexibility, I anticipate that this will take approximately 3-6 months to hit 90% of my shots without early extension.

The only way I ever consistently hit my 2 iron (which was back in the early 90's btw), was to use regular shafts and swing easy on it (like I was hitting a punch shot, but with a full swing). I would imagine I'm hitting a 5 wood (which I could hit very consistently and also had a regular shaft).

very insightful response mvmac. thanks!

mvmac, thanks for your reponses. so now that we have the "release happens" philosophy on the table, and you posted a picture of lining up your arm with the club (with a slight shaft lean I might add), this suggests to me that when you turn your torso and shoulders on the down swing, the closer you get to impact, the higher you have to get your left shoulder (for a right golfer). In this case, for someone who is not used to this position, it will most likely feel like you are literally swinging under the ball? So the combination of twisting the hips and torso, and causing that last minute elevation of the left shoulder (for right handed golfers) will automatically cause proper lag to release? I need to video tape my front view swings.

I'm a little distracted by your avatar. :-/

Also, would anyone say that when you are holding decent lag, and your hands are over the ball, and, do you slow down your torso to allow the club to whip through the ball? Or do you continue to accelerate your torso/shoulders through striking the ball? It looks to me as if the pros have a split second stop-n-go in their swing as they strike the ball.

Another interesting point. Listen to what Tiger says @2:14. Dare I say that he said the words "so they can flip it, hit the ball a long ways" (and yes he did acknowledge that you can hit it further that way but you lose consistency). My points are never "definitive" in nature. I'm just curious as to what the thoughts are behind having active or passive wrists or whether wrists should be part of the "release" equation at all.

Can anyone see why would one think that you actually "do something" with your wrists?

So are you advocating "letting release happen" in the context of this post?

If a student does not have a casting problem, and is not releasing properly, would you tell them to rotate more (let release happen) or focusing on releasing through the ball (forcing release to happen)? Just assume everything else in the swing is normal/acceptable.

Depends on how deep and soft the turf is. I cannot hit a clean shot to save my life on a tight lie unless I take a bigger divot. If the turf is fluffy, I "can" clip it perfectly, where it seems like I simply cut the grass. That being said, my opinion is this. Your divots seem a little deep, and a little left (I don't know if you are right/left handed or where the target is, or what shape of shot you're trying to hit). If anyone gives you flack about digging in too deep, watch any tournament on any day, and look at the divots the pros take on their mid to short irons. HUGE divots!

I'm not sure if my question is more philosophical or scientific in nature (maybe both). But I keep hearing people say "it's not how many golf balls you hit in a day, it's how much focus you put into each hit that counts" (or something like that). My response to that is, "how exactly can one quantify what quality focus is on the driving range?". So let me try to narrate a practice range session: preface: 75 balls bag full of clubs already loosened up (stretch etc) no wind normal conditions practice routine: pick out 5 balls grab pw before hitting each ball, stand behind the ball, find your target line, grip your club comfortably, take an easy swing perpendicular to the target line staying focused on the target line, approach the ball, staying behind at least 2 club head widths, take your proper posture and stance, and take 2 smooth practice swings, visualizing a smooth swing, perfect contact, and a desired flight path (fade, draw). line up "on the ball" and take your swing hit your 5 balls grab 7/8 iron, repeat grab 5/6 iron, repeat grab 3/4 iron, repeat grab fairway wood, repeat grab driver, repeat analyze any flaws you may have witnessed (beginning trajectory, flight path, launch angle, distance, accuracy), and go back through your club selection and focus on correcting those flaws. go to the practice green with 5-10 balls and chip/putt using same method above. so, is this quality practice? thoughts?

KeepItSimple, I agree with and understand everything you said. This was the main thing an instructor at GolfTec was trying to fix. It's the end of the year (thanksgiving, x-mas, anniversary and birthday) so $$ is too tight for paid instruction for now. I appreciate your input.

I worked on this last night (indoors, no real golf balls, no ball flight) and I definitely understand mentally and physically what the problem was. It's definitely the left left. It shouldn't be tilting inward, it should bend, away from the body. I watched several other golfers swings on Youtube, and a LOT of them bend that knee (Sergio comes to mind). I've been trying to do 10 sets of 10 reps of slow motion swings (back and and forward) where i pay attention to my left knee on the back swing, and my butt position on the down swing and follow through. I try to visualize turning my hips and leaving my arms behind the turn (just a tad), then when my hands get down to my rear leg, start an upward motion with my left shoulder and allowing my wrists to naturally release the club through the strike zone. I've also been doing the release drill that nevets88 and mvmac posted. Just slow small punch type swings to get the feel of keeping the hands slightly in front of the ball but releasing down and through it.