Brakkus

It's huge I must admit. Total carry and roll is attainable but to carry it. Taking into account my range is uphill with the balls and winter here I can carry the 200 yard marker according to Google earth it's over 80 yards to the back hedge it seems so far away hard to believe the likes of Mcilroy and Co are clearing that hedge. It's also comforting to know that game golf doesn't lie and there are loads of golfers my age and handicap not hitting it any further than I do

I haven't played a driver been 2 years. 3 wood carry is about 210. Just picked up a older Cleveland hibore so interested to see my distances this season. Friend of mine used to play to a 15 some 15 years back as a teenager. He has 10 years on me anyway. First time he's played front nine he was a bit wild. Back nine he hits some great drives. Smashes it past me. Big high fade. Swear it's 250. He's hitting 230 carry with 20 yard roll out. Point is 250 carry is like a dream for most golfers. I'd be happy to reach 230 carry as someone said earlier you can play anywhere if you have that. I can play my course with hybrid and 3 wood but there are holes where you need a driver so usable carry distance is needed.

As the OP has said I've been guilty of all those infractions because it's a practice round. I've played on my own an increasing amount the last two years. I've slipped into practice mode much more recently. Having not played regularly until recently funnily I always counted my strokes fairly as I was in a group or on a society day and therefore was being marked by others. However now on my own there's no one to uphold rules. I can hit two balls retake shots ignore lost balls and generally not count my score. I've found that situational practice is far better than range practice. It's been great to get out of conservative style of play to protect a handicap. I'm trying to break out and become a better player by taking on holes. Golf is a very disciplined game so anything to make it more carefree and fun is good.

Hi everyone haven't been on in a while very busy and only started playing in last couple of months again. Moved house so at a new club for me with a championship course and a shorter track 6200 yds. The shorter valley course comfortable at this length and can shoot sub 90 regular. This week though weather was great and due to lots of people playing went out on the 7093 yd beast. It was hard but fun. Shot 93. Front nine riddled with water as it heads out into the heart of a reed bed. Tightest fairways I've ever seen. Back nine then changes wide fairways lots of elevation changes.47/46 split but felt much more comfortable on the back nine. I'm doing everything competently but nothing spectacular. It's more that tee shot that drifts right or an under hit pitch or a slightly heavy iron. Lack of play big part of that but no shot scares me now but like a bogey golfer it's hitting more clean shots as opposed to having to learn to hit shots. So close to playing really well but not quite managing it for a long enough stretch.

This one just for the moment and what Tiger brought to the game of golf. This kind of crowd and atmosphere usually seen at soccer matches, baseball, tennis etc..

I can well buy into this he's young and fit and obviously natural. He mentions the same 3 courses so if he has paid attention to course management then this is entirely possible. We'll done Jordan and for having the cajones to post it. You inspire me that anything is possible and that with the right knowledge and mental attitude learning is natural and golf is challenging but not impossible to play well. All the guys on here who are single digit should be more than aware that swing mechanics don't have to be perfect to shoot in the 70's

This happened to me this summer. Group of 4 and it was a twilight fee. We were the only two groups on the entire course. Unfortunately the club is a 9 hole so you go round twice and the possibility is always that you get behind a group who are just starting. First 5 holes are outside of a track for horse racing. I catch them up on hole 2. None of them are particularly great players. Every hole they had an opportunity to let me through especially the par 3 fourth. After the 5th hole and my complete bewilderment at the lack of gracious behaviour, I finally get a chance to skip ahead. The 6th goes inside the track and I turn right to go to the 7th. I had no issues with the standard of golf a couple in the group were playing but as a 4 they would've held me up anyway even if they were low handicappers. So to hack your way up every hole and be completely ignorant of someone on their own with absolutely no one in front of you, is not lack of knowledge of golf etiquette. It's all about good manners just like holding a door open for someone else. There's no rule that says you have to but it's respectful to do it and appreciated in return.

I find generally that hybrids suit a flatter swing shape. Shafts vary in length even of the same loft. My 20 degree isn't too much different from my irons. Some can be a fairway wood length. With a more rounded action the flat sole on my Benross V5 just doesn't dig. I've hit so many greens with it from 200-220. It either draws slightly or straight. To be honest I would rather take it than a 4 or sometimes a 5 iron. They are also excellent from under trees. Choke down with a half swing anywhere up to 180 yards out. Also fluffy rough with the ball on top or under the grass tops.

@mvmac Just an update. Turning the hips in place has seemingly cured my ball flight ills. The three clubs I struggled with Driver, 3 wood, 17 degree hybrid all were slightly leaky to the right especially the driver. Now wow! I'm hitting draws with these clubs. No idea the effect on my distance but straighter means more chances at greens. I missed on the right side of the fairway 6 or 7 times. Not totally unplayable in the majority of these shots but wide and loss of distance meant I only found 2 gir's last time out. Really hoping this will put me slightly further down the fairway. Thanks Mike

Tiger at his best was a blend of Mcilroy and Spieth. Course smarts but with the power to bring a track to it's knees. Injuries have taken away that ability to shoot the gun. I think Tiger maybe is slowly realising this. At the Quicken loans he actually got into contention but that course was 500 yards shorter than a major track. It did show that he can think his way round a course. Not sure if he can make a transition to more accuracy he always has the devil on his shoulder telling him to go for 350 with his driver. That guy has gone at least with any consistency. A different end to his career now and maybe not the one we all expected but he's not the first great player to lose his aura when back problems came a knocking.

Just a generic term to take in principle. Life isn't mistake free as is golf. I should say it's a piece by piece construction moving towards a refined movement. Along the way it will contain mistakes inevitably but as you say it can be corrected. My terminology for steep and shallow was meant as a way to perhaps shift the focus on the fact that there are not two separate swings. Mixing of the right fundamentals to achieve a repeatable contact. Like your system of 5sk as it gives room for individuals build,posture,height,etc.. There's lots of ways the golf swing is taught and very confusing hence my trail and error comment. Get a good instructor and this can be a less painful process.

My thoughts have changed considerably on the golf swing over the years. I've read as much as possible even if I disagree on it. My conclusions are that the one plane and two plane theories are not quite correct. In fact the primary thought even if Hardy doesn't say it is a golf swing needs the balance of shallow and steep. Forget where the arms are. High or low you can still screw up your downswing from both positions. He talks of hybrid golf swings in the book on tour. We'll they are not hybrid swings, tour pro's have found the right blend of steep and shallow moves. You can actually break some of Hardy's rules for a one plane action and still hit the ball well. I naturally love the around action of a baseball or tennis style swing. My hands have never been high. My downswing consists of things he says are wrong like the right elbow sliding forward and staying behind the ball. The right arm staying underneath the left at impact. If you follow a pure one plane action I don't see how you can avoid turning off the bodies power accumulators. I found I hit well but hit a weaker fade shot most of the time. It was harder work to remain so still and not use the lower body. There isn't a shortcut to an easy swing. Trial and error are the way.

Decided to work on this again as I knew from my ball flight that I was losing it right particularly if I hit it harder. Still got a nice clean contact but I would hit a straight pull or a fade. Realised that I wasn't turning the trail hip behind me. My torso was turning over to the right femur. Think Mike mentioned that it feels like a reverse tilt at first. Sorry if I'm mis quoting him,may of been someone else. Reminded me of a video Shawn Clement did where he shows quite an exaggerated hip turn. He pointed out the space it gives you on the downswing for your arms to get back down in the slot. Hit about 100 balls today it's the straightest I've ever hit the driver. The difference between that and my previous move was night and day. No wonder I couldn't get to the inside path as my club had to come around my trail hip previously. 17 degree hybrid was also a club I could readily slice. Same results was actually drawing the ball instead of fading and slicing.

Pay as I play. Haven't got the time to join a club. I always liked the idea of different courses. The beauty of looking at a course and it's environment is fresh every time I go somewhere different. One regret is I really at the beginning should have stuck with the same course for a while. Learning to hit the ball is one thing but also learning course strategy is another. Gaining confidence early on would've been a smarter decision

I've been using golf pad for my android devices. There's enough data now for me to pinpoint my strengths and weaknesses. I know my main weakness is the tee. I'm 68% fairway accuracy but that's because I have been avoiding my driver which is short and crooked. I'm leaving my self out of gir range on a few par 4's where I could get on the green. This means I'm rescuing bogey 5's instead of putting for an easier par. So strokes gained applies to my handicap level. My misses off the tee are more right than left which isn't too hard to work out with the longer clubs. It's a high miss and short losing me vital yardage. I've improved my long game hence my handicap has dropped by 14 in the last 2 years. Still a way to go but now I know that once I'm closer to the hole off the tee more regularly then my gir percentage will increase.

An older guy probably nearly twice my age dropping the f-bomb after every swing behind me. Meanwhile two older guys come in and see me hitting balls and gave me over inflated compliments about my ball striking. I strike a nice clean ball but I'm not Dustin Johnson! Probably annoyed him even more he got quite angry with himself after that. I was conscious of him behind me but still wanted to be friendly to the elder statesman who introduced themselves. He was swearing well before they came but he was clearly far too wound up to get enjoyment.

14.5 handicap 1. That I can now actually plan how I want to play the hole and not how I hope to play the hole. 2. Knowing I can take different clubs in all sorts of lies and get back in position. 3. Being confident that I can still score if a department of my game is off. When they're on you can go low for your handicap. 4. Triples are an aberration and not the norm. 5. No more fear around the greens. 6. Confident enough to play with all types of golfers and playing by myself. 7. Handicap travels well. Rarely play the same place all the time. 8. Simply the feeling of thinking and playing the game like a golfer should and not an occasional hacker.

Sometimes at the start you maybe try everything then you get more selective with advice you take. Perhaps an instructor or a swing method that fits your body type and style. I find it hard when a fellow golfer starts giving advice or when I'm asked for advice never goes well so I try to avoid that. You may ignore great advice from a very highly regarded source because it conflicts with your mechanics or physicality. I like reading about golf so you can never know enough even if it is to dismiss not using it. It helps to know as much as possible. On the OP question about Tiger. It has definitely not helped since around 2010 forward. All the swing changes have confused him. As Bagger said to Junuh we gotta find your authentic swing. Tiger lost himself and his game somewhere along the way not Foley's fault or Como's. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Anyone here would you sign up for Mo Martins driving distance and fairway avg right now? I would at my standard and distance currently. I'm intrigued as to whether some of you who are longer but far less accurate would take it. Anyway a lot of the women tees in professional golf are very comparable to male amateurs. Obviously the women get a rough deal in tv coverage no surprises there. It's a shame because it's a more realistic game for us to emulate but watching Day,Johnson,Mcilroy and Watson among others smash it out there is very other worldly and sells golf. Lots of our tees in the UK are 6000 above. If you play club competition then you go off the whites and that puts you above 6200 at least and above 6500 on others

Enjoy playing scrappy golf. There was a piece of advice in one of Rotella's books about having fun getting out of trouble. Can't remember which pro it was who turned to his playing partner after hitting it into the woods and said you gotta love this game. Sometimes I still get frustrated after a shot doesn't go where I planned usually off the tee when I'm playing for position because I lose the distance as well. Having said that I've hit some fantastic recovery shots from those positions. Also missed greens with my irons have given me the opportunity to hit wedge rescues and be very creative. Learnt a lot this year about my game and my own attitude. The fun of golf is not fairways,greens,and putts. It's more expansive than that. As Tin Cup says perfection is unattainable.

I was impressed with ths JP. Your kind have me pegged with your thoughts at my current handicap. Looking at your musings the big thing that stands out is the mental shift from bashing the ball in the general direction towards the hole to actual planning of the hole matching up with your own capabilities. I would agree the mid handicap area is where this happens. Not always linked to how good or technical your own swing is at that point but the understanding of golf the game.

Changed my 3 wood regular flex benross quad speed.In went a stiff shaft MD superstrong 3 wood. Percentage of fairways has improved because of this. Still can fluctuate with my distance but far less deviation of ball flight. Superstroke mid slim on my putter. Wasn't quite expecting such dramatic results buy my putting has improved out of sight. I don't like to make wholesale changes to my equipment too often just tweaks here and there.

This is something I have wanted to try just going round the course with my irons. Or to try with only 3 clubs. Couple of the courses I play you could do it because of shorter par 4 holes. I can get my 4 iron out there to 200 yards off the tee. To answer honestly what is your goal when you play a round? Is it to shoot the best score you can then what's the highest percentage shot in your bag off the tee? From the fairway same question. Separate your scoring ability from your practice where you can work on your swing without the pressure to pull out a long club on the course. You'll gain confidence knowing you can score decently until at such a time you make bolder club selections when your ability grows.

There's a very interesting thread on here about where to devote your practice time. If you have a glaring weakness then you may need to apportion extra time to that area. Perhaps it's a generalisation that high handicappers are guilty of being suckered into the long game and neglect the short game when we start out. I certainly went down this route. My scores stayed above 100 for 6 years. I soon developed a mental and technical issue with finesse wedges around the green. I would flub short chips and under hit pitches around the green. I tried different methods and changed it a few times and that made me lose confidence. Just decided in the last 2 years to really focus on settling on something. After all the methods I tried of various famous names and all the practice I really found my own style and feel which maintained all the fundamentals of the short game. I'm regularly in the 80's now and shot 81 recently. Chipping it closer and confidence bleeds into putting because you leave yourself with makeable putts. Now only just balancing out my practice time more evenly but certainly heavily based practice time geared around chipping and putting and pitching for new golfers at the start I think saves years of frustration. I wish I had done it different I'm sure my handicap would be lower now.