m11

i suggest checking out the TaylorMade r7's.

a +40 would be, at least, mildy impressive . but i second birdieman's advice. Staying off of it is by far the best thing you can do. Try to cease any activity that aggravates that area. You can pick up some over the counter naproxen or ibuprofen (stay off the ibuprofen if you may have heart problems) to help a bit with the pain and some swelling. if it gets bad, you want to head to a doctor. He'll likely give you some corticosteroid injections which will significanly help out with the swelling. Likely though, it'll go away on its own if you stay off of it.

if your swing is too upright...you will most likely be reverse pivoting as well. how is your ball striking?

i wouldnt say they are. You get the most distance on hits from the sweet spot...the better ball striker you become...the more often strikes will contact where they are supposed to. Also after you develop a consistent repeatable swing. You can choose to get more aggressive if you want to squeeze more yards out of each club.

another vote for the bridgestone's

stretching doesnt directly make you a better golfer. it prepares your body to exert itself as well as aiding in the prevention of injury.

put my two cents up on the swing academy site.

1 vote for the TaylorMade R7 TP's

your equipment plays a major role. Improper pairing of shafts and clubheads with your swing can exaggerate any swing flaws you may have. Head over to a golf store...bring your club...walk around like you are shopping for clubs. They'll put you on the launch monitor and check your stats. Compare that to other clubs. If those other clubs give you more favorable statistics...then there is your answer. If you still arent hitting them to your liking...your swing needs to be re-tooled.

that would do it too

its one of the fundamental components of a proper swing. it is pretty imperative.

creating that 'one bounce and check up' shot is really tough for most golfers. So congrats on being able to do that. On a full swing..i usually play the ball in the middle of my stance. Stewart Cink even recommends about half a ball back of center. Then you just take the same swing that you do with any other club...however you must be released the club at the proper time. If you are casting a little and sweeping the ball..instead of taking a nice divot...you have no chance of creating a lot of spin. Do you take a divot on your full wedge swings?

I'd recommend sticking with the major manufacturers. Although the clubs may look similar, the major manufacturers do a better job with consistency in their product as well as taking advantage of the technology. Although Wal-Mart peanut butter is ..i believe.... Peter Pan peanut butter just in different packaging (i dont recall if thats the actual company they are going with now..but its something along those lines)...either way...the same situation isnt going on in golf equipment.

you can demo clubs at any major golf retailer. I'd recommend spending the 30 dollars or whatever it is to get fitted for clubs. Then take those specs and find something used on ebay.

Its a great club. I have the Burner and i prefer the Tour Burner much more. Are you buying it from a store? You can usually upgrade the shaft instead of purchasing the stock one. The shaft on the club is a pretty good shaft as is...but let them fit your and you'll find the best shaft for you.

how much are you particularly looking to spend? taylormade r7 irons are very solid clubs. You can get a set of last years models for under 400 on ebay

There are many factors that separate tour players from amateurs. If there's any facet of the game that good amateurs can be comparable with the pro's is distance. Its very doable to be able to carry the ball 280 yards. With todays technology...golfers are often expecting to hit the 300 mark with their drives. I certainly dont average....but i can definitely drive the ball 300 yards...and im sure there are plenty of members on this forum who can do the same. There are even plenty of juniors who can really get the ball out there as well.

that's what i came in to mention. off a tee..or even if its sitting up a bit in the fluffy rough...you want to sweep it a bit. However, if its a tight fairway lie...you need to pinch it slightly and take a little bit of a divot.

didnt really flip...just kinda fell over onto me...my buddy drive us into a sandtrap that we both didnt see. On another occasion..i was in the passenger side again..and different guy makes a really drastic turn to avoid an animal and i flew out. No real injuries on either occasion and because it wasnt as serious as your situation...we got a laugh out of it.

yea we are on the same page then. and to answer your question....many times has he not won a tournament when he has been favored.

Your head, of course, works as a unit with the rest of your body. The idea is to more or less mimic your address position at impact----that requires maintaining posture. If you were to lift your head before or at impact, your posture would straighten up and likely cause you to hit it thin. Therefore, you want to keep your head in a fixed position until after impact--this allows you to maintain the same angles as at address and make proper contact with the ball. After impact, you need to allow your head to move naturally after impact. If you keep it overly rigid....your body wont be able to properly turn. You should be able to see your ball flight on each shot. And im not quite sure what you mean by "my head should move forward with my shoulders". I'm interpreting it as you move your shoulders towards the target on your downswing...and are inquiring whether your head should follow or not. Whatever it is...your shoulders shouldnt be moving forward at any point really. Your torso rotates against your hips on the backswing...and then unravels on the downswing. Besides maybe a slight 'bump' in your hips to initiate the downswing (i personally dont do this because i feel like i turn that bump into a bunch of lateral movement...but if you do it properly...i suppose it comes recommneded)....your body or shoulders shouldnt be moving forward. Thats called lateral movement and it leads to inconsistency

it is certainly silly to think that Tiger is a lock to win any event...and of course him not competing gives him no chance of winning. Lets put that aside. my point being is more that it is more probable that Tiger wouldve won the tournament than any other golfer. His knee injury wouldnt have as tremendous an effect on him as it would perhaps a running back who needs the acl to stabilize the joint to allow him to utilize his knee joint properly. As stated by the doctors working on him, the issue is more pain than performance. The performance loss would be rather small. If he wanted to play the tournament, there are enough approved steroids, cortisone etc available that would dampen the pain and allow him to play. As stated by Tiger, he's taking time off to avoid injuring himself to the point that it would effect his performance...but had he wanted to play this weekend...he still wouldve been the most likely person to win the tournament.

From the standpoint of ratings and money....Tiger Woods may be bigger than the PGA Tour itself for the time being. Ratings without Tiger have plummeted as far as 53%. Players have agreed that the atmosphere of tournaments is different as well. To say that Tiger is just another golfer really can't be taken as valid. Tiger did and is still doing for golf what Arnold Palmer did for the game years ago. He brings life to the game through his ability simply win tournament after tournament.....and provides a figure that both young and older golfers can associate with. He certainly isn't another player...and this may be the one sport when the athlete may almost be bigger than the game itself. Keep in mind...this is all before he even starts his Tiger Tour...which is somewhat rumored to be created eventually. From a performance aspect, it is very likely for Tiger to have won this tournament. This year, he has won 4 of the 6 tournaments he has participated in....including a major. He has also finished 2nd in one of those non-winning tournaments and finished top 10 in the other. Furthermore...although only playing in 6 events...almost 25% of the amount of events other tour pro's have played in, he is still the money leader and FedEx cups points leader. You dont have to like him...but you definitely should be aware of his impact on the game. So playing the what-if game.....it's very likely that tiger wouldve won the tournament had he played.

its nice to see someone properly advocating dynamic stretching.