RH31

Yes, newer(better) clubs can make a difference. There are no guarantees though. You absolutely should know the yardage range of the clubs you're hitting. Keep in mind, there are many factors that can affect actual yardage. Temperature, wind, moisture, firmness of the ground, elevation change, "jumper lies in the rough", whether ball is teed up, etc., all can affect distance in some way + or - .

Hey if it works, why not use it? That said, in the long run, you'll need to be able to hit standard wedge shots(1/4,1/2, 3/4, full) just to stop the ball on some greens. The lower, less spinning shots may not check up enough. Wedge play takes some time to learn but offers huge advantages. When practicing, focus on solid contact and forget about how high the ball goes. Find a ball position(start at center) that works for you and stick with that for awhile. Favor your left side a little at address and keep it there throughout the swing. Find a backswing length that produces the most solid contact and that will be your full wedge, doesn't matter how far it is, consistency is key. Then just shorten that swing for shorter shots. You might have to move the ball position and open your stance a little for shorter shots. Good Luck!

75 (+2) on a fairly difficult course. Only one other player broke 80 that day. My best ball striking round of the year. I had quite a few looks at birdie inside 15 feet. If I had putted well, I could've shot par or better.

I voted #2, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he never tees it up on tour again.

The clubs, balls, course conditions (generally speaking) make the game much easier to play than it used to be. I can't imagine how bad I'd be if I played the clubs I started with in the '80's. Probably at least 6 shots worse.

It's certainly not all mental. I think you really need to know what your own fundamentals are. Ball position, body position, hand position, grip....etc., When your fundamentals get a little off, your confidence lags, tension may creep in, might peek a little, next thing you know you can't make anything. I try to note my own fundamentals when I'm putting well, recheck them when I start missing more than "normal".

I was 24 when I first started hacking. I'm 57 now.

Keep fiddling with your setup. Try to get your eyes directly over the line of the putt. Also make sure you sole the putter very lightly before you take it back. Two key setup flaws I have are; 1-standing so tall that my eyes are inside the line of the putt which sometimes leads to a push. 2- soling the putter too heavily which leads to the putter moving outside or inside my correct backswing line....pushes or pulls are the result

Perfect round? Hit every green in regulation or shoot even par. I play many great rounds throughout the year when the conditions, company and my play is excellent, but I wouldn't call any of them "perfect".

I watched the whole round. He just looks like he is struggling with the timing of his swing. Looks like a guy who is thinking mechanics, and not so much playing shots. He putted poorly, by Tiger standards, and really never hit it close all day.

He could turn it over R to L out of that open stance when he wanted to as well. Those draws would start well right of where his feet were aimed and curve quite a bit left. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes(Chester Valley CC) I would have thought it was an exaggeration. Watching him work the ball around a golf course was really something.

I have no idea how he'll fare this year. His swing looks kind of forced to me. I think he really needs to at least make cuts just to get a bunch of tournament reps under his belt. If he can't make cuts, and then at least get on the fringe of contending, I wonder if he'll stick with it.

Thanks for posting!!! Some of the same stuff Malaska talks about with the wrists. Can't wait to work on the drills!! Much of this hits home with me and my swing problems. I don't cock my wrists and set the club at the top like I used to when I was younger. My swing, overall, is just much too tight and I can feel it.

You need to work on all parts of the game, especially when you're first starting out. Golf is enjoyable(to me) when I can strike it well enough to be near any green in regulation. Giving myself a reasonable chance at up and downs really helps ease the pain of some poor strikes. Putting can save a lot of lousy play. I'm sure others have had better success, but in 30 years of playing, I've only had what I would call good ball striking seasons 3-4 times. I'm not saying you can't learn and work your way to good ball striking, it just doesn't come together for everybody. I'll say it again, if I had learned how to properly use my wedge around the greens the first few years, the game would've been much more enjoyable to me.

I would try one or all of these; Keep your weight on the inside of your feet throughout your swing maintain your spine angle throughout your swing focus on swinging slow enough that you can see the club impact the ball every time when working on a new feel start off with 3/4 swings.......tempo

They were all over the Rangers for most of the first 2 periods and led at one point 4-1. The Rangers woke up and scored 3 third period goals including the game winner with under a minute to go. Rangers 5 BJ's 4

I use my 56* wedge almost exclusively around the greens. I also try to pitch the ball to a spot on the greens instead of trying to get it on the ground and rolling most of the time. I know this is counter to what most players or pros advocate. I've found that it's much easier for me to judge how far to carry the ball than it is for me to judge how much a ball is going to roll out on a chip. If I'm in the fringe or fairway near a green I'm good at putting the ball close, but not good at judging the speed of the chip. I putt it or pitch it, almost never chip it. For me, it's best to play the shots I have in my bag, not the shot you're "supposed" to play.

I've been playing golf on and off for 30+ years. I've taken numerous lessons, both good and bad, over the years. At this point, my game more or less is what it is. I think on course lessons would probably help me more. I think it's easier to set up and hit an OK shot on a wide open range or practice green, than it is to hit a meaningful shot on the course when it counts. Hazards, trees, rough, slope, cock eyed tee boxes etc., probably affect my game as much as my ability or lack thereof to repeat my swing. The drive that seemed OK on the range, may end up behind an overhanging limb on the course. The 8 iron that I hit well on the range may have ballooned and plugged in the face of the bunker on the course. Not to mention on the practice tee you always hit balls one after the other and at a faster pace than when playing. I think you'd see more true swings and truer results on the course than on the range.

I use the standard interlocking. I tried the left hand low method towards the end of last fall and early this spring. I wanted to try this method hoping that it would help me bang in some putts 6-8' and closer. It worked for banging short ones, but I struggled with distance control on putts 20' and longer.

I would go to the range and hit that AW the preferred distance and trajectory. Take note of how long your swing is, ball position, shaft lean, tempo. Then try to copy that with the sand wedge. You are doing something slightly different with the SW compared to the AW. I know I can't swing longer or harder and get any more distance from my wedges. Higher yes, longer no. My full wedge, distance wise, is a smoooooth 3/4 swing.

Actually, the "hacker" used to tell us how much he appreciated the Pro's honesty. You know the pro could've taken the guys money for who knows how long if he lied to the guy, and coddled him, all the while knowing he was never going to get much better. The guy I was referring to wanted to be a good player, he wasn't trying to find a way to be happy playing lousy golf.

Average carry distance???? I'd have to count my low skanked mishit drives that carry 200ish and that's depressing. I'll go with my decent hit average carry of 220-230. Pitching wedge is 120-130

I've always putted my best with some sort of ping Anser putter. My current version is the one with the face insert. Find a putter that feels good and looks good to you and stick with it for awhile. I didn't become a good putter until I realized what my keys and tendencies are. I've tried multiple grips, stances, stroke styles you name it. I settled on what I need to do by spending many hours on the practice green and carpet at home. Find a gripping style that feels comfortable and stick with that for awhile. Same with stance/setup. Get to the practice green and work on your stroke. When I'm working on my stroke/setup I like to hit the same line putt over and over. I find a putt that breaks slightly from right to left and hit putts from varying distances on that line. Doing this eliminates a misread, I know the break all I have to do is hit the line with decent speed. Over the years, I figured out what my tendencies are. If I'm missing putts left and right, I'm probably crouching just a hair and soling the putter too heavily. This causes an inconsistent takeaway and pushes or pulls. Stand a little taller and lightly soling(sometimes tapping) the putter works for me.If I'm coming up short, I'm probably lifting or rotating my head just a fraction. making sure my head/eyes don't move until the putter blade passes my left cheek is the cure. Sometimes, I address the putt with my hands back too far towards the middle of my stance and that adds loft to the putter. Those are my 3 stroke killers. Take note of what you do well, what felt good, when you are canning putts and try to repeat it! Anything else that goes wrong is either a bad read or not good to poor green conditions. For instance, I played yesterday on greens that weren't bad, but were not summer/fall true rolling either. I didn't make anything, and neither did anybody else. Sometimes golfers expect to make too many putts under less than ideal conditions.

I really only pre plan for shorter holes and/or tighter holes. So it's just picking a lay up club and maybe favoring a side of the fairway here and there. When I was a decent ball striker, and playing a course for the first time, I would always lay back to the 150ish range on the too tight for driver holes. That was an 8 iron for me so my chances for par or better weren't bad.

Yes. I've taken a few short game(pitching/chipping) lessons over the years. Most were not that good. One guy focused on body rotation, another said focus on where to land the ball. The last one I had a few years back and it was helpful. She focused on different lies and different clubs, even so I still don't use her technique of various clubs for shots. The best lesson for me was Paul Azinger's short game on Golf Channel academy. That was the first time I've ever heard a pro explain how to use the bounce on a sandwedge. Specifically, how to hit a pitch shot by getting the shaft vertical at impact. It has helped me tremendously.