Chas

Agree. With a really wide stance you need a very aggressive weight shift to hit the ball properly. I can do it, but if I get lazy or forgetful I hang back which for me usually means a low hook. Narrowing my stance a bit has improved my FWYs hit withhout much sacrifice of distance.

Usually chip with a somewhat open stance because it encourages me to complete the turn better, I.e. not stop the turn too early and flip the wrists. I still have trouble with this most basic of problems at times. But that's just me and YMMV.

The day I read on this forum, a couple years ago I suppose, that hybrids should be hit with a slight downstroke just like irons was the day that I started hitting them well. My play on par 5's and long par 3's was instantly improved. Place the ball in your stance as you would the equivalent iron.

A very interesting discussion between you teaching pro's, it isn't a simple matter for sure. But really, if someone is offering a good deal you have to assume that some of their customers are interested in repeat business, lasting weeks, months or even years. A fair bit of money is at stake in some cases. So there's a strong case for looking at that bit of video - surely 5 min would be enough to get a pretty good idea of the major issues - and then impressing the hell out of your prospect from the get-go. Just good business sense. I take my money to someone who shows early that they can really make a difference. Like a good doctor, they listen carefully to what I say, study my individual case and then come up with something that I can have confidence in. I'm working pretty hard to improve at this absurdly demanding game, I'm looking for someone who sees that and responds to it. Just sending a video in the first place, before the first lesson, is evidence of seriousness of purpose, no? My most recent pro proved his worth in the first lesson - I'll be going back to that guy for sure. Whereas my first ever instructor, as I now realize, was a bit of a burned-out case who used a rigid system that may have suited him but was far from well tailored to individual clients. Never again. But of course there are jerks (customers, I mean) who will try to take advantage of a pro, that has to be true. But you know what they say about babies and bath water ......

He is accused of knowingly using a banned substance, simple as that. If he had any sense he'd just suck it up and pay the fine - and perhaps learn a lesson about compliance. The irony is that he is indeed is one of the biggest, most powerful guys on tour. I still remember watching him powering out of deep rough on the 18th at Torrey North a few years ago - I was standing a short distance away, most impressive. That was the biggest divot I've ever seen fly through the air. No, he doesn't need IGF-1, or HGH or EGF or any other growth factor/hormone/whatever. Silly. I still think he's a pretty decent guy, just misguided and a little gullible. There are worse things in life.

A disappointing 89 on a 71.2/117. Drove the ball well (11/14 fairways) but only 5 GIRs, FIVE 3-putts, and missed 3 or 4 up-and-downs putting from the fringe. Frustrating. I teed up a 6i on a 165yd downhill par 3 over a pond and bladed it into the water. But I hit every shot well with my new Taylor 4h, maybe I should buy the 3h as well. Chipped in from about 30ft to save par which turned things around a bit on the back nine. I entered my brother's scores into GolfLogix, under his name - how do I view his scorecard? I can't seem to find his data.

Sorry to hear your travails. Whenever I shank - once every few rounds these days - it's because I'm standing a little too close to the ball. I would emphasize checking the angle of your arms from your body, or the distance between your hands and your legs, in the address. For some reason I do it most often with a shorter club in my hands.

Agree with all of this. More disappointing news about Vijay, who is doing his reputation no good at all. Does he care? The science around the efficacy of antler spray is irrelevant here, someone needs to explain that to the golfer. That he was so gullible as to believe in it suggests he isn't going to get the point. Let's just say he may not be the loftiest wedge in the bag.

Thanks for the helpful comments and suggestions. These grips are so much better playing than my previous, hard ones that I might just suck it up and get new DryTacs as needed.

Shot under 80 for the second time (a 78). Again it was my driving (11 of 14 fairways) that set it up. My new swing thought with driver was to relax the left hand grip pressure slightly as I accelerate down, resulting in better release and no blocks to right. Made two consecutive birdies on the front nine, one from putting it in from the fringe and another from sticking it to 4ft with a full LW to a sharply elevated green. Golf is so much more fun from the fairway ....

Teeing the ball up a quarter inch on a par 3 and then hitting it fat, into the water.

Ian Poulter is a big proponent of the early wrist hinge drill, i.e. fully cocking your wrist BEFORE you start the backswing. On TGC recently he demonstrated it to that cute gal whose name I forget (how could I?) and he hit very well with it. He claimed that he hits better with the early hinge than playing with a conventional hinge, so the cute gal then asked him why he didn't play using it in tournaments. He replied that it's just too unconventional, or words to that effect. She then said, what if I told you that you'd win the next major if you used the early hinge?, to which he replied, "you got a crystal ball then ?". I've tried it an it's helpful, it allows me to focus on other aspects of the takeaway such as staying on plane. But no, normally the shaft is about parallel to the ground before you start hinging the wrist.

Nice. But do you find that your partners take a peek at their watches while you're dallying at the top? Seriously, taking some time at the top can help a lot I agree. I find that I'm more likely to start the downswing with proper hip action if I do that, whereas if I rush it I tend to be too 'armsy'.

I really like my WINNLite DryTac wrap grips, just the right softness and stickiness. I've had them for about 5 months and use them about once a week, either on the course or on the range. I just noticed that they are starting to wear at the spot where my left thumb touches the grip (right hander). The wear is greater with the longer clubs. Is this to be expected or does it indicate a problem with my swing (e.g. regripping)? I do know that regripping at the top has been an issue tho' I think I've improved. I didn't have this wear problem with my previous, harder grips which I had for about 8 years, although years ago I used to wear out gloves in the thumb area; this hasn't happened for a couple of years now which I assume is because of a more even grip during the swing.

Good stuff Mike. My instructors always tell me that I've got plenty of lag - and the videos show it - but what I really need is the right 'kind' of lag, i.e. shoulder/arm geometry in the impact zone.

Back to the OP's problem: myself, I'm constantly working on the issue of 'regripping', i.e. loosening and then re-tightening my grip at the top, and have made some good progress. In my case it comes from 'overswinging', by which I mean letting my form break down at the top by trying to move my arms and the club further back, after my shoulder turn is complete. The solution: when your shoulder turn is complete, DO NOT try to move the club further back - you are DONE with that. If you want a bigger, more powerful arc, use more shoulder turn but keep the geometry of your arms and wrists constant after your wrist cock is set. In theory it ought to be easy to stop regripping/overswinging, but in practice it's a difficult habit to lose. It might also help if you focus more or a smooth, accelerating DOWNSWING than on a big backswing for power. If you've made a decent shoulder turn and you've got good lag on the downswing, your stroke will be plenty powerful.

I used to consistently hit full shots with my weight too far forward (towards the toes). Sometimes I would even have to take a mini step forward after contact, particularly with driver. Not good. What has helped me a lot is to work my foot pressure back and forth a few times as I stand at address, until I feel that my center of gravity is where it should be. You'll see many pros doing this if you watch closely.

Yes - don't panic :>) One problem for new players is that they have little understanding of what major (or minor) errors they're making in any particular shot. As you improve, you'll start to self-diagnose, i.e. associate certain errors (e.g. pushes, chunks ....) with certain specific swing faults that you know about (e.g. too far inside on the backswing, lack of proper forward weight shift on the downswing). Be patient. If you keep working on it, this will come.

Interesting thread. After ten years of telling myself I needed to put much more emphasis on the short game to improve faster, I recently realized - before reading this thread :-) - that it's GIRs that track closest with my scores and that good-driving days almost always have the best results. When I finally broke 80 last month, it was because of best-ever FWYs (64%) and GIRs (61%) - I did not have a particularly good day around the greens. Usually my FWYs are in 15-40% territory and my GIRs are, well, the less said the better. I'm not saying that my short game can't stand improvement - it surely can and I'll keep working on it - but that isn't where the big numbers lie for me at the moment. So yes, I buy into the thesis.

Indeed they are. I just read that prior to the Masters Guan had spent 3 months practicing chipping and putting on a green in China specially built to replicate conditions in Augusta. Don't know if it's true but it would explain a lot and it would suggest that similar results at other pro events are unlikely. It'll be interesting to see how he does.

I would assume that sensible manufacturers have put their long putter R&D; efforts on hold for the time being, more or less. On a separate point: the notion that long or belly putters are important to the growth of the game as a whole is not credible imo - a rather desperate attempt by some to prevent the rule being finalized. Those few actually giving up golf out of disappointment at not being allowed to anchor a putter are likely to have given up for some other reason not long thereafter. Golf is meant to be challenging.

Dogleg left par 4. Stupidly (I'd played the course before) I hit driver through the elbow and into a pond - should have played 3W. Next shot was a 6i that went long, about 30ft into rough behind the green. I visualized the downhill SW chip onto short grass about a yard off the green and a two foot left-breaking 20ft roll. I played the shot and it all happened! Nice par but one of only 3 and a round of 88. Bad driving (2-&-in mostly).

Wow. He looks like he'd have to be lifted off with a winch.

What this thread shows clearly is the extreme bias that many have against Steve. He's no angel but is he really as bad as all that? I think he's probably one of the best at what he does, partly because of his experience at the top. His behavior at the Masters was entirely proper and appropriate. Nice job Steve!

It makes some people feel better about themselves, morally superior.