Mr.Wedge

You are likely releasing the club early and the more you try to do something with your hands the worse it gets. Release is the result of swing dynamics, not some you consciously do...video definitely the way to go.

You can do anything you set your mind to if you are willing to put forth the effort over the long haul. Start by organizing your thinking...write down your long term goals, and do not be fearful of thinking large. If you dream of being a touring pro, write it down, then make an honest assessment of where you are now which will reveal what you need to do to get there. Break it down from there into small achievable goals or steps to accomplish which keep you on the road to your ultimate goal. You may have to find an experienced mentor or teacher to help make these assessments and set priorities. Organizing the process rather than just jumping in without a plan will save you time in the long run. As an example of the thinking process, handicap should not be a concern at this point. In order to be a successful touring pro you must be a good striker of the ball consistently. If you learn to strike the ball well, handicap will take care of itself later. So the short answer is yes. The question is what do you want and how bad do you want it?

Tx. BTW, A.S. is one of my all time favorite swingers; hate to see her leave the scene.

Saban does seem to be a good fit so far, no?

Unless the break is severe on those shorties, I like to stroke them firm and take the break out of it. Trying to be too precise with subtle breaks of a short putt can contribute to stroke malfunction.

I have to be a Bama fan living in this state (Auburn who?) ha. No, I do enjoy SEC, but don't really care much one way or the other being a Fla native (Pensy). But If you ever played with my son, he might politely offer you a different towel for the day. (lives and breathes UF)

From my experience, sh**ks are caused by trying to manipulate club position with the hands. It's important early in the process to think of swinging the club, not hitting the ball with your hands. If you are still taking lessons, raise the issue with your teacher, and good luck.

Thanks. If I were to go much further south I'd have to have a boat; Baldwin County. Tons of fine courses here (you don't have no "gator" head covers do you polo?) How bout you Jess?

What I do is place both hands on the club so the palms are facing each other and are square to the target, then counter rotate them to the top of the shaft ever so slightly. To answer your question, yes, your left looks a tad strong and your right a tad weak.

In order to keep things simple, I have learned to swing square and love the resulting straight shot; dead straight when all cylinders are firing. I will shape either direction but only when straight just won't work. My weakness is a straight pull when I don't keep the left shoulder connected.

Well, here's a different opinion. You are not even close to maximizing the length of swing you have, so it makes no sense to attempt making a deeper backswing. It is much easier to learn to control a shorter swing than a long one. Learn to strike with authority with what you have then if you want to lengthen it you will have developed the correct feels with which to do so. A few observations: Grip is just a tad weak. You might rotate them on the shaft about 1/4 inch so both palms are square to the target. It also looks like you are gripping too tight. Loosen up and get the grip in your fingers; just barely enough pressure so the club doesn't slip in your hands. Your initial move is with you wrists and this is causing an early release of the club coming down. You might try to think of takeaway with the left shoulder and try to keep the wrists very quiet early in the swing, just making the shoulder rotation keeping everything moving together. Relax your shoulders and don't extend from the shoulder joints. This will also help the around about swing and get it more upright. Lastly, you are straightening the right leg a bit and allowing your weight to get on the outside of your right foot. Be sure to feel your weight on the inside of your feet at setup and keep it there by maintaining the flex and the kickin of the right knee. You want to feel as if you are "sitting down" on the inside of the right hip at the top, almost as if that hip is dropping rather than rising as it is. An 8 iron should be good for 140+ Yards for an average player. I used to get 165 with it the same length swing you have, but age has shortened it down to 150. A few adjustments and you should be seeing significant improvement in distance.

Didn't see it mentioned so far that it is the club moving in your hands which causes the blisters.

Bigmick, if you can find a teacher like Goblue describes here, book him. I wish more teachers taught this way rather than just going to the range.

Don't know why but when I'm logged in all I get is a freeze frame but when logged out I get the vid...anyway, I'm sure you can feel the little extra move you make at the top where your head turns, like you are reaching for a little something extra. At that point you are losing your position and reversing a bit (note your upper body and head move towrd the target). Looks like you are straightening your right leg. You recover from this, but that's a lot of energy which could be imparted in the ball and it probably causes loss of power and accuracy. Keep that right knee flexed and kicked in a tad and I think you would be well served to not let your head rotate. Those two adjustments will maybe feel a bit restrictive but you will make a much smoother transition and create more lag.

This question deserves a straightforward answer, so here goes. This is just my opinion, based upon years of experimentation, trial and error, then addressing the question of why it seems to take so long for the average golf aspirant to reach a satisfactory level of play (many many never do). What I have found and believe to be true is that the normal method of learning, namely going to the range (with or without a teacher) hitting balls, and making adjustments, actually is the point of departure between learning quickly and potential years of frustrating struggle. Consider that the movements, positions, and feels associated with the golf swing are completely alien to anyone picking up a club for the first time. One of the unique aspects of the golf swing is the coil, which causes compression in the body. Every beginner will resist that compression by raising up, swaying, or reverse pivoting (straightening the leg); it's just nature because it is uncomfortable and our nature is to resist that which is uncomfortable. That is just one example. Would it not make more sense to spend time preparing for these new feels and positions prior to actually attempting to swing the club? Fat shots are usually caused by loss of leverage with the ground (swaying). If you are practicing full shots and hitting a lot of fats, you are unecessarily extending your learning curve in a major way because you are subconsiously ingraining mistakes, even though you are able to at times make adjustments and hit a solid shot. In my view, you will save yourself a lot of time and frustration (years potentially) by taking a breather, learn how to coil without a club in your hands by reading or going to a teacher to show you, then rehearsing that coil with exercises to reinforce the feel, making sure you are doing it correctly. Then go to practice with a wedge or other short iron and practice nothing but 1/2 swings (with little wrist break) until you master that shot. In other words, keep it very simple and learn the basics of footwork, coil, and leverage before moving into other more complicated aspects of the swing. From there go to a 3/4 swing and introduce the dimension of wrist hinge. Do you get the picture? Make it easy for yourself to ingrain the correct basics then applying those to the full swing at a later point will make the whole process much more compact. Again, this is just my opinion, and others will say just grab the club and don't worry, swing it. Well, that's the way it has always been done, and the world is full of frustrated golfers who after years still do not know how to swing...for what it's worth.

Greetings all. I tried to post here when I first signed up but the forum wouldn't allow it (THEN I read the FAQ ), so I'm just now getting back around to it. I'm not sure who referred me here but it seems to be one of the most active golf forums on the net, so I'm happy to spend a little time here and look forward to participating, learning, and contributing. Best wishes to all!

Yes it is..IRS gets all of it! ... but this thread is about age...did I miss yours?

I set a specific goal for each practice session. Just repetitive hitting does not necessarily translate into better play because you make a bad swing or two then adjust from there, which you can't do on the course. Practice goals, in my view, should be keyed to the fundamentals, such as dedicating one session to grip pressure, another to foot leverage and position, and another to maintaining spine angle, etc. This is how you discover weaknesses in your swing. Once establishing a goal for each session, I mimic the pace of play as much as possible. Play is one shot with several minutes in between which affects how your body feels as compared to repetitive hitting, so I take a walk around between each shot, then go through my exact preshot routine on every shot.

Sorry you feel lonely. I just look at it as HUMANS with a common interest. I could say the same cause I'm older than most here...not many of us geezers...learning and being able to help others is what it's about. I enjoy seeing younger folks enthused about the game and I enjoy seeing more and more ladies enter the sport as well. So, spread the word and get more gals posting here!

Swing junkie....rarely play

60...been playing off and on since 14 yrs. of age.

Yes it is. The theory is that the lower body will sequence itself just fine provided you maintain leverage in the back leg by keying the entire swing with the left shoulder while keeping the armpit glued. The most salient part of the book IMO. This is not new if you consider Hogan's handkerchiefs and Ballard's "Connection", but has not been emphasized in this manner to any great extent that I am familiar with. I learned this concept from Ballard in 1983 and have found the most difficult feel for a former "arm hands" swinger is the swing radius seems much narrower, but it just feels that way if you have been disjointing from the shoulders. As far as lag goes, just allow your wrists to hinge and unhinge while swinging from the core and you will develop plenty of lag.

After reading this thread I went out and checked what I do because I never really think about it. I have the ball in my vision but do not focus on any part of it, using my eyes primarily to maintain head level to the ground. Once I start transition, I don't really see anything.

I spent the $6.00 for it and have read it. There is much I do not agree with, but the idea of keying the swing with the lead shoulder is something which can help any beginning or intermediate player IMO.

Have had lower back spasms all my adult life and a physical therapist corrected my posture which has given me an immediate remedy and helped prevent serious bouts with it for a good 20 years now. This is also an excellent posture move for golf setup position. It is nothing more than "tucking your tush" or rolling your hips under the spine, which straightens the lower back, taking that crimped inward curve out of it. It completely relieves the tension in the lower back once you become comfortable with it. From there, make sure your shoulders are relaxed, knees flexed, and you have a sense of balance on the balls and heels of the feet. In the golf setup position, tuck the tush and raise the head. This creates the straight spine which is important for making a smooth shoulder rotation. Additionally, exercises which stretch the hams is vital because when they are not stretched out they pull on the lower back. It is likely your left ham is very tight since that is the side you say spasmed.