squaddie

I bought a Nike Sumo2 squared 4-wood last year as part of a Golfsmith deal (2 clubs for $200, a Nike driver and a fairway wood). The only problem with the Nike Sumo2 4-wood is that the face is slightly offset (towards closed). I wasn't aware of that when I bought it, as I don't prefer to hit an offset club, despite my swing faults. Also, the Nike stock shafts were a little stiff for my average swing-speed. Once I figured out how to deal with the slight offset I hit the club fairly well, even off the deck. But I prefer my Cobra 3 wood to the Nike Sumo2 4 wood. OP, due to your lower handicap, if you want a square headed-wood I would look to another vendor besides Nike, unless the Dymo version of the wood allows you to adjust the club-face angle (like with the driver).

Derrick, my handicap is higher and yours, but my three hybrids are the clubs I hit the best most consistently , so I doubt the clubs are the issue. Since from 200 balls you haven't figured out the issue you should probably go see a pro and have him observe your 3 wood and iron swing compared to your hybrid swing and determine what the difference is. Whenever I top the ball or hit thin with my hybrids it's because I have the ball too far forward. I don't think I've hit a sky-ball with them. Perhaps you have the ball too high on the tee when you tee-off with the hybrid? I generally place the ball on the tee as if I was hitting with an iron.

You could go visit a doctor to find out exactly what type of injury it is, then just as localhawaii said, just take a rest from golf for a few weeks until it heals up. My minor rib injury last year took about 3 weeks to heal up. The entire time I tried to shake it off after a few days and swing again, but doing that just delayed the healing process. Just last week I injured my upper right shoulder and probably a rib muscle after hitting a real fat shot. Since then I have just been taking practice swings, but the injury seems to flare up whenever I release the club, as I guess that part of the back takes a lot of strain in the downswing. I know the ribs are somehow involved since if I cough I can feel the pressure around my right rib cage, though the pain isn't too bad. So this week I'm not going to swing anything except a putter. I was supposed to play a round this upcoming Wednesday but I'm going to cancel.

EDIT: Tried to use the youtube embedding but it didn't work for some reason.

When I was starting out learning my swing, one day I shanked over 100 balls at the range. Here's my advice to look into your problem: To save some time you should get your swing on video, both from down the line (facing the target) or in front, to help determine what parts of your swing contribute to the shank. You might be lunging down at the ball during your downswing, which would cause your swing plane to shift forward, which would cause your hosel or heel of the iron to hit the ball instead of the center of the clubface. You could also be dropping down with your right shoulder instead of rotating the shoulder through. Check to see how much shoulder rotation you are getting to the top of your backswing. If you don't get over 80 degrees then you may have flexibility issues. The lack of a good shoulder turn may cause you to throw yourself down at the ball to compensate. If your swingplane is somewhat flat then you might be swinging too far outwards, which also connects the hosel to the ball. Shifting your hips too far left in the downswing may also cause your spine and shoulder to drop down , also shifting your swingplane ahead of you.

Wow, that's a powerful story. I hope you put the tumor on ice and had it sent to that family doctor with a little note, "Some Doctor you are, see what you overlooked when I was 14."?

I started golf last summer at 40 yrs old, right after I found an old 10* Warrior driver that someone left in the trash bin. I wanted to take up an outdoor hobby and found there were two golf courses and a driving range within 5 minutes of my apartment. I was already decent with Tiger Woods 2008 on the Wii, so with the club I rescued I decided to hit the range... I took a lesson or two, bought a new starter set of TopFlite XL clubs, and then immediately found out how frustrating the game can be, after slicing with my new driver over a dozen times, with no clue why it was happening. Even after lessons with 3 or 4 instructors the slice would not go away. This year I've finally beat it with better technique, but I still need some work on getting the club face less open. Recently I found out my upper body flexibility needs a lot of improvement in order to get into the ideal backswing position. I've been doing weight-training for a number of years, but wasn't stretching enough, so I'm not able to get enough turn and separation with my shoulder, neck, back and chest muscles. It was disappointing the four instructors I had in the past didn't notice my flexibility was contributing to my swing faults. But I'm not a heavy-set guy so they probably figured I was limber enough. Even the GolfTec guys didn't realize I needed flexibility work. I realized the problem after I had a real tough time trying to get my shoulders to turn past 80* while keeping my hips under 55*. My advice to the new middle-aged golfer is to have your flexibility checked. I bought some DVD's for a flexibility program by Roger Frederick recently, and the programs offered seem well put together. I just started the programs this week. Here's a link to Frederick's website: http://www.fredericksgolf.com/ Down lower on the website Frederick also offers a "free flex text", from which I believe he will send you a link to a few videos of stretching exercises to try to see if you have anything to work on.

To keep my left arm somewhat straight is get the club up to the 9 o'clock position in the backswing with the left arm and the wrists cocked. Your left arm should appear almost parallel to the target line (the line your ball is on). The butt-end of your club should also be facing the target line. From the down-the-line view your club should appear at the same angle as address once you have your left arm parallel. This position will help prevent you from moving the club too far on the inside during the takeaway. You can also make swings from this position to work on solid ball contact (look up the 9 to 3 drill on the internet for examples). To get to the top of the backswing, once at parallel just rotate your shoulders while maintaining that "L" shape formed by your left arm, wrists and the club shaft. Ensure your right arm folds on the way up to support the extended left arm.

Don't know of any ranges open later than the following: Mulligan's Golf (link) Mulligan's is open till 9PM, but lights out at 10PM. The Memorial Park golf course driving range is open until 10PM, but balls are no longer sold after 8:30PM. Link: Memorial Park Golf Course

Do you know what causes you to snap-hook or block in your driver swing once in a while? Perhaps once you know why the problems happen you won't have any apprehension about the swing faults. Take a video (down the line) of a dozen driver swings, forgetting the camera is there, and try to capture the snap-hook or block when they happen without thinking about them. Then do the same exercise for the view facing your front. From the videos try to figure out why the issues are happening, or have someone else analyze the videos for you. Once you know the source of the problems perhaps you can adjust your swing sequence so the problems go away.

Thanks, Jackslap. I've heard the arms-rolling advice before my lesson yesterday, and just ignored it since I have read trying to time the release is too difficult and perhaps the wrong approach. But the way I see it now the arms-rolling is more technique than timing, as allowing the rotation of the arms ensures the left wrist will face the ball near impact. Let me explain... On video, the instructor showed me how with my before-swing my left wrist was cupping back slightly when the club was at parallel, coming down at the ball. As a result my club face was open and I appeared to maintain this cupped wrist position at impact. He compared my image to a Pro's swing at the same position and found the Pro's left wrist was bowed so that the back of his wrist was facing the ball as his forearms were starting to rotate. The Pro's movement at this point was supporting the bowing or supination of the left wrist, which is a technique advocated by Ben Hogan in his Fundamentals book. The instructor said it should feel like the back of my hand and/or my watch are facing the ball as I approach it, and at impact my left knuckles should feel like they are facing the ground. When I tried a few swings where I was allowing the back of my hand to face the ball and the forearms to rotate, the new swing video showed my left wrist was also starting to bow, and my club face was more closed at parallel than before. With my problem it wasn't timing as much as I have been mis-directing my arms and getting in the way of the club releasing properly. As a result I believe I've been subconsciously blocking the proper rotation of the forearms, which also prevented my left wrist from supinating properly near impact. In summary, I'm assuming that proper arm rotation on the downswing allows the left wrist to supinate properly. However, I don't believe the arm rotation should be too forceful. I think one should ensure they are not preventing the arms from rotating naturally in the early to mid downswing. Here's a decent blog entry explaining more about supination. Blog entry about supination There has also been a few discussions about supination on the sandtrap forum (available via search). I'll also be working on proper arm rotation over the next week or two, as I believe I've been preventing proper impact for a long time, so it will take me a while to lose the bad habit.

It's possible when you engage your lower body you are not allowing your forearms to release the club properly. But when you focus on an arms-only swing then your release with your arms is correctly timed. In the first swing academy video the club face looks a little open in the downswing at parallel, though in the particular frame the club was blurred due to the speed. I've had a problem recently where my driver shots have been pushing right, but not slicing too bad. I thought perhaps my out-to-in swing returned, but after video and sensor analysis today of my clubface at impact it was found I was leaving my clubface open, from 6 to 12 degrees. But my swing path was still inside to out. The instructor told me I should think about rolling my forearms during the downswing so I can close the clubface better. I was not an advocate of manipulating the hands or arms during the downswing, but I tried his suggestion and immediately got the clubface closed by 1 to 2 degrees. Instead of trying to intentionally roll the arms I tried to feel like they were rolling, so as not to overdo it. It's also possible I was freezing up my forearms or a little tense on the downswing, preventing them from rolling naturally. But the tip seemed to work so I intend to practice it until I don't have to think about the rolling. Anyhow, this is something else you can try. Instead of trying to intentionaly roll your forearms just think if you can feel them rolling, so that way you can ensure you aren't tensing them up.

You can buy putting mats that will lay perfectly on top of a hardwood floor. I have a Hank Haney putting system which has an attached 9' thin mat that lays out well on my floors or carpet.

Possibly. If you are using a straight-back-straight-through (SBST) style stroke then the ball should be (per Pelz) two inches in front of the bottom of your swing arc. If your ball is any further forward your swing plane may have it's lowest point behind the ball, which is why you are hitting it on the bottom edge. I typically have the ball directly under my left eye, assuming my swing arc bottom is two inches behind that. Ideally with SBST you should be rocking your shoulders like a pendulum. Your grip should be firm enough so the wrists don't break. If you feel like the putter is wobbling then you might be using your wrists or arms to swing the putter through rather than relying more on the shoulders. Or you might be moving the putter too quickly on the downswing. After you trigger the backswing your shoulders should rock back with the momentum of the putter head's weight, and also help it along on the downswing to accelerate through the ball. I usually pause at the top of the backswing to feel the weight of the club start to reverse it's direction. Also it's very important your eye does _not_ leave the ball on the backswing and downswing. Moving your eye or head could lead to variances in the swing path. It doesn't sound you are using the arc-style/Utley method, as you would probably have experienced a weak hit from the toe of your putter if the ball was too forward in your stance.

I read through Utley's book up to the drills section. For reference I use the SBST method, but I'm curious about Utley's methods and the arc stroke. For those of you using Utley's approach to putting, what style and weight of putter do you use? Also, did you adjust the lie and loft of your putter based on Utley's recommendations? Reason I ask, is that I was trying out Utley's technique with my own toe-balanced putters and found my putters seem a little heavier and harder to control with the arc swing. My few putters are mostly semi-mallet style, but I don't know the weight. Utley mentions he uses a D-2 swing-weight putter, while off-the-shelf putters are typically heavier. Are there any affordable D-2 weight putters I should consider? I don't want to drop down the money for a Scotty if I'm just experimenting, especially if I will also have the lie and loft adjusted. Chances are I'll buy the putter off ebay and if I continue with the arc-stroke, will look into a more precisely milled putter later. Also (final question), did anyone try out the "Learning Curve" product Utley developed with eyelinegolf.com? Just wanted to see if that product would help if I wanted to explore the arc-stroke method further.

I agree some people are speaking before they think concerning poor performance by a tour player. But you'll see this problem with the expectations of fans with top players of any sporting event, from armchair golfers to armchair quarterbacks. People can exaggerate the significance of outcomes of the player's actions. If the player does well at an event then the fan's perspective that the player is great and will continue to be a great player is reinforced. But if the same player does something human and makes a few mistakes that could cost the tournament then the fan's perspective of this awesome, dominating player is crushed, and the fan is left questioning their beliefs and expectations of the losing player. But I don't mind the fans being too critical, as I think it contributes to making professional golf more dramatic. Imagine if fans didn't react at all when a top player plays poorly, where would the excitement be in that?

Agreed. Sorry about any confusion: on the first page I listed a vendor I bought from on ebay (doing my own searching) and was just warning anyone to avoid that vendor. Said vendor is not associated with the guy who came up with and sells the swing extender on his own website.

Well, still waiting on mine to show up. Don't buy from the vendor on eBay I mentioned on the first page. After almost two weeks I wrote the vendor asking where the swing extender was, and the only reply I got was a refund. Great I got a refund, but I really wanted the swing extender

+1, that's great info. I'm about to embark on a conditioning program to improve my shoulder turn flexibility (and hopefully better my coil). RC (or anyone else), how many times a day should one go through a stretching routine? My shoulder turn flexibility is poor, as I can only comfortably turn about 78 to 80 degrees before it gets very tough to rotate further. Though that doesn't seem to bad, my hips also turn too much, up to 60 degrees. As a result I'm going to do daily stretching exercises, but I don't know how often I should do the routines per day, as I don't want to overdo it and injure myself.

Chances are you are swinging from over the top, or outside to in. Have someone analyze your driver and iron swing on video and see if you are going over the top. You might be doing the same type of swing with your irons, but the slicing effect is minimal as compared with a wood (that's what one instructor explained to me with my slicing problem). If the video shows you aren't swinging out-to-in then check on other issues one-by-one as out_in_30 mentioned in his post.

For home analysis I use a Canon Powershot A590 that can take low-resolution movies (320 * 240 at 30fps). The camera cost only $150. Then I use trial analysis software (for free) to review my swing using plane lines. The software is called V1 Home ver 2.0. The setup works well, but one complaint is my USB connection to my PC, which is a little slow (only USB ver 1.0). I think most current computers have USB 2.0 which is a little faster. Another problem is the movie files generated from the camera are fairly large size, about 21MB for only a 30 second clip. When I convert the movies locally I can get them much smaller, so the video codec the camera uses is not very efficient.

Those are all good questions and points. On the vest being restrictive, I figured I would just loosen it or take it off when making a shot. The humidity here in Houston isn't too bad so far, as it's been pretty dry, except for moderate rainfall once a week. One strike against a purely wet shirt is that wet clothes can act as a insulator for body temperature, which is bad if one if prone to heat exhaustion or heat stroke. That's probably why the HS athletic trainer was against the t-shirt idea. I thought about a wet t-shirt but I was reading that some of these vests have "evaporative crystals", so wonder if they work a little differently than a plain wet shirt (not sure how, or if a marketing gimick). EDIT: turns out the crystals are called Polyacrylamide crystals, and are basically the same absorption material found in disposable diapers.

I was out at the range this afternoon in 95F+ temperature in Houston. I had a covered stall but it was so hot that after an hour I could barely hold onto my clubs due to the sweat. It was even hotter on the putting green, though I was not exerting myself as much. Afterwards I developed a mild headache and some dizziness, which is a symptom of heat exhaustion. To combat the Texas heat so I can enjoy golfing better, and avoid heat exhaustion or worse, I was considering a cooling vest. I see for sale a variety of cooling vests, some passive (based on evaporation) and more expensive ones that are more active (ice-pack inserts). Here's an example of the evaporative cooling vest on Amazon: Techniche Standard Cooling Sport Vest Has anyone tried these vests for golf? The passive vests seem to be in use by many motorcycle riders since they have a great wind source, but I haven't seen anyone use them for golf. A passive vest would be easy to recharge at a golf course, just douse the vest in water and you are ready to hit the fairways again. If the vests won't work on the course I can always try to get very early morning tee-times.

At address your posture looks like it's too upright. Are you considered a tall person (above 5' 10" in height)? Perhaps moving your right foot wider from under your shoulder and standing a little further away from the ball will help encourage a shallower swing plane, with a little more hip bend and knee flex. I was going to link an Ernie Els down-the-line swing for reference, but looks like uttexas has beaten me in providing the visual aids :)

My Cobra Speed LD/M driver also makes a loud sound. I deal with it by sometimes wearing earplugs. There was an article published a while back about a golfer losing his hearing and was using a Cobra driver several times a week, so the researchers attributed the loss to the decibels the driver was generating. It's not just a problem with Cobra drivers, but any driver with a thin face. Here's a link to the article: Playing golf can 'damage hearing' . Note the Ping G10 was noted as being the loudest tested (at 130db). The foam-injection idea sounds good. How much would that cost?