deronsizemore

Yeah, I definitely understand why the Golf Channel is doing what they're doing, but I disagree with the approach. Loving the game as much as I do, I would much rather see 10 guys who have zero personality but a ton of game play against each other for their Big Break. But to each their own in that regard, I guess. It seems like TGC is usually in an upgrade package from your TV provider so I assume that most people that have TGC are watching it because they like to see good golf, not because you got some funny characters.

Fair enough. I admit that before this year I've only watched a few episodes here and there of previous years. Not nearly enough to get a good idea of the talent. My comments were mainly directed at this season's show.

Yeah, it's a strange show. I feel like the producers would rather get interesting characters on the show rather than good golfers who actually have a shot at the PGA Tour. I would much rather they get guys with zero personality who can really play than average golfers who have quirky personalities that are good for TV. Kent obviously can play because you don't qualify for the US Open if you can't, but outside of him, I just don't see PGA Tour talent. I don't live in a huge city by any means and I bet I know of 10 guys or more that live here who would wax the floor with the guys on the show, save Kent. Could be. I don't know the exact criteria, but I know it's somewhere around scratch. True, Kevin Na did take a 16 on a hole. Even with the 16, he still beat Carl's 102 by 20 shots and did it on a course that's 500 yards longer. I said it earlier that anyone can have a bad round or even a bad stretch of rounds or hell even a bad year, but if you're a very good golfer (which by USGA standards a scratch player is) you DO NOT shoot 102 anywhere even in a bad round. It's laughable that Carl is on a show trying to win a shot to play on the PGA Tour and posts that score.

Chrome 12.0. Tried in Firefox as well with no luck. Thanks for the direct link. No worries. Thanks for the reply and especially for the giveaway!

What!? I thought one of the criteria for this show was to be somewhere around scratch or better. No scratch golfer I know will come anywhere near 100 on any course. I can understand that people have bad days, but a "bad" day for a scratch golfer is shooting 80-85, not 102. There's a 10 and a nine on that card. Jeez.

I see the "Enter to Win" button at the top, but when clicked, I get nothing. Where do I go to enter?

I agree with everyone else about the show. Giving someone the half stroke advantages, etc is dumb. I have an idea, how about just going out and playing golf? No advantages, no silly putt-off tie breakers, just golf. I'm okay with doing some of the gimmicky stuff like the breaking of the glass as it's become the trademark of the show over the years, but you can do that kind of stuff and still play golf. Do the gimmicky stuff you've got to do for ratings, but when an elimination challenge rolls around, let them go out and play 9 or 18 holes of golf to determine the winner.

I ordered the Cottonwood II yesterday. I will post back with review and pics when I get it. Hope it's as good as I am expecting. Mike (the owner) has been more than helpful in answering my questions about his putters. It's not often the owner and designer of a high end putter company answers all emails and takes phone calls.

Oh thanks. Guess I read it wrong originally.

I think the application even says if you didn't win you won't be notified

They were supposed to notify at the end of June. I wasn't one of the lucky few it seems.

I think the hard part is learning enough about the golf swing and why the ball does what it does (whether you can actually do these things yourself or not) is key to knowing if the pro you're seeing for lessons is full of it.

I know exactly what you mean. I'm there now myself. In my mind, I can visualize and do all of the drills given to me, e.g., flying wedge, etc. In reality, my body says: "Oh no you didn't! that's not what you've done for the last 24 years... don't even try it." But, it's a work in progress and I feel like I'm working in the right direction.

OK sounds good. Glad this discussion is over. The whole point is though that while there are terms in golf that can be taken different ways by different people (which I completely understand), I have a hard time seeing how "keep your knees flexed the same throughout the whole swing" and "rotate your shoulders flat" can be taken any other way but literally. I just simply can't agree with you or else we'd both be wrong.

Why doesn't that make sense to you? That's what majority of the best golfers in the world do. Also, I'm not saying don't flex your knees. All I'm saying is that your back leg does not retain it's original flex throughout the whole swing. Simply maintaining the original flex in both knees throughout the whole swing does not some how put you in a more athletic position than someone who loses the flex in their back leg in the back swing. It should lose some flex in the backswing. Your reference to spine angle isn't the same as mine. What you call spine angle, I understand as inclination to the ground. The spine angle changes throughout the swing, but that in no way means that I'm advocating this guy to in some way stand up during the backswing. You retain your inclination to the ground throughout the whole swing, but your spine angle changes. Here's a good video outlining what I'm talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdAu2j2BtPQ I'm not saying that this student would have somehow magically turned into a great golfer by having the pro give him the information above rather than things that completely contradict what the best players do. I just hate to see these guys charge an arm and a leg for lessons and continue to spew BS they hear Peter Kostis say on TV. We definitely see the swing differently, but there's no denying what the best players in the world do when they swing, and the points this guy was making, wasn't it. If you go to YouTube and watch some guys on tour swing, you'll see that their back leg straightens, their shoulders are on a steeper plane (not turning around flat parallel to the ground). Finally, it's not what I think. I know Faldo doesn't know the ball flight laws. He was a great golfer in his time and I'm not taking anything away from that. But being able to play the game and hit different shots is one thing; knowing what you're actually doing to create those shots is another.

So you've tried to help him here at the forums? Or in person? Sounds like he's just one of those people that thinks golf should be easy. You just go out and swing a club, how hard could it be? If you don't practice, you won't get better. If the number one player in the world (Duval) can fall as far as he did to where he cannot even break 80 to save his life, just shows you what golf can do to people.

Removed. Double post.

It has nothing to do with one's perception. He told the student to flex his legs and keep them flexed throughout the whole swing until after impact. That statement is pretty cut and dry. While there are players that can play that way, a pro shouldn't be teaching it. Maybe he's listened to Peter Kostis too much? The fact is this, the lesson started with the teacher asking how long the student has been playing. He then went straight to "keep the flex in the knees through the whole swing, rotate your shoulders flatter and stay in your spine angle." He also added: "this is what Faldo did" which made it even more amusing. It's a joke that the guy hadn't even hit any balls yet and he's already telling him this stuff. Even if he had hit some balls, this is still incorrect information to give out. I'm sure if I had stuck around long enough, he would have also told the student that his club path starts the ball on it's initial flight... I can't say for sure, but chances are good.

The thing is, it's not that it's just me disagreeing with them. I think you'll find that a lot of people disagree. Fact is, your shoulders aren't flat in the backswing, your back leg should lose some flex in the backswing and the spine angle changes throughout the swing. I just feel like I don't really need to know the scenario because there's not really any scenario where the information should be handed out.

I can definitely tune him out, that's not a problem at all. I just thought I'd comment on the garbage I was hearing. It wasn't like I was listening because I was trying to learn something. For what it's worth, before they guy started teaching, the student said he's been playing for 30 years.

I'm not quite sure what you're referring to here?

Was at the range today and a lesson begins next to me and I just can't help but overhear some of the garbage being taught. The lesson starts off with the teacher asking how long the golfer has been playing and talking about getting the fundamentals down like grip, alignment, etc. I only heard about 10 minutes of the lesson, but here was basically the gist of what I heard: Quote: You have to rotate your shoulders more level... blah blah blah... maintain your spine angle through the whole swing... blah blah blah... keep the flex in your knees through the whole swing and don't lose it until well after impact... blah blah blah... This guy charges $80 per hour. I mean, really? The sad part is that most people don't know any better and just hang on every word because the guy is a "pro" after all. Hell, I used to do the same thing when I've taken a few lessons here and there. Knowing what I know now, there's only one guy that I trust to watch me swing around here.

Well there are exceptions to the rule, of course. If your handicap is accurate at 30, you're probably struggling with slices, tops, chunks, etc. Right? At the point in your game, I think it probably would be more beneficial to get comfortable swinging the club and making more solid contact and getting some kind of consistency in where your ball is going. If it's taking you a lot of strokes to just get to the green, then at that point, short game becomes irrelevant. You're going to score a double or worse and no chance to save a score. I'm not saying don't practice short game at all for you, but once you get to a point where you can get to the green in or around regulation more frequently, that's when working on short game becomes essential. You can turn a lot of those doubles into bogeys and bogey's into pars with a decent short game.

Do these guys just have the worst looking swings on earth, or what? Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I love to see the golfer swing the club if I'm watching golf. I won't want to see a close up shot of their face, ball at impact, hands while they're addressing the ball, etc. That seems the be all that The Golf Channel is showing with their editing. They will throw in a random full swing here and there, but it's few and far between.

I haven't looked back through all the previous posts, so maybe someone brought this up? Seems like you've missed the point totally with regards to working on your short game. Sure, at this point in your golf game, you're a 13 handicap and probably can't understand why someone would work on their short game so much. The fact is, that's where you score. For those times when you do hit the green in regulation, if you can't putt, you'll never birdie. If you miss the green in regulation simply chipping up and two putting isn't nearly as easy as you make it out to be. Of course, better golfers aren't satisfied with missing the green, chipping up and two putting. I'd be pissed if that was my normal game. When I miss the green, I rely on my short game to get my up and down and save par. If your goal is to bogey, double-bogey or worse on every hole, by all means don't work on your short game.