ninjadriver

Mojitos premixed in a thermos with plenty of ice. Yum.

Hi I managed to take a rather poor quality video of my swing at the range last week. I'm scoring in the mid-80's these days, but generally my misses are a hook or a push. I tried to think about tempo for this practice, but sometimes it gets a bit quick on the course. I hit the driver 250-270 on average. These swings are a fitted (green dot Ping i10) 7-iron and (G10) driver. I'd be grateful for any comments. Thanks very much Pete

Haha, classic stuff from the Poultsmeister. Here's a top sports pro with a real sense of humour and fun about his sport. Poulter has the gift of being able to take the p**s out of himself whilst at the same time being ruthlessly ambitious. We could all take some lessons from his attitude. He'll take a major before long, I'm betting on it.

The cuppa, as any fule kno, is made to be drunk anytime, anywhere, and always with milk. The middle classes, eager to impress, will take it MIF (Milk In First) but those of a more genteel persuasion will add the milk after the tea has been poured, preferably from a china teapot, although nowadays the curse of the teabag has reduced the masses to slopping the bag around in a mug until it reaches the required, deathly brown, shade - even going so far as to chuck the milk in BEFORE the bag has left the confines of the mug! Shocking. I am a devotee of PG Tips, brewed long and strong, but am partial to an iced lemon tea in the summer months. The Japanese (I live in Japan) also have their own way of tea, which is long and involved. I like a cup of the green stuff on occasion, especially after a good sushi meal, when spirits start to flag after copius amounts of nihonshu and beer. Finally, I leave the last word to that famed Americanophile PG Wodehouse: "The cup of tea on arrival at a country house is a thing which, as a rule, I particularly enjoy. I like the crackling logs, the shaded lights, the scent of buttered toast, the general atmosphere of leisured cosiness" I couldn't agree more.

Poults, of course. Closely followed by 'The Mechanic', Jimenez. Others include Cabrera, Dyson, Villegas, Christina Kim, Each one of them has a certain style on the course - an attitude.

!!!...When did he play for the UK? Am I misunderstanding something here?

I've had several replies from http://twitter.com/Paul_Casey , so I hope it's him. Poults is a blast on Twitter, regularly posting pictures of his big house, flashy car and other stuff. He has fun and I respect him for it. As he says himself: "i never grew up chewing on a collins dictionary, get a life..." Christina Kim has a laugh on there, too. She has green-painted toenails. Her father's Korean cooking skills regularly set fire to the house. She's a one-woman soap opera. Stewart Cink's tweets are very dull indeed. He eats a lot of barbecues, from what I've read on his Twitter stream.

This is probably the most ridiculous thing I've seen posted on any internet forum this year. Hilarious! I await with interest the calls to "raise a posse to tackle that varmint", and "lynch him". Hot diggity, where is John Wayne when you need him?

Thanks for the replies guys. I said I hadn't had a lesson in 15 years, which is correct, but in fact I stopped playing completely for 10 of those years and only began again 5 yrs ago. I see some people here are playing several times a week: last year I played in total 6 times, and so far this year I've played 7 times altogether. I'm really making an effort to play more and practising when I can, but it's just not feasible here in Japan with costs and hassle as much as they are. I love playing golf here, but it really is a Big Day Out in terms of travelling to the course (I'm near Tokyo so journey to a course is at least a couple of hours into the country) , spending a day there with a long lunch, travelling back etc. I'm really envious of those who can get to a course before or after work and just treat is as a relaxing part of the day. No matter what anyone says, I think golf=stress in Japan. Anyway, rant over, I'm going to persevere with the new grip and take it out to the course next time no matter what. If I work on it between now and then maybe I won't be hacking it too much. I'm actually finding it pretty interesting in practice because I have to think about the mechanics of the swing so much more than before. Cheers.

Today I had my first lesson in about 15 years. My teacher saw me play last week and spotted my weak grip as the major problem, leading to inconsistency and control. She had me change to a strong grip which feels totally alien to me, but should bring the clubhead through consistently every time. After about 40 minutes I found I could hit it pretty well, but the feeling is still very strange for me and I have to consciously place my hands on the grip as if it were the first time I've picked up a club. I managed to shank some of the wedges I hit with this grip, and most distances were shorter than normal because I was concentrating on just hitting the ball with a repeatable rhythm. I'm keen to continue with this on the range, although I might turn back to the old grip when I'm next on the course, which won't be until next month. My last outing was an 84, pretty solid off the tee, but hit and miss on irons. I'm a high 80's to mid-90's player. I usually get the ball up in the air well, but have a problem with direction, often pushing or pulling with a straight ball-flight, so this grip-change is part of the effort to break through the 80 barrier sometime soon. I feel like a grip-change is almost one of the most basic things you can do to a swing, so was wondering who else has tried this, and with what success...How soon can I expect to see results, and how long will it be before I feel confident enough to take this new grip out on the course? Obviously depends on how much work I put into it, but I think I can at least practice in the nets (albeit off a mat) 3/4 times a week. What have been other peoples' experiences in a similar situation? Thanks.

Deliberate mistake. Well spotted that boy.

You got me I think at some point we've all been embarrassed to show off our game in public. While he was hacking his ball all over the shop did you give the poor guy any tips? And did he at least have one decent hit that'll keep him coming back for more? I feel his pain.

Perhaps his game was to golf was as your spelling and punctuation is to English...

Thanks for the replies folks. I played again this weekend with the HiBore, and my game was totally off. I was pushing it out to the right every other drive. Very frustrating, but I don't think it was the club, just a lazy lower half. My legs hardly moved on those shots. I'm going to persevere with the Cleveland, at least until the end of the season, and see if I can't work on my flexibility at the gym. Cheers.

I just recently had my Titleist 975J-VS 8.5 develop a crack in the face. I used to hit that driver an easy 270-300 yds and was very confident off the tee with it. To replace it I picked up a used Cleveland HiBore 8.5 which was recommended to me based on my launch monitor stats (HS111mph/ BS149.4mph/ 16.7degrees/ backspin2180) The shaft is a standard S for Japan. No X shafts were available. Having used the Cleveland for the first time last weekend I was relatively pleased but had some issues with too much draw, which a couple of times became a push to the right, with a couple of O.B's. My question is for anyone who has gone from the regular HiBore to the newer XLS, which I can get here, discounted, for ¥27,000. What improvements did you find in terms of being easier to hit, control etc. There is a 'tour' model with a 2 degree open face which looks interesting, considering my natural strike is a draw. I like the look of the Clevelands these days, including the hybrids, and will probably get one of those to replace a 4/5 iron. Thanks a lot for replying to a newbie with a renewed passion for the game. I just wish putting wasn't involved. That's a whole other story

Shot an 89 at a course new to me in Tomioka, Gunma-ken, here in Japan. I just bought a new (used) driver and had a few problems off the tee. Wasted a lot of shots on the green due to my atrocious putting.

Not really my 'home course' just the one I have played more than any other this year http://www.wpgcc.com/

I teach English and take photographs (weddings/events) for an agency here in Tokyo, Japan. I play golf about 5 times a year, so my short game sucks and I don't have an official handicap as I'm not a member of any club. I love the game, though, and getting out into fresh air and open space here is a bonus.