Flatswinger

I got a used Scotty on eBay a month ago & my putting actually did improve noticeably. I had heard that they were not as forgiving as many putters, so I made more of an effort to connect with the sweet spot & guess what? My distance control improved quite a bit. These putters do breed confidence. They feel good, too, but I don't feel a big difference on that score -- hey, it's a piece of steel. If you're not particular on a specific model, you can get Camerons at a reasonable price. I say, go for it.

What am I not working on? • This month I've been concentrating on chipping -- tons of repetition. Seeing how many up & downs the tour players have to make made me realize that lack of a good chipping game has really hurt my scoring. The goal is to be consistently near the hole after a chip. Even no further than 6 feet if it happened nearly EVERY time would be an improvement. I am going about it by supplying power only with my shoulders. The only time I seem to hit a chip fat is when I fail to do this. In hitting so many balls with so many different clubs it's amazing how many different shots you can come up with. • On the full swing I have gone back to the way I used to play as a kid after an experiment with Homer Kelly's Golfing Machine technique, several re-readings of Hogan's Five Lessons and a few of Sam Snead's swing thoughts thrown in. I literally played 3 successive rounds with 3 completely different swings at one point, hoping that one would emerge: I shot exactly 81 on all three rounds & didn't learn much. So now it's AJ Bonar's hands hand-eye coordinated swing: open the face going back & close it up quick as you try to pound the ball into the ground [irons]. Square-to-square has been killing me for decades, & although AJ's method seemed kind of kooky, it's the one that works best for me, though I can't think of one good reason it should. Golf is a contrary game.

I think Callaway pre-owned has left-handed forgedHogan irons still.

I just got a Nickent 3DX RC Ironwood [3H] today with a UST Proforce V2 70g shaft. Anyone else have one of these? It's very impressive, though the launch is a bit lower than I expected -- about like my 3 iron-- due to the shaft weight, I suppose. I hit it on the range today & it's a nice upgrade to an iron I already liked, though. The online supplier's warehouse filled my order wrong & gave me a club that had a crown with the badly chipped paint. I was expecting a bunch of garbage from them & a bunch of expense, too, but they replaced the club for free [including the shipping] with one that was in better condition than I would have originally expected! And within a couple of days, too. You never know what kind of customer service to expect when you buy online, so it’s good to know you’re dealing with a company you can trust – if one purchase is enough to determine that. It’s called thecluboutlet.com. I’d be interested to hear if anyone else has dealt with them & how that went.

The suggestion was intended for those players who don’t practice, those who are already choosing clubs that give them shortcuts. And it’s just one club in their bags, not a whole set. I personally wouldn’t even play golf if I couldn’t improve my game – heck, chili-dipping & blading shots around the green would have been enough to drive me away if I hadn’t worked that out, but the reality is that many golfers don’t approach the game this way. I can’t explain why that is – it just is. And the golf equipment industry thrives on it. Finally, discussion of game improvement clubs seemed allowable in a forum titled Equipment. Hopefully, readers of Swing Tips also have read your comments here. Or it might be a good thread to start in case they haven't.

“Bounce has absolutely nothing to do with skulling the ball or hitting it fat.” The presumption is that all players will practice to stop chunking the ball. In fact, there are legions of golfers who do not, & will not, practice -- not that your practice suggestion was even close to unreasonable. But in this day of game improvement gear I wanted to suggest a club that would help a higher index player at least keep his ball on the same hole he’s playing. The sarcasm arose 1) when you stated that bounce has absolutely nothing to do with skulling the ball right after I had correctly posted that it can & 2) for me, the post just had an elitist ring to it. Upon reading your 2nd post, though, I realized that at worst, that was inadvertent. I have no argument with bounce having nothing to do with hitting the ball fat or that only a fat shot [or maybe coming out of it] would cause a bladed ball. But neither can I think of a good reason to be sarcastic. What I do submit is that it would be difficult to convince a player prone to chunking it -- & there are a great many -- that bounce will help him around the greens – at least in winter around here & maybe in winter where you play, too.

"Bounce has absolutely nothing to do with skulling the ball or hitting it fat. Remember...you hit the ball FIRST except in a bunker. A fat or thin shot with a wedge, regardless of bounce angle, is simply a bad shot." "Most players will find that if their swing is upright...and if they come down at a steep angle into the ball...they will be better off with a lot of bounce." "If you tend to sweep the ball...you will be satisfied with less bounce." "As for bunker play, bounce is a definite requirement if you play the shot properly. Sure...you can "pick it clean" with most any club, but to do it right the sole must have a pretty prominent bounce angle. The only time I have not wanted bounce in a bunker is after a couple of days of rain on a poorly maintained course where the bunkers were like playing off hardpan." It’s a bit presumptuous for a plus 2 who plays on lush courses to assume that we all play with that kind of success & on that kind of track every week. For you, it’s true that fat or sculled shots have nothing to do with bounce. For people who are prone to hitting the ball fat, bounce has everything to do with sculling the ball, unless there’s a good cushion of grass under the ball. And yes, some of us do sweep the ball. And a sand wedge does have lots of bounce -- by definition -- because there are few instances, greenside at least, where you’d even want to pick the ball out of there. It’s great that you don’t need a low bounce wedge, though. Or a draw bias driver, or a set of game improvement irons you can't work, or high launch fairway woods, for that matter. Heck, you could load up on bounce if you wanted. I’ll tell you this, though, if you had to navigate my muni’s course conditions in the winter [perpetually wet, hard bunkers & hard dirt patches in places around the greens when it does dry out, you’d be singing a different tune. On the other hand, I should be counting my blessings that I can even play this time of year.

For me, I know I've got a wedge with too much bounce if I'm sculling the ball -- the back edge of the club hits the ground first & the club "bounces" into the middle of the ball. Where I play, the traps are firm/course & the fairways cut short, so I don't want much bounce. I you travel around & play a lot, though, as has been said above, you're going to have a tough time in bunkers with fluffy sand -- you really need to open up the club wide if you've too little bounce. On the other hand, too much bounce in a hard-sand bunker is easy to deal with -- put your hands ahead of the ball & keep them there so you dig better. You could have one wedge different from the others so you can handle anything that comes up.

The mallets I like are both made by Odyssey: the #9 [calm down you Phil haters] & the Rossi. A putter needs to be fit like anything else: Feel, shaft length, shaft position [heel or center]. You’d need to know where you usually miss the putt – pull or push What shape of stroke you have: straight back & through, or an arc. I believe the mallets are best suited to the latter, which is nearly all of us.

I think that the Mizuno aficionados feel slighted by the limited use these clubs get on tour & tend to overcompensate for that. I have a set myself & really do like that double chrome plating, the feel, etc. Like you, I’m not a big fan of gushing. I bet even the posters are looking at their words with a little regret – at least I hope so. Either way, it’s not a life & death issue.

Regardless of speed "true" putts are the easiest. But you can't be talking about tour greens so fast that just getting the ball started can send it by the hole 20', are you? And with 4' of break, too?

Regardless of speed "true" putts are the easiest. But you can't be talking about greens so fast that just getting the ball started & seeing a putt go by 20', are you? With 4' of break, too?

Given the subtlety of a tour player’s power fade, 1 to 3 yards, it’s not really all the meaningful to the rest of us. How you’re going to see a well-hit driver fade one yard is beyond me. So what we’re talking about is virtually a straight shot from players who might be able to switch from one to three yards of fade depending on the circumstance. You are right that being able to rule out one side of the fairway, in this case the left, is a way to consistently hit fairways because you have virtually the whole width of the fairway to work with if you know you’re not going to draw or hook it. That’s the way most all of them play on the tour. For me, I’m behooved to hit a draw or, when I’ve hit it badly, a hook because I’m not long enough to give up the extra roll that comes with it.

I think the best looking cavity backs ever were some of the early Titleist DCI's. For blades, there are a boatload of great looking musclebacks

Golf TV coverage is focused on the leaders -- the pro's who are playing & putting well that week -- but Pelz's data includes the players that don't make it on TV on a given week & these guys aren't making 'em. The 6' putts a tour player faces are nothing like what I'm up against at our muni, where the greens are realtively slow & the putts much easier to make -- except for the bumpiness this time of year.

I like the top swing the best. The player in the second video lays the club off at the top [shaft points to the left of the target] -- a bad habit I get into occasionally myself. From that position, sooner or later I'm going to start hitting weak fades. And it can promote shanking the ball, too, if your release isn't good.

Take a look at your head in the video: it's bouncing all over the place. The advice about, to relax, is huge, but also you look hunched down at address. Straighten your back & extend your neck upward so you shoulders can turn under your head. Maybe you can think of sticking your chin out; whatever it takes. You really need to move close enough to the ball that your arms hang straight down at address, too – maybe a fist or slightly more away from your thigh. When you are far away the shoulder turn is too flat. This is not a rsuoer easy change to make – I know, I made the transition myself – but you can do it, others do. Get to a range & just force yourself to stand closer & get your shoulders to swing under your head – there’s no other way. Early in the season just don’t worry about the ball flight until these changes feel comfortable.

If I'm inside 12 feet I nearly always expect to make it -- not that I do make all of these. Green irregularities, big swings in the break & bad reads make that impossible. I suppose I'm going to make 80-85% of the well read putts inside 5 feet. More some days & less others. Today I had 26 putts. Of course I hit nearly no greens in regulation & had a good chipping day, but I literally missed only 1 or 2 putts inside of 10 feet.

A video shot facing you, perpendicular to target line would help us see what’s going on better than the shot from behind. The swing looks pretty good to me in general. What you need to do is move the bottom of your swing arc [where the club hits the ground] forward, toward the target: 1.Make sure that your downswing begins with a pronounced lower body move & does NOT begin with your hands! 2.Your hands must be ahead of the ball at impact. Looking down, you need to see the ball “behind” your hands, that is, closer to your target than the ball. 3.Think of turning your shoulders around your spine to avoid swaying backwards. Retain the bend in your right knee throughout the backswing & you will know you’re OK. Keeping your head relatively still [but not rigid] can also help. 4.You can play the ball further back in your stance, too, but that’s more of an emergency move while you’re on the course than a solution.

OK, I did get a response from Stephanie Cardona at Power-Bilt, who apologized that the website wasn’t yet finished. She sent a .jpg with several views of the Air Force One. Directly from the back – looking straight at the valve it looks a little like an alien – not an “Alien” golf club, an Alien. Or maybe an insect. All black with indentations on the sides like eye sockets & a “nose” & a “mouth” in the middle. Not ugly, per se, but definitely a little different. I’m a newbie, & I get the sense that attachments aren’t cool, or I’d post the photos here.

Thanks TinCup. I'll be there about a week so the discounts will help a lot.

I tried to find a photo of the crown of this driver & couldn’t find one, either on the PB site or any of the sellers'. An email to PB for the reason they only show the bottom or perhaps a top photo has elicited no response so far. They’re pitching this thing without anyone being able to tell what they’d be looking down at. A “What’s in the Bag” check on Golf Channel’s site shows that Fuzzy plays a TaylorMade R540 XD 8.5° driver, but who knows how up-to-date that is. You’d think we’d know about it by now if it were illegal. I watched the same infomercial you did & they guaranty it to be leak-proof for five years – meaning they think it’ll last longer than that. Still, Power-Bilt’s playing the Air Force One awfully close to the vest for to be something we’d want to buy.

Thanks a bunch! Is Tin Cup the only one who knows anything about reasonable [& excellent] courses at Hilton Head?

It's all good. I'd be surprised if anyone posting thinks he's an expert -- I certainly don't. We're just opinionated! And "unable-to-resist-the-marketing" would be one of a whole host of reasons to make any kind of purchase, But if you didn't feel duped once in awhile Madison Avenue wouldn't be doing its job.

I was a better player when I didn’t know much about the game. At 17, the only thing I did was square the club with my hands. Since I went away from that these many years my game has suffered: Open it a little going back & square it as late as possible before impact. End of story.