TMO

I am a big fan of the RTJ Trail courses but I don't remember being particularly impressed with either the Birmingham or Hoover area's short game area. I know that Birmingham has a short course but that's all I can remember. Hope someone else can remember a little better.

If you have your swing from the face on and down the line camera angle I would be more than happy to analyze it for swing check. Let me know via PM if you do.

Interesting topic. I am a little confused though to be honest. With the driver, your right foot at impact will be off the ground. This isn't just Tiger it's most every player on tour. Take a look at videos of Adam Scott, David Duval (back in the glory days), Ben Hogan... I could keep going. With your stance shoulder width apart, your right foot will be pulled off the ground when you "post up" on your left foot. The key is where your right knee is going. If your right knee is going towards the target you are golden. This will help you maintain your spine angle and allow your left leg to give you something stable to rotate over. HOWEVER, if your right knee is going towards the ball you are bound for back problems, inconsistency, and just an ugly impact position. If that is your problem, I would absolutely recommend making a change. If your problem is that your right foot is off the ground at impact though and your knee is driving towards the target this is not a flaw. Hope that helps. PM me if you need more than that and I would be more than happy to take a look at your swing if you can send me one.

I have mixed opinions on this. I agree that lag can happen naturally when your swing has proper mechanics but a lot of people don't reach that point where it happens naturally. My argument would be that there are many, many people who may address lag and substantially improve other areas mechanics. I guess basically it's a chicken and egg disagreement but we both believe it's important.

Do you think Tiger will ever have someone that truly pushes him? If you think he does already, who do you think it is? My personal answer (which is cheating) - there are three players that push him: 1. Tiger Woods - during the tournament itself, no one intimidates him. 2. Jack Nicklaus - before tournaments I am willing to bet he still looks up at that poster he had when he was a kid thinking about those 18 majors and any other record that Nicklaus holds. 3. Michael Jordan - ya, he doesn't play golf but Tiger wants to be a brand. I think he is well on his way to accomplishing that but if you think about the fact that Jordan is retired and still kids beg their parents for his shoes that is just impressive. So I cheated. Who do you think will push Tiger?

It's a long story but basically just tried to bulk up when I really didn't need to. During the qualifier swung with my three wood and everything felt funny. By the end of my round I was in an enormous amount of pain. Thank you. It helps me enjoy the game and feel connected to it even though I am sure you have guessed I will probably never be able to play at the level I did. It's ok though. I love law school and am looking forward to lots of other things. My only goal for golf is to get healthy enough to play consistently again. If I can do that, I'll be happy.

The stack and tilt guys say its the same if not more but I don't see the science behind it. I should say that I am biased though... I just don't like stack and tilt. I would much rather make a power pivot. Maybe that's just me though.

Tore muscles off my spine during a qualifier. Didn't know for four or five months because every doctor kept on saying scoliosis because there was a massive curve in the bottom of my spine. Finally a doctor in California did an MRI and found out that the curve was because the lower left part of my back's muscles weren't all attached as much as the right side was. Career over.

Hogan absolutely does come up in discussions about greatest swing - I am huge Hogan fan. Ironically, Hogan made a pretty distinct effort to quiet his lower body as he got older. Watch younger Hogan versus older Hogan.

Was there a special on the Golf Channel or something on Lag. This is popping up on the board all over the place. I love lag but seriously, wow.

Ha. Sorry. I deserve that for trying to do work and type on the forum at the same time. One by one - this time a little more carefully. Lag Redundancy Lag just seems to be a theme of the day or two. And this isn't me saying that lag isn't important because personally I feel it is one of the most important parts of a solid swing. It is just funny to me that I haven't had to think about it for months and yet there are so many posts dealing with trajectory, solid contact, or power gains lately. Lag and Pitch Shots What you were describing was a problem with too much spin on those pitch shots. When you are hitting a pitch shot, you can have solid contact without spin. However, if you make good contact and have lots of back spin and your trajectory is too high, this makes it so that the ball is much more likely to spin back. I remember reading this somewhere but backspin = contact + trajectory. So my solution was to reduce trajectory for your shot - and do this consistently - so that your ball would not have has much backspin on it. Lag and Swing Mechanics I could go on for a long time on this one so I'll attempt to be succinct. Lag is absolutely a function of swing mechanics. Lag also varies per club. I have a huge chart I could post with this but here are a few that you might be interested in: Driver 4 degrees of lag - 12-14 degree launch angle 7 Iron 10 degrees of lag - 20-22 degree launch angle SW 15 degrees of lag - 30-32 degree launch angle So as you can see, the optimal ball flight and lag angles definitely vary per club based on ball speed and a number of other factors. Making the Change The tricky thing about lag is that there is no silver bullet. I would suggest a lag stick because it creates instant feedback without a camera but there are hundreds of other ways to address this. Pitch shots are a little easier to monitor without a camera because the swing is shorter and at a slower speed so if you were going to go to the range tomorrow you could try either: (1) locking your knuckles under during your down swing (like a forced pronation movement) OR (2) bend your leading elbow to point towards the target during your follow through. Hogan, Garcia, and Woods did option 2 when they were starting working on lag but you have to keep in mind that it is a band-aid rather than a permanent fix. Forcing your pronation can slow your swing down substantially until you get used to it but it doesn't affect the mechanics of your swing nearly as much. And just for the sake of being thorough, here is a video of Ben Hogan hitting a pitch shot with a nice trajectory using lag. I am sure I missed something in your question/comment/concern but I think you would agree I was a less vague. Sorry about before. Enjoy :)

I'm with you on this right now. Feels are kind of subjective but what you are describing isn't bad though. This isn't really what lag is, but it is part of what can create lag so I think you are on the right track. Yes. Highest point is different than the way I would describe it. I would say you swing until your muscle tension says stop. From there, you allow gravity to start the down swing and then once your hands are tangent to the arc - science speak for at your pockets - then you start to accelerate. You are on the right track though. Keep it up.

Can you link to the drill. I think I know what you are talking about it and it's an alright drill. I am curious about the context though for why they say breaking 80 and which golfers they are saying it would be for - what problem. Presumably, it would help you create more power by making you post up on your left leg during your down swing but your description makes it sound a little bit more like it's a swing thought than an actual drill. Let me know when you link to it.

Yup, seriously. I video tape my swings - well all my swings. But I would definitely video tape your swing face on if you are concerned. Four feet isn't anything to be too worried about though, especially off of mats. If you can control it that's fine. I just like a lower trajectory with a little less spin than that. I wouldn't move the ball back in your stance, I would actually just check to see what your lag angle is at impact. With a sand wedge it should be 15 degrees. I know, lots of degrees that you would think are minute. If you video tape your swing it's easy to see. Without video, at least check to see if you have some forward lean with your club at impact. If your club is vertical at impact then you definitely don't have enough lag.

I am working on my stabilizing my posture so I have two swing thoughts: 1. Turn around my spine rather than turn my shoulders under. (I was dipping in my back swing a bit.) 2. Pivot, push, drop, swing. Ya, last one will make no sense without context but ... it would just take a long time to write out the context. Again, working on my posture through impact.

Trajectory would be my big question. On my half pitch shots I don't want the ball going any higher than a 34 degree launch angle. That's my bounce and check pitch shot. When I get up into the 40 degree range that's when I start getting some crazy spin - and it starts short of the pin so it is doubly no good.

I walk the parallel to the line and look for undulations in the green. Sometimes your feet can tell you a lot even when your eyes can't.

Why should the heel come up? That would actually release tension? You want/need that tension to create more torque during your downswing. You are advocating to trade power created by momentum - heel stomp - for power created by torque. I'll take torque any day - especially considering it is more accurate.

Driver - Straight to power fade Woods - Straight to power fade Long Irons - Straight to power fade Mid Irons - Straight to .... you get the idea

I used to be incredibly scared before I played but I grew out of it. I know it's not the answer you are looking for but sometimes it just takes that solid first shot on the first tee. In the meantime, there were a few things that helped me out: 1. I used to listen to music on the putting green right before I started my round. Just helped me focus a little better. 2. I talked to my caddy about anything but the days round while I was on the driving range. I had to think of it as just any other day not an important tournament. 3. On the first tee - and this sounds ridiculous - I took less time than probably any other tee shot for the entire day. Sounds silly but it kept me from getting in my own head. I spent enough time on the range hitting driving and visualizing my round so I better be prepared for that first shot. Hope that helps. I know its hard. If it makes you feel better, Byron Nelson said he threw up before every tournament of his career. When you think about the fact that he was in a league of his own for a while, that must tell you something.

I have big time back problems too. Hell, that's what knocked me off tour. I recently started playing again and started noticing some back problems. If you are having lower back pain there is a good chance that you have something in your swing that is pulling your spine towards the ball. A lot of times this is your right knee going towards the ball rather than the target through impact. Any curvature in the spine is dangerous for guys like us so I would recommend video taping your swing and possibly going through a really difficult but beneficial swing change.

I am working on a column for my own site that will be up in a week and a half. Rather than make you wait though, here's a quick description of the best drill I know for keeping your clubface square. Two Swing Guide Drill : Rather than just using one swing guide, you attach two. You can buy swing guide knock offs on eBay for $2.00. Anyhow, make sure that the swing guides comfortably fits on each of your wrists before you swing. When you actually take your back swing, both swing guides should comfortably hit your wrists again. This will tell you that you didn't open or close the clubface thus far. You will continue your down swing and through impact until once again the swing guides hit your wrists comfortably. I emphasize comfortably because if during your back swing or follow through your clubface opens or closes you will either miss your wrists or it will scrape across your wrists - which is not very enjoyable. If you are hitting your wrists comfortably at both of those points you are going to find that your clubface is either square or very, very close. Hope that helped.

Just to make what I was talking about a little more clear, here is a video of the lag stick in action using an overhead camera angle. There are other drills that you can do also to help create lag. Lag is one of my favorite subjects so let me know if you need more information.

Lag stick. It is by far the best way to create lag. No doubt. It'll cost you about $5 to make but you won't regret it. If you want more information on how to make it just let me know but trust me on this, you will instantly know if you have enough lag or not.

Just my opinion but: 1. Video is meant to support the golfer, not teach the golfer. 2. Bad teachers are bad with video and bad without it. 3. Good teachers are good without video but can be outstanding with it. 4. Leadbetter fits into section 2. 5. Hogan with video would have been scary good. So I guess my point is that I wouldn't judge a teacher by if they use video or not but whether they know their stuff or not. If they know their stuff AND they use video then that is a teacher that is worth working with. But that's just my opinion.