Rukus43

So this past weekend I played with the two partners of the firm I work for, and one of our clients. The senior partner is 3 handicap and he is incredibly intelligent. He is about 52ish and I am 23, and have a ton of respect for him. Anyway, I am still learning the game (played for 1.5 yrs), but am fairly athletic and have taken some lessons and I usually shoot in the mid 90s. I get up to the first tee and hit the worst drive I have hit in about 6 months, then hit a couple decent hybrid shots and then I did something I haven't done since the first week I started. I shanked an 8 iron (favorite club) so bad I think it only traveled forward about 10 yards while going right about 100yds OB. I know I was nervous because of my boss being there, but I have never had problems with nerves and athletics before in anything else. Not to say I haven't been nervous before, but it has never affected my performance. Any hints or tips how to remedy this, or is it just something I have to figure out on my own? We only played 2 holes and then had to leave due to lightning so we are supposed to go out again to finish sometime soon. I probably would have settled down, but it was just frustrating to hit such terrible shots in front of the guy who I had been telling, "yeah, I shoot in the mid-90s."

OH! I get it. I am slow in the mornings. I read it like five times trying to figure it out. Thanks.

Not quite sure what you are trying to say here. Could you clarify please?

I am a 19.1, but I was a beginner (shot b/t 110-120) using SGI then switched to just GI (MX200). I have way more confidence with my current irons because the SGI irons felt like I was swinging a brick. I had no precision, and I am just getting better in general so it isn't all the clubs. I haven't played in probably 2 months, but my swing is way better than it was two months ago I just need to tighten up my short game and I know I will start shooting a lot lower scores. I plan on having my current irons for a long time, I love them.

I sole the putter on the ground and then right before my takeaway I hover the putter for two reasons. 1) So I don't use the ground as a crutch and not make a pure balanced swing, and 2) so I get a good clean takeaway every time without catching a little grass and throwing off my motion.

- be as confident with 4, 5, and 6 iron as I am with my short irons - break 90 for first time (best so far is 91) - shoot below 95 a majority of the time - every swing to be balanced, controlled, and smooth (tough I know, but a goal nonetheless) - become lights-out with my putter

I know very little about the S&T; swing but what I have seen shows keeping the weight on the front side which would suggest that the front heel should not be raised even if it could be. Maybe someone with more knowledge of the S&T; will comment.

I had thought about that since I have confidence now at specific distances I really need to know specific yardages. The courses I play don't always offer the greatest yardage markers and even if there is one I still feel like the variance could be rather high, if I really get dialed in. How critical is it to have a gps or rangefinder, at least for 100yds and in? BTW, I now have really solid numbers for my SW & GW. I need a bigger space for the rest of the bag. Is it good to have 1/2 and 3/4 swing distances on all irons? So far I have: 56* 1/2 52yds 56* 3/4 85yds 56* full 96yds GW 1/2 58yds GW 3/4 92yds GW full 103yds I think what I call 3/4 must not really be 3/4 of a swing. My reference point for my 3/4 swing was for my left arm to be parallel with the ground (I'm a righty)and the shaft was pointing straight up. For the 1/2 shots on the SW & GW I used a pitching stance and brought the shaft a couple of degrees above parallel to the ground.

I am 6'4", but I learned to have a very flat swing after reading Hogan's book, and also fighting a bad slice when I was just a beginner, a year and a half ago. My one purpose for my swing at that time was to NOT slice... I over did it and developed an extremely flat inside swing. I no longer slice but I had a heck of a time with pushing the ball straight right because my hands got stuck behind me. I then learned to find a happy medium. I am starting to really enjoy having a swing that allows me to hit consistently decent shots. I steepened my swing slightly and I don't start my hands so far inside.

Couldn't it be possible that the instructor is just trying to break a habit not necessarily suggesting a less than 30* hip turn? The OP may just need to get used to the feeling of slight tension required for a powerful unwinding during the downswing. If the teacher is a PGA pro I would caution questioning his teaching with only a tiny fraction of information. Also, it sounds like you have a relatively flat swing. It is harder to keep the hips from turning too much the flatter the swing is, IMO.

Today I was able to have just enough time to get two distances nailed down. 56* full and 3/4 swings. My smooth full swing with my 56 averaged 96yds, and my 3/4 averaged 85yds. My yard is about 350ft long (2 acres) all mowed and flat so I used a measuring wheel after hitting about 20 shots each time. I am really excited about knowing for sure what to expect, now I think I will be able to play much more strategically once I go through the whole bag like this. Also these are carry yards because my yard is soft right now and every shot either plugged or backed up a few feet. Thanks again for the suggestions!

What do you think the clubhead speed is at impact in the video iacas linked? 100mph? Just curious, he seems to have a powerful swing. So IF the clubhead is traveling ~100mph then at impact it looks like it is traveling about 2-2.5ft or so between frames right before impact. I think your math logic is sound.

The 240 fps quality is not that bad looking from the videos I have seen. I would like to see what it looks like capturing a club traveling 85-100 mph though. Would it be possible/better to shoot the swing at 1080p 60fps and then slow it down using software? I have only seen my swing on a cell phone video camera so I am excited to for some quality video of it. Is the TMO guy still doing swing analysis? I have watched all of the posted videos and really enjoy them.

I just bought a Sanyo VPC-FH1a for $405 off amazon. It takes 1080p @ 60fps and also will do 60fps slow mo, 240 fps slow mo, and a ridiculous 600fps slow mo. I can't wait to get it. It is actually a Christmas gift for my wife, but I might borrow it. ;)

That is what I was looking for! That sounds very logical and accurate. I am a numbers guy (accountant) and this actually sounds like a blast. Thanks.

So I just started playing a year and a half ago and I have begun to groove an imperfect but somewhat consistent swing. Currently, I just guess at yardages because for a long time it was just swing and pray (not exactly but close). I started-out taking lessons from the beginning, and I consistently shoot in the 90s now. I have been told I have a very nice swing for my handicap (short game needs work). However, I am still just kind of half way guessing at yardages and am sometimes way off. My question is (finally) what is the best way to know my average distances with each club? I know it takes work, but I want to know a good process. Is it buying and using a rangefinder and charting shots, or something else? I know short game work is the priority, but taking a couple days at the range to find more accurate distances would be helpful, I believe. Thanks!

So when I learned to play golf I was taught shorter irons the ball was placed in the middle of my stance, longer irons a ball or two forward of middle and the driver the ball was placed at the left instep. Recently I took a lesson from a teaching pro (not a PGA pro) and he taught all shots should be played from the left instep. Is he wrong or just different? His explaination made sense that it reduced the amount of variables for the swing. Is this a good idea or does it depend on the golfer?

I took a lesson from my local pro recently and he said that I had a very flat swing. I have trouble with hitting my long irons fat and I believe the flat swing is the cause, it makes since if you think about the angle of attack. This week I have been working on getting a little bit steeper backswing and downswing and it is helping.

I do drop down a club currently just for the time being, but I think I would be better if I could get my ball to stay or be within a few feet of where it lands when hitting my wedges. The consensus is to hit down on the ball more which goes along with my thinking because I have a flat swing and only have small divots when hitting my wedges and short irons. I will work on a descending sharp blow, Thanks again for the suggestions everyone.

I have a cheap hybrid and it performs much better than my 3 iron because I, like you, have not yet been able to produce consistent results with the longer irons do to inaccurate swings. The main problem I had with my 3 iron was getting it in the air, but with my hybrid that never crosses my mind any more. All I think about is trying to swing smooth and it produces a long high shot that for me goes about 200yds off the deck and about 210 off of a tee (my yardages are similar to yours with 4 and 5 irons)

Thanks to ALL! I will go work on this. Concentrating more on hitting down on the ball. Am I wrong or should this also increase the trajectory at the same time, which would further help my cause of holding greens as stated above?

I have been hitting greens, but then my ball bounds through them so I have to chip back to the hole about 50% of the time. I would expect this with long irons and mid irons, but it occurs with my 9, PW, GW, and brand new CG14 56*! I know it is obviously my swing since I use a soft ball (Cally Hot Bite). My full sand wedge is 100-105 carry, but when I hit the green it just hits and takes off past it 10-15 yds past the pin and off the green. So I think my swing speed is high enough to generate a decent amount of spin, but it is just not happening! Any suggestions?

I had 7 one-putts, but not all for par, and only hit 2 GIR so I had 16 attempts. I had 3 pars that i missed the green on, are those the only up and downs that I count or everything that I one-putted? I know I missed several opportunities where putts just barely missed. I hit driver on every thing but par 3s, which I know I could immediately score better if I hit my hybrid or an iron, but I want to be able to hit my driver well in order to not limit myself down the road. I just think that the ability to hit your driver consistently well like a lot of low handicappers do opens up lots of scoring opportunities. 5pars - this is where my GIRs occured 7 one-putts, 16 attempts 7/16=44% ? 16 greens missed- 3 pars on these 3/16= 19% ? which is correct to calculate up and down %?

I had 2 penalty strokes, and the back 9 I was in the trees a lot. The front 9 I was not too far off the fairway, but I was still hitting out of the rough with bad angles at the green. My chipping and putting was the best it has ever been. At one point I got up and down for par 3 times in a row, which is new for me.