Danattherock

From my way of thinking it is futile. Unless you play under the same conditions all the time. I played on a course a few weeks back with greens that were like putting on concrete. Fast and huge breaks, upper and lower levels, serious 3-4 putt potential. I played the other day on a course that had greens like shag carpet. I was killing the ball to get it out to 25-30 feet. When playing on vastly different greens, various conditioning, high end courses versus local budget friendly tracks, etc.. the only way I can putt good week in and week out is to trust my technique. If I had a putter that was better on slow greens, that is fine on only a few courses. Likewise, if I used a certain putter on super fast greens, that is great for some courses. I want to show up on any course and roll balls for 15 minutes and get a feel for it with the same putter. I realize some putter weights are better suited to some stimp meter readings. I just think there is little practical application for the vast majority of recreational golfers that play a different golf course each week. -Dan

David Orr is top shelf all the way and particularly known or his putting prowess. I spent a day with him and will see him again in the near future. I would go spend 2-3 hours with him improving your putting stance, routine, stroke, etc.. and then go back after a month of practice and ingraining the changes. Do you really want a custom fit putter for your current stroke? If you are a great putter, go for it. But if you are not, give some consideration to what stroke the Edel putter is being it to. I find some forward thinking goes a long way in these matters. A custom fit Edel or a Scotty Cameron?? Nothing to think about. -Dan

Typed dialogue is difficult, so bear with me. I am on your side and want you to succeed. Your putter is not the problem. Your lack of distance control is the problem. While a heavier or lighter putter may perform better on faster or slower greens, unless you play on the same greens, which are cut the same, maintained the same, etc.. the equipment change will be a futile pursuit. If you just want a new putter, get one. I am with you here and have around 20 myself. Yamada Emperor or Musashi is my suggestion if you want putter buying advice. ha ha.. Very soft feel and for me personally, this equates to better distance control. I am also a big fan of the weighted Nippon putter shafts. But if you think buying a new putter will fix your stated issue, you are mistaken. There are three very specific things I did to improve my distance control. Upon doing so, I could for the first time in my life roll the ball to within 2-3' on almost all 30 footers, 1-2' from almost all 20 footers, etc,, I am also making more putts than ever. 1. Get a slimmer grip that will not absorb all the vibrations coming up your putter shaft. These vibrations are feedback plain and simple. The vibrations are filed away into your subconscious and the more you practice, the more ingrained the feeling becomes. It serves like a volume control on a stereo. You turn it up (hit longer putts), you feel more vibrations. Don't use thick, soft, vibration robbing grips. Did this for a long time before I found my answer in Pingman and Iomic midsize grips. 2. Putt with a flat left wrist. Getting rid of the wristy motion of my old putting stroke was my breakthrough. Upon doing so, I began rolling the ball very precise distances in a consistent fashion. Actually learned this reading one of the beginning chapters in Bobby Clampett's book on the full swing, "The Impact Zone". Ironically, the best putting info I ever got was in a book on the full swing. Simple put, you can't bend your wrist the same way each time. Some days the ball is short, some days long, some days you are on fire. But you can't use a wristy motion as consistently as you can a flat left wrist. 3. Spend as much time on the practice green as you do pounding range balls. 30 minutes of range balls is followed by 30 minutes of putting. There is nothing simpler than this. To get good at putting, reading putts, rolling precise distances, etc.. takes practice. The good thing is that it requires little physical energy and you can do it for hours if you keep your interest level up. Putting games, contest, some drills, etc.. are a good way to spice things up. You can't just roll balls on the green without purpose for very long without losing interest. -Dan

Nope. Worth every dime and they are very highly sought after for good reason. I am not a fan of Scotty Cameron generally speaking and I own four Tei3's. As for getting her refinished, I just got one back yesterday. The commonly known places for refinish... Kevin Colbert Tom Slighter BOS SC custom shop Kevin Colbert (putterplating.com) $85 "Northern Lights" finish... http://thesandtrap.com/t/58036/northern-lights-scotty-cameron-tei3 -Dan

Working my way through it now. Have not read one word that didn't make sense. A first ever for me with a golf instruction book. I highly recommend his dvd as it compliments the book nicely. The book makes more sense to me after seeing the dvd a few times. Both book and dvd are on Jimmy Ballard's website. -Dan

My journey towards learning how to properly swing a golf club has introduced me to all kinds of stuff. I have attempted to understand books from many of the most well known teachers and players. The norm for me is that I get a pearl or two from each book, dvd, etc.. but I never find an entire blueprint to go by that I can believe in or perform. I also have several 'training' aids in my garage collecting dust. I have a shelf full of books and dvds in my office. Golf is truly inundated with snake oil. Last week I spent two days down in Atlanta with Jim Grant at The Standard Club. Jim worked under Jimmy Ballard for years and teaches his connected golf swing as it is called. My intention originally was to attend Jimmy's 3 day golf school in Key Largo, Florida. He lives there and does about a half dozen schools each summer. Unfortunately, I was not able to make that trip. My research and contact with Jimmy Ballard and his wife led me to Jim Grant, long time friend and disciple of Jimmy Ballard. So I am driving down I-85 last Tuesday morning. Wondering what (if anything) I will learn in the next two days. Worried that I have spent another grand on nothing substantial. Questioning my decision but at the same time holding on to the hope that this will be the real "aha" moment. As it turns out, I stuck gold. Every aspect of this trip was unreal. The facility was as nice as any I had seen and Jim was a breath of fresh air. He smiled, explained fallacies of the golf swing, and told fascinating stories about his days on the PGA tour. The whole time he just kept rolling balls out in front of me on the range offering a tiny suggestion or feeling that would help me out. During the two days, he taught me the basics of Jimmy Ballard's swing principles. I drove home with a new outlook on golf and 15 pages of notes in a notebook. There is not one phase written down that I don't understand. A first in my pursuit of golf proficiency. If I miss, I know what caused it. If I hit a perfect shot, I know what caused it. If I push the ball, I know one of two reasons for my doing so. For a lack of better terminology, I feel empowered. In contrast, every other lesson I had ended in me riding home with my head spinning trying to remember what I was taught and wondering how I would be able to process and hold on to the information. A few years back I bought Bobby Clampett's book, "The Impact Zone". Until getting Jimmy Ballard's book and dvd recently, "The Impact Zone" was the book that had the biggest impact (pun intended) on my golf swing. Cliff notes for the yellow book some say, his book was (and still is) very valuable to me. I even bought the yellow book, but couldn't understand it. In the end, I can say I agree with many of TGM principles, I just can't digest or employ the material. Unfortunately, my experience doesn't seem that rare. I even dabbled in S&T; recently. More specifically a hitting pattern that blended components of S&T; with TGM principles. At 6'6" 300 lbs, I had a very hard time physically doing what was asked of me. My instructor, local, was fantastic. And to his credit, when I did what he asked of me, I made very solid and consistent contact. But in the end, low back pain forced me to abandon the swing. I am sure S&T; will work for many, but for me, it just wasn't meant to be. In contrast, reading Jimmy's book and watching his one hour dvd is more like having a beer with a friend. Casual conversation, loaded with facts, pictures, and references to all the greats in the game. Much reference (and reverence) is given to Ben Hogan. It is a very simple approach to something I have admittingly made harder than it needed to be. A basic athletic motion with a few (7) key concepts. None of which seem contrived or require super human flexibility, timing, or athleticism. My main obstacle is simply undoing all the damage I have done to my golf swing before hearing of Jimmy Ballard. Interestingly enough, all this originates with Babe Ruth of all people. A tip (hankerchief under left arm) he gave a team mate (Sam Byrd) who later won 25 events on the PGA tour after retiring from baseball. The same guy that helped Ben Hogan. He taught it to Jimmy way back when and it gave birth to Jimmy Ballard as a teacher. We likely would have never heard of Curtis Strange or Hal Sutton had Sam Byrd not taught Jimmy Ballard what Babe Ruth taught him way back when. A fascinating story, truly. But as I said, most importantly, it just makes sense. My time with Jimmy's swing principles has been brief and I hesitated to make this post to be honest. But in the two weeks since seeing the dvd and only six days since spending time with Jim Grant, my golf swing has already changed. I still have not read the book in it's entirety. I am 39 years old and have been playing golf on some level of consistency since I was in high school. I have hit shots in the last week that I never thought possible. The contact is more solid, I am one club longer, and the trajectory is higher. For the first time, I am consistently getting out of bunkers. My driver is finding the fairway more than usual. Golf is not rocket science I am finding out. The odd thing, I feel like I am doing less, not more, to facilitate this. I started this thread to see if anyone else has benefited from Jimmy Ballard's teachings. Also, thought it would be good to make other struggling golfers aware of someone that the golf community in general has not acknowledged as much as would seem deserved. To make a very long story short, some of Jimmy's principles defy what is commonly taught by the PGA and it's stable of highly qualified instructors. Being that the average handicap has not been lowered in recent decades, I find this to be more of a reason to see what Jimmy has to offer, not the other way around. Very interesting article below about Jimmy Ballard for anyone interested.... http://www.departures.com/articles/ballad-of-jimmy-ballard -Dan

Get a Callaway FT-iZ. I bought one last month, never hit such a straight driver. The FT-i you linked in your first post sounds like a trash can lid banging, but is in fact very straight. Shorter than the FT-iZ though by quite a margin. Found mine new from greatergolfsales (or similar) on Ebay for $160 with a Diamanna blue shaft. Incredible driver for folks looking to find more fairways.

I have been impressed with the following balls... Srixon Z star Titleist NXT Tour S Callaway Hex Chrome

I would consider a Rife Aruba or Antigua. You can get them on Ebay new for around $100. Another thought, the older Ping BeCu putters, anser, pal2, etc.. can be found for $75-125 on Ebay in near mint condition. Fantastic soft feel on these old Pings and they don't break the bank. Bought a few from Ebay seller Heinenkugels in recent months. All looked practically brand new, but were 15-20 year old putters. He specializes in these BeCu putters. Then you could also get a stainless Ping that is brand new for $100. Many great choices in that price range. Either way, consider a Pingman or midsize Iomic grip as an upgrade. Love these grips myself. -Dan

I mean it light heartedly of course, but the "fitting" does vary drastically depending on where you get it done. Golf Galaxy is Walmart for golf. David Edel is the most respected putter fitter in the country. You are thinking about the right things. Putting is a weakness in many folks game. The more time and energy I dedicate towards my putting, the better I get. Shot my all time low (81) twice in the last two weeks. My putting is one of the main reasons. I drained two 20 footers today and made numerous 5-8 footers. The driver was not on today. Irons were mediocre. My wedges were so so. My putter was on fire and I shot my all time low. Focus on the putter, love it, cherish it, think of every aspect of what you are doing well and poorly. A SAM putting lab is a great first move in my opinion. -Dan

Agreed, go for it. But prior to doing so, I would encourage you to take some putting lessons. Be sure to get a SAM putting eval if you can. It will show all the good and bad aspects of your putting stroke. Then with your improved stroke, consider a putter fitting. No sense in fitting a putter to a faulty stroke, but that doesn't stop most folks from doing it. Fix your stroke, then your putter. After working on these issues, an Aimpoint course would yield maximum results in my opinion. FYI, never say David Edel and Golf Galaxy in the same sentence. A custom fit Edel is a Ferrari, Golf Galaxy is a Hyundai. Also, if wanting to improve your putting, be sure to read the "Tips" section on Geoff Mangum's website. Tons of articles about putting, putter fit, green reading, etc... Dan

Absolutely outstanding. Love this thing. Extremely well made, small, easy to use (click button one to activate, click again to show yardage). Just love it. I know have an exact yardage for any shot. Easy to hand hold out to 200 yards. I prop my hands on the steering wheel at times to steady it. 150 yards and in, where yardage matters even more, it is super easy to acquire the distance. Leupold has some "Pinseeker" mode, where it locks or something, but I have not had a need to try it. Saw it in the owners manual I think, but not needed. Awesome unit. -Dan

Noodle or Precept Laddie X are my favorite cheap balls. Noodle is my fav of the two. Soft, long, and feel great off the putter as well. Check on Golfsmith and The Golf Warehouse for good deals. 36 balls for $29, 24 balls for $19.99, etc.. -Dan