golfaddiction

You can't have line without speed. A perfectly good line for a putt hit softly will be wrong for a putt hit firmly. Unless your greens are perfectly flat. I, also, never intentionally come up short. But on downhill putts I do try to sneak in, whereas on uphill putts I try to hit it well past the hole.

At the end of last year I went 40-51 for a 91. The front 9 was probably my best stretch of 9 holes ever. It could have been even better if I didn't have a couple 3 putts. So this winter I bought a new putter and have improved my putting. Of course, I can't get the feel back and hit my irons the way I was hitting them that day. I have yet to do better than 99 so far this year. But that's golf for you. The only way to get consistently better is to play 6 times a week. I'll have to wait 40 years until retirement before that happens. At least I'm having fun on the course, most of the time.

I haven't tried this yet on the actual course, but just last night I feel like I had a major breakthrough. Instead of haphazardly looking down at the ball at address and throughout the swing, I decided to stare at and concentrate on the far left edge of the ball (the front edge). With the small bit of practice I had, this seemed to be amazingly effective and I was making impact correctly on the down swing, and hitting the ground only after making contact. It also helped me from coming out of the swing too early. Additionally, it had the added effect of keeping my head from moving to far backward in my backswing. Does anyone else do this? Could this be the fix I've been looking for all these years?

Looks like you're starting on a low plane (which is preferred by pros), but then lifting the club and coming over the top and out-to-in. I would try to keep your hands down in the swing and swing out towards the target, that has been suggested before.

I played at a championship course last week and there wasn't a flat lie on the course. Does anyone have any tips for hitting from slanted lies where the ball is above or below your feet or on an up or down slope? How do you practice this at a range? I had problems with full shots but also had a bunch of short pitch and chip shots (inside 15 yards) where the ball was below my feet. I was utterly unsuccessful in getting the ball in the air and on line.

I've hit my wedge 180+ yards a number of times. Of course, I hit it really thin and it came shooting out as a line drive. I did not feel good about it.

Depends on the course. Hilly ones I tend to take a cart. I usually shoot better on the front when I walk, and shoot better on the back when I have a cart.

Is it just me or do you shift forward beyond the ball before you make contact? But who am I to judge when your handicap is 20 strokes better than mine!

I'm wondering the same thing. Is a "natural" fade actually a swing flaw, and a "natural" draw just hitting the ball correctly? I know there is no such thing as a "correct" swing, as long as the ball goes where you want it to go, but I'm pretty sure everyone on tour hits a draw by default and a fade only if the hole requires it.

In the past my swing has been prone to my right hand making a chopping motion - that is coming outside-in and not releasing. This, of course, leads to a pull or a slice. Rolling the face over and releasing is something that comes naturally to low-handicappers, but at this point for me I need to keep this as a swing thought. Keeping the club inside-out is the 2nd part of it, and if I can do this I'll limit the pull shots.

Thanks for the advice. For me, it's been impossible to try and hit the ball just "straight," so I'm thinking that working a draw in will lead to better feel and consistency.

As a mid-high handicapper, consistent ball striking has always been elusive. At the range yesterday, I concentrated on turning the club over with my right hand and hitting a draw on every shot. This is how the pros do it, right? I pulled about 1 in 5 shots, but I started getting the hang of it. My drives were particularly better because I've always tended to fade/slice. When I concentrated on turning the face over, almost all shots were on line with various degrees of draw. Does every low handicapper try for this draw every shot (with the exception, of course, when a big fade is needed)? I'm thinking I need to keep at this.

I'll be moving up to Brooklyn in August from DC and am scared I won't be able to play as much golf. Has anyone played Dyker Beach? Playing in Long Island and NJ seems like it might be a good idea, and I also have a lot of friends in Westchester but it could take a while to get up there from Brooklyn.

This is my favorite show on TV.

After shooting low 90s consistently at the end of last season, I've shot 99, 100, and 101 so far this year. Very frustrating, but it's still early in the year. Gonna keep hitting the range and working it out.

One major thing that helps is shortening the backswing. I found that I could take an iron on the range, swing about 50%, and it went dead straight. I eventually increased this to about 80% of what my backswing was and its been helping. But the most significant change I made was holding the club in the fingertips instead of the palm. This felt really strange at first, like I was going to drop the club at the top of the backswing, but it's nearly impossible to overswing with such a grip.

Driver: 260-270 3w: 220 (been having real trouble with this club) 5w: 200 5i: 180 7i: 155 9i: 135 PW: 120 SW: 80