ProStuart

Jim, I've launched a site called www.findyourgolfpro.com that will eventually be able to give you the information you're looking for. At the moment, there's only a few pros registered (none of which are in the Tampa area unfortunately). However, if you do find a pro that you'd reccommend (or not), get them to register on the site so that others can find (or avoid!) them in the future.

Just for clarity here, imagine you're addressing the ball, looking down. 12 o'clock is at the top of the ball, 6 o'clock at the bottom. Logic tells me that you'd try to hit the ball at 3 o'clock to have the club hit the ball at right angles to your target. I think amcquay summed it up by encouraging an inside path to the ball. Stu

I had a tip from a pro yesterday that he said would help me increase lag and distance on my drives. He said to try and hit the ball at 4 o'clock instead of the logical 3 o'clock. Anyone heard of this before? Stu

My wife asked me this last night and I had no idea how to answer her! When Tiger or any of the playing pros get new clubs from their sponsors, what happens to their old clubs? Do they simply go back to the sponsor, sell them privately, pass to their caddies, etc? Anyone know? Stu

Here's my dilemma (I posted here a few weeks ago with a similar post, but haven't managed to resolve as yet): In 2008 I got down to a 7.7 handicap - didn't play any more/less than normal, just my regular 1 round a week. Everything seemed to just "work" and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Throughout all of 2009 I've struggled big time.... my handicap is now 8.5. Here's what happened: Early in the year I developed a snap-hook with my driver, so went for a lesson. The pro advised that I had a waaaay too strong grip with my right hand (I'm left handed). He advised me to change to a neutral grip and that my game would go downhill before it went up again. Ever since having that lesson I've developed what looks like a shank, but I don't think it actually is!! The ball doesn't go sharp right, rather at a 45* angle from my intended target. It's like the club is slipping in my grip at impact. Related to this, I've started to get severe wear on my golf glove on the pinkie side of my palm pad. I always ensure I'm gripping the club in my fingers - box ticked. I always ensure there's 1/2" of the grip visible above glove - box ticked. I've done the "check if the tee falls out from your glove/club on backswing" to check if I'm re-gripping at the top and the tee stays there - box ticked. This shot can happen with a SW or a 5i (my biggest iron). Sometimes it feels like the grip is slipping for my utilities/driver, but the resultant shot still goes pretty straight. Anyone new here who've had something similar happen to them and if so what you did to fix? Cheers Stu

Yeah my official handicap says 8.5 but I haven't entered any competition/medal rounds in 3 months intentionally because of this change. I'll take on board everyone's comments and give the whole taping my swing a go. Hopefully something will jump out at me and I can start on the road to recovery. Cheers guys.

I've always used an overlap grip. Giles, I've heard of this before - using a tee to check if you're re-gripping the club at the top of the backswing. Let's assume that I do this and I find that I'm loosening my grip at a specific point in the swing. What sort of drills would help me to ensure this is fixed? Stu

This is my first post asking for assistance here - hope someone can post something useful!! I've been playing golf now for 9 years and my current handicap is 8.5. I had some trouble around 3 months ago with my driver where I'd get a horrible snap-hook and I'd often hook my irons too. So, I took a lesson and the guy advised that my right hand had moved to a very strong position. He said I'd need to move it back to a more neutral grip and that my game would get worse before it got better. Well..... My game has gone downhill BIG TIME - I've probably played 20 rounds since then and not once have I hit any better than 14 over par. The biggest issue I have is a horrible shot that looks like a sh*nk but it's not. With any iron (even a SW), this shot can appear from nowhere, sending the ball off at a 45* angle from the intended target. I can feel it's the club twisting in my hand at impact - forcing the clubface open. Linked to this is the fact that my glove has severe wear on the palm under my pinkie despite ensuring that I'm holding the club diagonally across my fingers and not in my palm. It feels like I'm "letting go" of the club at some point in my swing. I've tried gripping harder but it still happens. Does anyone have any good drills/tips/exercises that will identify/fix this? Thanks Stu

My best course would have to be Royal Cinque Ports in Kent, England. It's a links course where the wind is with you on the front 9 and against you on the back 9. This means 350yd drives on the front and 200yd drives on the back, sometimes leaving you unable to reach par 4's over 400 yds!!!

Definitely Tiger for me!!

Mine is http://www.topmeadow.co.uk - cheap and cheerful we call it!!!

I work for a large US bank as an Integration Consultant. Basically I enable different software packages to talk to each other!!!