grizfan

So, this is sort of a stupid question, but here goes... I just recently picked up a new golf bag, a nearly-new Mizuno Omega II cart bag from Craig's List, to replace a fairly cheap stand bag. it has the Kabuki 14-way top: Any tips/advice on how to arrange my clubs? I have a 4-PW, SW, GW and LW, putter, driver, 3-wood and 7-wood. I've been messing around with different arrangements, but was wondering if anyone had any tips or suggestions. Thanks!

If you can squeeze a few more dollars out of your budget, 3balls.com has some nice wedges available through their Amazon.com storefront that should meet your needs. I've ordered from 3balls.com through their Amazon storefront before and had great service. As a fellow lefty, I know how tough it can be to find clubs, especially when working within a budget. This rather long link should show you some options: http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=12525954...011&sort;=price good luck!

Zillow.com is a good place to start. The key is to find out what houses in your area are actually selling for. Try to find comparable properties. This will mean a LOT of internet searches. I stumbled across a few realtor websites that had a ton of MLS data exposed, including sale price on recently sold houses. Also, your county's assessor office could be a great resource. I used a combination of these to arrive at what I felt was a reasonable price per square foot measurement for a house in my area with similar features/build quality. I then used that to help set my price. My FSBO office did a great job of helping us market the houses we sold. They have a magazine that is readily available in our area, a good website and they provided a lot of signs for us to use. We made some nice, very informative flyers, too. Then, there's Craig's List and other online resources. I am a website manager, so I was able to build my own website to market our house the 2nd time, which helped. You never know where that lead will come from. Next up, getting the house ready for sale, staging it, making it more attractive than the competition (see step one for scouting out the competition). Also, talk to a loan officer at a bank or two; be ready to help the prospective buyer with any financing needs. Have financing information as part of your house flyer. Houses will always sell, it is just a matter of adjusting your time to sell or the price you get. Having reasonable expectations of what you can/should sell your house for is really important. Make sure you don't let emotions get in the way here.

We sold our last two houses through our local FSBO office. The first time was after 6 failed months of trying with an agent (during a pretty healthy sellers' market, too). Our local FSBO office even included attorney fees to review the 1st offer, though we never took them up on it. The title company does a LOT of the heavy lifting anyway. Unless you expect the sale to have unusual circumstances, it is a pretty simple contract, there are lots of standard forms to use. Personally, I will never go near a real estate agent ever again. I think 6% is a shameless rip-off of the consumer, and I find how the NAR guards the MLS data to be pretty much a monopoly. In my mind, 6% amounts to price fixing. One person selling a $200,000 house may need $12,000 in help selling that house, while a different person may only need $2,000 worth of help. Or I might be willing to pay more for the agent with years of experience, but not nearly that much for the rookie agent. But, your circumstances need to be considered. Are you willing to do a lot of work on your own? Can you market your house? Can you emotionally detach yourself from your house in order to set a reasonable price? How patient are you? It’s a brutal market out there, without having someone to “coach” you, it would be easy to panic, get impatient, or otherwise make a bad decision. It takes time, work, patience and steady nerves, but it can be done and it can save you a significant amount of money. I believe you owe it to yourself to do the research.

I've been reading Get YOurself in Golf Shape: Year-Round Drills to Build a Strong Flexible Swing . I've skimmed through the book and have just started reading it in full, but it seems to make a lot of sense, and I like how the author explains the physiology of the golf swing. There are some wieght training excercises, but also a lot of stretching to improve flexibility. There's a lot of information on general exercise plans, but this is one of the few resources I've found that concentrates on conditioning specific to playing golf.

I had a bad run a while back with other people picking up my ball, so now I mark my ball by writing "not yours" on my golf balls with a green sharpie.

Bungee cord did the trick. Turns out, my Odyssey has mount points for a cargo net system that work great for securing my clubs with a bungee cord. Thanks for the tip!

Actually, that might just work in conjunction with the little hooks for plastic grocery bags...

I have a 2007 Honda Odyssey EX-L mini-van.In the Spring and Fall, in addition to playing a lot of golf, I coach two youth soccer teams. So, I have lots of gear to haul around, in addition to the wife and 4 kids. My soccer coaching gear includes field flags that are about 6 feet long, so I fold down the small side of the back seat. When I do this, I no longer have room in the back to lay my clubs (and one of the kid's clubs) flat on the floor. So, I try to stand them up on the other side, but that doesn't last past the 2nd or 3rd turn and I wind up with crap scattered all over the back. So, I'm hoping to find a way to secure my golf clubs standing upright in the far back, perhaps some sort of velcro strap system, or something like that. Has anyone ran across such a thing? Any one out there figure out a way to carry your clubs standing upright behind the 3rd row seat in a mini-van? thanks!

I've seen this brand at the local discount sporting goods store (Big 5 Sporting Goods). Probably not the best clubs, but as plark mentioned, if you play well with them, it really doesn't matter. But, if you don't, you may want to look at swapping things out, depending on your budget. I found myself in a similar position this Spring. I eventually replaced my clubs after taking lessons. New clubs = more confidence and probably helped, but the money I spent on lessons has had the most impact. As a fellow lefty, I know that finding good deals and bargains on clubs is tough, but you can still find a name-brand set of irons, if you know where to look. If you're interested in going down that route, let me know.

I have a very similar problem; what do you mean by "flipping"? thanks!

OK - I'll go against the grain here and recommend NOT getting fitted at this point, unless you are outside the range of "normal" for height and weight. The reason why I recommend you wait is that, at this point, your swing will be all over the map. At some point, getting fitted would be great, but I know plenty of highly-skilled golfers swinging off-the-rack clubs. But, taking a class or getting lessons? That is really smart. So, where to start with the clubs. First, if possible, could you borrow some clubs for your 1st few classes? After a couple of classes hitting borrowed clubs, you should have a much better feel for what clubs you'll want. Next, you can carry up to 14 clubs in your bag, but I would keep things simple at first until you've had a few classes or lessons and had the chance to play a couple of rounds. There are the basic clubs, but each person has his/her own tastes in different combos of wedges, woods, hybrids, etc... Your choice in these clubs will need to suite who you are as a player. My neighbor swears by his hybrid 3 and 4, my brother in law couldn't live without his 2 iron, and I like my 7 wood and extra wedges. And, that will change as I progress as a golfer. Because of this, I wouldn't worry too much about things beyond the "basics". For irons, a set that starts with either a 3 or 4 iron through pitching wedge, and a sand wedge would be a good start. A putter, and then a 3 wood. Later, you can add a driver, once you've gained some experience. I started out with an 9-piece irons set from Adams (4-9 iron, with PW, GW and SW), then a 3 wood and putter. After practice and lessons, I added in a 60* lob wedge, my driver and a 7 wood. Depending on your game, the courses you play, etc... you may want to have fewer wedges and no 7 wood, but a couple of hybrids instead. Its just a lot easier to make that decision once you've played a bit more. As far as where to get your clubs, I would avoid eBay for now. You can get some great deals, but you'll need to avoid the frauds and you will need to really know what you want. But, used is always a great option. Not sure about where you live, but if you have a golf retail store like Golf Galaxy, check out their used club selection. Play It Again Sports can also be a great option, as is your local Craig's list. The key here is that you are able to hold the club before buying (hitting it would be even better). I would recommend sticking with a name-brand, though. Chances are pretty good that you'll be selling these clubs within a year. Either you'll love golf and will want clubs more suited to your game as it develops, or you'll bail on golf. Either way, selling older name-brand clubs is a LOT easier than moving no-name clubs. Parting advice - start small, then build out your clubs as you experience grows. Learn how to swing a club first and learn how a golf club works. Then, fill out your bag and enjoy!

That's actually a good point. While skilled, experienced players can step up and just hit their shot, I for one really need to focus on the basics and go through my checklist. Check my grip, stance, balance, posture, position from the ball, position of the ball in my stance, hand position, then, once those are taken care of, I focus on a nice, clean take-away and a good follow through. Good things happen when I make sure I pay attention to the basics.

Sorry about coming across a bit "dick-ish", really wasn't my intention. But, that was the advice I got this Spring, and it really helped put me in a good frame of mind about this game. Then I read the Ben Hogan book, which sort of reinforced this mindset. Basically, before this, in my mind a good golf swing was something sort of mysterious, but if I kept hacking away long enough, it would reveal itself to me. Turns out, there is a correct technique to a good swing. Proper instruction and practice is the secret. Hogan's book helped a lot, so did lessons. Oh... and my hat is off to your bargain hunting skills. If you can hone your golf skills to match you bargain shopping skills, you'll be a force to be reckoned with.

You're inconsistent because you are not very good and don't know what you are doing, at least that is what someone told me when I first started to learn this game. Pretty brutal, but usually pretty accurate, too. So, what to do? As CG031 mentioned, Ben Hogan's Five Fundamentals is probably the best ten bucks you'll spend on your golf game. Read the entire book, then keep it handy for reference, that would be a great start. But, from looking at the gear you have in your sig, you're not afraid to spend money on golf. So... get lessons. That will go further to help your game than any money spend on clubs. Chances are, you do need some help with your grip, but I'm willing to bet there are three or four other things about your swing that are bringing you down; things you don't even know about. Get lessons now, before those bad habbits get too ingrained in your swing. I'm speaking from experience. Few people can work out a good swing on their own. I tried for years. This summer, I took the plunge, read some books (including Five Fundamentals) and most importantly, I got lessons. For the 1st time, thanks to lessons, I'm seeing repeatable, consitent improvements in my game. Best money I spent. Next Spring, when I have time to spend on golf, I'll be back for more lessons.

Actually, there are: http://www.sillybeliefs.com/magnets.html http://www.quackwatch.com/04Consumer...QA/magnet.html There are more, this is just a sample. To the OP - instead of relying on voodoo snake oil, just see your doctor. Find out for certain what is bothering you. Then, find a medically sound way to treat the condition. Anything else is just a waste of money.

I'm a high-handicapper, but I'm coming off of lessons and a fair amount of practice this summer. My game is improving greatly, and I'm hitting the ball much more consistently. I'm even improving with my driver. I'm a lefty, and when I'm hitting the driver well, I'm playing a slight right to left fade. But, I seem to be getting what I consider too much height on my drives. When I'm hitting well, I estimate I'm getting about 230-240 on my drives, but I'm getting more height than I do on my 3 wood, 7 wood or 4 iron. I'm worried that this height might be costing me distance. It seems like most other people I watch on the range (at least the ones that look like they know what they're doing) are keeping their drives much lower. I've tried varying the tee height, but once I go below having half the ball above the crown of the club (when resting the driver on the ground), I lose considerable accuracy and distance. I'm hitting a Cleveland Hi-Bore 10.5* stock shaft driver, but I've only had it for about 3 weeks (really starting to like it, though). Any common causes for this or am I worrying about nothing? thanks!

Hi fellow lefty/beginner. As others have mentioned, lessons are really worth the effort and price. I duffed around for years, then decided to take things a bit more seriously and got lessons. That made a huge difference. Since taking lessons last month, I went from giving up on keeping score to almost breaking 100 on a real golf course yesterday. That never would have happened without having a pro watch me swing and help me fix what was broken. I've discovered that there really isn't anything mysterious or magical about hitting a golf ball, it just comes down to learning the proper technique and practice. Also, if lessons aren't an option yet (I hope they would be, but just in case...) have someone videotape your swing (actually several) from a couple of angles. you can post here, but you can also watch yourself to see what you *think* you're doing is what you are actually doing. Good luck, and stick with it. It can be frustrating for those of us at this stage, but when you make progress and start to see real improvement, it is certainly worth it ;)

I second the recomendation for lessons. Having a trained pro watch you to find where the faults are is a great help. Here's a couple of things I learned recently that might help (I'm no expert, but hopefully you'll benefit). First, when hitting your driver, put the ball at the front of your stance. The driver is the only club you want to be hitting "up" on. Another tip I got from my lessons was to re-think the whole "keep your head down" thing. The important thing is to keep your eye on the ball through impact. I was literally keeping my head down, so I had no room for my shoulder to turn under my chin on take-away. The end result was that my head was moving a lot, causing problems. Maybe that would help a bit. But, really consider lessons. I did a 3 pack of 1-hour private lessons at a nearby executive course for $120. It made a world of difference. But, if that's not an option for you at this point, an alternative would be picking up a few good books, then have someone go with you to the driving range with a camcorder to record your swings.

There's some good advice here. One option to consider is to wait to fill you bag until you get a better feel for the clubs you have. I would recomend a sand wedge and a 3 wood because those would fill some fairly standard needs. That would leave you two slots, with a hybrid, gap wedge or lob wedge contending for those last two spots. If it were my decision, I would feel more comfortable with a few rounds under my belt with the new clubs before filling those last two slots.

At this point, I would recomend keeping the equipment costs down and spending your money on some lessons. If you like the clubs from your father in law, then stay with those for now. Otherwise, hit the used market (local Craig's list, eBay, 3balls, Globalgolf.com, Rock Bottom, etc...) Start with a putter, some irons, and then build from there. But, lessons now, before you learn bad habbits, will really speed up your learning process. At this point, keep things simple, most of the more complex decisions (loft, shaft flex, etc...) won't really come into play until you have a good, reliable, repeatable swing. A properly hit ball on a cheap club beats a poorly hit ball on a nice club. Good luck!

A 9-iron to cover 152? You'd have to be a really good golfer to get a 9-iron to cover that kind of distance. Considering you hadn't played yet this season, maybe your expectations were getting ahead of your game? Something that I do that helps with club selection is to carry around a yardage chart for each club in my back. I did a quick Google search on this, found this site: http://www.leaderboard.com/LOFTINFO.htm (there are scores of others, but I chose this one). I then took their nominal club distance info for each club, plugged it into Excel, then tooks some other info and charts related to chipping/pitching, printed it out and made a laminated card to hang from my bag. Now I know that just because I have a 7-iron in my hand I'm not getting a 140-yard shot, but this does give me a good point of reference. For me, if I'm facing a 152 yard par 3, and I think I'm playing well, I might pull my 7-iron because, for me, a good, full swing with my 7 will get me there. A quick look at my chart tells me that a 9-iron is no where near enough club. With the right club in your hand, you won't have to swing for the fences, either. If your handicap index is a good indicator of where you're at with your game, it sounds like you're in the same ballpark as I am. Some things I've learned recently. First, lessons pay off, for a 30+ handicapper like myself, that's the only legit shortcut I can think of. Next, keep track of how you play (how many puts, fairway shots, GIRs, things like that). Find out where your game needs the most work. But, most of all, keep your expectations in check or you'll have nothing but frustration. Again, you list a handicap index of 30, it is your 1st time out this year, and you pull a 9-iron out of your bag for a 152 yard hole. A 6 or 7 probably would have made more sense.

My instructor did show me the neutral grip, but as someone getting proper instruction for the first time, doing things the correct way still feels a bit strange ;) But, that was just the 1st of three lessons and I've only had the chance to hit 2 small buckets of balls since then, I'm hoping the neutral grip will become second nature after some more instruction and practice. Still, having a visual aid for reference while I learn this will help. To compound things for me, I'm left handed, and very little instructional material is "translated" to lefty, so I have to translate myself. This is a lot easier with still photos instead of video. So, I'm hoping to find an illustration or photo showing a neutral grip and where the "V" on each hand should point. Hopefully, by the time I finish my lessons and get some more practice under my belt, a proper grip will become second nature. But, right now I'm "un-learning" some bad habits, so having a visual aid to help reinforce what my instructor has shown me would really help. thanks!

As a relative new comer, I've heard lots of people mention a strong grip, weak grip or neutral grip, but I'm not sure exactly what these mean. I'm taking lessons and my instructor is having me use a neutral grip. Does any one know of any good visual references that show the these variations of a grip? I'm hoping to have a visual reference for what a neutral grip looks like. Also, I'm curious what happens when one uses a weak or strong grip? thanks!

http://golf.about.com/cs/tipslessons...downdammit.htm http://www.lifeintherough.com/2007/0...n-on-the-ball/ http://www.grouchygolf.com/2006/05/g...ith-irons.html There are others, but this should give you a good idea of what this means. Also, the bump and run rocks! http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...45511284758347 - this video does a nice job of illustrating the point. Get good at this, and you could really improve your scores...