schigara

Thank you. Anyone who is offended by words needs to grow a backbone. "There are no bad words. There are bad feelings and bad intentions but the words, themselves are neutral." ~George Carlin~

When is Haney going to teach Phelps some fundamentals like how to properly take the club back. Phelps first move is to roll his wrists. He fully opens the club face in less than a foot of club head travel. All he tells him is speed up!! WTF kind of instruction is that?

I'd be going freakin nuts with these snails ahead of him. It has got to be affecting his play.

cbs.sportsline.com click on "watch live"

Yup. Even when he plays at 70-80%, he's still better than everyone else.

Yeah, you would think right? Only problem was those 6 footers on the practice green had no break.

Just my personal experience with a long putter. About 2 years ago, I bought a used Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball Long putter. I saw it at a shop in Memphis that deals in just used clubs and tried it out on the little practice green. It was amazing! I was making 6 footers like it was a 3 footer. I told my buddy If I made 20 in a row from 6feet, I would buy it. Well, I made 23 in a row and took it home. I was in love with it until I tried to make long distance lag puts. It was horrible. I rarely 3 putt because I am pretty good controlling speed but If I was 30+ feet away, I couldn't control being 6 feet short or 6 feet long. After just 6 rounds, I cut the length down to my usual of 29in and it has been my favorite putter since then.

Are there any online streams of the coverage?

I am not the longest hitter, by far but I did drive a 304 yard par 4 green last weekend. We were playing the blue tees and the tee was about 3 feet in front of the concrete stone marker for 304yards. The tee is level with the green and it was 97 degrees with a heat index around 108. It landed 10 yards shy and ended up 16 feet from the pin and for my 3rd eagle ever, I dropped the putt. This eagle erased my double two holes prior and went on to shoot an even par 35 for the 9. My best 9 score to date. I have driven this green once before 3 weeks earlier. I normally have a 30-60 yard pitch into this green but since I fixed my casting swing and now have a proper swing where I release at the bottom of the arc, I am hitting much further with much less effort. My 150 club used to be my 6 iron and now is a smooth 8 or a hard 9. Like most people will tell you, distance does not translate directly to a good score. When I had a casting type swing, I was very inconsistent so I had to develop my short game to score with and I did manage to shoot mid eighties most of the time with the occasional 81-83. Since revamping my swing, the extra distance is nice and I consider just a bonus as the real advantage is much greater consistency with more GIR's since I am no longer over the top I generally hit the center of the face now and either take a divot after the ball or sweep with little to no divot. This new and proper swing is just 6 weeks old(played for 6 years casting the club) so it is not all solid or automatic yet as I still have to think about it.

Yes. We played Kirkwood National which is a very long and very hilly course in North Mississippi. It is gorgeous and perfectly manicured. The greens are very fast and smooth and roll smooth as can be. The first time we played we shot mid-high 90's and normally are high 70's to mid 80's players. Each hole is so scenic and unique, we didn't care what our score was, we just wanted to see what the next hole looked like. If you are ever in the Memphis Tn. area, there are a few must play public courses. #5. Tunica National .........a beautiful links style course. #4. Quail Ridge......mid length course that demands very precise tee shots #3. Forest Hill in Drummonds Tn.....this is a very large and beautiful course that is fair but favors accuracy over power. #2.Mirimichi...this is Justin Timberlake's course...used to be Big Creek.....gorgeous and lots of money spent but not very difficult. #1. Kirkwood National....Holly Springs, Ms....middle of nowhere but totally difficult and awesome

I used to only ride carts because I was a smoker. I quit smoking 18 months ago and now love to walk and walk whenever I can. I play better because I have time between shots to think and shake off any bad shots. Also, just because you are in a cart does not mean you are faster than a walker. Me and my playing partner get held up by cart riders all the time. Walkers tend to play faster where riders tend to play slower but they do technically get to their ball faster but since most courses require a pair riding to use one cart, they ultimately play slower than a pair that are walking that get to their respective balls at the same time whereas the two in the cart, get to one ball, decide club, shoot and then travel to the other persons ball, decide club selection and shoot. It is very rare that cart players play faster than me and my walking buddy. The biggest difference though is actual pace of play. Riding or walking, a considerate player will assess the basic distance and lie while enroute to the ball and will take just one partial or full practice swing, at most, and then fire and quickly place the club back in the bag and roll. He will not get to the ball, look around for 45 seconds for markers and then decide which club and then take 4 full power practice swings and then stab the club in the ground and go 10 feet or slice/hook out of bounds! Courses in Memphis are very crowded during the weekends and when we are held up with slow play, 95% of the time, it's cart riders who know jack &*$%@ about etiquette. It is extremely rare to get held up by walkers. Walkers tend not to be ignorant or rude like riders also. When held up by walkers, they are much more inclined to offer to let faster groups go by than riders. Since we have gotten 98-100 ambient temps with 100-110 index temps, I have been getting the cart as I like to play 27-36 holes and am not a big fan of heat strokes.

Today I shot a 35 on the back 9 of our little local muni which is a par 35. Going off the back on 10, I hit a perfect 3 iron on a dogleg left par 4 and proceeded to thin my approach shot which went over the green and down the slope about 30 feet below the green surface and ended up with a double bogey. I am now 2 over and hit a nice 6 iron to a 169 yd par3 and burn the edge from 12 feet and settle with par. Next hole is a short 304yd par 4 and I drive the green barely and, with a 16 foot right to left breaker, I manage to drop the eagle putt! After that I shot par, bogey, par, par, par and birdie. I have been shooting mid eighties for quite a while due to a pretty good short game but my driving was very erratic. I would hit a 260-290 bullet one drive and the next would either snap hook or slice so my entire game was a scramble to get close and then get up and down. Yesterday, we were playing and my best bud/playing partner points out that my stance over my tee shot is closed and says he thinks this is causing my difficulty with clearing my hips and the inconsistency so I open my stance just a bit(maybe 3-5 degrees) and all of a sudden, I am hitting perfectly straight to baby fade shots over and over. I hit 11 fairways in a row. Today I get to the course late and my 2 other friends have already played 13 holes and meet them on 14 tee. I hit 2 tee shots into the woods to practice a bit and get loose and then hit my first shot for real and it works just like the day before. I shoot 14-18 one over par and then even par on the back as we started the back again. The confidence from my driving now is spilling over into all the other aspects of my game. I was confident in hitting a shot around a tree from 190yds with a 4 iron that had to draw about 30 yards otherwise would have been lost in a ditch had it have gone straight. Sorry to be so long winded but I am very excited since this seemed easy to do today. I was actually frustrated over 3 of the pars that could have been birdies but lipped out.

Blackxpress, You are so right. I played yesterday with the long putter. I got my approach inside 10 feet on the first two holes and birdied each one. I was totally blown away and thought this putter was pure magic. From here on out, my approaches were less than great and had a very hard time with distance control with the long putter. A few times I was outside 40 feet and one shot came up 15 feet short and a few were 10 feet long. I shot 91. I had no idea where I was. I went back to the regular putter today and shot 79. Oh well, just another learning experience.

That is what I used to think. I thought it was a last ditch, desperate move of someone who can no longer stroke a "real" putter. My golf bud and I finished up 18 at our favorite local muni and then went to a golf shop right up the road that deals in just used clubs as he needed a sand wedge. I began to check out the putters to see if there was a belly putter I could try and there was one but it didn't feel good at all and then I noticed a long putter.....yuck. I am a fairly young guy at 36 who was just curious to try a belly putter and surely am not about to swallow all my pride and be seen using a long putter! I tried the long putter and liked it. The little practice green had two holes that gave about a 9-10 foot putt. There were five balls and I had watched Adam Scott putt so I knew the basics of how to anchor a long putter and swing using just the right arm and I put those five balls right in the center of the cup from about 8.5 feet. I told my buddy, "I just sank 5 in a row with this big goofy putter", he said yeah right. I pulled the balls from the hole and aimed at the hole which was diagonal to this last hole which is about 9.5 feet and holed the 6th-10th putt in a row. He actually saw all these and the rest drop. He walked over and watched and I said, "I just made 10 in a row and If I can hit 25, I am going to buy this thing". I proceeded to drop 27 in a row total before slightly missing so I did buy it. It's a 47.5" Odyssey Long White Hot 2 Ball. I tried hard and was not able to hit more than 7 in a row with a traditional putter. I have been practicing all night in the living room from 14 feet to the leg of a chair and I am able to die the ball at the leg from any angle about 95% of the time. Going to play tomorrow for the first time with the long putter. What's everyone elses experience with a long putter on course the first time?

Your problem seems a bit like what I have experienced for the 7 years I have played until recently. My 150 club was a 6 iron and my driver and 3 wood was 200-230. I played for years this way and managed to shoot mid 80’s due to decent short game and putting. In my swing, I released early(casting) and lost all power and came over the top a bit and hit off the toe most of the time. My buddy pointed out how steep my swing plane was and I shallowed it out and started to notice how I could make better contact but I was still casting so I barely gained 5 yards per club. I went to the range and worked again on taking the club to parallel and holding the angle until hands passed the right knee and holy cow! A new world opened up. All of a sudden I felt how to “swing” the club rather than hit at a ball. This helped to free up tension in my arms and wrists and I was hitting the sweet spot and swinging much faster. At the range I go to, you can hit from the mats or you can walk to the right side of the property and hit from the grass range. The grass range is aimed at a highway and is 220 yards to the net which is about 40feet high. I would usually hit my driver that would land at the 200 marker and then roll up to or bounce against the net. Sometimes I would hit the lower part of the net. When I corrected my swing plane and began holding off the release, some(1 of 5) of my driver shots actually flew over the 40 ft tall net at 220 yards and when I hit the sweet spot, my 6 iron was landing around 190 yards and rolling up to the net. Since then I have had to totally relearn my distances. Instead Of using driver on every non-par3 hole, I only use driver 5-7 times per round on most courses playing from blue tees. Without video, I would suspect you are casting the club which is what most amateurs do.

History..... I started playing golf about 6 years ago and I always had a casting type of swing and when I saw Steve Stricker a few years ago, I stopped hinging in the backswing and tried to swing more like him. This served me well for a few years and I would normally shoot low to mid 80's and could, at times, shot in the 70's. My distance has always sucked though. I am 5' 10" 195lbs (muscular) and very flexible. People I play with always comment on what a beautiful shoulder turn I have and I sometimes hear them whispering, "I can't believe his ball doesn't go any further than it does". When I swing out of my shoes, my drive goes about 245-250 and a normal 80% swing yields about 225. My 9 iron barely gets 110yards and my 6 iron is my 150 club. I have been ok with these weak distances because my short game and putting are pretty good. I have always fought coming over the top and, until recently, was winning the battle. I have started slicing again and hitting so fat that is was killing my left elbow. My cure and a giant revelation..... I went to the range and was determined to fight through this again and get to where I could muddle through with my Stricker swing so I bought a giant $20 bucket of balls and proceeded to hit balls but mainly I was hitting the mat (too wet to hit from turf area). I started to get miffed and I told myself to calm down and try something different. 1. Crazy definition: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I relaxed my grip , took a slow and smooth backswing, while allowing my wrists to fully hinge, and tried to feel what it is that makes Tiger and Sergio's swing look the way it looks. I focused on staying loose and letting the club lay down at the beginning of the downswing and hold the wrist angle until the last moment and oh my god, the feeling of over the top was gone and the 7 iron I was hitting went 150 yards and I barely swung at the ball. It had a nice little push draw shape as well. I kept working at it and noticed the fat shot and the toe shot was gone too. I was hitting pure shots 9-10 times. I took out the 9 iron (110 yards max normally) and was hitting it 125 without swinging hard and, since it was raining, I could see exactly where it was landing due to the puddles and they were grouping in about a 20 foot circle. I then stepped up the power to see how far I could take the 9 and was getting out at 140 and then I added a little forward press and got out to 155. This range's markers are pretty accurate as my yardages match what I shoot on the courses I play. I played 27 holes yesterday and had a great time for the first time in months. The best thing was I didn't hit a single fat shot. I didn't shoot a good score as it was the first time with this swing and I don't yet know how to control the direction well. My buddies were freaking out with my drives. There are 2 short par 4's that I have never gotten closer than 35-40 yards from. The first is a 302 par 4 and we had a slight wind in the face and I took about an 80% swing with the driver and the ball took off a bit right and looked good but with trees in the fairway, I couldn't see how far it went. I walk down the fairway and start looking for where my ball usually is and it is not there. My buddy says to keep walking and I find it sitting down in the thick fringe 20 feet directly right of the green! The next short par4 is 318 yard and in the same direction as the other so still some wind in the face and again I hit a slight push that ends up about 8 yars right of green and about 10 yards from the green. A small chip and I'm 5 feet from the pin. I am loving this now. Of course, I get overly confident and spray my next two drives but I am still happy. This is like a whole new game. Finally hitting the distance I should is just a bonus, though. The main thing is I am now hitting the ball first with a forward shaft lean and making very clean contact. Sorry for the long winded post but I had to tell someone else about my joy.

Very good point. Until it becomes natural or automatic, I focus on the right wrist and making sure it is cupped which causes the left wrist to stay flat.

I have always played with a slightly cupped wrist in the backswing and I have always fought a fade or slice. About a month ago, I started concentrating on keeping my left wrist flat or very slightly bowed and it has helped me a lot. I am now hitting push draws with all clubs and am actually getting lag in my swing. My 150yd club was always a 7 iron and now it's a hard 9 or easy 8iron. I have taken video of my swing now and i can clearly see a bowed wrist at impact with the hands ahead of the ball. Before, I always had a flip.

Thanks. Waiting for TV coverage sucks.

Hey guys, that was a crazy finish. I just got back from Southwind and baking in the sun all day. We were just walking back from the 18th green in the direction of 18 tee box toward our car after seeing Westwood and Slocum finish and thinking it was over, we wanted to beat traffic. We were halfway around the fairway when we saw Garrigus hit into the trees. We didnt know, at the time, he already hit his drive in the water so we stopped and watched him triple out for the tie. Ofcourse, we stayed and watched the 4 playoff holes. I couldn't believe how both Westwood and Karlsson missed those 3 and 4 footers on 12. This was my first tournament to attend and I loved it, especially since the guy I was rooting for won.

Actually, yes. Just last Sunday, I shot a 77....granted on a fairly easy course but today I go out and shoot a 105. I was hitting my drives well but my irons were either dead ground hooks or a high slice. I got so pissed because I was shooting so badly, I could not diagnose my problem during play. When I got home and relaxed and started swinging slowly, I quickly realized I was cupping my left wrist very badly. During play, I thought I was coming over the top, which I have not done in over two years. You can just imagine how I tried to compensate for this, at the time. I still had the same swing except I had a very open blade. My 56 which usually goes 85-90yds was only going 45-50yds and way right of target and my 47 PW was only going 75-80yds instead of 115-120yds and again right of target.

I don't buy them. The problem is, I and many others get stuck behind so many hackers with their cavity back clubs that zig zag all the fairways all day long. The OS CB club is counter productive. It kinda allows for laziness and sloppy aim. I shot like this myself for 3 years with CB clubs until I bit the bullet and taught myself to hit the ball using Titleist 690.mb's. I wish someone had smacked me upside the head and forced me to hit a club that makes you focus and hit small. I wasted 3 years cheating myself by hitting CB's. CB's work just fine for people that can already hit consistantly but they don't work well to get beginners or high handicappers to hitting well. They just mask poor swings. If you're new to the game, don't waste time on an easy to hit club. Eventually, you will want to consistantly hit the center of the club face. Start with a difficult to hit blade iron and learn to make contact and then once you make good contact, then go with any club you want.

The commercials always say something like, "you want extra distance and forgiveness, this is what we try provide with our crappy ass A07-355 something or other OS irons." "Hey....they may be ugly and heavy as a brick but your sloppy swing can hit them so far off center that it doesn't matter." Does anyone really want or believe an extremely large and heavy giant cavity back will help their crappy, inadequate swing? The last thing I want is a false sense of security that a OS cavity back provides. Who buys this crap?

My hands tend to sweat so I wear one for all but putting.