uppi

just got over a slight case of the shanks. For me my backswing was too steep, and I had a HUGE over the top problem. I'm starting my backswing more to the inside now with a slightly flatter swing plane, hitting nice draws.

I started this season at 14.3 . This was my first time back golfing since my high school days and I was probably a 14-15 back then too. I have been playing 4-5 times a week and I just turned in a score yesterday that put my trend to a 9.6 . Now the hard part is going to be keeping it there most of my scores the past week have been in the 11 range. I had a streak of two weeks were I was breaking 40 everytime out just about but im kind of in a rut right now where I shoot 40-42, no better or worse.

Yup. For the most part I have stopped hitting at the range all together. The only time I really use it now is maybe to warm up with a few balls I dont know why this is, but if I am hitting it bad at the range, it usually means I will be ok on the course. If I am hitting great shots on the range, I go to the course and hit the ball like crap. I dont get it. Whenever I try hitting buckets of ballls at the range, I start getting sloppy and changing my swing and just struggle through most of the balls. Afterward I feel like I accomplished nothing. you almost have to use the range only to work on a specific component of your swing, and not worry at all where the ball is going.

Yes thats true but he also hit the ball about 30-40 yards farther back then too. The hole point of haney's flatter makeover of tigers old "upright" butch harmon swing was to give him more accuracy/consistency off the tee. The downside to this new swing was he does not hit the ball quite as far as he used to, as evidenced during the masters when Phil was bombing it way past him. Yet despite his loss in distance, he hasnt gotten ANY more consistent off the tee, in fact I would venture to say he is worse.

Yes, tiger has won 3 tournaments this year with some top 10's. Average year for him at best. Yes Tiger is leading the money list and wins category, but in my opinion his competition has not been stellar, particularly in majors. A practical no name wins Us Open, and a 60 year old almost wins the British, and he still can't get it done. Hell if Tiger doesn't blow up on a series of holes in the US and British, he's right there. Yes Tiger put the ball in the fairway at Congressional, he hit 3 wood the majority of the time. Didn't he bogey the long par 4 every day of the week because he lashed his driver into the deep stuff. Yes he gets hot once in a while, but I don't ever remember him being this streaky (win one week, miss the cut the next) heck he used to win 4-5 tournaments straight.

I have heard more than one ESPN sportswriter say Tiger should go back to Butch Harmon. And just not for missing a cut this past week, but because of how wild and inconsistent he has been under Haney specifically with the driver. I have heard many arguments on this forum that Tiger has been winning IN SPITE of his coaching/swing change. It seems like his swing has changed so much under Haney that there is nothing left of his "natural swing" and he is trying to force everything. To me the way he is swearing and banging his clubs all the time, he never seems very comfortable anymore. Its as if hes lost that mental edge/confidence somewhere between the 2008 US open and now. Would a new swing coach be good for Tiger? Discuss. And I think Haney is a great coach, im just wondering if he is the right coach for Tiger?

I had a tournament this past weekend. Shot 164 for 36 holes (81-83). On my second day, I was doing OK, but not great (had a 40 on the front, and if I shot 38 on the back that would put me in a tie for the lead and would have been a playoff). Well I had two doubles and a triple, and STILL managed to shoot 43 on the back. I finished my last 3 holes at -1. I did the same thing on the front 9 with my 40, finished the last 3 holes at -1. So not only do I understand the different golfer thing from 9 to 9, I understand completely different golfer from hole to hole.

I think that hes probably in some kind of major slump. Ever since that US open win at Torrey last year, he has been labeled as invincible. He had to sit around for 8 months and watch paddy win two back to back majors, and then see the US ryder cup team win without him. I think he came back and wants to win a major now so badly that he is puting too much pressure on himself. And each time he finishes in the top 10 of a major this year, it seems like he puts even more pressure on himself for the next one. People can say that its only a missed cut its no big deal and they are probably right, but that doesnt mean im not a little worried right now. All I know is he has only missed 2 cuts in a major ever (as a pro) and one of them was a legitimate excuse with his father dying. Whats the excuse/reason for this one?

LOL. I had a buddy I played with a few weeks back, he had just gotten a GPS device. from 20 yards in he would be looking at his GPS then looking at the hole to try and confirm his distance, I was just thinking "DUDE< your 20 yards in, its a feel shot" he would then procede to shank his chip to the right side of the green lol. Anyways, I dont believe that GPS finders should be allowed in tournament play. The pro's cant use them, why should amateurs get to. It takes away from the game in my opinion. You could say the same about the golf club technology thats out now (specifically to me the adjustable drivers are are little unfair in my opinion). To me that was always a big part of the game, was using your brain and some judgment to decide what distance you have. Look at various markers around the course, putting all the information together (wind, pin placement, yardage markers, slope and choose the correct club based on the information you have.) Its not just the yardage to the hole that I think gives players a huge advantage. These GPS devices now will show you a mapout of ALL hazards on the hole, yardages to those, correct for slope adjustments, etc. That is a huge advantage, especially that person has never played the course before. The same thing with these new adjustable drivers. Rather than fix a slice by working on ones swing, people with severe slices will just adjust the driver so they can keep the same crappy swing, but hit it straight. Its like a handicap for the handicap, and I think these kinds of things are ruining the game.

I think buying used premium balls for everyday play is the best way to go. If you are going to buy top flites feels or gamers or another lesser callibur ball, buy them new. However I dont believe ANYBODY should buy brand new premium balls (titleist prov1, bridgestone B330's, etc) for everyday play. Too much money spent. I would consider myself a decent player however when not playing well can easily lose 4 balls in an 18 hole round. So I buy all used / refurbished prov1's and I have a couple of brand new sleeves of prov1x 's which I use only for league and tournament play.

In a casual round, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that in my opinion. Just have two types of best scores: causual round and tournament round. People might call me a cheater, but when im playing a casual round, if I hit a ball and then go over there and cant find it in the rough, etc. i just drop one and play it from there. I take a penalty for dropping it, but I dont take distance, especially when its busy out there. When I go into a hazard, im not taking my driver out and measuring three club lengths and droping from nearest point in, I just go up to where I think my ball when in and drop one. Also if im right behind a tree, I pull it out and hit it. Why risk breaking my club in a casual round trying to hit it? If its under a tree or something like that I will take and unplayable, but if I can actually swing at it, but doing so might be harmful to my clubs, I move it. I will also fluff my ball up (if im in my own fairway) and I dont worry about rules like grounding my club, etc. However if I hit one OB I do retee/hit a provisional. However when it comes to my league matches/tournaments I am very honest and play by all the rules. I had a 9 on a hole during my tuesday night league beause I tried to punch out of the trees and my ball hit one and came back at me, hitting my golf bag, a two stroke penalty.

Earlier this season I was doing a lot of sweeping and casting. I started using a forward press like you are, and it taught me the feeling of really hitting down on the ball. However I would only use that much forward press until you get the feeling of hitting down on the ball ingrained in your head. Once I started striking the ball better, I started relying more on my weight shifting to my front side for making better contact. Now I barely have any forward press, but im striking the ball better than ever... you just need to get used to the feeling is all, so for now I think forward pressing like you are is good, but I wouldnt count on it as a permanent fix.

I am with the spend more time playing crowd. As long as your not losing a box of balls a round, its probably the best money spent. To me actually playing the game is the best practice you can do. There are just certain pitches, shots , and situations you only see on the course. When I started up again I spent 90% of my time on the range and was getting nowhere. I would hit ballafter ball aimlessly not even sure what to work on. Once I started just going out and playing all the time is when I started to really improve. Now I play a round and when im done if I feel there is something I didnt do well I will get a small bucket and work specifically on that and only that. I did take one lesson this summer, complete waste of money in my opinion. 50 dollars for a half hour and I didnt feel I learned anything new. Could have bought a box of ProV's in exchange for that. If you read a lot (someone mentioned the ben hogan 5 fundamentals book) and learn as much as you can about the swing then just try and apply that when you play.

today I shot 78, yesterday I played 9 at the same course and shot 46. its a crazy game.

This is more for the cold weather people, but when winter comes along, what do you do to keep your swing sharp. I have been working my arse off this year after a 5 year layoff due to college, etc and am finally getting my swing to where I want it to be (it took me 3 full months of frustration and suffering). I know we are only halfway through the golf season, but I am already starting to think about carrying over this play through to next year. I am worried that I am going to lose a lot of what I gained and come spring next year I am going to have to go through all this again just to get back to this point (maybe not as bad but I am hoping to come back next season and pick up almost right were I left off this year, hopefully around and 8-9 HCP by seasons end). What does everyone else do to keep the game sharp?

I really want one right now, but I just dont think I can afford it at this point as I bought all new clubs this year and I have a wedding coming up next year I really need to start saving for, so I might have to wait until Christmas. However I am looking at the laser rangefinders, more accurate and with GPS you usually have to pay a monthly/yearly fee and most GPS systems dont have every course available to you. In fact I dont think any of them have every course out there. I would look into those as well.

Shot a 78 today (my best 18 ever) 37-41 On the front 9 I only really made two mistakes. On hole #5, a 200 yard par 3 with a back pin I smoked a 4 iron to within 5-6 feet, just past the hole. The putt was downhill and our greens at my home club are pretty quick, but I really wanted birdie there (I was -1 at that point) and got too aggressive and put it way past the hole and missed the putt coming back for par. Then on #7 there is water about 220-230 out (a little creek) and I have enough distance to carry over it plus I had a tailwind but for whatever reason I tried to crush it and popped it up into some trees on the left. Had to punch out to the right and made bogey there. Only two real mistakes the front. Then on the back I got really pissed. Hooked a drive into the rough way right of the hole (a 448 yard par 4) had a tree in front of me so I couldnt get my 3 iron over it and decided to punch back into the fairway. Well I got a little too agressive with the punch and put it over the fairway and into the other side of the rough. Well then I couldnt find my F*$*$ ball! There was no one behind me so I looked tirelessy for about 20 minutes. Nothing. It was a brand new prov1x too. I was so pissed off so I rehit from where I was and somehow made 6 on that hole. Then still being pissed off from losing that 4 dollar ball when there is no way I should have lost it, I bogeyed the next 3 holes (and those 3 holes are probably the easiest on the course, had a SW in my hand on each one for my second shots) but then finished strong with 3 pars. Overall pretty pleased besides losing that ball. 33 putts total

I am not a single digit yet, but im close, and I can tell you for ME why im not yet. Consistency and understanding/knowledge of my own swing. WHen I get hot, I will go out and shoot 79-80 with hitting every fairway and at least 50%GIR, the short game I will make everything 10 feet and in and get up and down 75% of the time. However the next day im just as likely to go out and shoot a 92. I will get in this euphoric state when im just hitting the ball so beautifully but I can lose that just as quick and start spraying shots everywhere. My chipping and putting can go to hell really fast, where im 3-4 putting from 10-15 feet. This is were knowledge of my swing comes in. When I get in these ruts, often I dont know whats causing it, and it takes me a long time to get back on track. My game kind of goes like this - a week of playing at a 7 HCP then 2-3 weeks playing at a 15-16 HCP. I know for me once I can get consistent I will get there.

Sounds like your doing what I was doing when I first got my hybrid. My guess is your probably treating it like a wood rather than an iron. To me hybrids (at least the one I have) look more like woods than irons, so naturally you want to hit it like one and try and sweep it. Once I started swinging down on it and swinging easy now I can finally hit 225 yard stingers with it. Took me a few weeks to get used to it though.

Bentur you are on to something thanks, I was at the range last night and realized I might be doing a slight reverse pivot. I started shifting my weight forward to the point were I was losing balance after the swing (just to get into the habit/get the feeling of really shifting all my weight forward) and was hitting rockets. I am still fighting a bit of a pull, but I will get that fixed.

Not to steal this thread, but in terms of spin and control, would you rather go with a used/refurbished ProV1 or a new NXT tour (about the same price)

Just got over a similar problem. I just starting playing again this year after a 5 year layoff and got into a habit of sweeping the ball. I hit a lot of thin shots as a result and what I did was played the ball farther back in my stance and also played my hands more forward. This allowed to me start taking more divots (I wasnt even taking divots with my wedges). Imediately I noticed HUGE improvements in my wedge game. I am still playing all my clubs a little farter back in my stance but im not playing my hands as forward and taking good divots 5iron and down. I also started making better ball contact with all my irons by eliminating some minor casting I was doing. Make sure you are keeping your wrists slightly cocked through impact.

So I have a 10.5 degree driver. I have been teeing the ball up super high and its been giving me more accuracy off the tee and better contact. However, I am hitting the ball SOOO high right now. Would I get more distance and better ballflight if I switched to a 9 degree and still teed it high? Everytime I try to tee the ball lower once in a while a hit a nice stinger that goes 280-290, but the majority of the time I duck hook the ball.

Miller is an idiot. Whoever said that Johny Miller knows what hes talking about, have you ever heard him over the weekend at tournaments? He says so many idiotic things it rattles my brain that they havent fired him yet. One of my favorite things ever from him was back in 2007 when the US Open was at Oakmont and everyone was talking about how rediculous the setup was (Tiger included, I believe this is what started the US open challenge with golf digest) and Johnny Miller kept saying that all the players were being babies and that the course was not that hard. Sorry Johnny but Oakmont in 2007 was not the same "soft" Oakmont you shot 63 at or whatever it was to win. Johnny would have been lucky to break 75 with 2007's setup. He was a "slightly above average" PGA tour player in his day and acts like he has the credentials to criticise any player he wants to on tour, Tiger and Phil included.

I agree with what a lot of people are saying. If you cant hit your driver right now, leave it in the bag. Earlier this season, my brother who rarely ever plays could not hit his driver at all on the first two holes. struggling to get it in the air. he hit 3 iron off the tee the rest of the round, and beat my by a stroke. I played awful, but still, it shows you that you can still be very effective without hitting your driver every hole.