elcash

I was at the range the night before last when the gentleman behind me wanted to offer advice. I was polite but firm, "No thanks. Too much to think about disturbs my sessions, and I'm working on some specifics at the moment. I appreciate the offer." Low and behold, he tells me anyway. I mean, he wasn't really asking to give me the advice... The "hey, can I offer you a tip?" line was just a way to get my attention. The momentum was too strong. He was geared up to say somethin' and it was coming out no matter what I said in response. I was annoyed; people are pushy and seldom listen before they speak. Since I can't turn off my hearing, I'll just have to focus and ignore the noise...

Here are 6 off the top of my head: 1. Actually, this is just my 'hustle' swing. It must really be getting believable! 2. I don't have any money to pay you. And I tend to get what I pay for... 3. How do I know that I can trust you? 4. These swings I've been making weren't intended to be analyzed... 5. The last time I accepted advice, it made my swing look like this! 6. Only if you can answer me this: What's black and blue and red all over? (Gripping the club like a bat and grinning devilishly...)

You can always opt to "turn down" advice, because it's difficult to ignore it. I get better every single time I go to the driving range. Except when someone who is hitting behind me tries to make a suggestion. In that case, I always feel compelled to try what they are saying and it tends to disrupt my session. That's happened twice, now. I say, "Sure, shoot, what kind of tips have you got? I could probably use them." On the one hand, I always preach that you should accept any advice/criticism coming your way and learn to filter out what you don't need. That goes for anything. "Too much information and now I am confused" is almost never an excuse. On the other hand, misleading or bad information has twice led to disappointing evenings at the range. I don't want to hear anymore that I don't have a good "one-piece takeaway" - I don't even want one of those. The next time somebody's about to offer unsolicited range advice, I'm tempted to stop them and use one of many clever things I've thought of just for that scenario...

I played at a 9-hole par 3 course this Sunday and I learned a few things about etiquette that I didn't know. I'm in no way defending any players who knowingly and repeatedly breach the simplest rules of common courtesy or endanger others, but golf etiquette is not always so cut-and-dry and there is a learning period even for people who are not idiots. The first thing I did wrong Sunday was not read the score card. I wasn't expecting there to be local rules on this par 9 that there were to be "no honors." Nor would I expect a rule stating that if a group was waiting to tee off behind you before you had holed out, you were required to motion to them and let them play through. This rule doesn't make practical sense as stated, but I see what they were getting at... Finally, marked clearly on the scorecard was "White stakes are OB." So on the second hole I was outside the white stakes, but figured they may be for the adjacent course or set up as a warning that there might be other players on the other side of the trees. I looked both ways as if I were crossing the street, and saw no one in sight, so I was going to hit my ball back towards the green to save par. I didn't even see the ball, but my wife told me one went whizzing by me while I was playing. Still have no idea where it came from; it was my fault as I then saw `OB' marked on a post and ended up replaying the shot anyway. There was a twosome behind us, who were playing at about the same pace as my wife and I, which means that on some holes they were at the tees while we were holing out, and at some other holes, we were moving to the next tees as they were holing out. It seemed odd that they were never talking or taking practice swings or shuffling around with their gear when I glanced back leaving the green; it was as if they were glaring at us. I'm thinking now that this 9 hole was a "fast-play" course, and it was expected that we finish 9 par 3 holes in about an hour. All the signs (literally) I hadn't noticed before became apparent, including such favorites as "FAST GOLF IS FUN FOR EVERYONE" and the words SLOW PLAY jailed by the international "no" symbol. I now know that slow play is a relative term, and wouldn't have held up the twosome behind us if they were on the clock (we played 9 in about 75 minutes). I guess the moral of the story is to read the signs in the clubhouse to understand the nature of a course you haven't played, and read the score card for local rules. And if somebody's doing something that upsets you or you want to play through, motion to them and say something politely because they may simply not know...

I've bent over a few times for $3. This one time some guy dropped his fold right in front of me. His billfold. I picked it up for him...

I've enjoyed hitting the burner rescue 4H (22*) in the week or so I've had it. I can't speak for bridging yardage gaps, but it flies straight and it's really easy to control launch angle. I was enjoying hitting into the wind the other day and I can't really say that about any of my irons.

My left ring finger and pinky ache. Arnold Palmer suggests squeezing the steering wheel as hard as you can for 10 seconds every time you're in the car. He even goes so far: Golf Digest Sept. '09 - Arnold Palmer's Timeless Tips I've heard squeezing a racquetball could be a good idea, too... Also a better stress reliever...

I was actually going to post a clarifier about the last one because it does sound pretty ridiculous. When I looked up what "casting the golf club" meant, I chuckled at the thought of a swing where the club was already parallel to the ground when the swinger's arms were... Yeah it'd be hard to get power! Let me defend my suggestions as ideas for mental notes. My mechanical swing is a lot of muscle memory, plus a few minor changes effected by the simple things I might be concentrating on at the moment. But yes, advice only recommeded for someone who can filter out what they don't need and maybe someone who emphasizes how they think about their swing more than how they swing. And an excellent post, Zeph! I'm glad I mentioned how I had been thinking about my swing; I have much to learn...

Now that does sound like fun! So you won the bet? This reminds me of a story my friend was telling me about a guy he played who didn't carry a putter. I think he said the guy carried 4 clubs because he didn't like golf bags. A wood, two irons and a wedge?... My friend didn't say who won, but I'll have to ask him. I'm also going to ask what a guy (who I assume had a lot of experience putting with non-putter clubs) used as his go-to putter...

I was in a rush the last time I was on the course and I had forgotten to take my putter with me to the green on one hole so all I had was my lob wedge to try and putt with. It occurred to me (I must have 5-putted or more) that I would have done better with any other club in the bag as a putting device. I think I'm just really surprised to hear how many people use a high lofted wedge when they're just off the green. I probably feel more comfortable with my sand wedge than any other club, but it seems like choking up on a 5 iron (an easier club to putt with?) for chips that resemble putts would be less of a hassle. My chipping could use some work before I can make sound club decisions... Ooh, it's getting light outside! (and today's my day off!)

A great deal of information seems to be here already, but here's my suggestion from one night at the range. I hit about 10 hooks for every slice (except the driver) which I can barely hook if I try. I can remember up to 4 things while I swing, and tonight I was thinking about only 3 things when my driver was at its best ever. 1. Weight on my back foot. No matter what I might do with the rest of my body during the swing, starting with my weight back means I always hit the sweet spot. I think it just gives the club a split second more to come around. 2. Stand as far back as it takes to hit the ball on the upswing [this is for the driver, of course]. I tried moving the ball a little bit more forward in my stance (maybe 1.5 inches forward of my front heel). I forced myself to put the ball just a little farther forward than my brain was telling me was even sensible, and now my brain has a new 'sensible' zone. 3. At the top of my backswing, I started the forward swinging motion with my wrists instead of my body. This felt counterintuitive for me (I am a hooker and always thought my swing was too wristy) but I think starting with the wrists is what was subtly dropping my swing plane to start more inside... Seriously, how could my three tips NOT cure a slice? Weight back longer, putting the ball farther forward (club has more time to square before impact) and starting unhinging the wrists sooner... It worked for me tonight and I was thrilled so I thought I would share...

Brandel Chamblee makes it look pretty easy with a 3-iron. The video at golfinstruction.com The transcript at thegolfchannel.com

26 years old. I played my first 18 June 26, 2009 @ 7:36AM That'd mean I started playing about : 53 days, 16 hours, 16 minutes ago which is equal to 4,637,785 seconds passed or roughly 77,296 minutes ago or approx. 1288 hours of golfingness... so 7 weeks now...

After I stopped laughing. Or do you mean they looked at me like that? 'Cause, yeah, everybody gave me the 'WTF' look... And I gave a 'WTF' look to the golf club...

The idiot mark on my 3-wood is special to me... It hit the ceiling of the covered range so hard it sounded like a gunshot. People ducked and covered.

If your location services work, like I was saying in my last post, I turn off the 3g and the wifi before my round to save power, so I don't see any reason you'd suffer with an original iPhone version... EDIT: I noticed you were talking about a different application (Golf Logix or somesuch? I can't speak for this one, I was referring to Golfshot GPS here...)

The iPhone version of Golfshot GPS is as accurate as anything I would ever need... Very intuitive, as well. Here's a tip: Try changing your iPhone settings before a round and turn off anything that you don't need for the next couple hours. You can do without 3G, bluetooth, and wireless, but leave `location services' on. Then, set your auto-timeout or auto-lock settings to "never." This way, your phone will stay awake and GPS will monitor your position even while you're not looking at it. It takes some getting used to not to click the lock button when you are setting the phone down, but it'll save you close to 10 seconds every time you want to check a distance. If you forgot to charge your iPhone last night, you might try turning the brightness down as well. Personally, I haven't had to do this... I do know that on my iPhone 3G, if I don't turn off the 3G network I'll run out of power before the end of the round. Hope that helps somebody...

So after some research and a few more disappearing balls, I went ahead and bought a pair of Oakley sunglasses with the G30 lenses. I couldn't find the G30 lenses in any stores I went to around here, so I customized a pair online... I'm pretty confident I made the right decision. People kept recommending Maui Jim's (I had a pair some years ago and really liked them) but I couldn't find any that were tinted light rose or amber. Plus, all Maui Jim's appear to be polarized, and I was really trying to avoid that. I'll post a note if they work as well as I hope...

The G30s are among the lenses that I had been considering. The Oakley site says they are for "flat to medium light" and that they "improve contrast...in blues and greens." Sounds like the right tint for those with ball-spotting problems . Kingfisher, is that what you use them for? What about when it is overcast? Do you wear them on cloudy days, too? I was a little worried when I read that the lenses block 70% of visible light. I'm noticing now there are Persimmon lenses which are probably better for overcast days (similar tint and improved contrast among blues but only block 30% visible light). For now I'll try the G30 variety, though; I can see the ball pretty well on cloudy days.

Caveat Emptor Looks highly suspicious if you ask me. No phone number? Site online for no more than a few weeks? No products information (all are listed as "New Oakley Sunglasses")? It looks like they set their products stock for each item at 1000, indicating an unlimited supply. It seems unlikely that they are "cleaning the stock" using such a method. Caveat Emptor

Not yet, but I've made more posts on this forum (7?) than I have played 18-hole rounds of golf. I practiced cross-handed yesterday; it's just a matter of time...

I don't really know how correctional facilities look, but if it's like TV he might be in better shape. Three square meals a day, an hour or two in the yard for some kind of cardio, and then they just lift weights the rest of the time, right? Top-tier athletes don't always operate like other humans. That kind of athleticism is written in his genetic code. Think about somebody like Willis McGahee- 99.5% of people won't heal from an injury like that. Ever. He still plays in the NFL. Saying that Vick was anything less than awesome makes it sound like you weren't watching him play. Rocket arm, fastest guy on the field, accurate thrower while on the run, not even a bad decision maker, just a little impatient and maybe a little anxious... People are wired differently, though, and what is as foreign to you and I as running a 4 second 40 was as foreign to him as our moral stance on dogfighting. The guy will get to resume his life, and he won't be spending his off time abusing animals lest we send him back to jail. As with any convict, his reintegration and lawfulness is our ultimate goal, right? I, for one, would like to see him play in St. Louis...

Although a lot of people complain about soccer players and their "diving," that's really a part of the game, yeah? On-ball tackling is constant, and if a legitimately spiked player gets up too fast, a lot of things that should happen don't have time to occur, e.g., opposing player gets a card, opposing team outs the ball to stop play, and probably most important- everybody gets a short rest. They say during the course of a match the players run some 8+ miles. As for Ronaldo, if he's running towards the goal with a defender to beat, he's not trying to take a dive. It's the defenders who chance it and aggressively try to dispossess -- better they reset and deal with a free kick than let him get into the box... It's a little like fouling a basketball player who is about to make a layup. Ronaldo doesn't really get any special treatment from the officials; he gets special treatment from the defenders because he is a threat. If the forward players don't make it clear when they're fouled, and penalties aren't enforced for misconduct, some of those brutish defenders will start to hand out injuries, albeit accidentally or even on purpose. Last thing, never forget that penalties are assessed for the very act of "diving." If there's no contact, or truly incidental contact, you'll see guys get carded for trying to fake it. Rivalrys, then? Cards versus Cubs - Before networks offered ALL the games, every night, people watched and listened to what was available. For about one-third of the US it was either Cardinals or Cubs. UNC versus Duke - Everybody has to take a side. When's the last time you asked somebody with any knowledge or care about sports to pick between these two and they said, eh, who cares? Celtic versus Rangers - People in the US apparently know about this one, even if they know nothing else about association football. Like, for example, they could pick out a Celtic FC Jersey but might think Glasgow is in Sweden...

I've only had my HiBore XLS 3-wood (15* R Flex) for about a week, and hadn't tried hitting off the tees because I was busy with its difficult driver brother. So about an hour or so ago, I'm hitting at the range, and I'm driving off the mats with the rubber tees because that's the only place that's lighted... I thought I was just screwing around teeing up the 3-wood 2 inches off the ground like it was a driver, but that club didn't hit anywhere but straight! That's more than I can say for my bastard driver which sprays shots around pretty randomly. The 3-wood for me was consistent at probably 175 - 200, which makes it my longest club with any consistency. At the moment, the 3-wood is the only club I'd hit off the tees on a par 5.

I was reading somewhere that his nickname is after "Boo-boo" -- as in Yogi and Boo-boo... He ought to have a personalized boo-boo head cover...