wubskis

Didn't you pretty much just get your Redwood? I may be completely mistaken, but if you got rid of it that fast, why did you buy it in the first place? Why did you buy this Scotty Cameron now? Sounds like you have putting issues and your money would be better spent on a lesson or two than on gas money to get a new premium putter D:

Is this actually serious, or is it just satire? I mean, wow.

That's pretty terrible, I guess they're classing anyone under 18 as juniors? I'd do what sean_miller suggests, take shorter clubs off the tee to leave long irons into greens etc. I'd definitely think about finding another club for next year though, this is a pretty stupid judgement on your current club's part.

Is that you, Clay Davis?

I will end up taking this to the grave, so it would seem.

My quoting of his driving distance was merely an attempt to satirize the typical over-reaction to claims about length around here, guess it didn't come across that way, so I apologise. I'm not saying that an increase in distance will always result in a decrease in accuracy, but if you wanted a generalisation, I'd say for the average golfer, spread increases with length. There will be exceptions, I'm not trying to say this is applicable to absolutely everyone. The theoretical situation at the bottom of my post was just my input of "don't worry about it, it's not the worst situation to be in". I play without a driver because like I said, I haven't found one that I actually feel comfortable using. Thus, I'm playing from more forward tees. The reason I pick those tees is the same reason you feel comfortable playing from the tips, because it's within the limits of our current respective skill levels. I don't spend all day trying to hit greens with a hybrid/4i because of my choice of tees, and you're sufficiently good so that you don't have to either, even from the tips. When I get a driver, I will absolutely move back to a longer set of tees, because I'll have more length off the tee, and avoid having to hit hybrid/4i for every approach shot. I really can't fathom why hackers (I include myself in this group, I suppose :|) would want to play from the tips, it just doesn't make sense. It's demoralising as hell if I get a ridiculous score on any given hole, playing from the tips would just be begging for every hole to go wrong. So I'm absolutely 100% not saying "distance is the devil, don't try to work on it", not even a little. I'd gladly accept more distance in a heartbeat, and I'm definitely striving to get more out of my 3w (as my current "driver") but it's just not the focus of my game, nor does it drag me down to think I'm only getting 200-210 off the tee. I was really just attempting to reassure the OP that there's a set of tees for everyone, and there's no shame in playing from the forward men's tees.

I've been playing without a driver for a while now because I can't find one I agree with, so I'm using my 3w off the tee and hitting it 200-210 with decent contact. I play courses that hover between 6,000-6,300 yards, and I very, very rarely feel overstretched. Usually I'll just play to my handicap, acknowledge that, say, a hole is too long for me to get anywhere near the green in regulation, and plan for a GIR+1. By taking this approach, I rarely feel inadequate in any way regarding distance. Would I like more distance? Sure, why not. Would I go out of my way to get a couple extra yards but end up sacrificing accuracy? Not in a million years.

I like them. A lot.

Well, it's made a lot harder by not having personal transport, because getting parked on campus is absolutely impossible, even with the £200/year parking pass. This means I have to rely on other people, so by the time you combine everyone's schedules, golf becomes a rarity. I'm looking into joining a club of sorts, which seems like it goes to the range once or twice a week, which would be better than nothing. Winter in the UK makes all but the best courses unplayable due to lacklustre maintenance. The only plus side is that I would be working on my ballstriking a lot if I played over winter, then five or six-putting on the absolutely horrific winter greens that are just sections of fairway with a circle drawn using spraypaint and a pit dug in the middle. I hate them so much .

I already take daily meds, which I guess attests to just how nervy I get on the course. I definitely like your idea of spending less time near/over my ball and just loosening up with one armsy-flail type swing. Between that idea, and the recommendation to keep a stern watch over my tempo, I think I've got enough to keep in mind the next time I go out. Which, because of university, won't be for another two weeks or so :/

I'm still waiting until I see your name on my TV. Good luck in Korea.

Mine is definitely sticking an 8i from about 145 to within a foot. I remember shaking like crazy thinking I was going to fluff it :[

The area I'd most like to improve in is becoming a consistently better ballstriker with my irons. I feel that if I can get to the stage where I can really rely on my iron game, everything else will just slowly creep up and improve with practice. I don't really want an extra 10 yards off the tee, I could do with narrowing the scope of my misses with my driver/woods, but if I had a solid long iron game I could just put the driver/woods back in the bag until I see a "can't miss" fairway. I can already do 'good enough' around the greens so that I'm not nuking my scorecard in any given situation, and my putting is already at a stage where I feel confident enough to feel that I can rely on getting two putts from crazy areas of the green. I think my plan for winter when I'm home from university for a month will be to look around and try to find an instructor I'd like to work with over summer 2011, and to really work on my ballstriking with them.

As I said, I have pre-existing anxiety issues, so I don't really surprise myself with what I worry about anymore, I just know my brain is capable of latching onto a negative thought and not letting go. My last lesson was a short game lesson, so my last full swing lesson was maybe 4-5 months ago? I kind of lost faith in the guy teaching me, he seemed like he didn't really care at all, and never got round to working out my options to replace him. It's something I definitely need to sort out, especially since the UK's winter basically means it's range only time unless the course is in good keep, which generally means it's out of my price range as a university student. There's a lesson package you can get at a (fairly) local course which comprises two 60 minute lessons, a video analysis lesson and you get to play the 6-hole par 3 course they have there with the pro by your side - this is something I'm very much interested in for next summer, I just think it's a shame this par 3 course is so short, because you'll never need more than a 9-iron. At any rate, getting "caddied" by a tutor sounds like a pretty awesome way to get some insight in real-time, that's immediately applicable and not just stuff for you to think about when you're on the course.

Preview: hate.