thrasher

True true, back when I was playing a lot and my handicap was single digits, I had no problem regularly carrying my 2 iron around 230-235. That being said, my 2 iron has (I believe) 21* of loft, so a modern 1 iron would probably have 16-17* of loft. Absolutely NO REASON to carry a club like that with all the fairway metals and hybrid options out there now.

1. Do P90X 2. Hydrate throughout your round (water is fine) 3. Eat a CLIF bar or anything similar on holes 4-5 and 14-15, and then something at the turn. Most of the estimates I've seen put a round of golf carrying a bag between 600-1000 calories burned. If you're not eating regularly your blood sugar will DROP bigtime. That's not good for performance or stamina.

Don't try to hit the ball first. When you make your practice swings, try to strike the grass ahead of where you are looking. When you have that down, do the same thing with a ball; try to take up a thin slice of grass in front of the ball . That will force you to contact the ball first

I actually think it's quite interesting if you approach the video from a swing path perspective rather than a "rolling the wrists/hans" perspective. He does show the correct swing path for each shot, a hook and a slice. If you notice his hook motion the swing path is in to out, and the slice swing path is out to in. I think this could be a useful analogy for beginners/slicers to visualize how to swing from the inside.

Anything below 100 yards will be a shorter swing with either club, depending on how high/low I want to bring the ball in and how much spin I want. 54* 115-120 yards 58* 100-105 yards I can hit each about 5 yards further with a very full swing, but don't like to unless I'm feeling super confident at the time. Depending on conditions, I will "chip" a PW at 115-120 yards with low trajectory and low spin, more of a control shot I guess.

Buy a house on one of the big lakes in Minneapolis - 2.5m or so Buy a house in Scottsdale - 1m or so Buy a fleet of Ferraris, Porsches, Lambos, etc... - 5m or so High yield savings - 7-8m Try to become Professional golfer - 1m Give rest to family members

Looks like I'm in the minority, considering I'm the only one who voted against. But here's the reason: It takes time to build muscle memory, and you simply won't have the necessary muscle memory built after 30-60 minutes with an instructor. I am currently working with a top 100 instructor, and this is exactly what he says as well. Basically, the muscles that you're currently using in your golf swing are used to working in a certain way. When changes are made, not only are you activating/using different muscles , but the muscles that were already being used are now being asked to be used in a different way . There's no way that you can train new/existing muscle to work in a new/different way by hitting 50 balls in an hour. Thus, I expect to get worse before I get better.

It's driving accuracy for me, without a doubt. I have no problem with distance, and if I'm in the fairway I am confident that I will make no worse than par, at least if I'm within about 180 yards. The problem is that I only hit around 15-25% of fairways because I have ZERO confidence with my driver. I know that once I get my driving under control again I will easily be back into single digits...it's funny, I could probably get my handicap into single digits no problem by taking not carrying a driver!

Age: 27 Height: 6'0" Where are you from: Minnesota How long have you been playing: 7-8 years Best Score: 69 Favorite Club in the Bag: When I'm playing well, 2 iron. When I'm not, 58* Golf Books/DVDs that have helped you: Five lesson is really the only golf book I'v read that has helped me in the slightest Where do you play: Twin Cities Metro Munis Best Course You've Played So Far: Keller Golf Course Things You Enjoy Most About Golf: Being out in the fresh air when it's warm, the feeling the sun on a warm summer evening, hitting shots that other people tell me they can't hit :) Goals for 2K10: Get handicap to 5 or below, shoot another round in the 60s, start playing in tourneys

I'm taking lessons from a top 100 currently, and he is absolutely awesome...but the other guy I see who is not a top 100 knows just as much and gets me to the same changes much more quickly, and at a much lower rate. The key with instructors is to find someone who teaches in a style that you like!

1. Establish official handicap Never really had one before and I NEED one. Getting club membership so this should be no problem 2. Continue overhauling/rebuilding swing and be ready to play by May This is a big goal, I have been completely rebuilding my swing over the last few months 3. Continue minimum 1.5 hours practice per non round days 4. Get at least 40 rounds in this year Shouldn't be that tough, plan to play 2x during the week and 3x on the weekend 5. Get handicap below 5 Big goal, but considering how terrible my swing was, I think this is achievable

Don't think about pulling the club with your arms to generate power on the downswing. Think about letting your arms drop into the slot, then rotate your whole body on the downswing while retaining you lag, and then concentrate on accelerating the hands/wrists through the hitting zone. You'll be surprised how much further you hit it that way while feeling like you're swinging easier

Love cars! My DD is a 2003 Nissan Maxima 6 speed. Fun, good looking, and fast with plenty of room for the golf clubs! Toys are a 74 Corvette and 67 Olds Toronoado

How do you hit a 7 iron 170? Create lag in your swing . Back when I was playing a lot more and was a single digit (hope to be again soon!) a stock 7i was about 175 for me with a smooth swing. If you don't have lag, you're making it way too hard for yourself. It's the reason the pros look like they're swinging easy, because they are. Speed builds in the swing and is released at the bottom so that the club is traveling at top speed when it impacts the ball.

Didn't really want to go to college, but I did anyways. Probably more because my parents pressured me to than anything else. Got degrees in Biochem and Molecular Bio, now doing completely unrelated work making good money. I have to say that going to college has definitely opened doors and made things far easier on me. I'm not doing what I want to do, but I now have the financial freedom to pursue such things so that hopefully, in 5-10 years, I will be doing what I want to! I don't regret going to college for a minute. Some times I hated it so much that I wanted to quit, but I learned a lot about myself and what I am really capable of when I set my mind to something, and that is something that one can carry with them forever. So yeah, I think that college is a very worthwhile investment, both personally and financially, for someone who has no idea what they want to do in life. You will have MANY more opportunities than if you hadn't gone. DO IT!

Look at the angle of your left arm and the change between the 3rd and 4th frames, and notice how drastically that angle has changed. Your arms and hands have dropped a ton, forcing the club to come way inside and super flat on the downswing...I think this is what is causing your hooks. Try to work on dropping your hands and arms less as you initiate the downswing and I think you will be on a better plane approaching the ball, not coming nearly as much from the inside.

Thought this was an interesting read about a local care system here in the Twin Cities whose problems are reflective of the national health care crisis. Touches on how rising costs are tied directly to the increasing ranks of the uninsured and underinsured. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/he...spital.html?hp

Interesting take on Christianity, and easily twisted into strong criticisms I think. I consider myself to be an atheist, through and through. Lots of unanswered questions about the universe that science provides to best answers to, IMO of course.

LOL, nice I'm not necessarily disagreeing that there is a trend towards fiscal conservatism correlated with increasing age. However, that does not imply that knowledge or wisdom gained through experience is responsible for that correlation, as you seem to imply based on your use of the term naive. There are potentially many confounding factors responsible for the correlation...as the old saying goes, correlation does not imply causation.

Lol, such arrogance never ceases to amuse me. Argue the issue and leave the ad hominem arguments and judgement at the door

Let me start out by saying that I am a financial/data analyst and trainer at a major metropolitan hospital in the Twin Cities, which by the way resides in the state with the highest quality of health care in the US (Minnesota). There are several factors contributing to the upward spiral of health care costs, in no particular order I guess: -Lack of coverage for the uninsured. What many people don't realize is that the uninsured are going to get the care they need, one way or another, which creates a multitude of financial problems in the long run. What happens quite often is they avoid regular PCP visits for preventative/wellness checks because they simply can't afford them. As a result, their health problems progress until they ultimately end up in Emergency Rooms, where they can't be turned away, and may be admitted for issues that would have been far less costly had they been dealt with earlier. Since they oftentimes can't pay for these costly visits, the facilities end up absorbing the costs and writing them off to either bad debt or to some community care write off program. In some cases we're talking about millions of dollars written off for a single patient. How do insurance providers and facilities stay afloat while absorbing these costs? Well, they negotiate higher payment rates with insurance companies in future contracts. Who do the insurance companies pass those costs along to? You guessed, all of the insured who are paying for private insurance, so your premiums go up. -Overmedicating and overuse of unnecessary procedures Providers and physicians are so afraid of being sued for misdiagnosis or for missing that one in a million diagnosis that they often order a battery of unnecessary, costly tests just to cover their butts in the future. In addition, a large percentage of physicians are paid by pharmaceutical companies to prescribe their medications, so the doctors make more money if they prescribe a specific medication. Obviously, both of these factors drive up costs as insurance companies are paying more for unnecessary tests and medication. Again, these costs are passed on to private insurance carrying consumers. -Denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions Much like the uninsured, those with PEC very often lack the ability to get adequate coverage. Unfortunately, these people are already sick, and they WILL GET CARE regardless of their condition. Oftentimes, this care is very expensive and if there is no government program available to help cover expenses, the facilities are stuck with absorbing the costs. Premiums go up Obviously, this is a multi-headed problem with no easy solution. I am of the opinion that both the Democrats and Republicans have important ideological contributions in the debate, and should be working together to get this HUGE problem resolved. My list of suggestions would be -Cover the uninsured, PERIOD. I have specific ideas about how that should happen, but whether it is a government run program or simply government funded, the uninsured have to be covered if we want to reign in costs. This includes the elimination of no pre-existing conditions disqualifications. If these people have regular access to preventative care as well as insurance coverage when they do need to be treated urgently/emergently, the domino effect on those who carry private insurance will be significantly reduced. -Enact malpractice lawsuit caps The LAST thing providers should be worrying about when treating patients is whether or not they will be sued if their patient is that one in a million. Mistakes are going to happen, providers are people and they're not perfect. This is as much a cultural change as it is a policy one, as people need to start accepting that medicine is NOT perfect. People are going to die, and it is rarely the provider's fault -Incentivize positive health outcomes and promote wellness The culture of medicine as a whole needs to change such that doctors are rewarded NOT for ordering tests and prescribing medication, but for acutally improving the health of patients. Holistic and naturopathic medicine needed to become more integrated into mainstream medicine, and the body as a whole needs to be treated preventatively to improve overall health and most importantly AVOID costly urgent/emergent procedures and hospital visits. Furthermore, there need to be financial incentives for consumers in the way of tax breaks and/or premium reductions for those individuals who show consistently strong health outcomes. After all, we WANT people to be healthy, right? Whew, had to put in my 2 cents

2 possibilities come to my mind. 1. You might be making a different swing with your longer irons. I know I tend to do this, and for me, if I just think about making the same swing and letting the club do the work, oftentimes things get sorted out. 2. Hopefully this isn't it as it's a hard truth, but very often if you can hit your short irons well but things fall apart in the longer clubs, it indicates some fundamental flaw in your swing. The high loft and more forgiving nature of the larger headed short irons can mask swing flaws, but when you're hitting clubs with 35* of loft or less, those flaws start to become much more apparent. Post up a vid, I'm sure you'll get some great advice!!!

My go to club for the bump and run is the 7i, but I will use anything from and 8i-4i depending on conditions and how much carry:roll I want. I don't use my putting stroke for anything other than putting, as it's never worked for me to think of it that way. I try to imagine the carry:roll in my mind, take a long look at the flag to get the distance in my mind, and then just let my body take over.

Longest drive I've seen was one of mine on a 370y par 4. Downhill, downwind, somehow ended up on the front fringe of the green. The guys in the group ahead of us were just getting to the green and apparently got pissed, as they stepped on it and I almost didn't find it. I also hit a 350-360y drive on a downhill, no wind 510y par 5. Hit 9 iron into the green and made eagle, my only eagle of the year There doesn't seem to be many long ball hitters in Minnesota. Most of the single handicappers around here don't get it out past 250, so it's easy to impress

Really weird, I was having this problem at the end of the summer when I really started ramping up my short game practice. Sometimes 1.5-2 hours per day. I also found that I would lean in and/or stand too close to the ball, presumably because it gave me better feel. Now I concentrate on maintaining a good, solid stance at a set distance from the ball and I haven't shanked one in probably 3 months or so.