Fatphil

just an observation more than a solution, but I've never seen a bad golfer shank...so ya got that goin for ya!! most poor golfers hit it more on the toe. when I shank I usually am holding the angle OK and coming into the ball on an OK plane but my hands seem to move a bit outward...doesnt take much, only a inch or two. usually when I am not warmed up and my upper body is tight, causes my hands to wander a bit outside. what ya need to resist doing is falling away from the ball as a fix.

dont confuse mechanics with form. you can have an open stance, close stance, or stand on your head with a finger in your nose,,,that is form...mechanics is returning the ball to the sweet spot EVERY time with the club face pointing in the same direction as address and the lie & loft angles the same as address. If you hit the sweet spot, and all your angles match up, your distance control issues will disappear. Once you get that down, if you have directional problems, then you may need to re visit your green reading skills or have your eyes checked.

don't beat yourself up too much...the pitch shot is difficult because the margin of error is much less than hitting a big 460cc driver off a tee into a wide open fairway. A pitch requires you to make a proper golf swing to a very defined target. Just because its a short shot does not mean that it's easier to execute. Take your wedge to the chipping green (grass NOT mats) with a few hundred balls a couple of times a week...within 6 months time you will learn more about the golf swing than double the effort on the driving range.

I think almost every component of the full swing is evident in a 40' lob wedge from a tight lie. You are swinging slower and contact needs to be precise, any flaw becomes embarrasingly evident.

I would say the longer you go without lessons or practice the less likley you will get to scratch. You will simply ingrain poor habits making it more difficult to undo them

glad you called shenanigans Gerald, I didn't feel like doin the math.

I read something (I think here) that was a good tip. When u practice, switch clubs after every shot. It forces your brain and body to re-calibrate after each shot. You're practicing golf, not ball beating. Keep your bag about 5 yards away so you have to walk back to it, the more variety the better. Putting practice, use only one ball, (same idea) and chipping alternate between multiple hole locations.

yeah having a flat or bowed lead wrist at impact is important, at what point that happens in the downswing is up to the individual, keep in mind it's not as easy as it sounds. The grip involves two hands and without some strength and flexibility in the trailing wrist and forearm a bowed lead wrist at top will cause the trailing hand to go in the opposite direction and actually knock you off plane. (the old waiter with a tray concept)

What I noticed on my grip was not weak or strong but as I go back my right hand (stronger hand) tends to rotate counterclockwise due to my lack or flexibility (or lack of talent) and that puts the shaft across the line at top which leads to a pull draw rather than a push draw. I try to focus on keeping the palms facing each other at top, seems to work, if only one day (WOOD).

So true,,,,the same concepts apply from putting thru to the driver. The skill levels usually track each other.

I can practice every day for 30 min but I can only get out once a week to play, best advice I ever got was never hit the same club twice on the range. It makes my brain re-calculate everything after each swing, It connects the brain to the muscles (ie the old slows down the game concept). It makes for some ugly practice sessions but it absolutly transfers on to the course. (one more,,,only practice putting with 1 ball...same idea)

I'm 3rd on the Christina Kim page....I think she'ld be a blast.

Why? You dont think if you gain weight on the follow thru that extra weight puts stress on your ACL?

I kinda dont look at those any more...(cause the never change haha)..but if you hit 2 greens shoot a 90 you may have 25 putts. If you hit 10 greens and shoot an 82, with 32 putts doesn't mean your putting got worse. It just shows that if you hit a green but you are 40 feet away you most likely two or three putted. As opposed to being 20 feet off the green and chipping for a 1 putt or at worst a 2 putt. Now I prefer just to review the "quality" of each stike regardless of whether or not it was a drive a chip, putt whatever. If I hit the putt on the sweet spot and miss..I give myself a check...If I stub a chip but it rolls up 2 feet, I consider that and X...ie it was dumb luck. If I catch a 40' putt on the toe...and it goes in..I still give it an X as a bad shot...once again dumb luck. I then look at my Checks and X's against the particular shot and that gives me a better indication of what needs work.

Anybody talk about his getto booty? (not that I was looking at his ass! haha) but he seems a lot heavier. I dropped some poundage a few years ago and my knees don't hurt half as much. 30 extra pounds made a huge difference for me.

To me nothing is prettier than a well struck push draw...but that's just me. Nothing is sillier than seeing some big dude on a saturday morning smack a 460cc driver down the left rough line, slice it back 40 yards to the far right side of the fairway, walk off the tee saying "man did I power fade that sucka!"

A full SW off a tightly cut fairway is one of the more difficult shots in golf...so don't beat yourself up too badly. unlike a 460cc driver on a tee that u can sweep or a 7 iron off a fluffy lie in the rough, there is NO margin for error with the shot you mention. Its easy to diagnose...you are casting and loosing your wrist hinge...the only way to not hit 6" behind the ball is to pop up with either your spine angle (sorry inclination haha) or your legs. If you time it perfect you scoop the ball with no divot...if you don't you top it over the green into a pond. There is no cure other than about 100 hours of practice.

I agree with my homie from White Plains!! (I went to Stepinac). the only 2 cents I can add is your putting is OK for a 7 hdcp...I hit a bunch of greens also but as they say, you're on the dance floor but can't hear the music. You're not going to make birdies from 35' and you certainly will 3 putt a few times...maybe more than a few if the greens you play are severe. To bring those 7 and 8 irons in from 35' to 15' is a huge jump in skill level.

....anyone can sweep a ball off a 2" tee with a 460cc driver and a sweet spot the size of a basketball. (kinda like why 8 year olds play t-ball) To properly compress an iron takes a sound understanding of the golf swing plus some athletic talent.

I never heard it described that way but my guess is it applies to iron play. In order to compress the ball you need to maintain your chest at impact at a the same level as address, not a particularly easy thing to do if you are not in good shape & stretched out. However if you do keep your body in a level position but cast or early release you will hit 6" behind the ball. Since most golfers cast, the only way to make contact is to pop up which usually means straighting your lead knee. Since you're a 2 hdcp you are probably compressing the ball fine & your leg action is natural. For me, I'm 54 and an 8 hdcp. The stress this move puts on my left knee is not to be joked with, so I am very careful as to how I "get back" to the ball. My iron play suffers because of this.

I think of over the top a little differently. I picture where my hands are at address and what my shaft angle is at address. At impact I try to make my hands and shaft achieve that same position or even below. If my hands come in high and my shaft is a few inches above the address position I consider that "over the top" The error is probably more casting than true over the top, however, as a few guys here have said you can play very good golf with a slight over the top move but if you are casting from the top you're dead in the water.

I had a heck of a time working the steep shoulders and the deep hands together...when my shoulders were steep my hands popped out, when my hands were deep my shoulders spun around. A swing thought that finally clicked was to drive my left fist downward into the ground for the first 12" and forget about the shoulders. For me that seems to merge the two actions together into one thought and it works with all the clubs and suprisingly its fairly effective with my putter also...go figure.

I can just add that I think you are very much on the right path to improving not only your pitching but you long game as well. In a nutshell you are simply not holding the wrists (I hesitate to say hinge) in a consistant way and your upper body action and impact position is probably a mess. ASAP unfortunalty is not in the cards...you could be looking at a 8-12 month project but in the end you will be a much better player and have a fundamentally better understanding of the golf swing and the impact position. When you can hit a 60* wedge cleanly btw 30 - 60 feet off tightly cut grass, the feeling is awesome.

Well you prove my theory that a shank is the fault of only good players. After googling "WTF is a labrum", I can relate. A shank is just a good swing that your arms moved outwards only about a 1/2". It shows you are holding your wrist hinge but you are tight in the chest and shoulder (duh you just had surgery) and your entire center moved outward a bit towards the ball. Sorry I have no idea how you can fix the problem but my solution involves chicken blood and small dolls.

Sorry to say I think you are wasting your breath beating this point. A millimeter variation of a wrist angle or lie angle will cause a mis hit (or mis direction). Most weekend players don't make the same stroke twice during a round. (ha ha myself included)