RIduffer

Do you mean just too much mind clutter/swing thoughts etc.?

I just looked at the backswing section of the book, and it doesn't say anything about bending the front knee towards the target that I can find. It just says that the left knee flexes or bends toward the ball. On the downswing, I think the left knee moves toward the target as the hips push toward the target.

Glad to hear you got out leftygolfer. My friend recently got the same driver as you (assuming the FT-9 is your new driver). I hit it a few times and loved it...nice and quiet as you mentioned.

83 at Newport National yesterday.

Yeah, my friend tried getting a tee time and they had nothing before 2 PM today either. We ended up playing Newport National today though which was awesome. Only $35 right now.

Nice jamo! Glad you had a good day. It's for the best you didn't go to Triggs...you couldn't handle a course like that anyway .

Today I worked on staying in balance throughout my swing, and holding the finish position with weight forward and belt-buckle facing the target.

Local knowledge is that putts break toward the school, which is right of the 16th fairway. Hole 5 is easy as long as you don't mess with the fescue on the right. Hole 6 also keep it left off the tee, and scope out the green down the hill before going for it in 2. Hole 12 par 3 there is a creek just short of the green. 13 is a hole that causes people lots of problems, usually because they try to be too aggressive after a poor tee shot. If you get into trouble off the tee, just layup because it's not as long as it looks. Off 15th tee you don't want to miss right, not much room around that corner. 16 you want to hit it long enough off the tee (230?) to take the tree out of play. 17 there is a pond short right of the green.

83 at Swansea CC today.

Yeah, sounds like this weekend is going to be nice. What's the name of your club?

OJsakila, when someone posts their swing on the internet they should realize that all the advice will not be expert...but this is a forum and, yes, hackers like me are allowed to give lousy advice. I think everyone knows that seeing a certified instructor is a better option. Making condescending remarks about well-meaning forum members, calling them "jackleg hacks", seems inappropriate. There are some great instructors here (i.e. David Wedzik, Andrew Rice) who contribute to the forum without making those kind of arrogant comments.

After playing golf in sunny 54* weather (which felt like Bermuda) on Tuesday, we are back to the usual 30* temp, wind chill, and snow/sleet/rain in New England. Just annoying and it is depressing me. Went to the range this morning and hit a bucket. Was hitting the ball pretty solid, with a slight fade. I sort of prefer the idea of hitting a draw (which happens some days for me), but the fade was very consistent and accurate today. I posted a thread about "swinging hard" in "Golf Talk" yesterday, so I hit about a dozen balls with my driver today, swinging as hard as I possibly could. I was pretty surprised that I did not spray it all over the place like I expected. The mis-hits were definitely magnified, but I hit 4 or 5 balls dead straight and long (for me). It was kind of fun swinging like a total a@# clown. Anyway, looks like more crap weather today and tomorrow, but it might be nice this weekend and heading into next week. I am hoping to play Triggs on Monday with a couple friends.

People seem to like those BH-5 irons, lots of good reviews. Glad to hear you're getting back into golf, and I look forward to reading your blog.

Thanks parplease. As P&B; mention in the book, you don't have to use every component of S&T; to hit the ball better. I have watched alot of S&T; swings on youtube, and they are not all clones...some straighten the right leg alot, some to a lesser degree. So I wouldn't worry about doing the pattern perfectly just for the sake of it.

Point taken, but I wasn't talking about always swinging at 100%. Paul Casey swung real hard as a kid, so now he feels like he can go at 80% and still produce a ton of swing speed. By pushing the ceiling high enough, so to speak, his controlled swing is still very powerful. (At least this is what Paul Casey believes.) I totally agree with you that this is not great advice for the average golfer...I guess I was thinking more along the lines of kids who could potentially be elite golfers. I mean when you have guys like Alvaro Quiros hitting a 600 yard par 5 in two, it's a totally different game.

Since power is such a huge part of the modern golf game, you hear some people say that new golfers should just swing as hard as they can. The idea being that someone who swings "flat out" can later be taught to hit it straight; whereas someone who swings real smooth from the beginning will have trouble increasing their swing speed and staying accurate. Arnold Palmer mentions this in the Sept. 09 Golf Digest, and Paul Casey talked about it on Playing Lessons with the Pros. Do you agree with this?

Hope you get some decent weather soon Lg so you can break in your new gear.

I think bogey golf is a good goal, and attainable if you make an effort to improve the weak points in your game. In addition to short game practice (as lugonza suggested), I would say make sure you understand course management.

jamo Triggs is a great Donald Ross course, and I definitely recommend playing it at some point. It is $20 for 18 holes right now (although I played 36 with no problem).

Tuning his guitar would be a start.

This is what I was thinking. Looks like the arms get behind him a bit and right elbow disconnected.

Thanks for the comment uttexas. It was a gorgeous day, and nice to be on the course. jamo, I don't know about courses in N. RI. I overheard someone at the driving range say that Stone-E-Lea in Attleboro, MA was open. Would call before going though.

Caught some great weather in RI today, so I played 36 holes at Triggs Memorial in Providence. For 27 of those holes I was joined by two guys from Springfield, MA, who were great company. I shot 43-44 (87) and 42-42 (84) from winter tees. The first few holes, my swing didn't feel good at all. I was keeping it in play, but hitting some skanky pull-cuts. I was thinking to myself, why does this happen when I was drawing the ball at the range yesterday? It took me a few holes to figure it out, but I realized I was not coiling my body at all--I was just hitting with my arms. Once I started turning my hips, I started hitting the ball straighter and about 30 yards longer off the tee. Was probably one of the better driving days I have had at Triggs. My irons were not real crisp (a touch thin all day) but my direction was pretty good. Chipping and pitching were OK, and putting was lousy. My lag putting was not bad, but I missed alot of 4-5 footers. I need to develop some confidence and consistency with my putting stroke. Unfortunately, I find putting practice to be incredibly boring. So what did I learn today? 1) Guys from Springfield, MA are pretty cool 2) Turn the hips 3) I am a really bad putter

Don't worry, The Haney Project is starting up again. We can look forward to seeing the same episodes 15 times a day now.