hoser

I've made 4 birdies on the back 9 twice. 1 eagle and 6 birdies over 18 holes.

With the scenario you described, I'd do the following: 1) Stroke play tournament - Lay up every time. 2) Match play - Lay up if I am hitting first. If my opponent hit first and was on or around the green, then I'd be forced to go for it. Otherwise, I'd lay up as well. 3) Money game - Go for it! 4) Casual round - Lay up every time. I like boring golf ... greens and fairways.

My suggestion for software is Kinovea - http://www.kinovea.org/en/ Its open source and free. I have used V1 Home and cSwing in the past and I'd consider Kinovea to be a better product. As for camera there have been lots of recommendations posted in other threads.

Agreed. The numbers I posted a bit misleading since my home course slope/rating is 113/66.0 which will result scores close to an average. This would be different depending on the difficulty of the tracks you are playing.

I use Scorecard to keep track of all my rounds and it has an anti-handicap calculation. Its the inverse of the handicap formula and calculates your index using the worst 10 of your last 20 scores instead of your best 10. My handicap index is 6.6 and my anti-handicap is around 11. This puts my bad rounds around the 79 - 83 range on a par 70 course. Presumably, you'd want the two indexes somewhat close indicating consistent play.

I change my grips about every 50 rounds which is roughly once a year.

I play about 50 times per year and replace my battery 1 or 2 times a season with my Bushnell V2.

I tied my best round of 1 under 69 this past Saturday on my home course of par 70. I shot a 38 (+3) on the front and a 31 (-4) on the back. It was a pretty even round with 4 birdies, 3 bogeys and 11 pars. I only hit 8 greens but scrambled to about 80%. I had 3 3 putts and a penalty stroke (OB) so there's still lots of room for improvement. I thought I needed birdie on the last hole for even par ... but I had miscounted. A pleasant surprise of an under par round when I added up my scorecard!

I'm a self confessed freezer over the ball as well. My symptoms are slightly different. When it comes time to pull the trigger, my hands, wrists and arms get very tense. A real killer. Oddly, no problems on the putting green or for pitching/chipping. I'm open to any suggestions others might have for fixing this problem. Interestingly, Michael Breed on the Golf Fix addressed this problem the other night on his show. He suggested doing the following drill for 30 days: 1. On the range place 3 balls in row approximately 2 feet apart 2. Start swinging the club back and forth 3. Move towards the balls with the intent of hitting them on the fly 4. Prior to hitting each ball, look up and pick a target and then hit the ball 5. Repeat for 5 - 10 reps Ultimately, it doesn't really matter where the ball goes. The purpose of the drill is to train your brain/body to react to hitting a ball. See ball, hit ball. In order to take it to the course, he suggested incorporating certain elements into your pre-shot routine: 1. Take a practice swing beside the ball 2. Address the ball 3. Take one look and swing At this point I've tried the drill on the range a couple of times in June and I've incorporated certain aspects of the pre-shot routine on the course. Modest results so far.

Yep. This software rocks. I just downloaded it this evening and began using it As a long time user of cSwing and V1 Home (basic version) I can pretty much ditch those applications now. If you are going to use the software I'd suggest that you quickly browse the help file which took me 10 minutes tops. Some of the features aren't obvious. However, once you learn the basic concepts its much more powerful than the other software I had been using.

1. Being a 7 handicap, I'm going to make a lot of mistakes even in my best round. I accept those bad shots by not pressing on the remaining holes. My best score is a 1 under 69 on my par 70 home course. That round included 2 double bogeys a couple of 3 putts. That round made me realize that you can make a lot of mistakes and still shoot well. 2. Having a good pre-shot routine is essential to calming a nervous situation. Focusing on the process and not the outcome is the key. My thought however, is that you can only minimize the anxiety of the situation but not eliminate it. Its an unpleasant by product of success ;-) 3. "The better you putt, the bolder you play." That quote has always stuck with me. Your ability to putt affects your whole game. A lot of mistakes can be cleaned up on the green with good putting.

I play about 60 rounds a year with lots of time on the practice range. My wedges (Vokeys) are fully worn out after 2 seasons, so that doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

I used to have this problem as well. One drill that was recommended to me was to find a slope, where the ball would be above your feet and make some practice swings. This will naturally flatten out your swing. My range has a little incline just off to the side. I'd take 20 practice swings on the slope then hit 10 balls on the range. Wash, rinse, repeat until I got through the bucket.

Its impossible to root against John Daly. His name would never be at the top of a leaderboard.

Last year I went from a 4 wedge to a 3 wedge set up: PW - 47° Mizuno MP 60 SW - 53° Titleist Vokey SM (54 bent 1° strong) LW - 59° Titleist Vokey SM (58 bent 1° weak) This simplified my choices around the green. However, it now requires a bit more finesse and feel for full shots that are between distances. Overall, happy with the change. I'll take another year with this set up and re-evaluate.

I've read this thread with interest, because your story sounds similar to mine. I've been pretty serious about my game for the last 3 years and my handicap has dropped as follows: 2008 - 19.0 -> 9.1 2009 - 9.0 -> 7.1 2010 - 7.1 -> 5.3 This past year I flirted with going low. I broke par once and had several rounds with 4 or more birdies. So, I'm really trying to get my handicap under 5 for this year. For yourself, while I agree in principle with what the other have said, your statistics are indicating otherwise. I will point to .... 38 putts!!!! In your analysis, you attribute a +1 for missed putts, yet I count a total of 3 three putts. You will need to get your 3 putts to an average < .75 per round to get consistently under a 10 handicap based on my experience. Additionally, your Putts per Missed GIR is a staggering 2.0. I can infer from this, you didn't make an up and down nor, according to your account of the round, did you chip in, so I'm not sure how your scrambling percentage is 22%? In any event, you aren't converting your short game shots into par savers. This is a key skill. So, unless you put yourself in jail 9 times during the round, I wouldn't think ball striking is going to help you very much. The caveat, of course, is that you can't base a game improvement plan on one round. So, some stats from the entire 2010 would be more useful. I've been able to drive my handicap down by trying to improve the statistics that Scorecard keeps for me. The trick was setting realistic goals. To do this, I had to do extensive research in determining what the key stats for a given target handicap index might be. For example, I know that a 3 - 5 handicap will hit an average of just under 10 fairways in reg per round. I had several key articles that I used in the past, but now the website ShotByShot.com can give me this information for a fee. For myself, my driving, iron play and short game are in the 3 - 5 index range statistically, but my putting is more like a 17 handicap. So, I'm really putting in some extra time there. My suggestion is to do some analysis for determining the weaknesses in your game instead of relying on general statements about how to lower your handicap.

I pick up his ball and keep it. If he wants it back, we can have a friendly conversation about courtesy.

I use something similar to this. Putting is the weakest part of my game and my set up needs a lot of maintenance. My common faults: * Dominant eye (right) is way too far inside my target line * My head sways during the stroke * I look up too quickly after I stoke the ball * Right shoulder is open too far (I'm a lefty) I spend about 30 minutes a week using this aid in my basement and notice a significant improvement on the course in the following days.

Congrats on the new clubs! I'm a little late to the party, but I thought I'd post my experience anyway. My current set up was all custom made or custom fitted, with the exception of the putter. Based on my experience over the last 2 years trying to find a good fitter (I went to about 5 different shops/pros), I've observed fitting comes in couple of flavours: Basic Fitting Lie, Loft, Length - You will hit some shots off a lie board and you will be measured for hand size and wrist to floor. Tape up some 6 irons off the rack and compare. This is a pretty standard Golftown/Golf Galaxy experience. OK Fitting In addition to the above, you will probably hit a few different heads and few different shafts on simulator. You'll get some semi-reliable data about launch angle club head speed and ball speed. Deluxe Fitting Done at a range on a launch monitor. You will get spin rates, ball dispersion, distance, angle of attack, club head speed and ball speed of several different head and shaft combinations. The decision is pretty academic based on the data. Optimal spin rates and smash factor basically make your decision for you. I did a deluxe style fitting with a few extras thrown in. My guy did the following : 1) Frequency measured my existing set and charted the length, lie and loft 2) Had me hit a dozen or so balls with a 5i to get a baseline on the launch monitor so we could compare all other combinations 3) The baseline numbers weren't great. My original set up had spin rates that were too low. 4) We hit a number of head shaft combinations 5) A really cool thing he did was take my 5i club head off my shaft and attached a special connector that allowed me to hit several shaft combinations with my existing mp 60 head Based on all the data we gathered over 3, 1 hour sessions, we decided to: 1. Replace all of my wedge shafts (DG 200) with Rifle 6.2 and keep the Vokey heads (they were new anyway) 2. Replace all of my iron shafts (DG 300) with Rifle 6.2 and keep MP 60 heads (about a year old at the time) 3. Shortened all my clubs by a quarter of an inch over my previous shafts 4. He built me a new Driver and 3w with Ping G10 heads and Accra M4 shaft but we shortened those clubs up too for better control 5. We replaced the hybrid shafts with steel. So, he retrofitted some of my clubs and built me new ones based on the data we collected. In all I hit about 5 different iron heads with 6 different shafts. Additionally, I hit 3 different driver heads with 8 different shafts. I didn't bother to compare hybrid shafts since I was nailing my irons, moving to steel was a pretty easy decision for consistency sake. Finding someone with the right tools and knowledge to do a deluxe style fitting is pretty difficult. The guy I went to is club builder. He doesn't sell off the rack clubs and doesn't have a store front. Basically, he works out of a driving range. He had invested pretty heavily in the technology to get the correct data. Also, we had a pretty good understanding of what good target numbers looked like. So, after all of this, here are my thoughts. Pros I know my clubs absolutely fit my game throughout my whole bag I was able to make some good decisions like shortening my driver from 45.75 to 44.25 based on the dispersion and smash factor numbers. It didn't take very long once I found the right fitter Cons In order to get new clubs (wedges mostly) to fit my set, I basically have to go back to this guy. Not a lot shops fit for Rifle shafts. It was pretty expensive. The fitting didn't cost me anything, but the new shafts and woods were expensive. Getting repairs or alterations done isn't very quick. Overall I am super satisfied. My handicap dropped from 9.1 to 5.5 over this past summer. Practice helped, but the equipment probably saves me 2 strokes.

Congrats on the new clubs! I'm a little late to the party, but I thought I'd post my experience anyway. My current set up was all custom made or custom fitted, with the exception of the putter. Based on my experience over the last 2 years trying to find a good fitter (I went to about 5 different shops/pros), I've observed fitting comes in couple of flavours: Basic Fitting Lie, Loft, Length - You will hit some shots off a lie board and you will be measured for hand size and wrist to floor. Tape up some 6 irons off the rack and compare. This is a pretty standard Golftown/Golf Galaxy experience. OK Fitting In addition to the above, you will probably hit a few different heads and few different shafts on simulator. You'll get some semi-reliable data about launch angle club head speed and ball speed. Deluxe Fitting Done at a range on a launch monitor. You will get spin rates, ball dispersion, distance, angle of attack, club head speed and ball speed of several different head and shaft combinations. The decision is pretty academic based on the data. Optimal spin rates and smash factor basically make your decision for you. I did a deluxe style fitting with a few extras thrown in. My guy did the following : 1) Frequency measured my existing set and charted the length, lie and loft 2) Had me hit a dozen or so balls with a 5i to get a baseline on the launch monitor so we could compare all other combinations 3) The baseline numbers weren't great. My original set up had spin rates that were too low. 4) We hit a number of head shaft combinations 5) A really cool thing he did was take my 5i club head off my shaft and attached a special connector that allowed me to hit several shaft combinations with my existing mp 60 head Based on all the data we gathered over 3, 1 hour sessions, we decided to: 1. Replace all of my wedge shafts (DG 200) with Rifle 6.2 and keep the Vokey heads (they were new anyway) 2. Replace all of my iron shafts (DG 300) with Rifle 6.2 and keep MP 60 heads (about a year old at the time) 3. Shortened all my clubs by a quarter of an inch over my previous shafts 4. He built me a new Driver and 3w with Ping G10 heads and Accra M4 shaft but we shortened those clubs up too for better control 5. We replaced the hybrid shafts with steel. So, he retrofitted some of my clubs and built me new ones based on the data we collected. In all I hit about 5 different iron heads with 6 different shafts. Additionally, I hit 3 different driver heads with 8 different shafts. I didn't bother to compare hybrid shafts since I was nailing my irons, moving to steel was a pretty easy decision for consistency sake. Finding someone with the right tools and knowledge to do a deluxe style fitting is pretty difficult. The guy I went to is club builder. He doesn't sell off the rack clubs and doesn't have a store front. Basically, he works out of a driving range. He had invested pretty heavily in the technology to get the correct data. Also, we had a pretty good understanding of what good target numbers looked like. So, after all of this, here are my thoughts. Pros I know my clubs absolutely fit my game throughout my whole bag I was able to make some good decisions like shortening my driver from 45.75 to 44.25 based on the dispersion and smash factor numbers. It didn't take very long once I found the right fitter Cons In order to get new clubs (wedges mostly) to fit my set, I basically have to go back to this guy. Not a lot shops fit for Rifle shafts. It was pretty expensive. The fitting didn't cost me anything, but the new shafts and woods were expensive. Getting repairs or alterations done isn't very quick. Overall I am super satisfied. My handicap dropped from 9.1 to 5.5 over this past summer. Practice helped, but the equipment probably saves me 2 strokes.

Your gaps look a little odd. I've got a similar handicap, age and use similar irons (MP 60s) and here are my stock yardages for 80F/25C weather assuming no wind: 4h - 210 5i - 195 6i - 185 7i - 170 8i - 155 9i - 145 PW - 130 (47) 53 - 110 (bent from 54) 59 - 95 (bent from 58 -- and I do hit this club full) A couple of things strike me as out of whack based on what you listed: * I'd guess you should be able to hit your gap wedge (52) 115 - 120 yards based on your other yardages * Your 8i/7i gap is odd which you pointed out In January I went to club fitter and he did a frequency analysis on my shafts. He found that the DG300s i had in my PW - 5i were pretty consistent but a little to soft for my swing. We eventually fit me to a Rifle 6.2 instead. The stock shafts in my Vokeys were 'wedge' flex shafts (DG S200) and they were way, way too soft. Plus the variance in these shafts was all over the place. As told to me by the fitter, wedge shafts are often a cheaper quality which explained the anomalies. So, that might account for the 5 yard gap between your 52 and 56. Based on my experience, it still wouldn't explain why your 8i/7i gaps are so close. In any event, before you adjust your lofts, you might want to get the shaft frequencies analyzed to see if your shafts are causing an issue. Mine certainly were. The stock hybrid/wood shafts were even worse for consistency even within the same manufacturer. Gah.

I play these clubs. I purchased them new in 2008 for $350 on sale, so I wouldn't offer more than $250 for them used. I started playing these clubs when I was a 7 handicap. Based on my experience, I'd suggest that if you are playing a GI iron, I'd stick with that until you are comfortably shooting in the 70s on a consistent basis. Your best shots won't be much better, but your bad shots will be significantly worse.

1) I'm playing in a singles match where I get 4 strokes based on our respective handicaps. Fast forward to the 5th hole, a 490 yard par 5 with OB down the left hand side and its our #1 handicap hole, so I get a stroke. On the day of our match the wind was really howling and my gentle fade off the tee turns into a wicked slice. Yikes! I'm OB off the tee. With nothing left to lose, hitting 3 off the tee, I pound one down the middle. My second shot was about 220 into the wind and I hit a 2h about 40 yards right the green and have it curl back towards the pin. I knocked it to 2 feet!! I tap in for a 5 net 4 and win the hole. 2) My most unlikely birdie occurred earlier this year in a round in which I shot 69. On our par 5 11 th hole, there is OB on the left and a strand of trees running the length of the hole on the right hand side. Off the tee, I block my tee shot to the right over the strand of trees and into the adjacent 16th fairway. When I get to my ball, I am totally blocked from hitting back towards the 11th fairway. So, I decide that I will play down the 16th hole to make forward progress. I realize that my approach to the 11th green will have to be from the far right side of the 16th fairway to be able to clear the trees on my next shot. I figured a 6i would give me a good wedge into my green. My target is slightly short and right of the 16th tee box. I really crushed this shot but again, I blocked it to the right! So, now my ball sails 30 yards right of my target and its resting just short of the 2nd green. I'm now 2 fairways over!! I can barely see my green and its about 145 yards away at this point. I hit a 9i into the middle of the green. On in regulation in sink a 40 ft putt for birdie.

I played my 'tournament' round this weekend. I played the front and back on separate days, both times with my wife. As luck would have it, both nights we were able to sneak on just after a shot gun tournament had completed so we had the entire course to ourselves. More importantly, there was no one to point and laugh Tournament Details Course: Springfield Gold & Country Club Blue Tee: Par 70 67.6/119 5700 yards Red Tees: Par 60 65.3/107 4500 yards (rating/slope are for women) Scoring Avg Last 20: 77.75 What I think I will shoot from forward tees: 68 Round Results Score: 71 Par 3: +3 Par 4: +2 Par 5: -4 GIR: 78% 14/18 FIR: 50% 6/12 Total putts: 35 Putts per GIR 2.0 Putts per missed GIR: 1.75 Scrambling: 25% Up and Down: 50% Stats From Last 20 Rounds - Blue Tees Average Score: 77.75 Par 3: +3.65 Par 4: +3.5 Par 5: +0.6 GIR: 49% FIR: 46% Total putts: 31.3 Putts per GIR: 1.97 Putts per missed GIR: 1.52 Scrambling: 36% Up and Down: 40% Summary This really couldn't have come at a better time. I've been making some late season swing changes and my scores have ballooned so golf really hasn't been that fun lately. So, an opportunity to string some good holes together was a welcome change. On the front 9, a lot of the par 4s were in the 220 - 250 range, so I tried driving a number of the greens. This resulted in some awkward recovery shots, so quickly abandoned that strategy in favor of hitting short/mid irons off the tee to set up wedges from my favorite distances. I thought that given enough GIRs, I'd sink a few birdie putts. I couldn't get my putter going, but the strategy removed any bogey possibilities (for the most part). I hit a lot of greens, so my putts per round went up significantly. This wasn't really surprising to me since I haven't been working on my putting much due to constrained practice time. My lag putting tends to go quickly and requires a lot of maintenance. I 3 putted twice from about 30 feet. Gah. I birdied every par 5 which was good. However, I had 3 eagle opportunities inside of 10 ft which again, tells me my putting needs some work. I think the only surprise of the day is that I didn't birdie a single par 3 or par 4. Given that I had a wedge in my had for a lot these holes, my putter really let me down. I had a number of putts in the 10 - 18 foot range that didn't fall. Statistically speaking my putting and short game numbers were in line with where they normally are. My GIRs were up, which was to be expected and my FIR was constant due in part to trying to drive the greens. I was 0/2 for sand saves which hurt me in this round. My takeaway from today: wedges, chipping and putting need to improve for me to score well again. A really fun round that I might try again later in the year!

Ours is flighted by course index: A - 0 - 9 B - 10 - 18 C - 19+ In my opinion, this is a bit too wide open. Is a 9 index really going to beat a 1 handicap without strokes over 54 holes? Statistically its almost impossible. Once you factor in the notion of playing against a whole field, there's really not much motivation for a 9 to enter the tourney outside of setting some kind of personal goal. A better break down would be: 0 - 5 6 - 10 11 - 16 16 - 20 20 + Personally, I wouldn't care if there were fewer people in my flight if I had a legit shot at winning it.