Shanks A Million

Being a professional musician, I can relate. I play all percussion, piano and orchestral percussion. I was hired to my first post as the principal percussionist of a 70 piece symphony which was accompanying a 200 person choir and we were about to air live on national television in an hour. We do a rehearsal before we play, and I had everything ready to go, and I had nabbed this huge pair of 20" heavy crash cymbals that must be 30 years old. In the first runthrough, the cymbal strap unraveled and the damn thing goes crashing down... The conductor just gives me this menacing look, and I'm just looking all innocent, like, "hi, how are you?" Needless to say, I spent a good 10 minutes tying and retying that damn thing before the cameras started rolling. Now they make these steel balls that you insert into the strap end... Those are much better.

My hands are usually a few inches ahead of the ball at impact on video. I tend to have a very long swing, parallel or past. I'd have to check the videos of wedges specifically to see, but I hit every club high... really high. I've never really lost distance because of it though. I was hitting it lower, but I haven't really lost a single yard due to the change.

Haven't posted in a long time. I have played well the past few years, got my handicap down around 5 or 6 and played pretty regularly, but recently, I lowered my swing plane more, made my hands deeper, etc. I'm hitting all my clubs well, heck, I can pull out my driver and know for sure I'm going to hit it solid... I'm hitting better than ever. Here's the problem: My two wedges, sand and lob, are incredibly unreliable. I hit them shorter and often hit them poorly. I hit my 3 iron around 200-210 yards now, and it's probably the most consistent club in my bag. I went from hitting my 60º wedged 90 yards to about 65. I feel like the club just slides under the ball, and it flops up into the air with no power at all. Is this common, and is there a good, valid, scientific reason?

Professional piano player, not guitar, but I've held up my end with a guitar here and there. I've played for maybe a few thousand people and on some recordings. I'm not "good" in my own view. I have plenty of instruments, and all are good in some way, but that one just gives you that certain sound you're after. I like the fact I can play some good James Harrah style or maybe a good Steve Lukather imitation. Those guys, though, are good.

Rickie Fowler is a PGA tour player. He has no wins. That's all there is to say. Other than that, he can do what he wants. He is exactly equal to where the numbers say he should be.

No, not really, shorter clubs go longer for their given loft. They are more forgiving, thus the average goes up. The law of diminishing returns applies, your numbers are about right for your handicap.

My point was that talent and success are not related. Dianne Warren is far, far more talented than Beyoncè, but has far less to show for it. Jay Graydon is a far better guitar player than Eric Clapton, but who here has heard of him? Talent does not equal success. Never has, maybe never will. Success is in much part based on luck.

Um... So what? Accomplishments don't always tie into ability. The cast of Glee has had more songs on the billboard charts than the Beatles. Does that make them better, or more popular? Beyoncè is a woman who sings songs. She has 16 Grammys. Dianne Warren wrote: Always Tomorrow Strong as Steel The Arms of the One Who Loves You As Long as I Can Dream Because You Loved Me Blame It on the Rain But I Do Love You By the Time This Night Is Over Can't Fight the Moonlight Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme) Chasin' the Wind Could I Have This Kiss Forever Cry Over Me Devil's Got a New Disguise Do You Feel Me Don't Need You To (Tell Me I'm Pretty) Don't Turn Around Faith of the Heart For You I Will Give Me You Givin' Yourself Away Have You Ever? Here in My Heart How Can We Be Lovers? How Do I Live How Many Times, How Many Lies I Belong to Me I Could Not Ask for More I Didn't Know My Own Strength I Didn't Want to Need You I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love I Don't Want to Miss a Thing I Don't Want to Be Your Friend I Get Weak I Learned from the Best I Promise I Turn to You I Want You to Need Me I Will Be Here for You I Will Get There I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth) I'll Be I'll Be Your Shelter I'll Never Get Over You Getting Over Me I'll Still Love You More I'm Getting Used to You If I Could Turn Back Time If I Was a River If You Asked Me To In Walked Love Inside It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be It's My Time Just Like Jesse James Just to Hear You Say That You Love Me Listen with Your Heart Live for Loving You Look Away Love and Understanding Love Can Move Mountains Love Me for Me Love Will Lead You Back Mama Missing You Now Music of My Heart My First Night with You Need to Be Next to You Next Plane Out No Fool No More Not a Dry Eye in the House Note to God Nothing Broken But My Heart Nothing Hurts Like Love Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now Now That You Can't Have Me Numb The One I Gave My Heart To One Night Without You Painted on My Heart Reach Rhythm of the Night Un roman d'amitié (Friend You Give Me a Reason) The Same Love Save Up All Your Tears Saving Forever for You Set the Night to Music Show Me the Way Back to Your Heart Solitaire Some Hearts Soon Spanish Guitar Stuck with Each Other Sweetest Sin Tell Me Where It Hurts There You'll Be Time, Love and Tenderness Too Gone, Too Long Too Lost in You Tu amor Un-Break My Heart Water from the Moon What If When I'm Back on My Feet Again When Lovers Become Strangers Who Will You Run To World Without You You Wouldn't Know Love Your Baby Never Looked Good in Blue Your Letter And about a hundred others. She has just one Grammy. With a straight face, can you say Beyoncè is more talented than than her? Probably not. According to the accomplishments, Beyoncè is 16 times more talented.

I've met pros who couldn't putt to save their lives. Literally would leave 20 foot putts 8 feet short. These guys duffed putts, yet still carried handicaps around +3. I've, to date, never met a person who couldn't reliably strike the ball who carried a handicap any lower than about 8. I have a friend who's a pro, and is going through Q-school, and he's a great putter, which helps offset the fact that he's not a very good ballstriker. However, he can take out a blade 3 iron, and strike 19 of 20 shots 200+ yards and within about 15 yards of center. He can drive it about 280 and does so every time, though it's sometimes a bit left, or maybe he'll push it. What constitutes a "bad" ballstriker on tour is still likely better than anyone you've ever played with. Go to a PGA tour event, go to the range, and watch the lowest ranked ballstrikers hit balls. They strike them one after the other, down the middle. What they call a "slice" is to us a mild fade. Justin Leonard hits a big hook, but his driver moves about 10 yards left. He hits his driver straighter than most people I know, yet on tour they call it a big hook. These guys seem almost superhuman. They are the top of the top of the top of the top of the top. That's like comparing your average bar musician to Larry Carlton. It's just not the same thing.

Yep, work on your swing. You have no coordination built up just yet, so you won't be able to chip and putt well either. You need to work on (and here's a shock) not flipping the club. About 99.99% of all golfers flip the club. The rest are very low handicaps.

Yeah, I think most people realize this thread is a joke. I'd be willing to bet 1 in 20 people on here gave a true average number. High handicaps are not able to swing on plane, nor can they consistently bring the club to the ball and strike it squarely. Distance requires just that. I'd subtract about 40-50 yards from everyone's driver distance to get the real number. Those who say they hit it 285 probably average around 245.

Handicap is almost universally related to ballstriking up to about scratch. The difference between +2 and +5 is going to be more short game. My local pro here played for a while with a guy who was ranked dead last on the PGA tour's putting stats for two years. He said to call the guy a bad putter was ludicrous. His putting was far and away better than his. The difference? One is about a +3, the other a +5. The PGA tour represents the top 1% of 1% of 1% in the entire known universe. We're splitting hairs comparing them. The difference between the best and worst putters and ballstrikers on tour is infinitely small compared to us. How often does a tour pro shank, duff, top, or severely mishit a ball? Not often. Maybe 1 in 10,000 shots? These guys are like machines. The reason they are pros is because of their ability to hit the ball so well. The reason some of them win is their ability to sink putts.

Saying Tiger is a bad ballstriker is simply silly. That's like saying that Dominick Miller is a bad guitar player because he's not as good as Lee Ritenour. Both are among the best on earth, but one is a little ahead of the other. Here's perhaps a bold claim. Tiger Woods is a better ballstriker than anyone on this forum. He tears courses apart. They had to invent the phrase "Tiger proofing" because of him. Do you think a putter did that? No way. He was #1 in par 5 scoring for many years. None of us could even DREAM of pulling off the types of crazy shots he does. For the love of god, he's won 14 major championships. A +13 handicap a bad ballstriker... That's, at best, laughable.

WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!? Are you kidding me? You think Tiger could score the way he does if he was putting for double bogey on every hole? That's the reality, high handicappers have bad swings, period. I too have seen many scratch golfers with ugly swings, but they are UGLY, not bad. An ugly but on plane swing with a forward leaning shaft at impact is fine. Too many people believe in the short game fantasy. If you're taking 5 shots to reach a par 4, forget it, you have no chance. When a tour pro misses the green, it's nearly always because their approach was off line. They get it up and down because they're near the green. When you're 200 yards out and you're hitting 3 on a par 4, you've got no chance. I've got a better idea. Go look at videos of tour pros, and find me a tour pro who's hands are behind the ball at impact. I'll be waiting.

Uh... the title of this thread made me do a double take... Read it again, closely.

If he doesn't have a decent full swing, he probably won't have a real decent putting stroke. The putter still has to be on plane and leaning forward. I'd be willing to bet he's flipping the putter, which is why he's not making putts. Ballstriking is probably 90%+ of handicap. I've seen a lot of scratch and better golfers who can't putt to save their lives, but I've never seen a scratch or better who didn't have a good swing, but had a great short game.

It goes away. Good players generally find one or two guitars and stick with it. Dann Huff, Larry Carlton, etc. They all seem to revert back to one or two main guitars, in Huff's case, a Tyler LA Studio, in Carlton's case, a Gibson ES-335. For me, it's a 1963 Fender Stratocaster.

Quote: The reported COR is 90-92 You mean that illegal driver hit it farther... No! You don't say. What a silly comparison.

Quote: Originally Posted by i-Guy Quote: Originally Posted by Shanks A Million Wait I am confused by this post...maybe I am not reading it corretly but didn't you say "If someone tells you that a longer driver will give you more distance, ignore anything else they may say, they have lost credibility." and then right after that you made the comment as follows "You can add 4" of shaft to your driver, and you will get about 7 extra yards." ...don't those two statements contradict each other...because in fact it is true that a longer shaft will get you more distance...period...now I think what you were getting at was that even though that is true it does not always work out that way becuase it is harder to square up a longer shaft so a higher handicapper would probably be better off swinging a shorter shaft and trying to hit the middle of the clubface...am I in the ball park? Nope, didn't contradict myself one bit. What I meant was that adding length to your shaft is absolutely useless, as even 4" extra will only yield 7 extra yards on a perfect strike. The average person loses something like 20-30 yards with a 46" driver over a 44" one. My driver is 44", and I hit it about 35 yards farther than when it was a 46" driver.

Wow, you are better than a tour pro, amazing. I wonder why your handicap is 11? Seriously, don't be a fool.

Short game? Ha! Not a chance. Take a hundred 25 handicaps, and give them a tour pro's short game, and you've got a hundred 20 handicaps. Give them a tour pro's swing, and you have a hundred scratch golfers. Ballstriking is far and away the most important thing you can do to lower your handicap. He had 2 greens in regulation. NO ONE here has pointed out that BOTH times he hit the green he made a par. He obviously putts fine when he's in position, but my guess is when he misses the green, he ends up duffing a chip, then leaving an impossible putt. It's easy to three putt from 60 feet, downhill. Work on your full swing.

I have a transcript from one of this couples' dates: Natalie: Hey. Dustin: Hey. Natalie: So, what's up? Dustin: Nothing. Natalie: Cool. [18 minutes of silence] Dustin: So? Natalie: So... [22 minutes of silence] Natalie: I really like you. Dustin: Ditto. End of transcription. Honest to god, I could not imagine more people who would be more boring together. There isn't a lot going on upstairs.

Uh? Tiger Woods regularly shoots in the 60s on PGA tour courses, has won 14 majors, and over 70 PGA tour events, and he has a full time instructor... So... tell me again why Rush doesn't?

Simple things, you're aimed right of your target. Aside from that, you basically throw the club with your upper body, your hips haven't cleared at impact. It's all arms in this swing. That's why you can't generate power.