Gibby

Depending on how big the school is, the level of play will be different in order to make the team. I know a few teams from our area can barely find enough players to send out a lineup of 8 varsity nd 8 JV, which is the amount that starts and counts for the team. Most schools will take extra, and for my high school, which is really big and particularly competitive, we kept 13 for varsity and 14 for JV. At most schools like mine, in order to make varsity you need to be shooting in the 70 consistently, and anything under 95 or so to make JV. We had almost 70 people try out though, so cuts had to be made. A few of the schools we played though, as i mentioned, could barely fill a lineup, and bogey golf was able to make varsity, and a bag of clubs would get you a spot on JV. It just depends on the school. The biggest thing is to give him the opportunity, and let him take it as seriously as he wants. The only thing I would stress to him is the rules, and playing the game honestly, as it seems there are all too many players who try to cheat whenever possible. -Gibby

Put a quarter on each foot. The one on the front foot should stay for the entire swing. The one on the backfoot should stay for the entire backswing, but of course will fall on the downswing. -Gibby

You have a SW, 58, and 90...and you want to add GW? I'm strong supporter of wedges over long irons/hyrbrids/fairway woods. But 5 wedges? The 58 and 60 are too close. Pick one and get rid of the other one. Then get the 52. -Gibby

Seriously? You're going to blame the clubs? You're shooting 120, of course you will be hitting a lot of awful shots. You can't expect to hit solid shots a majority of the time until you get to being a bogey golfer. All i can say is practice. For a beginner, equipment doesn't make much of a difference. Right now, you just have to practice and get a good swing, that you can replicate, over and over again with consistency. It's not the arrow, it's the indian. Don't blame your clubs. Practice. -Gibby

Errr...most people set up on the right for a cut and on the left for a draw...so i have no idea where you're coming from. Plus I don't know if you were just saying stuff to sound smart, or if you actually tried to draw it out...either way, your geometry is incorrect. Plus it's not an exact science because it's not a direct correlation. Technically if you hit into a fairway at 90* it would give you the widest landing area...but you would have no room for distance control. No one can draw the line at what angle is the best to come into a fairway. Anyway, there are a lot of other factors that you have to take into account when deciding where to tee it up. But when it really comes down to it, your only changing you postion by a couple of yards, so it's not that big a difference. The difference in angle of attack is minimal because you're htting the ball so far compared to only a yard of movement sideways. Usually I just look for the flattest part of the teebox to tee it up on. -Gibby

I keep in shape...? In all honesty, not to sound harsh, but if you're getting tired just by walking 18 holes carrying, it sounds like you just need to get in shape. Not just for golf, but to have a better lifestyle. Most courses are around 3-4 miles so no one should have problems walking and carrying for 4 miles, considering that you get to stop so much. If you just get a better diet and maybe jog for 30 minutes a day you'll have no problem carrying 18 holes in no time. -Gibby

Putting is something that you have to be able to adjust to round to round. Speed of greens is a huge factor. You might find yourself hitting a lot of putts long tomorrow. Just learn to adjust after the first couple of holes. And btw, no one that's good at basketball aims for the back of the rim...you aim to make it, not clang off the back. You either aim at a spot off the glass, or you aim to make it nothing but net. -Gibby

As the guy above said, your ball position needs to be way farther up. Just inside the left foot. Now I'm not one of those anti S&T; people who say you have to keep your back leg flexed (i'm actually quite pro S&T;), but I think you might be a bit too extreme. Your right foot looks like it almost locks, and your left leg REALLY breaks down. Because of this (atleast it's part of the reason), your head moves a lot, both laterally and rotating. Then because your lower body was so out of control on the backswing, it is pretty wild on the downswing and your head dips a lot. I would suggest trying to just tone everything down. Try to keep your lower body much more still. There's no problem with your back leg straightening some, just try to tone it down. This should for the most part keep your head from rotating so much. Then on the follow through, make sure your head doesn't dip so much. Maybe think about driving your hips UPWARDS, as well as forward. Those were just my thoughts looking at your swing. Hope it might be of some help even though i'm no pro ;D -Gibby

I was looking to do the same, possibly exactly what you did with the VRs (3-6 splits, 7-pw blades), or maybe a combo set with Mizunos. My question is, do any of those manufacturers lets you make a combo set for no extra cost? Or do you have to special order it, so therefore you're buying each club individually, and it would cost a lot more. -Gibby

Yea I'm on that side. I can't pretend it's horrible, but sometimes I wish I could gain more weight, it's not like I don't eat more than 3000 calories a day (really, just healthy calories). I was 126 lbs, 6', 16 years old at the end of the summer last year. Through weight room training at school and at home, i'm now 145 same height and 17 years old. It's a huge accomplishment for me. I want nothing more than to have bigger forearms, wider shoulders etc. Whether you're trying to put on muscle, or lose weight, it's all a matter of willpower. It comes slowly, but as long as you keep at it it's going to happen. I can honestly say after a month or so when i first reached 130, I was frickin estatic. Made it all feel worth it.

I was wondering how big of a difference gripsize makes. I never really thought i was using the wrong sized grips, but then i read somewhere that the ideal gripsize has your fingers on your left hand (for a righty) barely touching the pad of flesh below the thumb. Mine definitely tuck under. I wouldn't consider my hands to be big, so I was wondering if I really should switch to midsize. Also, how big of an adjustment would it be to make the change, particularly for chipping? Also, what would you guys recommend for moisture control, as I have really sweaty palms. Thanks, Gibby

Nike Vapors and Callaway HX Bites are Great all around 3 piece balls for $30. I play these during practice rounds or when i dont feel like using my ProV1s. Honestly, I can barely feel the difference. ProV1 is ever so slightly softer when putting, and it spins a tad more with full wedge shots. The Vapors might actually get a little more distance. A lot of people love the TopFlite Gamer too although i've never played it, i've heard great things about it. It's also cheaper too, around $20 i believe. -Gibby

Tiger, along with around 90% of the tour consistently works the ball according to fit the situation. There are a few players like Kenny Perry that pretty much hit one shot (draw) like 95% of the time, unless the situation ABSOLUTELY calls for the other shot type. The reason one would tend to finish higher with a fade, is because in order to hit a fade, you need to hold off on the release. The swing plane could also be ever so slightly steeper. This is why when people make an exaggerated fade or slice (on purpose), you often get the "windmill" finish. -Gibby

Most people have enough patience and don't get frustrated if you tend to have a slower/longer practice routine. But i'll admit, if someone takes 40 seconds to hit, only to shank it 30 yards, it can get annoying. By standing there and thinking too much about the swing, you are just putting more pressure on yourself. Think of basically any other sport. Almost all other sports are fast-paced, and you have to rely on reflexes, and do what comes natural for you. In the end, you just have to trust yourself. Personally, after I pick my target and such and step over the ball, I think about basketball. Not that i'm particularly good at basketball, but it's a sport that you pretty much have no time to think. Everything has to come naturally. When someone comes off a screen for a fadeaway jumper, do you think he has time to think about how far away he is from the basket, how close any defenders are, where his right elbow is, or anything that has to do with his shooting form? Nope, you just shoot it. Everything happens subconsciously, and in the end, you just have to trust that your body will know how hard to shoot it, and at what angle. It comes from doing it thousands of time in the gym. Unfortunately, in golf, we have eons to stand over that damn ball and stare at it, thinking of all the horrible shots that could be resulted in, and the thirty seven swing thoughts we read about the other day on the forum. Thinking is for practice. When your on the range, analyze your swing and think about what you have to do. Then, practice it enough, and when you step on the course, you just have to trust you will be able to execute. Worst case scenario, you don't. Oh well, go practice more =P. But on the course, just clear your mind, and swing. -Gibby

Honestly, I think everyone needs to get with the times. I don't know why everyone still has this idea that blades are incredibly hard to hit. We're not talking about the blades from 30 years ago guys! The blades of today are very forgiving, and the player cavity backs are even more so. Everyone seems to think that with blades or player cbs that there's only like a nickel sized sweet spot. Well, sure I suppose, it's pretty much the same with a SGI as well. If you hit a thin shot on the toe with a blade, will you lose 20 yds? Yeah, probably. You would also lose close to 20 yds hitting the same shot with a SGI. I've been out hitting all sorts of irons over the last month or so because I'm looking to move up from my old Nike Ignite irons to more of a players club. I can honestly say, I think every club i've hit has been just as, if not more forgiving that my old set. That includes AP2s, Titleist CB 710s, Nike VR Splits, Callaway X-Forged, and Even the Nike VR Blades just for kicks. I think all of you guys just have a negative mindset when going to hit a blade iron, so of course, you make a bad swing, and when the shot sails 10 yds right and 15 yds short you blame it on the iron being not forgiving. Don't kid yourself, that same shot would've sucked with a Ping G10 iron as well. The only major difference is you will feel that you didn't hit it in the sweetspot with a forged club with less perimeter weighting. With my ignites, just about every shot feels the same. So when I end up 10 yds short and right of my target, I will never know: was it because I hit it on the toe? Was it the wind? Did I misjudge the distance? Honestly, I think anyone can and should play a player's cavity back if they want to. They're all forgiving, and if the look at address inspires more confidence, you will hit better shots. That said, if you like your SGI, then stick with it. Just go out and hit the clubs without the negative attitude for blades/player cbs and i think you will all see that there really isn't as much of a difference as we make it to be. -Gibby

With correct fundamentals and half decent swingspeed you should be able to spin any ball with a 2 iron. On the other hand, if you're talking about spinning the ball back over 15 feet consistently i'll say it is a little out of the ordinary, and you probably just have a slightly higher swingspeed than average. -Gibby

Just remember that the most important factors in distance are good contact and good swing technique. I often hit half swings with my driver at the range to practice good contact and not wasting any motion in the swing. I have no problem hitting it over 200 when I feel like i'm just chipping the driver. When I put a full swing on it, the ball only goes about 40 yds further. Once you get past the idea of swinging harder and faster to hit it longer, you will be able to focus on contact, which will help you the most.

So i'm in the market for some new player cavity backs, and of course I want to hit and compare some clubs before I spend $900. I've been to Golf Galaxy and hit the AP2s, Titleist 710 CBs, Callaway X-Forged, and Nike VR Split cavities in their simulators. In the end, I felt my hitting sessions weren't particularly helpful, because I was hitting off mats with taped clubheads. I could barely feel any difference between the clubs. Plus, I wasn't able to see my ball flight, and a simulator isn't a very reliable source for that. I know Golfsmith will let you take out any of their pre-owned sets for a hit on a range somewhere, but I was wondering if you guys knew of any better ways to demo some clubs. For the newer irons sets I mentioned above, is there any way I could hit them side by side outside from the grass? I'm also interested in a couple of older models like the MP-57 and Cobra Pro CB, so would there be any way to get my hands on a set of those to demo? I'm also aware that sometimes golf courses will have "demo" days, but i'm having a hard time finding information about those in my area. Plus ideally I would be able to demo a few sets side by side for better comparison. Thanks for any help, it's much appreciated. -Gibby

I think if you are reasonably serious about golf, you need to be able to shape shots. It's similar with all sorts of "specialized" shots, like a flop shot or bunker shot. How often will you need to hit a fade or draw around a tree? How often will you have to hit a flop shot? Not often, but if you don't practice and try to learn these shots, you will never be able to pull them off when it matters, whether it's in a friendly match with a friend with some money on the table, tryouts for your school team, or in your club championship. Particularly with shaping shots, I think a lot of it comes down to confidence and control. I would rather miss a fairway by a yard because I slightly overcooked a draw, over missing a fairway by a yard because I didn't know which direction my ball would go. It's pretty much impossible to hit a perfectly straight shot. If you always aim down the middle and try to hit straight, technically every shot you hit will be bad because you didn't know which way it would go. It gives you a feeling of control when you can shape the ball, and therefore makes the same misses seem better, giving you more confidence. It's kind of like, would you rather barely miss a put that you misread AND mishit, or miss a put because you either barely misread OR barely mishit. In the end, they are the same shot. But confidence is possibly the most important aspect of golf, IMO. -Gibby P.S. That said, there's nothing wrong with having a "go to" shot that you hit 90% of the time. I just prefer to practice shaping the ball around even when it's not entirely necesary during my practice rounds. During tryouts for my highschool team, or a competitive match, I will play more conservative and stick with a slight draw with my woods and a slight fade with my irons unless the situation calls for something different.

So I got three new Nike SV Tour wedges this winter and have taken them out for a couple of chipping sessions - love em. So anyway, I ended up with my 52 in the normal satin finish, and the 56 and 60 in the black satin finish (no more 52 in black where I was buying). It's not a big deal to me, and the worker at the Golfsmith told me the difference was purely cosmetic, that both were the same "satin" finish so the only difference was color. I've been reading around some online and I'm starting to get confused. According to the worker at Golfsmith the only difference was color, but they were the same finish, so either they should both rust, or both not rust. However according to Nike's website the it says specifically the black version was made to rust, but it mentions nothing of the sort for the normal satin finish. Then i've read some about Vokeys, and it says the oil cans are meant to rust, but their "black nickel" finish (different than black satin? not sure...) was meant to NOT rust. So I was just wondering if anyone who has played these wedges, or anyone who isn't as confused as I am, could tell me how these wedges react? I love their performance and the satin finish, the color really isn't a big difference to me. I just want to know if any of my wedges will rust, and if so, how should I care for them? I won't mind a little rust, but I'm not one of those people that will go soak my club in saltwater for extra rust overnight. I would rather keep the rust to a minimum. Thanks for the help. -Gibby

Honestly, when it comes to drivers, I feel like the head just comes down to what you like in terms of look and feel. There isn't going to be a whole lot of difference in performance in the driver head themselves. It's mostly going to be the shaft for distance and accuracy. I play a FT9 and love it. I love the look, and the dullish feel is nice for me. I prefer it over the other end of the spectrum, which is the high pitched clangy/tinny sound of a Cobra. But whatever floats your boat. Get fit for a shaft, and then try out the driver heads that you think look nice. It may sound shallow, but honestly there isn't a whole lot of difference in driver heads. If you think it looks and sounds nice, you'll play well with it, if you have a proper shaft.

How are the X-Forged Irons you play? I know you are sponsered by Callaway but without any bias, how do they compare to other player cavity backs? Right now they are at the top of my list, but I'm defnitely still considering the Titleist 710 CBs and Cobra Pro CBs. -Gibby

I personally hate hitting off mats. I think it takes all the feel out of a shot, and I can never tell if i hit it well cuz it always feels like crap hitting down into a hard mat (i'm also more of a digger than a sweeper). One of the most important things for me when practicing at the range is reading my divots, I can tell right away why I missed a shot. When hitting off mats, sometimes I feel like I hit it a inch fat, but I can never tell from my ball flight and there definitely is no divot to read. On the other hand, I doubt hitting off mats is bad for your game, so if you want to, why not? I know plenty of good players who practice off mats. -Gibby

Thanks for that advice, I'll definitely be sure to try it out. That was something along the lines of what I was thinking, that after a long layoff the confidence wasn't there to really use my big muscles, and resulted in trying to guide my swing with my arms. -Gibby

Is there anything else you can use to care for those finishes on wedges? I bought some new Nike SV Tour wedges this winter at a great price, and haven't used them yet. But i've heard they can rust and what not, so is there anything that I can use to clean them that i can find just around the house? Thanks. -Gibby