BSpel55

I need to be quicker on the draw I guess... Still full. Teach me to be out of town for a weekend!

*sigh* The group is full...

Well, ended up with a 102 and 41 putts. Clearly my green-reading skills are not what they should be. My irons were incredible though, saved me from a lot of danger that I got into with my driver. I felt awkward off the tee because I had 2" added to my driver which led to me needing to change my posture, and because I was sir putts-a-lot I felt awkward on the green. All in all an enjoyable experience. I didn't need my gloves and I didn't have the back pain I used to have before I got my clubs extended. Here was my score breakdown 8's - 1 7's - 4 6's - 4 5's - 5 4's - 4 Playing 9 today at 2:30, hopefully I'll shoot in the 40's.

I figured this would've been a great blog entry but I don't have those priviledges yet so I'll put it here. Ya its true, 5:40 and I'm sitting in the kitchen of my fiancee's grandma's condo looking out at the beach. I've taken my driver, 6, and wedge out of my bag and have been messing around with them since I woke up. Tee time is 8:22. First round of the year, feels weird. I guess because I'm playing in Florida this year and not the wet courses of Cleveland, OH, where the issue of "does snow in a sand trap count as loose impediment or unintended standing water" comes up frequently for the first 3 months of the season. New clubs, new goals. This year I plan to count every stroke. My dad usually gives a mulligan per 18 but I usually adhere to a looser interpretation. I want to keep a more rigid count so that my index will be a true measure and won't include random estimations because I wasn't paying attention. I want to end the year with an index of 17 or less. This would mean I consistently shoot in the 80s instead of the 90s as I do now. It feels like it should be easy, because I get it. For the longest time I couldn't wrap my head around what I was supposed to be doing, what the club needed to be doing, etc. The problem with good golf is you can't really ease into it. I played basketball my whole life, through college even (20 ppg as a freshman but I digress), and that's a sport that can be eased into. You work on layups, get the follow-through down, then take a step back, rinse, repeat until you can shoot 3's. Golf you can't just focus on the last quarter swing and work backwards. You have to start in the post, run off a screen, and shoot a 3 with a hand in your face right from the get-go. Sure it gets easier, but until you understand originally what your hips, weight, wrists, arms, head, shoulders, and feet are all supposed to be doing and when, you're just guessing. It all clicked for me when someone posted in one of my topics how the hips should look during backswing and follow-through. I want to have fun with it. I could never play 18 before. I'd get too pissed off. I said before I shoot in the mid 90's. That usually consists of 42-44 on the front, 50+ on the back. I just want to relax. Hopefully today there won't be a group behind us for awhile so while I will play my first one always, if I want to hit/putt a couple extra for practice, I can. Plus it will give my fiancee and I time to just chill out (She's like a 15 handicap, I hate that). Thanks for taking the time to read this. I'm gonna get some doughnuts and watch some hulu while I wait for the rest of the world to wake up. I'll be sure to post how it goes in here after the round :)

If you aren't transferring your weight properly I'd imagine you are trying to compensate by bending your knees, thus causing lower impact and fatter shots.

I just joined, hopefully I'm better at this than real golf...

Wow, this is slightly off topic but great job mods! They linked my new thread to a post made back in '08... I love it! And Jackson wasn't too bad of a golfer, I think first impressions are everything and on #1 he shanked his hybrid and then couldn't chip. Otherwise he was decent.

I was watching "Being John Daly" on the Golf channel and afterwards I ran across this gem of a show. Essentially what it is is a show in which a pro golfer plays 4-5 holes with a celebrity (David Toms and Samuel L. Jackson for example) and the pro gives tips as they play. They sometimes hit shots after their original to help teach a point or whatever, and you get to learn a little about the celebrities. This show has helped my game IMMENSELY because its not like watching 30 minutes of someone hit the same putt, etc. Its advice that shows you how to play situations as they will arise in a normal round, and the tips are very practical adjustments and things to do on the course. Drills help my fundamentals but you can't do them on the course, which is where I fall apart. Sorry if this post is long winded, I'm about to go to FL for a week of golfing from Cleveland where I live. I've got new sticks and I lost 25 lbs in the offseason as part of a general push to get my health in order, gonna see if I can't get the index under 20 ;) Take care all!

trog I'm 6'8. My old clubs were +1.5 but they said when I got the new ones fitted I should go +2

So I went to Dick's yesterday to pick up my irons that I had extended and had the toe angle altered on (added 2 inches and moved angle 2 degrees). The guy at the store let me hit a few on the simulator and in 5 shots I didn't get the 5-iron more than 160 yards and fat. I'm not about making excuses, but I did spend all day yesterday driving back to Cleveland from Chicago and I decided instead of going home I would go pick up my clubs, needless to say I wasn't focused on my form too much, just wanted some sleep. The more overarching question though is will this correct itself naturally? I mean I hit the normal clubs well just incredibly hunched over. Is my body trying to contort itself at impact to the same as it is with the normal irons, causing the club face to drive into the ground? I don't know, its just annoying that the chunks are back, especially since I'm going on a trip next weekend. Feels good to rage about it here though :)

I'm nervous about my 2 most recent purchases, mainly because this Dick's didn't have a simulator. I got the driver and 3 wood now in my sig. I tried them out with a guy from the store watching me and he was actually one of the most helpful salespeople ever. He watched my swing enough to let me know I needed stiff shafts (I didn't know I swing "well over 100mph", one of the benefits of being 6'8 and 22 I guess), and then he said something I've never heard a salesman say: "You look uncomfortable". And I did. I've known forever I get +2" irons but I never thought of adding anything to the shaft. The shots were sounding good and I was hitting the sweet spot on them like 95% of the time, something I never did with my 5900 or my HiBore, but I was getting the back problems I always get on the back 9 (Which leads to my handicap. 44 on the front, 51 on the back). But I loved these clubs. So he added the 2", I get to pick them up today, but I'm anxious as to whether or not they will play well bc I was just hitting them into a net. So wish me luck! I'll let you know how they turn out after my trip to FL next week.

So I just got into trying clubs out mainly because of the harsh Cleveland winter but also because of my jones to upgrade as all my clubs were 3+ years old heading into this year, irons leading the way at 6 seasons played (set prior to the r7s). I've been hitting straight as I did at last season's end. But I'm afraid of one thing. In flight my ball used to slice a TON before I corrected it, would the simulator notice if I'd picked that slice back up or is it too late in the flight path to catch? I'm gonna look for a new driver today... Would the store have a problem with me bringing in my current Driver & 3 wood to test against what I have? I don't know what the etiquette is on that and didn't get an answer in a topic I posted earlier. Thanks!

Thanks! Any thoughts on the etiquette question? How will they react if I bring in my 5900 to test against whatever I'm trying out?

So you can see in my sig what I'm using currently. I've used the 5900 for a couple years, I got it because I used to have a terrible slice which made my Cleveland HiBore worthless because I had to aim like 60º to the left to have a shot at the fairway, and even then it was still in the right rough. My dad got a 5900, and his drives went about 275 straight even though they only carry like 150 lol. So I got the 5900 to take the spin out of my drives and actually let me work my game in the fairway instead of army golf (left, right, left, right). My shot has straightened out now. I'm going to go look at new drivers today. My question is: What would you recommend? The 5900 was nice but even with it I still hit fairly high drives, I think that's because of the loft, so I should probably try a 9.5. But what brand? I usually carry around 240 off the tee, roll puts me around 260 usually depending. I was thinking of TaylorMade since a lot of people seem to like them. Also, would a Golf Galaxy or Dick's care if I brought my own clubs so when I try theirs out I can compare to my present clubs? Not sure about the etiquette on that... Thanks!

Yeah I don't understand it much either... I just figured that the simulator at Dick's was incredibly skewed long. One shot, 185. Another, 190. I was so confused and then I really uncorked on one, 215. All in almost the same spot. Middle of the fairway with a slight draw. That I found odd because I used to have a fairly big slice. Then he fits me and the ball is half in the sweet spot every time (the other half closer to the toe) so he says they are gonna add 2 inches and change the face 2 degrees to correct that abnormality, which he said was due to my height. But ya I remembered very clearly my average distance was in the 190s. I couldn't believe it.

I know I have a high handicap, but I felt it was time for me to upgrade my irons, since my long game has considerably improved (Yes I'm a 23 handicap but that's mainly due to ~65 of my strokes coming from within 15 yards). I've been playing Cleveland's TA6's since they came out. I went to Dick's and tried some wedges and liked the r7 TP's the most. The biggest difference between the two brings me to my question. The Cleveland's feel like they have way more toe weight, and I question whether or not that was leading to my fade because I wasn't getting the head back to square. The r7s felt so smooth all the way through. I mean I was hitting the 6-iron 215 at max, with the average being like 195, and that was before the +2" that I need to have long enough clubs (I'm 6'8 with a 7' wingspan). My 6 was my 150 club with Cleveland, and that one was fitted too. So yeah, I compare the Clevelands to swinging a tube sock with a baseball in it and the Taylormades to like a PVC pipe in terms of smoothness. I didn't know if toe weight was a valid issue in clubs or if it was just in my head. Thanks!

Wow, is that a good backswing for Veej? His hips are perpendicular to the ball, that seems dangerous. Then again I guess when you crush it like that it doesn't matter lol.

I was just messing around these past few days in the yard taking some hacks to try and get my form back for when spring rolled around, and I noticed something strange about my hips during the swing that I wanted to be sure was proper, since I don't want to practice the wrong way, and my swing is awkward enough given that I'm 6'8... Anyway, during my backswing I tend to sink my left hip such that it's probably a good 2 inches below my right at the peak of my backswing. Then as I come forward I let my hips and legs lead my hands, and as I push off of my back leg my hips come through before my arms such that when I make contact my hips are no longer parallel with the ball, with my right hip closer to the ball than my left. Not by much, but enough to notice that they aren't parallel. Any advice? Is this going to cause any quirkiness in my game or is this the way it should be? Thanks!

Something like 95 I think. Another mid 40s first round, lost focus on the back. Last actual time I played was a scramble and I think we shot like a 70. Won the Intrafraternity Golf Championship too.

22, praying I live to 82 so I can finally understand this game

I don't think it's just "X" Strokes per se. If you are not a good golfer, knowing every inch of the course won't matter in the slightest. That being said, I'm a 20 handicap mainly because I shoot an 85 on courses I know and a 95 on ones I don't. I never fail to lose a couple balls because I "think" the dog leg is sharper, the forest doesn't extend as far, etc. That is the most frustrating part because you hit something near-perfect then lo and behold you just put it in the wrong place.

I watch in several ways, of course I don't have the ability to film myself but in the mirror. 1) Swing line. My main cause of a mis-hit is when I convince myself I'm going to hook or slice the ball and my swing path is like \ or / 2) Grip. Again, a personal thing. When I began playing the club started turning in my hands, leading to a huuuge slice 3) Lower Body. It's where the power is generated. If the form there isn't solid then there's no point in paying attention to the other stuff because there will be no distance 4) Follow through. Check to be sure the hips lead the arms, the face is square and level at impact, and the drive is through the ball and the arms don't cancel the swing after contact. I think there are general things to look for but a lot of it is personal, you know what you mess up so you know how to fix it

It's a shame absolute power corrupts absolutely. I think Tiger should come back because what he does on the course is amazing. The problem is you can't have Tiger in a vacuum. He will keep making money, doing endorsements, and he has to leave his house. His 15 hours/day that aren't golf related are his problem. I compare him to Delonte West in a way. Their respective sports are their sanctuary and their safe haven, its what they love doing. To take someone who has a problem and take away their only comfort mechanism will only amplify their problem. Short answer: Yes... He won't be able to get healthy if he can't golf.