adamgoodman

Driving irons... I have one of those lying around and I'm not exactly sure what it's for.

Before reading on, completely remove the idea of the rubber tees from this discussion. What I have always is that more experienced golfers always hit from the grass and your backyard hackers stick to the mats. I've been hitting off the grass since I was 10 years old, but recently I have been experimenting back and forth between the two. By hitting off the mats among the duffers, I feel like I get the feel of my warm up quicker and with better results. On the often ill-kept, roped off grass areas at the local driving range, the conditions are far from what is found anywhere on a decent golf course. By hitting off the mats, a consistent surface even if it's turf, I find myself being able to find my groove swing wise better because I'm focusing completely on my swing instead of my funky lie or grass patches or whatever. It's just me, and the ball. And disregard those horrid rubber tees. (I bought a little rubber thingy that holds wooden tees for me, I wouldn't go near those sad excuses for a tee). Are driving range mats under-rated? Does hitting off grass really make a difference when it's barely grass at all? Does anyone hit from anywhere besides grass? Let the games begin!

Frankly, I was keen to bring all of my clubs to the same brand and same brand lines because I felt like I could keep a consistent swing pattern from one type of club to the other, even if I went through swing changes.

Two of my threads down, one to go! You're on an Adam Goodman roll zeg! ;D

Shoot, I meant to put this in the equipment sub-forum... Oops! :P

I recently got a custom grip on my putter for the first time...With a Winn grip. Personally, I like my grip on the thinner side and soft. Being able to wrap my hands around the grip when it's hugging the shaft gives me a better feel with my putter, and be "one with the club," per say. And the soft grip just feels good in my hands, and when I feel good a putt good. The little things fellas. What kind of putter grip do y'all prefer? Or any grip for that matter.

See, reasons like this is why I wish the Somers Golf Center would give me more hours. I need more money! I wish the Nike grips were available for buying. I like consistently from one grip to the other...

Same deal is going on with my 3-wood, also a regular flex shaft. How much would cutting them down cost, and would I have to regrip them also? I only bought the clubs back in January.

How about showing my boys at Nike some love! ;D

So... Maybe I should've gone with a stiff shaft instead of regular?

I found that choking up on the hybrid helped me get the ball flight and direction I was looking for more often... Does that mean anything?

I would also like for this to be an open debate for long irons versus hybrid clubs. I'm a long iron supporter!

I was convinced that using hybrid clubs instead of long irons was the way to go for me. (My father had me using hybrids since I was 10 years old) But today at the tender age of 16, I'm not so sure. I purchased a Nike SQ Hybrid 3 to go along with my set (4-AW) and I find it troublesome to hit. On the other hand, I found it very easy to hit my new four iron. (I had used a hybrid 4 previously). Even more surprising, I tested my theory with an old Spalding three iron and found that just as easy for me to hit. But I can't seem to get what I want consistently from my hybrid 3, which is always preached for being easier to hit. Any thoughts or comments?

I could throw together one if need be... Or four or five! 2002? Taylormade Burner Driver "The Bear" 3 Wood Spalding Pro Flite 3-PW Spalding "Eagle" Putter

How many of you keep all your clubs a consistent brand? I personally tried my best to keep all my clubs from Nike, but money reasons left me with my old Tom Watson Lob Wedge and Taylormade putter. Do you feel that keep the same brand allows for consistent feel, or do you like to find something that fits your particular taste in that facet of your game, no matter what brand?

I use a Taylormade Rossa Maranello. I don't love it, and it's the only club in my bag I didn't personally pick out for myself, but it usually gets the job done. The best advice I've received for my putting is for lag putting. When you have a long putt, the best thing to do is extend the hole. Give the cup a three-foot radius and try to get it inside that hole instead. You will at least leave yourself an easy finisher putt, if you haven't holed it already. Good luck!

Eric Stamper: Great mindset advice there, but unfortunately, I'm not quite one of the best in the conference yet. :P I made Varsity my freshman year, but only as the number 5 with a team full of seniors. So this year, with all the graduation losses, I was really rushed into the lead man role and I know it, despite my best efforts to significantly improve over the off season. Is it wrong to be aware of being less skilled than most of my opponents? Maybe I'm subconsciously making myself think my opponent is better than I am, instead of making them prove it. I guess we are all on an equal playing field until the first score is written. Thanks for the help. Authentic_Golfer: To answer you're question, I would like to think I approached my next shots pretty well. I vividly remember my train of thought during that position... Shot 2: Just get it out and safe and go from there. Shot 3: Just get this close enough for a chance to save par or bogey. Shot 4: Just give yourself a chance for bogey Shot 5: Just leave yourself a gimme Shot 6: Makable putt. Make it. Shot 7: $#%! I'm sure there are ways I could have approached it better, but it was a hole that had the potential to destroy the entire round.

saevel25: It's definitely not a swing problem at this point. The triple bogeys were bad triples, no lost balls no penalties. Yesterday on a par four it was a drive sliced into the edge of the woods, punch-out, skied third shot left shot, weak approach to the pin, and a three putt (very difficult, aerated, wet greens). It was ugly. weavej2: I really like that 3 hole divisions idea...Thanks a lot. KD Epic: What is uplifting is that I was able to recover, but disconcerting is how the one bad hole is changing decent scores into mediocre ones. Motteler621: I completely agree with your theory, but unfortunately, the vast majority of our matches are played at courses without ranges, and I'm only a sophomore, so I can't use my study halls for early release.

Just a mediocre 41 today... Tripled bogeyed the second hole and birdied the 5th and 8th. Entire play was mediocre, except my wedges were spot on. It was also rainy and cold, but I had no choice but to play as a member of my high school's golf team.

Lately, my mental game has been in a funk. I'm the number one golfer on my high school golf team (terrible team, but still), but I seem to be having trouble focusing early on in matches. The last two matches I have shot mediocre scores, but only one hole away from being a decent score. Last match I triple-bogeyed the first hole, and today triple-bogeyed the second. Both matches I recovered pretty well and consistently played decent for rest of the round, but the bad hole took a big hit in my score, and both occurred early in the round. Any advice for me here? Could it just be jitters, or something else? The blow up hole today was the difference between me being the match medalist.

Thanks for the suggestions. I actually wasn't addressing the ball fully for lack of memory card space, so that's my it appears off in my stance, but you are correct. I also noticed the off look in the hips, so I'm going to try and work on that as well as all the other suggestions. I'll make some adjustments and get back to y'all. Thanks!

Thanks for the tips! I'm going to do some tinkering, see how it goes and post another video. Thanks again!

Absolutely not! It's is north central, but I was born and spent some time in Massachusetts. Go Sox!

Video of me hitting some whiffle balls, and I would love some advice. Looking at in myself, I feel like I should try and swing faster...Tips please?

Hello, my name is Adam Goodman and I am from Somers, Connecticut. I joined this forum to get advice and find information about golf. Here's a little about myself: I am 16-year-old sophomore at Somers High School. I've been playing golf for about 8 years now. I currently play competitively for Somers HS Golf Team, and am starting my second Varsity season. I am an 8 handicap, and looking for all the help I can get for this season. Feel free to private message me. Regards, Adam Goodman