Paz

That's why I either play with buddies or family or play by myself. Never with randoms if it's a casual game. You never know what's going to happen. I'd MUCH rather play a single and work on my game by hitting multiple approach shots, chips, etc than take my chances with randoms...even if it just so happens that i get the nicest partners in the world. I have yet to find a playing partner who enjoys working on his game as much as I do. This would be great because playing alone sucks in comparison to playing with friends. Still beats randoms though.

Especially on the one day I might actually sleep in. It's all too common in WA. A round with my father and two of his best friends is always so much fun. The only time I can really play during the week is after twilight (after 4pm) on really nice days..only one this year. Weather called for rain in the late afternoon today. Everything got pushed forward a few hours. :( Better luck next weekend eh? haha. Man, I really do love the game. I won't wake up at 5:30 for anything usually.

That's the third time I've had to cancel a tee this year. Gotta love WA. Getting my butt down to Socal ASAP. I want to play something besides stand by golf! The weather is far too crazy here. It was 75 and sunny before I sat down to have lunch the other day. I came outside 30 mins later to it pouring and 55 degrees all clouds.

Only one person really said he would be the next Tiger Woods. Of those other few who did make the cut, they did so barely and were never in contention. It all comes down to tomorrow. ALL I'm saying is you don't get worse at golf from that age on. He's too young to get worse. Peaked? Yeah, if shooting sub 70 three days in a row is a fluke, then yeah maybe he peaked.

The B330-S is a fantastic ball. It's good to try new things but I imagine you won't be switching at the end of your trials.

I stopped reading to post this when I read "Went out fully expecting to suck it up, and I was in no way disappointed." You were already at a huge disadvantage. I go out expecting to shoot 79 every round but I don't. But I feel like I definitely have it in me because I've been somewhat close to that a few times. low 80s and mid 80s. Expecting to shoot low really does increase your chance of doing it.

I would be going nuts! 74 is not only breaking 80, but really putting a dent in getting that 69. If you play the back the same way again you'd just have to shoot par the other 9 and there's your 69! 10 putts is fantastic! Now try and go out and break 80 again. Even a 79 will do :) I've never broken 80, 39 once and 40 a handful of times though.

I disagree with this amateurs should still play a soft high spin ball. The advantages around the green are much more advantageous to the players score than distance loss off the tee from not having a fast enough swing speed to get its proper distance.

Sorry, but was tiger ever in contention at age 16? Was he even playing tour events at that age? The point he was making is potential. Not victories. Tiger has 14 years of PGA tour play. Obviously he's had enough shots at victories. We're talking POTENTIAL here only. How can you talk about anything else when we've only JUST seen him play now.

If he's in contention to win at age 16, there's no reason apart from injury to believe this kid will get worse. If he doesn't have a victory on the PGA tour sometime in his career, it's because for one reason or another he gave up the game of golf. The kid has an extremely strong mental game for such a young age. Certainly strong enough to keep with the tour players. There's no reason to believe this kid won't be in contention on Sunday again in the future. Absolutely none. P.S. He's already better in front of the camera than Michelle Wie will ever be...and she's had experience with that since what, age 14? Somewhat irrelevant but it shows his ability to handle pressure off the course, which certainly transfers to his game on the course. His solid play speaks loudly to that point.

That's hilarious. Did you literally face palm or what happened next? I would've just said, play how you like, everyone's different. Even though something as fundamental as flared out feet (30 degrees or so) is necessary for a powerful golf swing, in almost anyone.

When I'm putting poorly I think of only one thing. Deloft the putter with a forward press. A shaft that is leaning forward feels much easier to square at impact, at least for me

Yeah, his take away looks very similar to mine. Good to see a tour player doing the same thing as me. Notice his hands and arms don't start moving until the club shaft is pointing to 7:30 due to his wrist cock take away.

Maybe see your local pro? I'm sure they can recommend that kind of thing for ya, although I am not sure as I have never been fit myself. I really need to get that done.

I've seen impact bags used to promote keep wrist cock until parallel and to hit down on the ball. by placing the bag 2 feet behind the ball the bag prevents digging because you will hit if come into impact to shallow.

I appreciate the response. I thought there was a proper time in the back swing to cock the wrists. I'll use the most simple video I can find to show what I mean. notice how tiger doesn't start his wrist cock until after p2. by the time i reach p2, my hands and arms haven't moved back hardly at all and by and i already have achieved 90 degrees or more of wrist cock. it is after p2 when i begin moving my arms up and back to p3 for some reason i just feel like I'm doing it wrong even though this feel very natural to me. the other way feels natural as well, it would just need a lot of repetition to make it a part of my stock swing however, if you say that it's irrelevant when you wrist cock during the back swing than i guess im doing it okay? thanks

I know that to create a powerful golf swing you need lag (among a few other things) which is created from holding that wrist cock until you reach the shaft parallel to target line position on the way down. This got my thinking about my take away. I feel like naturally I cock my wrists very early in the back swing to get the club shaft to its parallel position. Is this correct or should the takeaway be more one piece and have the wrist cock come into play a little later as I reach the leading arm parallel to target line position? The latter seems to be the correct way because it felt much smoother on the takeaway. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

I've read most of this thread and I'm glad to see iacas sticking to what he said when so many have gone against him. Just because others do it one way doesn't mean its the EASIEST way. It's just the way they are used to doing it. Rolling the arms, wrists or hands (which in turn rolls the clubface) conciously at any point in the swing isn't necessary and like iacas said, just adds a timing element. The only time the clubface will roll very slightly is in the first foot of the backswing when your arm rotates in slightly (this is natural and an unconcious movement) to accomadate rotating back and around your body. When you have introduced timing, you have introduced concious thought into the middle of the golf swing. Never good. Power comes from a strong coil, sliding your hips forward and holding an extreme wrist cock until you reach the p2 position in your downswing at which point you release the club and "slap" down through the ball with your right hand.

This is correct, the hips should just rotate on the back swing and begin the sliding forward as close as you can to the end of the back swing, not after the downswing has started.

hahahah great points that's hilarious

I heard that as well, but it was my uncle who told me it was a number something like 90% of golfers never break 100. This is kind of sad considering if you take an extra stroke past the GIR to get on the green you can still 2 putt every hole and shoot 90. I'm assuming those people have never been fitted, read a golf book, got a lesson, or spent multiple days a week at the practice facility/on the course. I've shot 40-41 a handful of times and 39 once this year and I just started playing multiple days weekly this year. Before i played with my dad on occasion, just need to string two together in one round maybe I can break 80. That's my goal this year. But now i just can't seem to stay away from the course. I've never been fitted which is a shame but being fit for new clubs/shafts right now is not something I can afford. Some PGA Tour Players are "freaks of nature" physically but most are not. Just look at them. They aren't huge muscular guys who build their games around power. Sure, they have a lot of it, but it's not mostly from muscle strength. Their are many guys out on tour who are skinny but can still keep their legs strong to the ground and create good coil. What makes them fantastic and separates them from even the lower handicapers is their ability to make every shot feel the same through an extremely consistent routine. They think about how the shot should be played from behind the ball, turn off their mind, and get into routine mode. No thought, just swing. They MIGHT think quickly "club to 9 oclock" for a half shot or however they are used to playing that distance. But other than that no conscious thoughts.

Ahh you're making me so excited for this weekend!! I have a place down in Palm Desert and I'll be there this weekend for four rounds of absolutely perfect golf and to top it off, this PLAYERS is going to be very exciting I think. A lot of people can't handle the desert heat this time of year (and especially once it starts reaching 110+) but I actually enjoy it even more than winter weather in the desert. Cooler full of ice, a large water, and a damp towel and I'm ready to go! Yesterday my father and I went to play a round here in WA and no more than 5 minutes after we paid it turned from partly cloudy to an 8 hour downpour. My passion for golf has been increasing rapidly lately and I feel I can no longer stand the state of Washington and its miserable playing conditions. Apart from a few months a year, it seems to be a true gamble to go play a round and receive good conditions.