acegolfer

Sorry for not being clear. Here's what I'm doing to open the club face. 1. I don't change the grip strength relative to my body. In other words, I see the same number of knuckles at address. 2. At address, I rotate the club clockwise 30 degrees. At the end, my thumb is at the 1 o'clock position relative to the club but 2 o'clock relative to my body. Hence club face is open at address but at impact it squares relative to my swing (in-out) path. Hope this clarifies.

To answer your questions, 1. The position of my club face mentioned above (1 vs 12 o'clock) is at address with my normal hand position. 2. As stated in the OP, if I 1. open stance 2. open face (face pointing 1 o'clock, 12 being the target line) 3. stand closer to the ball (helps keeping the tush line) 4. intentionally hit a cut then with a smooth swing, the ball flight is straight and lands about 5 yards right of target with 6i. My natural misses with this setup is a 10-yd draw (landing 5 yd left of target) when my old swing creeps in. What do you think? Can this be a long term solution? Or should I continue to fix such that it has square face/square path to the target at impact?

My thumb was about at 2 o'clock. If I put my thumb at 1 o'clock, then the club face opens to 1 o'clock with my old setup. This is what I meant by "2. open face (face pointing 1 o'clock, 12 being the target line) "

I have been suffering a big snap hook with my mid irons for a long time. I have been trying to fix this the last 30 days with a squared setup. But my shots still end up 30 yards left of target more often than not. About 20%, I may hit a nice draw to the target. The only way for me to hit straight (like an arrow) is 1. open stance 2. open face (face pointing 1 o'clock, 12 being the target line) 3. stand closer to the ball (helps keeping the tush line) 4. intentionally hit a cut Can this a permanent cure to hit straight? Or should I continue to work on my swing so that it goes straight with a squared setup (perhaps 30 days is not enough)? FYI, my USGA handicap has been trending down from 10 to 16 in the last 2 years. Please help.

Isn't it easier to get up and down from short right of green than long left for a righty? Most greens are sloped from back to front. And it's easier to give clockwise side spin. So I think it will be easier to stop the ball playing from short right of green. Am I wrong?

What is your normal shot shape and miss?

1. Massage your arms and shoulders. This will loosen up your arms. 2. Stand closer to the ball 3. Shorten your back swing. The farther your arms move, the more arms get involved 4. Slide your hips forward at top of swing. This should drop your arms 5. Swing long irons as if they are PW.

I have a different perspective on getting lessons. I know that I'll get from point A to point B faster by taking lessons. But I also know that there's point C, D, etc after point B. I'm a firm believer that golf swing will never get perfect and there's always room for improvement no matter whether you take lessons or not. I have been playing golf for about 10 years on and off and my swing has been gradually improving every month by reading, researching and video taping. This self-teaching process is by far the most fun part in my golf. I have never regretted that I should have taken lessons earlier to get where I'm now. But if I don't know how to improve on my swing, then I'll probably rely on lessons.

If you carry 13 clubs, then why not? I'm considering carrying a LH PW. I wanted a 2-sided chipper but found it's illegal.

IMHO, These are wrong questions to ask and can be very misleading. A golf lesson is not a substitute but a complement to practice. Without right attitude, lessons are meaningless.

I'm a lefty playing right handed. I'm a good left handed tennis player with a strong one-handed backhand stroke. My right handed golf swing resembles my left handed backhand tennis swing. 1. weight transfer to forward, but head staying back 2. big shoulder turn to generate power (your back points toward target at top of swing unlike forehand stroke) 3. flat left wrist throughout (even after) impact 4. left hand forward of body at impact 5. left knee extension The only differences that I can think of are 1. not hitting down 2. stance

I think most golfers have experience muscle pain at least once. My question is are these symptoms due to bad swing technique or just an effect of playing golf? As you get better with golf, do these symptoms occur less or more?

Suppose you layoff for 6-12 months. 1. Which part of the game do you suffer the most? In other words, what do you need to practice to get back in shape? 2. Which part of the game do you suffer the least? In my case, short game around green suffers the most. It takes several practice sessions to get back. It's also my weakest link. My driver tee shot suffers the least. After 1-2 tee shots, I'm back to normal. It's not my strongest game but I practice the least with the driver. Perhaps, 1-2 shots per bucket.

I believe most athletic actions are related to each other. I'm wondering which other sport actions is closest to a full golf swing? How about a debate on what's similar and what's not?

Dear OP, With dedication, I'm sure you can get your HI from 18 to 10. I'd like to offer you several advices. 1. Enjoy the gradual progress rather than trying to get to 10 HI in a short amount of time. There are many ways to lower HI but choose a method that allows your HI to be sustainable. Otherwise, you may quickly lose interest in golf, when you hit a wall (it happened to me long time ago). 2. Do not be afraid to get worse before getting better. Instead of getting obsessed with HI, try to work on 1-2 specific things at a time. Set those as your objective instead of shooting low score at the course. Your 102 may not be a bad round, if you achieved what you intended to do. Good luck.

+1 In the past, I have struggled greatly with any shot that requires wrist hinge + less than full swing (40-80 yards). In retrospect, I tried to hit a perfect shot to get up and down all the time. Now, all I try to do is get it on the green so that I can 2 putt. If I do this, I make considerably less chunk shots.

I go to a course by myself 1/3 of the time. Most of the time, I get paired with other golfers, which I have no problem with. In fact, I had so much fun playing with strangers, I can remember a lot of them. I have met interesting people and occasionally got paired golf pros. Sometimes, if I ask properly, they gave one-point lesson after the round. I have found many swing faults through them and my game vastly improved after fixing them.

I agree. Several years ago, when I used online handicap (unofficial) service, my handicap was 8. I conceded putts myself and sometimes played up. Now after joining a league, which plays by rule with an official handicap, my USGA HI is 11.3. I feel I'm a better golfer now than I was before. I feel I can enter any tournament with my HI and be competitive. I'm not delusional any more.

I learned that not all videos are created equal. Is his 8 swing step video worth watching for a 11 capper?

You are just one observation. Statistically, it's meaningless.

Very normal. It takes 3-7 days to disappear.

I'm not OP but I used to lose 4 shots because of the same issue around green. So I think I know what he's going through. I'm going to assume the pin is 10 yards from the green edge. So the OP is facing 15-20 yard shot, which is 45-60 feet. I always try to execute the perfect shot so that I can get up and down from this distance. I don't have a good short game (OP probably doesn't, either) and the percentage of getting up and down is very slim. But to execute a perfect shot brings in awful shots resulting in another stroke. Instead of trying to hit in a 3 feet circle for up and down, I try to get the ball on green first (hopefully within 20 feet, where I can 2 putt 95% of the time). I know it's lame to leave 20 feet from 45 feet distance. But at least it's much better than hitting a chunk shot. In short, if your short game is as awful as mine, play for the green not the pin.

Course management: "Don't change the swing during a round."

I agree 100%. I always hear a bad golfer saying "I can hit nice at the range but can't hit at the course." However, I have never heard a good golfer making such claim. Good golfers know what a solid strike is no matter whether it's a golf mat or grass. In addition, they know the distance is meaningless at the range due to range balls and turf condition. I disagree with some posts suggesting hitting of golf mat is a waste. Of course, if you have the option, then by all means go to a grass range even if you have to pay more. But if you don't have such luxury, practicing on the golf mat is better than nothing.

I stand corrected. I got confused with ascending blow. My bad. The club must be delofted (shaft leaning forward) for every shot.