john

I think I understand what you are saying. Basically teeing left and aiming right gives my bad shot even more room to hook than teeing right and aiming straight. I really never thought of it that way but I do see the logic for sure.

I am confused now, lol. I tee off at the right and aim down the right side since I rarely have a slice. I find that easier than teeing up left and aiming right, at least for my minds eye. Can you elaborate? Am I training myself incorrectly?

I do not belong to any club but I do have a resident card. I pay $26 for 18 on weekdays and 28$ on the weekend (no cart). In the summer I play about 2 rounds a week which adds up to about 216$ a month. Once summer is over I can only get 1 round a week in usually.

I agree with this. I never spun the ball until I started getting better at getting good contact. After that it just started happening. I am not a huge fan of the ball spinning back though, better to just get it to check hard than to spin back 5 feet. I always remember something Tom Watson said on his "playing lessons with the pros" - "I never made money with the ball coming back towards me"

I agree with this statement. Get that baby out, even if you have to keep it in the bunker but at least give yourself a normal sand shot.

I agree with this also. You really need to practice more to get better IMHO. Even getting a net in your backyard does wonders. You can start by just hitting 20 - 30 balls a day.

I am hitting the ball better than ever. My average shot is completely straight, no draw or fade. When I hit a bad shot I will actually hit a small hook, but usually only about 30 yards off but it runs quite a bit which sometimes gets me into trouble (we had a hot summer and the ground is like cement lately). I usually tee off on the right side of the tee box just in case I hit the baby hook. Its funny because when people see that bad shot they say "nice draw" when I am thinking, "damn, it didn't go straight". :) I do not know how to shape a ball yet. The only time I get a slice is when I try to swing out of my shoes which I have almost trained my brain to never do. :)

Slowed down version -

Here is that new shoulder turn I was talking about. This has happened really only in the last 3 weeks but it has already improved my game. My driving distance and accuracy has increased considerably.

Thanks for the replies! I see what you guys are saying. I do notice that I have alot of lower body movement and you are correct, my main miss is a baby hook. I will definitely take this advice to the range. As I get better lately I have noticed that more shoulder turn is instinctively creeping into my swing and it has really made a difference. Friday I had my best round ever with 4 birdies and a 77 at my home course. I was going to take another vid today to actually look at my new shoulder turn. Thanks again for the advice, I really appreciate it!!! I am a self learner so I value other golfers opinions, especially when 2 people say the same thing :) thanks again!!

I used to hit the high soft landing wedge shots all the time, but I have been trying to put the 60 degree away more often for a lower trajectory spinner with my 49 degree.

yeah, one of the biggest obstacles I overcame was only thinking about mechanics when I am practicing at home or the driving range. Once I get on the course I try to clear my mind and just let it go. That is the tempo that I try to use on every swing but very often my brain gets in the way :) Like when I am on a par 5 and I instinctively feel like I have to drive the ball farther. While I know it is wrong that if I swing harder that the ball goes farther I have yet to train my brain not to do that. The same thing happens when I am trying to go for a green in 2. When I can keep that tempo throughout the round is when I have great rounds. While it seems very casual, with that tempo I can carry that 4 hybrid about 230 yards if everything goes right, lol. Currently the only thing I am working on is keeping my hands looser during my swing. I have a tendency to white knuckle the grip sometimes which causes bad results. Thanks for the response!!! Golfers love to hear that someone likes their swing, it is great for confidence and for me confidence is a HUGE part of my game. Thanks again!

just adding a down the line. This is a pitching wedge.

I actually hit about 50-100 balls a day and I play 36 holes a week. :) I think that I dropped my handicap so much in the last year that I just dont have that confidence yet. I have a feeling that once I get more low rounds under my belt my stress will get better.

hehe, I play so much on my courses that there are no more random people I play with. I have played with all of them. ;)

I would love to play in a tournament. I have no idea how to even get in a tournament, hehe.

lol, maybe I'm mistaking stress with excitement ;)

I am not trying to do this professionally and I know its a tad silly. As you mentioned, real life is probably more of a thing to stress out about. I guess I just have very high expectations and I am a little critical of myself. I play 36 holes a week and I hit about 100 balls a day. 2 years ago I was shooting 95 all the time and now I shoot high 70's, low 80's and I feel that I worked so hard that I fear losing it. Believe me when I say though that once I finish that first hole on the course, it is nothing but fun and I am super positive on the course. People make fun of me because I am always saying, "chip and a putt, no problem" and "this is an easy putt (on 20 footers)" constantly. The pre-round stress never affects my game. I guess I just need more confidence in my new ability. I spent alot of time frustrated with the game ;) thanks for the replies everyone!

I just wanted to know if anyone else has these issues. I actually have trouble sleeping before every round. The better I get the more stress I have to play well. For instance I am playing a round tomorrow and I am already thinking about the holes and feeling stressed out. I am not even talking a tournament (I have never played in one), just a normal round. Believe it or not, once I get on the course and hit a few shots, the stress goes away and I just have fun but the lead up to the round is very stressful. I don't even stress out when I hit a bad shot, as a matter of fact I can put bad shots behind me immediately. The ironic thing is that I always end up doing well. I guess maybe it is just a confidence level issue. I am sure it is just something I have to over come and get over. I need a golf psychologist, lol.

Thanks for the tip! I have always known that I was a little "palmy".

This is the one thing that worried me about having the end of the club recessed like that and why I was thinking that maybe it was a bad habit that I should try to change. I have not seen any tour players that do it like this.

Thanks for the replies! I think it makes sense than to not do anything until I get a new set of irons (which wont be soon, lol). I was hoping to get a new driver at some point when I can afford one and figured that would be the first club that I would get fitted for. Occasionally people tell me that I should have less than 10.5 degrees on my driver but I have no clue, it seems to work fine. I suppose more distance would be nice but I carry about 250 and I am currently happy with that. I did read an article in golf magazine recently where Bubba Watson said that EVERYONE should be fitted for a proper driver.

Thanks for the replies. For some reason I always thought that it was a bad thing to not have it stick out of the back a little. I would prefer not to change it :) thanks again!

I do the following with my grip and for the life of me I cannot change it. Someone told me that I need longer than standard clubs because I am 6.1 but I feel that even with longer clubs I will do the same thing. Is this bad? Should I work hard on changing it? My game has never been better than it is right now and I fear change ;) When I grip the club with the end of it sticking out it feels completely alien to me and I have trouble hitting my normal shots.

Here is a slowed down version -