Sharkgolf

Sure you can!! Just throw the clubs in the nearest ocean. But be sure to leave them in the trunk of your new Ferrari as you do so. Why not? it's a great idea to have that good old rust finish, to a Ferrari as well as a golf iron. Come to think of it, maybe you should stay in the car as well!!!! ONLY kidding!!!! (People are way too sensitive these days, it all in the additives) But what are you thinking dude? Clubs aren't soooo expensive. Get a new set.

Here's the reason why you are hitting off the toe: your hands are way too high at impact! You are a 14 hcp player and you have grooved your swing over time. Now you have a gremlin in there which is giving you grief. Think about it. If your hands were lower at impact - spine angle has remained in posture etc, your club would meet the ball centrally. Raise the hands higher through impact and the club toes down through impact, and voila! You have a seriously shitty shot. Get those hands back down where they belong - video the swing from behind, run it in slomo and you will have your fix. I hope.

Hey Ethan! You can buy as much equipment as you like, but without the right education in a sport, you aren't going to get anywhere in golf by having brand-named clubs. This is a solo sport, friend: it's you, the landscape, the weather, and a little ball which has to go into a hole, which is pretty small, and pretty far away. And that has to happen 18 times!!! And it has to be done with ridiculous equipment!!! Yes, it is right to have good clubs, but it is WAY more important to get the correct basics. Spend some time in your area seeking out a good, communicative teaching professional, and spend some money on his or her teaching. If you are serious about playing well, the investment will be worth it. Good luck!

Man oh Man!!!!!!!! What a thread!!!!! Only ONE post in this entire thread has damned Daly as a nogood-loser. ONE!! Isn't that amazing?? What is it about John we all love so much? The God-given talent? The no-risk-no-fun attitude to every aspect of his game? The workingclass style, winning majors and giving the stuffed shirts of golf the finger? Whatever it is, MARK THESE WORDS: John will make the comeback of the century in sports. He will win when we least expect it. And then he will go on winning. And winning and winning and winning. He is our Shrek.

Ah lameburns, what a shame. You would have lost 6 of them anyway, in the 3rd hole water hazard!! Now you can lose those old Top Flites instead!!! What is the world coming to??!

the answer to all the above: The Dave Pelz Short Game Bible, and anything he says on putting. Dave is so sincere, so serious about the short game, so experienced, so eloquent, so able to instruct and communicate all his knowledge. His emphasis on routine, on how to swing a club well for the inside-100yd shot, from any lie, from any sand, across any obstacle, on how to putt on any type of green, will and should grab your attention and lower your scores dramatically. Hail Dave!

Hey, you're a 10 handicapper and that means you have played some pretty good golf already, so you know all there is to know about great balance, posture, finish positions, weight transfer, etc etc, right? You don't become a 10 handicapper without the basics. One of the basics is to have your weight transfer to your left side, making a turn towards your target as you strike the ball. A lot of people though, don't have anywhere to turn FROM because they didn't move their weight to their right side during the backswing. To practise this, you have to overdo it a little. Grab a club, assume your address position (make sure no lamps or other household furniture is in the way!) and start your backswing, being conscious of shifting your weight to the inside of your right foot, yeah, go on, quite a lot of weight! At the top of your backswing your head should be about 8 inches to the right of where you started - ( I said we were gonna overdo this!!) Now you have somewhere to START your downswing from. Right! GO FOR IT!! Shift the hips to the left, let those arms come down, get onto your left leg, turn, straighten the left leg up and BAM!!!! The ball is gone and you are all the way onto your left side, feeling like Freddy Couples.........ok? OK - practice this move at home and then when you get onto the range again, trim is all back so there isn't so much disco going on, but feel that there is some place to go TO on your backswing, and then some place to go TO, with a turn, on your downswing. Good luck!! Jeez, 10 handicappers need help!!!!!!!!!!

Here in Europe our coverage starts at 1600 and goes on live until the round ends, at about midnight. Normally, I am mesmerised in front of my TV by the brilliance of the Tour Players and how they dominate a golf course. This time, with the Oakmont setup, it makes for really boring TV, only because we are seeing the guys play defensive golf and trying to stop the trainwrecks from happening. I read iacas observations - they are all really informative but as far as riveting TV goes - the US Open is a dud. With greens and rough like this, there's no chance of anyone "storming" up any leaderboard. It's a players tournament, not a spectator's. Am I right or am I right on this, dear Trappers????

Interesting topic....and here is the answer, from Tiger himself... How to Escape from Heavy Rough - The key to playing from deep rough are generating clubhead speed and controlling the clubface. Position the ball toward the back of your stance and open the clubface slightly. The latter will help you get the ball up quickly and counteract the tendency of the grass to grab the hosel and close the face. Align your body slightly left of the target, because the open clubface will send the ball to the right if the grass does not close it. Apply extra grip pressure with your right hand to keep the clubhead square through impact. Also, take the club back a little higher on your backswing. For best results, remember to grip the club firmly throughout the shot and abbreviate your follow through. Added by me: Ernie Els said, in a tip I read once, to try the baseball or doublehanded grip for this shot.....because basically, it's a strength shot with the main aim being to get the hell out of where you are and back into some kind of sanity.... Good luck.

A good subject - one I have been a real victim of. Managed to sort it out by reading a lot of Dave Pelz. A LOT OF DAVE PELZ!!!! Body movement is usually responsible for lousy contact, especially on short irons. But what kind of body movement? Usually a spine which is not "over" the ball at contact, but is somehow curving toward the target - allowing contact to be with the big ball before the small ball. Try "dominating" the ball with your spine (on the range).....to do this, keep your chin UP through the turn back as well as through, and feel consciously that your centre (spine) is ever so slightly flagside of the ball at impact......the idea of a "proud" spine is emphasised by having your belt buckle point AT the ball at address, with that chin high! Try it. Chunky shots adieu!!! Good luck! This is REALLY hard to take to the course because there has to be a lot of thought going on, in order to make it part of your routine....and under pressure we usually all resort to our brainless "before" swings.....but keep me in mind when you find out how damn easy it really is!

...indeed.. You carry a 64 deg wedge too, I see. Hmmm. 21hcp.....Hmmm. indeed. indeed. Golf is difficult enough without adding the Russian Roulette factor, nibs my man! Ambition + desire + gambling mentality + clubs which are hard for high handicappers to use = wtf happened to my round socrecards..... Lord help ya!

Gentlemen - thanks for pointing me in the direction of the Stack & Tilt swing. I searched a few sites and was taken through the Baddeley swing in Golfdigest.com......then yesterday, off to the range full of skepticism for something which seems a little gimmicky. Lo & behold, brothers of ballflight!!!! This swing produces the crispest contact I have felt off my irons in ages!! Because your "center" is guaranteed to be ahead of the ball at impact with this technique, your trajectory is lower than usual, and after only 6 or 7 shots I was also producing a straight shot. Along came a flexible 17 year old, I showed him the swing - and then we played 14 holes, and the young fella had adopted the Stack & Tilt for his 3 iron tee shots on a pair of our really tight tee shots - he is 5 hcp and claims he now has his "safe shot" in the bag. That's the feeling you get....a lot less body shift...a kind of guarantee of straight....it's not for my woods though, yet.

......I agree so much with the guy who wishes for the local alligators to attack Sabbatini on his way to the drop zone.......as a fellow South African all I can say is that this guy's demeanour is the perfect bodylanguage for all the hateful things my homeland's troubles.....swagger, bullshit, skindeep sincerity, ignorance and a boorishness, topped off by those aggro eyebrows and an ability to engage his tongue before his brain.....make it a PAIR of alligators!!!!!!!!!! LONG LIVE the 17th!!! A gimmick! Yeeeahhha!

Basically, and just because I am as good an asslicker as anyone, I have to agree with Mr. Woods. Of COURSE 17 at Sawgrass is gimmicky. Why? because Tiger says so, that's why!! Does anyone on the planet have an ounce of golfing integrity in them to disagree on matters golf with Tiger Woods???? Step UP! OK; Jack, you can come over and talk about it, but the rest of you?? GO AWAY! Tiger said it, and therefore, it is FACT! Are we gonna change it?? Nööööööööö! Whatever for? We LOVE it. We love the splashes and the trainwrecks and the slumped shoulders and the brilliant putts and the "better than MOSSTSS" and the seagulls stealing balls and the huge crowd and the fact that no leader has a real lead on Sunday until 17 has been dealt with. Its a GIMMICK, and we LOVE it!!!!! Sigh. Forums are fun. Can I go out & play now?

Ah what the hell. Learn to hit a ball which runs at enormous speed very low to the ground. Ball well back, maybe a 4 iron, and a wrist-fee backswing, not too fast on the downswing, and as you make contact you yell SORRY. Soon, the problem will solve itself. Always phone the Medics first, it creates the impression you really didn't know anyone was in your line of fire. After all, you were practising with your iPod earphones in, you didn't hear anything and hey: nobody's supposed to be out there right? It only has to happen ONCE. And face it, if you DID bean one of them on the ankle, shin, or ass, you would go to sleep that night with a smile on your face. Especially if you have a little toke before going to bed.