joshray

I've been spending a ton of time working on my irons, and hitting down on the ball this season. I'm getting much more consistent iron shots, but my driver started fading. I am not a big hitter, but I usually put it right down the middle of the fairway with my driver. Yesterday I was out golfing, and on the last hole, after hitting another fade from the tee box, I decided to use my old swing (before I started hitting down) and it went perfectly straight, and about 30 yards longer than I'd been hitting all day. I'm not sure if you're supposed to use different swings, but I know that it made a huge difference for me. I went and hit a bucket of balls after my round to see if I could do it again, and I was able to consistently hit my driver straight. For me, I bring my driver around on a flatter plane and it works. With my irons, I have to bring it back pretty steep in order to hit down on the ball. I'd love to hear some feedback from others to see if there's any science behind this, or if I'm just crazy.

I just bought GolfShot for my Iphone 4S and took it out yesterday. It worked well, and had the ability to track every swing to give me my personal yardages for each club. Around the 7th hole, it started to freeze up, and was pretty worthless the rest of the round. I could still input my scores, but the GPS screen was just black. From the sounds of it, that's not common, but it was frustrating to have it happen on my first outing. The other feature that didn't work for me, was the ability to touch anywhere on the screen and get the yardage. Like, if I wanted to know the distance to a bunker, I thought I could just tap the bunker and it would show the yardage. But, it didn't matter where I tapped on the screen, nothing happened. I ended up buying the GolfScape app that works with it, and it provided yardage to some of the main hazards, but it wasn't super user friendly. It had me hold my phone up, camera pointing down the fairway, and tried to mark the hazards, but it didn't look great. I'm going to read the user guide, and hope that it does more than that. As for accuracy, it was always withing 3-5 yards of what the laser showed, and what the course markers showed. That is close enough for me, and overall, I was really happy with it. I'm heading out again today, and will hopefully figure out how to use it better.

13 HCP by November Eliminate 3-putts Track everything with GolfShot App Hit 10 buckets/week 2 hrs/week around practice green 2 hrs/week putting Play in 2-3 tournaments

I'm completely jealous of this guy. I get to go to the range 3-4 days after work, and I thought I had it pretty good.

I'm looking at getting lessons right now, and trying to find a good instructor in the Salt Lake area. Good luck with your lessons.

Tiger Woods -14 Rory McIlroy - 12 Phil Mickelson -10

Yes, my employer is awesome. I would love to do both, but my wife has already agreed to let me get some new clubs this year, and I think spending a couple hundred more on lessons may be pushing it. For some reason, she doesn't think golf lessons are as important as I do - maybe there's a thread about convincing wives of the importance of the sport that I haven't read yet. I've never taken lessons, and I think they would be very valuable to me. My friend showed me how to hit down on the ball, and now I'm hitting the sweet spot about 80% of the time (I get anxious and hit too hard or lift my head and occassionaly top it still), and it has changed my world. My shots are flying longer and straighter, and I'm swinger softer. I'm also loving this site, there's tons of great stuff here.

My employer offers a wellness reimbursement plan, and they include golf lessons. I've already spent some of the money on a range pass, and I've been out 3-4 days a week hitting a couple buckets each day. I have about $260 left to spend, and I was talking with the Pro about lessons, until I read about the AimPoint system here. Right now, every aspect of my game needs help. I have a friend who is a scratch golfer, and he's been giving me tips/advice for my irons on the range. I'm getting better with the irons, but could still use help. I have no confidence in my putting right now, and I'm tempted to take the AimPoint course. I'm just curious if there's a general consensus around fixing putting or iron play first.

Thanks for the tips. I just checked out your noodle thing, and it looks like it would probably help. I don't have my own private driving range in my backyard like you do though, I might feel pretty dumb with a big pink noodle on my public range. Can you help me understand what you mean by "not maintaining lag long enough?" As for the fitted clubs, I've been talking with a lot of different people, and they've all been measuring my wrist to the ground. TaylorMade is coming out to a local course this month and I'm hoping to get fitted by them before I buy a new set. I'm also planning to get some lessons this year, but I'm waiting for my new clubs to do that. I used to play religiously, and was shooting in the low 80's, then I got married and took a few years off, and now it feels like I'm starting from scratch - I've forgotten a log of the basics.

Take this with a grain of salt, because I'm a high handicapper, but I really liked Dave Pelz's Putting Bible. I was killing myself on and around the greens, and that book helped me start correcting that.

A few other notes, I'm 6'4" and playing with a stock set of clubs. I've been talking with some local shops and most are telling me I need to add 1.5 inches and 1-2 degrees increase in the lie angle. I generally hit the ball pretty straight, but will sometimes push it right, or it will have a slight fade. This is the first time I've ever recorded my swing, and I was surprised to see how I pull up right as I'm making contact. I'm curious if anyone can tell me what would cause that, and any practice tips to fix that? I don't feel like I'm pulling up, but I'm guessing it's not good. I'm guessing that if I can drive that momentum forward instead of up, that I can probably add some yards to my drives. Thanks for any advice.

I've been Playing Golf for: 15 Years My current handicap index or average score is: 90 My typical ball flight is: Slight Fades The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: topping the ball , keeping it straighter

Thanks, the pro seemed to really like the X Hots. I haven't had a chance to hit them yet, and I'm trying to find a Callaway demo day near me so I can try some of their clubs out. I need my clubs 1.5" taller, so it's difficult to just walk into the shop and swing any clubs I want.

I didn't play much the last two years, and I dropped from a 12 to a 20. I'm hitting a 15 year old set of Wilson's, and my wife has given me the green light to buy a new set. I like the Rocketbladez, but I'm wondering if there is a better set for someone like me who will be spending a lot of time getting back to the basics this year.

Thanks, I think that I'll give him another chance. He was a really good guy, just busy. Is it normal to request that they adjust a few irons from many different sets so that I can try out the different brands fitted specifically for me? I looked through the store, and there are so many different options that I don't know where to start. I'd like to pick a few sets in my price range and have one or two clubs adjusted so that I can hit them into the simulator. That seems like it would be a lot of work for the shop to adjust those clubs, but I feel like that's the best way for me to really see which clubs I like.

I've been playing with the same set of clubs I got my junior year of high school and my wife has finally agreed to let me get a new set. I want to get fitted, so that I have the right clubs and can stop blaming my problems on the clubs. I went to Edwin Watts Golf last week and spoke with Steve, the PGA Instructor there. I told him what I was looking to do, and he took a quick measurement of my arms, then gave me an adjusted club to hit with tape on it to see if it was hitting the ground square. He said it looks like I need a 2 degree increase in the lie angle, said that's simple, and then suggested I look at the sets they have available because he can adjust any of them. I was expecting a lot more from a fitting - like hitting many different clubs, using the simulator to check club speed.... It was busy when I was in the store, so I'm wondering if he just rushed through it, or if that's normal and my expectations are off. Before I buy any new clubs I'd like him to adjust them and let me hit some balls into the simulator. I'm thinking this could take a few weeks, of hitting all of the clubs I like and narrowing them down. Would that be unreasonable of me to ask him to adjust the lie angle on a 7 iron from 7-8 different sets so that I can try them all out? This will be a big purchase, and based on my track record these clubs may need to last me 10-15 years so I want to make sure I'm happy with them (anything is an improvement over my 1998 Wilsons, but you know what I mean).

I am ex insurance agent turned freelance writer. I was one of those agents who spent way too much time on the course or online talking about golf.