Golfers

[dakshdar]

Been playing ok for my abilities. Not getting out enough to practice actually.

Had two good 9s out of my last two full rounds, a 42 on the back of a course two weeks ago and a 40 on the back 9 yesterday. Two weeks back I shot 88, which was pretty good for me, but yesterday I had an awful front and shot over 90.

Playing two courses next Friday in San Diego.

[JohnnyP]

this is all you need to know

http://www.golf.com/golf/video/article/ ... 77,00.html

[OracleHCR]

this is all you need to know

http://www.golf.com/golf/video/article/ ... 77,00.html

Too funny. When I worked on a golf course, this guy bought a Big Bertha when they first came out and was showing it off to everyone on the range. He didn't miss a shot on the range. On the first tee he hit three balls into the lake (only a 150yd carry) the driver followed the last ball in. I was laughing my ass off.

[dakshdar]

this is all you need to know

http://www.golf.com/golf/video/article/ ... 77,00.html

Too funny. When I worked on a golf course, this guy bought a Big Bertha when they first came out and was showing it off to everyone on the range. He didn't miss a shot on the range. On the first tee he hit three balls into the lake (only a 150yd carry) the driver followed the last ball in. I was laughing my ass off.

I love people blaming their clubs for user error.

[JohnnyP]

yeah i just like to take out some anger with that

[Uuaww]

I would love golf so much more if I could just hit the damn ball in the air every time and drive longer than 200 yards. I suck at both of those. Yet I can chip the ball amazingly and crush par 3 courses. I once hit a 37 on a par 27 9 hole par 3 course, now that was fun.

[Quest4Gold]

I would love golf so much more if I could just hit the damn ball in the air every time and drive longer than 200 yards. I suck at both of those. Yet I can chip the ball amazingly and crush par 3 courses. I once hit a 37 on a par 27 9 hole par 3 course, now that was fun.

There's the saying drive for show, putt for dough. The short game is where you get the scores. Right down the middle 200 yards is better than 300 yards 50 yards wide.

[Uuaww]

I would love golf so much more if I could just hit the damn ball in the air every time and drive longer than 200 yards. I suck at both of those. Yet I can chip the ball amazingly and crush par 3 courses. I once hit a 37 on a par 27 9 hole par 3 course, now that was fun.

There's the saying drive for show, putt for dough. The short game is where you get the scores. Right down the middle 200 yards is better than 300 yards 50 yards wide.

I'm an average putter at best. I am just good with the 8-sw. And right down the middle and 200 yards is rare for me as well haha.

[ajalves]

I would love golf so much more if I could just hit the damn ball in the air every time and drive longer than 200 yards. I suck at both of those. Yet I can chip the ball amazingly and crush par 3 courses. I once hit a 37 on a par 27 9 hole par 3 course, now that was fun.

There's the saying drive for show, putt for dough. The short game is where you get the scores. Right down the middle 200 yards is better than 300 yards 50 yards wide.

i disagree

[ReignOnU]

I still consider myself a beginner, after 4 years of playing about 8-10 rounds per year. I've had about 2 hours of real instruction, that was a huge help. But this year, I decided I'm going to try to change my swing up.

For the last few years, I've swung the club in a manner that allowed me to hit the ball. But at about 6'4, 210, I feel like I should be hitting my clubs way longer than I am. (general est. 8-130, 7-145, 6-160, 5-185, Driver-240-250) So my first focus today, as a righty, keeping my left arm completely straight. I know it's strange, but I had been focusing more on the hinge in my right arm and keeping it VERY tight to my body. Just allowing my left arm to dictate my swing arc and really allow me to get my hips into the shot, I look like I'm going to add about 15-20yds to every club and nearly 40yds to my drive. Pretty nuts.

Another thing I used to do was cheat my right foot back and create a fade, more so to help prevent my slice. By changing this arc, I'm able to line up properly and even with just a few buckets of balls from the range into the change, I think I'm going to be able to teach myself how to strike the ball for actual results. I'm feeling really good about the potential of my game now.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be up to speed by the time I head out for my trip in May. But you better believe I'm not playing with any of those guys prior to the trip if I think I'm ahead of my normal ability.

[JohnnyP]

Keeping that right arm close to your body is huge. Arnold Palmer said one time that is how he learned and was told and practiced so much that he was tearing up his skin because he was concentrating so much on keeping that arm close

[OracleHCR]

I would love golf so much more if I could just hit the damn ball in the air every time and drive longer than 200 yards. I suck at both of those. Yet I can chip the ball amazingly and crush par 3 courses. I once hit a 37 on a par 27 9 hole par 3 course, now that was fun.

There's the saying drive for show, putt for dough. The short game is where you get the scores. Right down the middle 200 yards is better than 300 yards 50 yards wide.

i disagree

then you are wrong. more than half your shots come around the green in a typical round of golf.

[JohnnyP]

then you are wrong. more than half your shots come around the green in a typical round of golf.

+1

[ReignOnU]

That's why I always did it... and I'm not really letting it fly open, I'm just not focusing on it as much. I don't know if this matters, but I have very long arms. I was definitely bending my left arm a bit. Is the goal to keep the right arm tight, while keeping the left arm as straight as possible... because if so, the only thing I think I can do to make that happen is flatten out my swing plane? Does that even make sense or am I way off base?

[dakshdar]

I still consider myself a beginner, after 4 years of playing about 8-10 rounds per year. I've had about 2 hours of real instruction, that was a huge help. But this year, I decided I'm going to try to change my swing up.

For the last few years, I've swung the club in a manner that allowed me to hit the ball. But at about 6'4, 210, I feel like I should be hitting my clubs way longer than I am. (general est. 8-130, 7-145, 6-160, 5-185, Driver-240-250) So my first focus today, as a righty, keeping my left arm completely straight. I know it's strange, but I had been focusing more on the hinge in my right arm and keeping it VERY tight to my body. Just allowing my left arm to dictate my swing arc and really allow me to get my hips into the shot, I look like I'm going to add about 15-20yds to every club and nearly 40yds to my drive. Pretty nuts.

Another thing I used to do was cheat my right foot back and create a fade, more so to help prevent my slice. By changing this arc, I'm able to line up properly and even with just a few buckets of balls from the range into the change, I think I'm going to be able to teach myself how to strike the ball for actual results. I'm feeling really good about the potential of my game now.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be up to speed by the time I head out for my trip in May. But you better believe I'm not playing with any of those guys prior to the trip if I think I'm ahead of my normal ability.

You get distance from hip and shoulder turn, not from your arms. Your power comes from loading/winding up your body on the back-swing and then unwinding your body back toward the target to get your arms to come around and generate more club head speed.

I'd 100% recommend this book if you've been playing a little while and understand most of the basics. While some criticize, I've found a lot of it to be extremely useful. I've made my grip, stance, and address 100 times more consistent and strike the ball much better following the concepts from the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Five-Lessons-Mode ... 007&sr=8-1

[sixpackdan101]

That's why I always did it... and I'm not really letting it fly open, I'm just not focusing on it as much. I don't know if this matters, but I have very long arms. I was definitely bending my left arm a bit. Is the goal to keep the right arm tight, while keeping the left arm as straight as possible... because if so, the only thing I think I can do to make that happen is flatten out my swing plane? Does that even make sense or am I way off base?

Yes...ideally you want to keep your right elbow in and left arm straight.

To me that isn't nearly as important as alignment and shifting your weight. If you want to be consistent in your ball striking then those are the two main things to work on in my opinion. I used to be able to hit only half a bucket of balls at the range before my back would be fucked and all my energy used up. I took three lessons from a local pro...he got me out of the 90's for good. I learned that I wasn't shifting my weight and using my arms way too much (putting my back into it to give me more power when my arms were tired, eventually this leads to standing up and topping, etc). When I finally got the weight transfer down I was swinging way easier and hitting it just as far but much, much more consistent. Today I can spend hours on the range without my back causing me problems and losing any energy.

If you enjoy golfing and want to get better go get 3 lessons. 5 would be even better, and consistent lessons even better still. If you feel like you are stuck in the 90's and have been for a while, go get some lessons. My brother just bought a new driver, putter, and iron set. His money would have been much better spent on 10 lessons...his swing could be majorly improved. There's only so much you can be told to do. Having an instructor forces you to actually make changes.

[ReignOnU]

This sounds hokey, but do any of your guys record yourself swinging @ the range or @ home?

The hip/turn was the reason I wanted to change my swing. My swing was all arms really, focused on keeping the right arm in. What I've noticed so far is that my swing arc is much wider and I'm naturally turning back further. So it probably is the back hip turn that's helping me generate that distance.

I'll be honest, I'm not sure that I totally get the weight transfer. I've played softball for a long time, so my idea of weight transfer is pretty severe. I know I'm transferring weight, because I can feel my back leg getting close to straight during my back swing and I'm usually (lol) finishing on my front leg, literally rolling the foot and midfoot (not so much the front of the foot). I've read quite a bit about generating power through groundforce, but whenever I've thought about it and tried it, I find myself bobbing up and down during my swing, hitting shots very fat or topping them.

[OracleHCR]

Make sure you keep your head behind the ball. A lot of golfers tend to move forward when they transfer their weight causing the miss hits. You arent stepping into the swing like baseball or softball just transferring your weight from the back foot to the front. A good excersize is to lift your left heel up during the backswing and plant it when you start your downswing. You get your weightshift but keep your body centered.

[dakshdar]

Make sure you keep your head behind the ball. A lot of golfers tend to move forward when they transfer their weight causing the miss hits. You arent stepping into the swing like baseball or softball just transferring your weight from the back foot to the front. A good excersize is to lift your left heel up during the backswing and plant it when you start your downswing. You get your weightshift but keep your body centered.

Yes with the left heel, but not more than an inch or so. Alternatively, roll onto the inside of your left foot (assuming you're right handed) and then roll back when you transfer.

If you lift too high with the left foot you'll sacrifice some balance, and you can't hit shit without being balanced in golf.

[OracleHCR]

Make sure you keep your head behind the ball. A lot of golfers tend to move forward when they transfer their weight causing the miss hits. You arent stepping into the swing like baseball or softball just transferring your weight from the back foot to the front. A good excersize is to lift your left heel up during the backswing and plant it when you start your downswing. You get your weightshift but keep your body centered.

Yes with the left heel, but not more than an inch or so. Alternatively, roll onto the inside of your left foot (assuming you're right handed) and then roll back when you transfer.

If you lift too high with the left foot you'll sacrifice some balance, and you can't hit shit without being balanced in golf.

exactly