The Golf Thread

[CRFC Hammer]

Played in my first society day of the year yesterday at Bourn in Cambridgeshire. Glorious day and lovely surroundings helped by the fact that I came 1st with 35 points playing off 12. Would have been more if I hadn't 3 putted on 7 occasions.

[mumbles87]

Played in my first society day of the year yesterday at Bourn in Cambridgeshire. Glorious day and lovely surroundings helped by the fact that I came 1st with 35 points playing off 12. Would have been more if I hadn't 3 putted on 7 occasions.

Winning any event is good and given the results off the putter thats cracking work.

you wont be off 12 much longer if you keep up the rest of the game and the putter behaves

[nickkarkie]

I played Nazeing today for £12, my 3rd round in 2.5 years and started well with 3 pars and then dropped 7 shots in the next 6 to be 43 at the turn but had a little swing change on the 10th and shot level par on the back 9 with 2 birdies and 2 bogeys. A 79 was not too bad. I'm going to play Bentley this week and see if I can do any better.

[Johnny Byrne's Boots]

Tigger held on drink-driving charge

Golf star Tiger Woods was arrested on a drink-driving charge in Florida early on Monday morning, police say.
Police recorded the arrest at 07:18 local time (11:18 GMT) and the golfer was released a few hours later, records from Palm Beach County police show.
He was arrested in the town of Jupiter at around 03:00 local time, media reports say.
The 41-year-old has been recovering from a recent back surgery and last blogged about his health on 24 May.
He wrote that the surgery had relieved terrible pain and that he hadn't "felt this good in years".
He said the outlook for a return to competitive golf was "positive".

I love the picture in the article

[SammyLeeWasOffside]

I guess he was driving erratically

[Johnny Byrne's Boots]

Very good sir.

[hessa]

I played Nazeing today for £12, my 3rd round in 2.5 years and started well with 3 pars and then dropped 7 shots in the next 6 to be 43 at the turn but had a little swing change on the 10th and shot level par on the back 9 with 2 birdies and 2 bogeys. A 79 was not too bad. I'm going to play Bentley this week and see if I can do any better.

That's just irritating! I hack my way round the course at least once a week and play off 18. You play 3 times in 2.5 years and card a 79. I really ought to give this game up! :lol:

[psychoscoredthelot]

i had 9 blobs on friday

on the 9 holes i did score i played well

but 9 fing blobs

[nickkarkie]

That's just irritating! I hack my way round the course at least once a week and play off 18. You play 3 times in 2.5 years and card a 79. I really ought to give this game up! :lol:

I've done plenty of hacking in all my years playing golf, mainly due to being too technical with the golf swing and using the "band-aid" golf lessons from pros that try to mould you into a certain type of swing. The truth is that every single person on this planet has a different swing and nobody ever worked with me to help me be more consistent, they wanted to make my swing fit their vision of what made a good golf swing.

Now I solve my own problems, i have always had a very steep downswing (causes me to stand up as hands come in high) as I get in a bad position at the top and use my hands from the top, it helps me hit it a long way but is very inconsistent, 90% of tour pros have a much shallower plane into the ball on the downswing regardless of how different their swings are, this to me is the key to having a consistent game but how do I achieve this shallower entry into the ball? I can't do it with any sort of hand manipulation or technical position as that just doesn't work for me so it has to be with how I set up to the ball, I made 2 little tweaks and all of a sudden I'm getting a consistent flight and contact.

All I did was to add a little more spinal tilt at address and relax my right forearm so that it's in a bent position (you can only have a shallow downswing if your right elbow is bent approaching the ball and you have spinal tilt). It has made my swing so simple that it's as if I'm just playing baseball.

[hessa]

Careful Nick, you'll be giving me hope.

That's actually really interesting. I've also done lessons with Pro's etc and agreed that it hasn't really worked for me or resulted in any sustained improvement. I think I understand the golf swing a lot better now, when I first started I figured you just hit the thing. Though sometimes I wonder if that was a better approach than all the over analysis of different positions, swing plane etc you want to achieve.

Having the right arm bent coming into the ball is also something I have worked at, particularly with driver and it has certainly helped me. I think like you, I need to think of a way through my swing faults and try and find a solution rather than having some lessons and not really getting the improvement.

Sounds like you are playing well and have found something that works for you. I watch some of the GG swingtips content on youtube. Don't know if you have come across that, but he is really informative and a lot of his stuff seems to go against some of the perceived wisdom of other coaches. I've seen video's with him emphasising about the right arm being bent coming into the ball etc.

[nickkarkie]

Careful Nick, you'll be giving me hope.

That's actually really interesting. I've also done lessons with Pro's etc and agreed that it hasn't really worked for me or resulted in any sustained improvement. I think I understand the golf swing a lot better now, when I first started I figured you just hit the thing. Though sometimes I wonder if that was a better approach than all the over analysis of different positions, swing plane etc you want to achieve.

Having the right arm bent coming into the ball is also something I have worked at, particularly with driver and it has certainly helped me. I think like you, I need to think of a way through my swing faults and try and find a solution rather than having some lessons and not really getting the improvement.

Sounds like you are playing well and have found something that works for you. I watch some of the GG swingtips content on youtube. Don't know if you have come across that, but he is really informative and a lot of his stuff seems to go against some of the perceived wisdom of other coaches. I've seen video's with him emphasising about the right arm being bent coming into the ball etc.

I wouldn't say I am playing well yet, getting better but usually when I have a good round, I don't follow it with another good round, we will see tomorrow at Bentley.

I watched one of the GG videos just now on the right elbow and I didnt like it at all, those really high hands and elbow position at the top are very difficult to recover from (a lot of manipulation needed) , I didnt like the swing of his students either. I much prefer how Ben Hogan achieves it with a much shallower backswing but I guess the modern equipment and teaching lead to much more upright swings these days.

[nickkarkie]

There is always hope Hessa, the best I have ever played for a prolonged period of time was in Spain when I was regularly shooting between Par and +4 and I did it with avery unusual method that I had read in Ben Hogan's book where he wrote that he was on the range one day and he rolled his forearms so hard on the backswing and the ball just rocketed off the club. I tried it and it worked and I shot some amazing scores but then it just went (story of my golfing life).

[hessa]

I wouldn't say I am playing well yet, getting better but usually when I have a good round, I don't follow it with another good round, we will see tomorrow at Bentley.

I watched one of the GG videos just now on the right elbow and I didnt like it at all, those really high hands and elbow position at the top are very difficult to recover from (a lot of manipulation needed) , I didnt like the swing of his students either. I much prefer how Ben Hogan achieves it with a much shallower backswing but I guess the modern equipment and teaching lead to much more upright swings these days.

I'd agree that the majority of his students don't have the classic elegant golf swing of a Justin Rose/Adam Scott and it doesn't look great. In terms of manipulation, if you watch a few of his video's he does say that there are lots of ways to get back to the ball in a good position, I think his preferred method is achieving that through rotation rather than hand arm manipulation. The coach in the video's has recently started coaching Sung Kang http://www.pgatour.com/players/player.27974.html and seems to have improved him, well his results at least. I guess the thing is that we all need to find something that works for us.

[hessa]

There is always hope Hessa, the best I have ever played for a prolonged period of time was in Spain when I was regularly shooting between Par and +4 and I did it with avery unusual method that I had read in Ben Hogan's book where he wrote that he was on the range one day and he rolled his forearms so hard on the backswing and the ball just rocketed off the club. I tried it and it worked and I shot some amazing scores but then it just went (story of my golfing life).

I remember reading you played in Spain quite a lot over a pro longed period. That is impressive golf. Ben Hogan's book is regarded as a classic, I really should read it. I agree though that at times I have really rolled my forearms in the swing and the ball does fly, totally different sound and feel at impact, though when it goes wrong, boy it goes wrong. :lol:

[mumbles87]

Society event today

31 points

mid table

first hole was a short par 5.. duck hooked the first.. what are the odds hit the provisional bang down the middle

have come home and checked it on the game golf

a record (for me) 269 yards

[nickkarkie]

I'd agree that the majority of his students don't have the classic elegant golf swing of a Justin Rose/Adam Scott and it doesn't look great. In terms of manipulation, if you watch a few of his video's he does say that there are lots of ways to get back to the ball in a good position, I think his preferred method is achieving that through rotation rather than hand arm manipulation. The coach in the video's has recently started coaching Sung Kang http://www.pgatour.com/players/player.27974.html and seems to have improved him, well his results at least. I guess the thing is that we all need to find something that works for us.

its really hard to get back to the ball by rotation if your hands are high in the backswing, some pros do but they do it with a big backward drop of the club from the top, the type of move I have never seen an amateur golfer make.

Golf is such a difficult sport, there are literally thousands of little things that can affect the shot, a frustrating game for sure.

I had another decent round yesterday at Bentley, I love the course, it is so well kept and the front 9 has a lot of doglegs and hidden greens. I started badly again (I think its because I don't warm up), I was 7 over after 6 and then I made 10 pars, a bogey and a double on the next 12, so +10, not too bad as I was really trying a lot of things. I've got a few things to work on at the range, trying to get the downswing shallower but I am a very steep downswing swinger exactly like Phil Mickelson, a really steep approach into the ball and it all stems from the arms collapsing near the top of the swing and losing all the width so the hands end up very close to my right shoulder (or overswinging in Mickelson's case), so I am going to try to maintain the width by keeping the left arm a bit straighter and not allowing the arms to rise and collapse at the top of the backswing. Also I need to move my weight more towards my heels in my setup as I often fall a little forward when I swing, the modern swing is much less on the balls of the feet, most players sit a bit deeper with the weight pushing more toward the arches of the feet.

Mumbles, that is an excellent drive of 269 yards, sounds like your striking is improving.

[mumbles87]

Mumbles, that is an excellent drive of 269 yards, sounds like your striking is improving.

was the perfect storm.. everyone had already laughed at my duck hook of a first so no pressure now..

smashed it and it must have landed just on the top of the hill that took it an extra 20 yards

take it tho

specially as it was on a stroke index I received 2 shots on so walked off with a 7 for 2 points .. par if the first one had not counted but yesterday was a case of play poor score well

next hole did same again.. duck hook the tee but it was saveable.. 4 hybrid to under a tree.. chipped out to front of green and saved a bogey

[hessa]

its really hard to get back to the ball by rotation if your hands are high in the backswing, some pros do but they do it with a big backward drop of the club from the top, the type of move I have never seen an amateur golfer make.

Golf is such a difficult sport, there are literally thousands of little things that can affect the shot, a frustrating game for sure.

I had another decent round yesterday at Bentley, I love the course, it is so well kept and the front 9 has a lot of doglegs and hidden greens. I started badly again (I think its because I don't warm up), I was 7 over after 6 and then I made 10 pars, a bogey and a double on the next 12, so +10, not too bad as I was really trying a lot of things. I've got a few things to work on at the range, trying to get the downswing shallower but I am a very steep downswing swinger exactly like Phil Mickelson, a really steep approach into the ball and it all stems from the arms collapsing near the top of the swing and losing all the width so the hands end up very close to my right shoulder (or overswinging in Mickelson's case), so I am going to try to maintain the width by keeping the left arm a bit straighter and not allowing the arms to rise and collapse at the top of the backswing. Also I need to move my weight more towards my heels in my setup as I often fall a little forward when I swing, the modern swing is much less on the balls of the feet, most players sit a bit deeper with the weight pushing more toward the arches of the feet.

Mumbles, that is an excellent drive of 269 yards, sounds like your striking is improving.

I tend to find things or triggers that work for me. In fairness I don't think I can get my hands as high as his students anyway, but I do try and get a decent coil in my backswing and try to rotate back to the ball, at the moment it seems to be working. I played two medal rounds last week and got cut .6 on the first round and 1.2 off the second round so now playing off 17.0. Happy with that, I did play off 17 before but managed to go back to 19, so feels good to be going in the right direction again, well for the moment anyway!

Interesting to hear your thoughts about what you are trying to do with your swing Nick. Sounds like you are playing some good golf. Have you been bitten by the golf bug again?

[nickkarkie]

I've definitely got the golf bug back, I never really lost my love for the game, just circumstances that stop me playing, working too much and not having friends who like golf but recently got back in contact with a childhood friend who has just recovered from a snapped Achilles and is playing golf and I am not working as much now. Being older, I get a lot less frustrated when I dont improve overnight, I am enjoying the progress and I love reading up on swings and watching swing analysis videos.

[hessa]

Good for you Nick, glad you are now working less and in a position to play more. terribly frustrated
I do still get with my game, at the moment I'm having trouble getting out of the greenside bunkers which isn't very helpful. As one part of my game improves, another part seems to regress!
Playing a 36 hole medal competition today.