Golf Thread

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I went out the week before Xmas to play the next round in the Winter singles matchplay, shot -4 through 13 to beat the best player in the club 7&5, thought I could conquer the world.
Went out again on the 31st, shot something so high I lost count.

Proves how fickle this flipping game can be.

Days like your first game are what keeps us hooked. I played the ball chute on xmas eve and was striking the ball how I wanted and generally hitting it where I aimed yet shot 96, work that out.
 
Soldato
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Had a nice round through Xmas, shot 82 on a very rough course, greens did for me (think crater like footprints, unrepaired pitch marks, sycamore seeds etc) else it would have been mid 70's. Quite happy with that as a finish to the year.

Just in the process of booking my golf holiday for this year. Off to Portugal in May again. 4 of us with unlimited golf. Thursday through Monday, will probably play 5 times in total. Something to look forward to! :D
 
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I can hit my SW-7 iron pretty well each shot.

I can hit my 6-4 iron straight about 50% of the time with the other 50% having a really annoying left to right.....it goes straight and then curves off right at the last minute.

I cannot hit my wood/driver straight at all. They always go perfectly straight then curve off right/slice at the last minute.

Help!? It's so annoying that I can hit my short irons so well but my longer irons start to curve off.
 
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I can hit my SW-7 iron pretty well each shot.

I can hit my 6-4 iron straight about 50% of the time with the other 50% having a really annoying left to right.....it goes straight and then curves off right at the last minute.

I cannot hit my wood/driver straight at all. They always go perfectly straight then curve off right/slice at the last minute.

Help!? It's so annoying that I can hit my short irons so well but my longer irons start to curve off.

I had the same early on, the lower the loft you go the more chance of slicing it. Mine was due to a combination of 2 things.

Outside to in path and club face open to the path at impact. I'm no golf coach so I'm not sure how to help you but to fix mine it was all about understanding my wrist angles during my swing and then understanding how to control the face better.

You could try the feeling of closing the face at impact and see what that does.
 
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The quick fix for slices is to close the stance a little (move left foot forward, not sideways) and place the ball a couple of inches further left in your stance. This will promote a slightly more square swing and vastly reduce the slice if not even better, a straightish draw.
 
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My guess would be an out-to-in swing path, but there are so many causes of this type of swing path that it's hard for anyone to say what could be causing it. I would go and get a lesson with a pro and see what they say. I was suffering from an out-to-in swing path due to my wrists and forearms being overly active at the start of the takeaway. I was really whipping the club inside and so my body was readjusting on the downswing by throwing the club outside and 'over the top'.
 
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just started up as always wanted to play, i started when i was younger but had to stop after i nearly killed my brother (ball hit im straight in the temple, in a coma for 3 days lol) so last week i bought a cheap set of clubs and a bag off my friend and went to the driving range...
first 100 balls on day one-shocking trying to put in practice everything i had watched on youtube over the last few months
day 2 and second 100 balls terrible to start but then i slowed it down and started getting some distance and much straigher shots.
went today for the 3rd time and i seemed to have improved loads from day 2 :S hit shots with the 7iron further than i was hitting them with the driver on day 2, driving was 10x better than day 2 shots clearing the 200 yard marker (furthers we have on the range) had a guy ask me for some tips i said "i wouldnt ask me ive only been playing 3 days" he didnt belive me telling me how hes been playing for 2 years and i have a better swing than him :S
so i came away today with a big smile on my face.
what do you guys suggest practicing while at the range?
so far i do about 20 balls with the driver, then 20 with the 7 iron and work my way down through my irons and wedges aiming at hitting targets like the catching nets, then with the last few balls i go back to the driver.
is there any practice tips you guys can give me to take to the range?
any help or tips are appreciated.
also are there any mobile apps i can use to track the ball in the air? ive seen people on youtube set their phone up behind them and on the vid it shows the ball trail or is this simply edited in later?
 
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Soldato
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Something I do at the range is actually pretend i'm playing a round.

After I've warmed up I'll tee off with my driver, then say....drop to a 5iron....then pitch with my PW/SW.

Sometimes I pretend I'm playing a short par 4 or a long par 5 and throw my 5Wood in as well.
 
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The quick fix for slices is to close the stance a little (move left foot forward, not sideways) and place the ball a couple of inches further left in your stance. This will promote a slightly more square swing and vastly reduce the slice if not even better, a straightish draw.

I am going to disagree with this - by moving your left foot forward and moving the ball further left, you will promote even more of an out-to-in swing path as the ball is closer to your left foot and you have no space to turn through the shot properly

I hit a straight to slight draw with my driver usually, but began to see a slight fade off the tee so I assumed I wasn't squaring the face correctly at impact. When I mentioned it at my next lesson my pro watched me hit a couple shots and, without even looking at the GC2 HMT numbers he immediately said I had let the ball position creep forward so the club was starting to travel to the left as part of my follow-through

I moved the ball back in my stance slightly and was straight back to seeing the typical ball flight again
 
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Has anyone else struggled with a flat swing plane before? I know it's dangerous to get too steep with the swing but after having a lesson with a local pro I couldn't believe how flat my swing was compared to the tour pros. I'm now working through a bit of a swing rebuilding process, trying to get my arms going much more up on the backswing rather than around my body, with some pretty promising results so far.
 
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Has anyone else struggled with a flat swing plane before? I know it's dangerous to get too steep with the swing but after having a lesson with a local pro I couldn't believe how flat my swing was compared to the tour pros. I'm now working through a bit of a swing rebuilding process, trying to get my arms going much more up on the backswing rather than around my body, with some pretty promising results so far.

Is your miss a slice? Getting too far inside and flat on the takeaway usually results in casting at the top of the backswing

A drill I have seen my teaching pro use is to place an upturned basket on the ground (I don't know the positioning as I have never used it) and encouraging you to take the club back outside of the basket on the way up which then gives you the room to come back down to the ball from the inside
 
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Is your miss a slice? Getting too far inside and flat on the takeaway usually results in casting at the top of the backswing

A drill I have seen my teaching pro use is to place an upturned basket on the ground (I don't know the positioning as I have never used it) and encouraging you to take the club back outside of the basket on the way up which then gives you the room to come back down to the ball from the inside

Oddly my miss is a hook, and sometimes I fat the ball. I also generally don't hit each club as far as I feel I should be, struggle to get power out of the rough and bunkers, and have a habit of skulling chips. The pro reckoned a lot of those faults are due to coming back down too much on the inside as well as going back too inside.

My new backswing feels very odd, it feels like I'm a bit 'disconnected' and my trail elbow in particular feels a lot further away from my body, but that's mostly because I used to keep it far too close to my body. I'm working on steepening the backswing so it's a bit closer to the image below:

AdamScott21.jpg
 
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I am going to disagree with this - by moving your left foot forward and moving the ball further left, you will promote even more of an out-to-in swing path as the ball is closer to your left foot and you have no space to turn through the shot properly

I hit a straight to slight draw with my driver usually, but began to see a slight fade off the tee so I assumed I wasn't squaring the face correctly at impact. When I mentioned it at my next lesson my pro watched me hit a couple shots and, without even looking at the GC2 HMT numbers he immediately said I had let the ball position creep forward so the club was starting to travel to the left as part of my follow-through

I moved the ball back in my stance slightly and was straight back to seeing the typical ball flight again

I dont see how doing this can do what you say. I have seen plenty of guys who habitually slice, every one of them stand open, being open gives your body more room and more likely to come out to in. By moving the foot forward you are in effect making your body work against the slice by getting in your own way. Its by far not perfect but I did say it was a quick fix. The proper fix is a lesson assisted by trackman as it gives so much info backed up by footage that the pro can use from the same device to explain the changes needed.
 
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Got my first ever lesson booked for Thursday after starting to get into Golf earlier in the year.

...I assume the teaching pros are used to people who can't control a club to save their life? Don't particularly want to embarrass myself too much (bad enough at the range when people are watching).
 
Soldato
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Got my first ever lesson booked for Thursday after starting to get into Golf earlier in the year.

...I assume the teaching pros are used to people who can't control a club to save their life? Don't particularly want to embarrass myself too much (bad enough at the range when people are watching).

Don't worry at all. They teach people that have never even held a club before.
 
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I nipped to the range today and had one of those 'I have no idea what i'm doing' moments when standing over the ball.

I'd even forgotten how to grip the club properly.....it's such a stupid game :p
 
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Cant wait for some decent weather now.

Was fitted for these on Sat 28th Jan. Arrived with club pro on Friday 3rd Feb.
Excellent service once again from PING.

Been busy, which has been frustrating. Off to the range tonight. :D

 
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