Golf general chat

[JMcLellan]

Played twilight golf at a local par 72 6500 yard course last night. Couldn't sink any putts more than 6 feet on the front 9 and managed a 40. On the back I was on pace for 1 over par but ran out of daylight. Personal best is 77, and if I had been able to make a couple more putts (and had more daylight) I think I would have tied or beaten my best round. And my last couple rounds I'm getting my driving distance back. For the past couple years I've been hitting so many drives towards or off the toe of the club and have lost distance. Finally hitting the sweet spot and seeing 270 to 290 yard drives. I had been driving it about 230 to 250 so it was like I had two 3 woods in the bag....

[chassis]

Hit a bucket of balls today. Felt good. I golf two or three times per year, so far from frequent.

I video'd my range session, first time I have seen my own swing.

Question about litfing the left heel (I am a rightie). I have read that is not part of the "modern" swing. Let's say I learned to play golf before the "modern" era....

Is it bad or wrong to lift the left heel, for example when driving? Why/why not? I watched some men's and women's PGA footage, and the left foot is generally well-planted through the swing.

[jamesinaz]

Originally Posted by chassis

Hit a bucket of balls today. Felt good. I golf two or three times per year, so far from frequent.

I video'd my range session, first time I have seen my own swing.

Question about litfing the left heel (I am a rightie). I have read that is not part of the "modern" swing. Let's say I learned to play golf before the "modern" era....

Is it bad or wrong to lift the left heel, for example when driving? Why/why not? I watched some men's and women's PGA footage, and the left foot is generally well-planted through the swing.

I do play a lot of golf. But I am not a pro. So my opinion is free.

IMO no good golfers lift the left heel in their golf swing. This induces up and down motion in your swing which can result in hitting shots fat or thin. Most good golfers I know just turn and don't sway a lot.

Someone will probably show a video of a professional on tour who does. Hey, those guys are mutants and trying to emulate their swing is dumb. The swing most of us mortals should copy is on the ladies tour. Tempo, rhythm and turn.

[chassis]

Thanks! That clears up the left foot.

What about how far the club should come back in the backswing? For example, when driving. My recollection is the club should be parallel with the ground (horizontal) at the height of the backswing. Good rule of thumb, or no?

[jamesinaz]

Originally Posted by chassis

Thanks! That clears up the left foot.

What about how far the club should come back in the backswing? For example, when driving. My recollection is the club should be parallel with the ground (horizontal) at the height of the backswing. Good rule of thumb, or no?

Depends on your flexibility. If you are breaking down by going back further it is bad for your swing. I have seen some good golfers with much less turn. Better to hit the ball flush and in rhythm than a wild thrash with a full turn. Really a decent golf pro is worth seeing.

[RobotDoctor]

I am suffering from withdrawals not playing or swinging a club since April 3rd. I will regrip my new irons today and hit balls on Friday or Saturday and play Sunday.

[RobotDoctor]

Originally Posted by chassis

Thanks! That clears up the left foot.

What about how far the club should come back in the backswing? For example, when driving. My recollection is the club should be parallel with the ground (horizontal) at the height of the backswing. Good rule of thumb, or no?

That is a good rule of thumb for a driver. The shorter the club, the less towards parallel it will be. Let's say parallel is around 3:00 O'Clock then a PW should be around 1:30 or so. As jamesinaz said, it depends on flexibility. Think of using a hammer. What drives the nail deeper into the board? A fast, flailing swing of the hammer or a controlled swing making absolute solid contact? The latter is what will transfer the most energy with a hammer. The golf swing is no different. Just a much larger fulcrum.

Of course I am in my later 50s so I cannot even sniff close to parallel with my driver. I am around 2:00 or so, maybe a smidge past that. However, I make pretty solid contact and can still send my drives respectfully down the fairway. Of course I am around 35-30yds shorter than I was at my longest (40-50yds with today's equipment). Then again at my longest I was gaming a persimmon driver and using Titleist Balata balls.

[jamesinaz]

Originally Posted by RobotDoctor

That is a good rule of thumb for a driver. The shorter the club, the less towards parallel it will be. Let's say parallel is around 3:00 O'Clock then a PW should be around 1:30 or so. As jamesinaz said, it depends on flexibility. Think of using a hammer. What drives the nail deeper into the board? A fast, flailing swing of the hammer or a controlled swing making absolute solid contact? The latter is what will transfer the most energy with a hammer. The golf swing is no different. Just a much larger fulcrum.

Of course I am in my later 50s so I cannot even sniff close to parallel with my driver. I am around 2:00 or so, maybe a smidge past that. However, I make pretty solid contact and can still send my drives respectfully down the fairway. Of course I am around 35-30yds shorter than I was at my longest (40-50yds with today's equipment). Then again at my longest I was gaming a persimmon driver and using Titleist Balata balls.

I took up golf after Persimmon and balata were history. Anyone that could score well with that equipment has my respect.

[RobotDoctor]

Originally Posted by jamesinaz

I took up golf after Persimmon and balata were history. Anyone that could score well with that equipment has my respect.

Thanks but that was a long time ago!

[MoeTE87]

Had my weekly work golf league last night. Probably the worst outing so far this year.

My driving was near perfect...however..my short game...50 yards in towards the pin, was very shitty. I could not find the happy medium to loft the ball onto the green. It would either loft 10-20ft or a line drive to the other end of the green...every time. Which added 2-4 strokes to each hole.

[Fantastipotamus]

Sounds like my game, frankly. The only consistent part is how inconsistent I am. Some weeks my driving is great, and something else is terrible. Other weeks I never see a single fairway but am able to hit decent rescue shots.. some days nothing works except putting.. and on the worst days, nothing works. Those are the days where the clubs might end up in the pond.

Last week though, almost everything was working for me! Shot a 42 (for 9, of course) and it just felt like everything was clicking, just moved the ball a little further back in my stance and tried to focus on contact. Playing again today in my work league.. who can say what game will show up!

[NorCalAthlete]

Originally Posted by jamesinaz

I took up golf after Persimmon and balata were history. Anyone that could score well with that equipment has my respect.

My first set of clubs were persimmon woods + some old Tour Model III irons...straight vintage hand-me-downs from my uncle. I made varsity my freshman year with those shooting 38s on 9.

Originally Posted by MoeTE87

Had my weekly work golf league last night. Probably the worst outing so far this year.

My driving was near perfect...however..my short game...50 yards in towards the pin, was very shitty. I could not find the happy medium to loft the ball onto the green. It would either loft 10-20ft or a line drive to the other end of the green...every time. Which added 2-4 strokes to each hole.

More loft = move it forward a bit more in your stance. Bump+run = move it back in your stance.

Stance should be shoulder width, maybe a bit narrower, and try to take your wrists out of the equation more. Ie, more of a sweeping putting motion with a little bit of wrists than a full wrist swing.

Ball should be around the middle of your stance when I say "forward more", and on the inside of your back heel when I say "back more".

Also, shorten your back swing. If you know you can hit your 54-56 degree wedge 100 yards at full swing and you're aiming for 50 yards, chop your backswing to about the 3 oclock mark, do the sweeping swing I mentioned, and still go "full" at it. The shortened backswing is your power adjustment.

Try that a few times at the range and post back and let me know how it goes.

[MoeTE87]

NorCalAthlete

Appreciate the tips. I will try and get out this weekend to work on some of your above suggestions.

If not, I will try and get to the course early on Wednesday before my tee time to work on the above and will let you know how that goes.

Thank you!

[chassis]

Played in a work outing today, first time on the course this year. I played my usual - contributed a few shots to the scramble, all else was unremarkable.

The putter felt good today, that was a pleasant surprise. Distance and line were good but I didn't sink any long putts.

I tried the "heels planted" swing on a few drives. I think I will make that change. It didn't feel awkward and it feels more controlled. Lifting the left heel and pivoting on the left toe seems to allow too much variation. Watch McIlroy and a few LPGA golfers on youtube to see the "heels planted" swing.

[RobotDoctor]

Originally Posted by jamesinaz

I took up golf after Persimmon and balata were history. Anyone that could score well with that equipment has my respect.

This one is one of my regular course drivers. I don’t game this driver (a 1950 MacGregor M43T) but will hit it off the tee on a few holes with Titleist Tour Balata balls. This is the same model driver Greg Norman used in the 80s. There is nothing like the feelings hitting a balata ball on the screws!

[jamesinaz]

Originally Posted by RobotDoctor

This one is one of my regular course drivers. I don’t game this driver (a 1950 MacGregor M43T) but will hit it off the tee on a few holes with Titleist Tour Balata balls. This is the same model driver Greg Norman used in the 80s. There is nothing like the feelings hitting a balata ball on the screws!

AHA. That's what they meant hitting it on the screws.

[RobotDoctor]

Originally Posted by jamesinaz

AHA. That's what they meant hitting it on the screws.

Yes, that’s it. Sometimes screws looked like these. 🙂

[MoeTE87]

NorCalAthlete

Appreciate the input above! I tried your recommendations and it helped alot. I shaved about 7 strokes off my game last night and hit the wedges good..much better than last week. I am still trying to get a feel of the wedges. Sometimes I thought I was swinging hard but I wasn't. So when I found the swing speed then things started to fall into place.

Once again..thank you for the tips!

[NorCalAthlete]

Originally Posted by MoeTE87

NorCalAthlete

Appreciate the input above! I tried your recommendations and it helped alot. I shaved about 7 strokes off my game last night and hit the wedges good..much better than last week. I am still trying to get a feel of the wedges. Sometimes I thought I was swinging hard but I wasn't. So when I found the swing speed then things started to fall into place.

Once again..thank you for the tips!

Fuck yeah, glad it helped!

[NorCalAthlete]

Originally Posted by MoeTE87

NorCalAthlete

Appreciate the input above! I tried your recommendations and it helped alot. I shaved about 7 strokes off my game last night and hit the wedges good..much better than last week. I am still trying to get a feel of the wedges. Sometimes I thought I was swinging hard but I wasn't. So when I found the swing speed then things started to fall into place.

Once again..thank you for the tips!

Oh yeah one other thing - you want "loose, but firm" grip / hands on those shots. Don't death grip it, but also don't limp-wrist it. Work on that to develop your "feel" for how firm to hit it.

If you're not swinging full power, there's no need for a death grip. The club isn't going anywhere. Get comfortable with a comfortable, relaxed, but firm grip when chipping.

[MoeTE87]

Thank you! Will try that tonight.

[chassis]

Week of vacation coming up and hoping to get a couple of rounds in.