alfriday101

I draw the line with GPS and lasers on what should be legal. They give you the distance--a measurement that is readily available by manual means for anyone wishing to step off distances or to scout a course and "map" it they way Nicklaus did. But, I heartily support elevation range finders being banned. I think being able to judge slope and how it affects ones shot is, and should remain a skill unaided by tech. Same with wind speed gauges. Feeling the wind and adjusting needs to stay a skill--seeing a flag blowing in the breeze and knowing its a one or two club wind. Don't get me started on caddy apps....

The necessity to accurately estimate distances has slowly disappeared from golf. I'm old enough to remember when 100 and 150 yard markers were first placed on my home course. That was followed by the unfortunate trend when courses planted evergreens in the rough to mark the distances. Pre-sprinkler heads days, those were the only two markers on the course. In one of his books, Jack Nicklaus talks about how he was one of the first pros to "map" a course before a tournament. He would step off distances between bunkers and to trees so he and his caddie knew exact yardages. When Jack started playing, other pros would just estimate the distances. It didn't take too long for all pros to follow Jack's lead. Knowing precise distances filtered down to the rank amateur level, but it took a while. Courses started adding distance markers on to sprinkler heads. The markers made it faster and easier for the golfer to know distances to the front or center of the green. But to know exact distance to the pin required a pin sheet. A little math was involved. By that time, the skill of looking at a pin and accurately estimating the distance had pretty much died. Today's lasers and GPS just make the distance determination faster and more precise. Is that better or worse for the game of golf? I'll leave that up to the individual to decide. I can't say I overly rely on tech, but I probably over use it. If my ball is slightly behind the 100 yard marker to a middle pin, I don't really need to measure, but I do. I'm not good enough to care whether the pin is 103 vs. 100. I find the OP interesting because the course no longer has distances marked on sprinkler heads. I guess the course decided that rangefinders and gps are so prevalent that there was little need to mark the heads or to have 100 or 150 yard markers. The course seems to be forcing reliance on tech devices. But is that really any different than a school library no longer ordering bound copies of Encyclopedia Brittanica when digital copies are so much cheaper?

I've heard these phrases as well. But, I don't think "Just hit the ball" is meant to focus your attention on the ball. When I've heard it, it means "quit over thinking everything, quit trying to manipulate the club and just swing away." A/K/A, quit playing golf swing and start playing golf. In that context, the two phrases aren't necessary contradictory.

I'm committing today's round to the deep memory banks. I'll recall it anytime I start out badly and want to give up or quit keeping score. I was 7 over after 6 holes. I finished the front par, eagle, par. Ended the 18 with a solid 78. On number 8 I hit a great wedge and was able to watch the ball drop for the eagle.

The USGA is allowing players who qualified for the US Open to play regardless of their involvement in LIV--at least for 2022. I think Dave does an excellent job of highlighting the issue regarding qualification criteria for future opens. Here is a summary of the qualification criteria for this year's tournament. https://www.golflink.com/list_113_rules-qualify-us-golf-open.html In the box in the article, numbers 8,9,10,11 and 12 are exemptions tied to performance on the PGA or European Tour. 15 and 16 are based on WGR. 17, 18 and 19 are tied to other tours. I saw an interview with a USGA official yesterday. He said that the USGA eligibility requirements were published months ago and any player who met the qualifications would be allowed to play. Basically, they weren't going to change the rules for this year. He mentioned that the rules for qualification have changed over time and will probably change again. No real surprises there. He also talked about how it is relatively easy to start a new league, but difficult to sustain one. The USGA is talking a wait and see approach. I don't see them adding performance on LIV to the qualification criteria (similar to current items 8-12 for the PGA) in the short term. The WGR will be interesting to watch. Anyone have a clue on how the WGRs are going to treat the LIV events?

I too am very interested in the electric pick ups for work.. I almost ordered the Ford F-150 Lightening. But I have a rule against ordering first generation vehicles. My current F-150 has 215,000 miles on it. So far, nock on wood, it has not had any major problems that would call for a replacement. I hope I can get a couple more years out of it and then go electric. (I got rid of my last pick-up at around 275,000 miles.) I spend a month last summer logging my daily milage and did not once exceed 80% of the range. With home or on-farm charging, I would rarely if ever need to visit a charging station. The "portable generator" aspect of electric would be great for farm use. We've only had the wife's MachE for 6 weeks, but it has been great. Plug in when you get home at night, charge to desired level, drive past the gas stations the next day. Plus, the car is fun. Press the peddle and go--great 0 to 60 and no lag at all. Makes passing cars on 2 lane highways a breeze. I have to tell my wife to be careful--its color is "pull me over red." When all is said and done, we will probably end up with the MachE, an electric pick up for the farm and our plug-in hybrid, mini-van for long trips.

1. Develop a golf phrase or mantra. For every swing, practice, real, full, partial, drive, putt etc. repeat the same phrase I your mind. Mine is “To the target.” It keeps your conscious mind occupied so you can’t interfere with your swing. Start to use it by saying the phrase out loud on all shots, then get to where you say it only on your thoughts. It also helps with tempo. other examples of such phrases: one and two, tick tock, one two three ( in waltz or 3/4 time.) 2. If you have a hard time adjusting to a golf phrase, adopt a nonsense phrase (non golf related) and start it at the same time in your pre shot routine. One book recommended “Mary had a little lamb, I wish that I had one.” Focusing on the phrase frees you up to swing rather than concentrating on the process.

I faced a 110 yard shot over a pond to an elevated green. I fatted my GW and the ball bounced off the top of the retaining wall on the far side of the pond and landed 20 feet from the pin. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

My wife took delivery on a Mach E about a month ago. I live in a small town in Rural Iowa. The closest cities are 60 and 90 miles away. The car has plenty of range to drive to the city, shop and drive home without stopping to charge. My wife drove it to Minneapolis once, mainly to check out the ins-and-outs of long distance charging. It added about half an hour to a 6 hour trip. Shankster echos a lot of comments I’ve heard about the hassle of stopping to charge on trips. The other side of that is how much time one saves by not stopping at gas stations every week to fill up. We have a class 2 charger at home (paid for by the local utility company). You get out of the car, plug it in and the next day it’s ready to go. It takes at most 15 seconds. Unless you regularly drive beyond the cars range, you save time week in week out by charging at home. we also have a plug in hybrid minivan. 30 mile range on a charge then the gas kick in. This past winter (Jan-May), we put less than a tank of gas in the car because most days we don’t drive more than 30 miles a day. We use a class 1 charger for the minivan, so it plugs into a standard 110 plug. The electric car serves as my wife’s primary car, but we have the minivan available for long trips. To me, here are the important factors when considering electric cars, US specific: 1.. Can you charge at home? 2. How often do you really drive beyond the range of the car in a day? 3. Availability of charging stations in areas you travel. 4. Cost of electricity (much cheaper at both our Iowa and Florida houses than gas, even before the recent price hikes.)

Doesn’t this cut the other way? Both a 1 handicap and an 18 handicap (and all golfers in between) would get a stroke on the hardest hole, they would cancel each other out. It seems to me it would favor the lower handicap golfer.

I bought a used set of their single length irons for a Florida set. They are good clubs at a very reasonable price. I liked them enough to order a set for my wife. Good company, no complaints about the clubs.

It’s possible that your grip/flat wrist is putting the full weight/pressure of the club on your thumb at the top of the backswing. That’s a lot of pressure when applied repetitively. When taking your grip, make sure the club fits in the “V” between your thumb and first finger. Then take the club to the top. The pressure should be in the “V”, not all on your thumb. Hold the club at the top and move your wrist around; you should be able to feel the pressure shift from the V to your thumb and back as you bend and flatten your wrist. If the pressure is mostly on the thumb, you may need to adjust your grip slightly weaker or stronger.

Players will continue to get bigger, stronger, taller, faster. Does that mean rules should never change in response to that change? Take football. Kickers have gotten bigger, stronger et.al. The rules have changed many times because kickers got too good. The goal posts have been narrowed. Tee were eliminated for field goals and the ball had to be placed on the ground. The ball was moved back for kickoffs. The kicker was moved farther back for extra points. The balance/strategy of games sometimes need to be preserved, even when the change comes from players themselves getting physically bigger, stronger, taller, faster..

To the OP: You should read the book “Evidence Based Golf” by Christina and Alpenfels. The authors did a number of controlled experiments comparing the results different drills and methods of doing drills to to test learning and retention of skills. Highly recommended. You can get on Kindle from Amazon.

I'll add one more item form the report: The governing bodies are considering these topics within the context of Model Local Rules that could be utilized for competitions involving the highest level of elite golfers. There is also interest in considering whether the adoption of these potential Model Local Rules could also allow the elimination of the MOI limit for recreational golfers, which could facilitate greater innovation and provide modest distance increases at this level of the game.

That seems to be what they are striving for, or at least minimizing the impact on regular players. https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/articles/2022/03/distance-golf-updated-areas-interest-research-topics-revealed.html For those who don't want to or won't go to the source, the operative statement: "The governing bodies believe that the changes being considered could: Address hitting distances for the longest hitters, whose impact on the game and golf courses has been the most significant Minimize the impact on shorter hitters with slower swing speeds at the recreational level Allow for continued innovation of balls and clubs for players at all levels."

How about the old “park your cart over your playing partner’s ball as he searches for it” prank.

Try reading Fred Shoemaker's Extraordinary Golf. He discusses two paradigms of golf instruction. Read what he says and see if it makes sense to you. I suspect it will given that Shawn Clement has helped you. It could help you decide to drop or keep the current lessons. If you do change instructors, it will help you ask the right questions of your next instructor to find one to improve your golf game.

I hope the USGA doesn’t see this. They might use it as a guide for setting up the course for the US Open.

The first 2:48 of the video are pretty good. He’s showing how the golf swing and swings/shots in other sports are quite similar. But the video goes completely off the rails starting around 3:00. He tosses out a few things that can go wrong, half complete thoughts on how things work and a few arguments with other instructors. Hard pass on this video. Mike Malaska (Malaska Golf) and Shawn Clement (Wisdom in Golf) have much better videos showing the similarity of the different swings and how paying attention to/feeling the movements (in say throwing a ball) can help one feel/understand/learn the golf swing. Malaska refers to this as “adjacency”. In his book “I feel Your Pain,” he has a full section on it and talks about tennis, hockey, baseball and other sports and how one can transfer skills from those sports to golf.

Golf Goals for 2022 Be greatful Be a good friend and playing partner Enjoy Be present Be target focused and meticulous in fundamentals and routine Practice with purpose Evaluate good, better, how Play golf—emphasis on “play”

"Are you listening to me?" Such a random way for my wife to start a conversation.

Change your concept and change your result. Quit thinking/obsessing about hitting the ball. The low point of your swing doesn't change that much (if at all) from your irons, fairway woods and driver. On your irons, you are not "hitting down" on the ball. The low point of your swing is past the ball, so you are catching the ball before your swing bottoms out. On fairway woods, the low point is even with or just behind the ball, so you are catching the ball when the club is moving level through the hitting area. On the driver, your low point is still near the middle of your stance but well being the ball, so the club is moving up when you catch the ball. Place your attention on the low point of your swing (not the ball) and swing away. A few things to try on the range to help shift your focus away from the ball: 1. Instead of looking at the ball, look at a spot on the ground in the middle of your stance (low point of swing) along your swing path. Swing over that spot and catch the ball as the club starts up. Transition into doing this and hitting balls with your eyes closed. 2. Try the "clip the tee" drill. This works especially well on a range with the large, rubber tees. Don't use a ball. Set up like you would with your driver. Start swinging small, with your attention on the low point of your swing. Swing back and forth without stopping and feel the bottom of the club clip the rubber tee. Gradually lengthen your swing to your full swing. You can also do this with your eyes closed after just a little bit of practice. The full drill is as follows: 1. Set up and swing back and forth to feel the club clip the tee as above. Build up a good rhythm and balance. Stop and repeat two more times. 2. Set up and swing a full swing clipping the tee, no ball. Repeat once or twice. 3. Set up with a ball and swing the same as in step two. 4. Repeat step 1. 3. On the range, alternate driver and wedge. Hit each shot to a target. Go through full routine on all shots. Place your attention on the low point of each swing.

A game I played at dinner club: Can you tell us how old you are without stating your age? "I know all the words to the Gilligan's Island theme song."

I picked up my phone and asked Alexa a question. She said, "Don't call me Shirley." So I tried again. She said, "Don't call me Shirley." Then it dawned on me, I'd left my phone in Airplane mode.