elvis14

Here in North Carolina the courses didn't close. I've actually been playing more than normal. Bad part is...so has everyone else. Seems like each week there are more and more guys out on the courses we play. Meaning more than normal. A friend and I have been playing weekly on Thursday. Teeing off around 4pm and walking 18. The last couple of weeks have been very slow and we have had other 2-somes put with us (not exactly how we want to social distance).

I've played a few more times since making this post. On Sunday I thought I found a cure to my driver issue (hook). Simply put, once I'm ready to hit, I release my right hand, rotate the butt of the shaft clockwise some in my left and and then replace my right hand. This opens the face and gets it back to square. The perceived extra distance I'm getting has pretty much been confirmed. Played yesterday and was long (for me, not for real golfers) all over the course. I'm driving the ball quite a bit further than I was in the past. I learned years ago that once I started using a GPS or rangefinder and you see real numbers on drives that a good drive for me was around 230 (poor hits shorter, great hits longer). Right now my good hits are quite a bit longer (and when not straight enough...finding more trouble). It's actually been fun making this adjustment and seeing what a difference a grip change can make. I still need to add consistency but it's nice to be working on that with a little more length and not having my thumb hurt as much after rounds.

I play to a pretty high handicap. For a long time I only played about 6 rounds a year and 4 of them were on my golf trip. I'm playing more now and becoming more consistent over time so I'm starting to do better on par 5's. But for years, as a high handicap player par 5's were tough because I had to hit 3 decent shots in a row to get on the green in regulation. That just didn't happen all that often. With a par 3, all I had to do was hit 1 decent shot. As I've played more over the last year and a half things have changed. I'm starting to card GIR on par 5's more regularly (par 3's have improved some but not as much). In my case part of this is probably that I hit my driver and 4 wood (both Ping G15) pretty well.

Any idea if this will let you define your own game? Even if it won't sounds like it would be a great addition on my annual trip (12 guys, Myrtle). I'm always the one that ends up doing all the scoring after the rounds.

If you've completed 6 weeks of Insanity, you're doing great! I've done Insanity a couple of times. Just completed Insanity Max: 30. I like these because they are only 30 minutes. Helps me with time management and motivation.

I do find that I prefer entertainment and equipment videos hold my interest more than instructional videos. Sometimes instructional videos do me more harm than good! Shiels, Robinson, the average golfer, Mr ShortGame are some of the ones I watch (and all have already been mentioned). Getting back into the game after a decade of playing very little (and not updating my bag), all of these are new subscriptions for me and I'm really enjoying them.

That probably makes you more normal than anything else (and that's not a bad thing).

I'm the exact opposite. I'm all explosive, fast twitch. I've spend my adult years playing volleyball, football, soccer, softball. I'm in great shape right now but because I'm built for sprinting, I can't run distance at all. Ran a 5k before the shutdown, took me 31 minutes and I was dyin'. Sometimes I think it hurts my golf game....my tempo gets bad and I get super fast back and forward. I have such respect for people that run marathons because I don't think I could do it even with lots of training...the genetics just aren't there.

I voted hole in one. I did get my first HIO last year (Crossing's in Durham, hole 12, island green) and it was with a witness. It's VERY rare that I reach a par 5 in 2 or drive the green on a short Par 4 but I have admit it would be really cool to get a Albatross as well.

Yeah I've always said that they are named correctly, insane. I was just telling my daughter that my abs are actually sore (and tired) from this morning's workout.

Of course having new (or slightly used) toys is part of the fun!

I see a lot of people suggesting the Q-Star Tour. Is this a big improvement over older Q-Stars? Last time I tried a box of Q-starts (been a few years) they didn't do well for me at all (short and not enough spin and hard feel).

I think I will continue to walk more. Been walking most weeks and it's good for fitness.

I hurt my left thumb about 2 months ago (I'm right handed). Pretty sure I did it at Drive Shack hitting lots of balls way too hard. As a result I had to either stop playing golf or change my grip. After doing some research and talking to a good friend who helps me out with my golf swing, I made two adjustments. First I rotated my left hand clockwise a bit so that my thumb isn't inline with the club (that's what was causing the pain). Secondly I decoupled my hands a bit. Instead of interlocking my fingers all they way down at the first joint (at the hand/knuckle) I separated them a bit and started interlocking them at the last joint nearest to the tip. From what I can tell, both of these adjustments have moved the club more into my fingers on both hands. Which is probably better anyway. It's been about a month since I've made this change and here's what I've noticed. The good: irons are about a club longer, other clubs are longer as well my thumb hurts less and is getting better over time, if it regresses I'll get it checked out once we are out and about I really like the way this grip feels, I suspect the injury has caused me to fix something I'm doing wrong The bad: I'm more prone to pull the ball long and left (before I actually believed that I was a club longer I was flying greens again and again) I'm having issues hooking my driver The first issue I seems to be going away each week (been playing weekly). The second issue is tough. Before last year, I never had an issue with a hook (and wasn't use to having to fix that). One showed up last April and I eventually figured out how to fix it (rotate right hand counter-clockwise, move ball back a little in stance). The problem I'm having right now is that It's difficult to use that grip change fix with my current grip. Hopefully I can figure it out soon (although I am finding quite a few playable golf balls about 175-200 yards out in the woods on the left!!! Anyone else have a grip change make a dramatic change in their game? Oh and I'll take advice on fixing that hook if you want to give it

I've been doing "Insanity Max: 30" and adding in hikes and some light lifting with the dumbells I have at home. I do well with regimented routines and schedules. I've done Beachbody workouts (P90X, Insanity, and now the Max: 30) on and off for over a decade. Being at home, has enabled me to do a pretty good job of getting my workouts in. Feel like it's helping with golf as well but it's not golf specific. I'm 52 years old and would say I'm in pretty decent shape right now.

For me it depends on the group. I have two best friends, for example: One that I golf with often. When he's in my cart (or walking with me since we don't share carts right now), I play better. We often talk about the golf they shots what went right/wrong, etc. Contrast that with my other best friend who drives me crazy (always taking extra shots, retries any missed putts several times, etc). I call playing with him death by 1000 waits because on every hole I have to adjust for something goofy he's doing. Most groups for me are somewhere in between these two extremes. Solo is OK for scoring but not my preference, this is a social game for me.

Heck I haven't taken my G15 out of my bag. I just can't rationalize spending the $$ because it just works (and when it doesn't...it's my fault for sure).

I've wondered this myself. I've been playing the same driver for a long time (Ping G15). Mostly because before last year I had gotten to where I was playing 5-6 rounds a year (and 4 of them were on my golf trip). I'm playing more now and really enjoying updating my bag and lowering my scores. Before that G15 I had a TM driver that I was happy with. It was forgiving and long enough. Then all of a sudden it wasn't. Just seemed like I stopped getting any distance out of it. So I don't know if my swing changed or if driver (be it the head or shaft) just wear out. I don't know so I hope you get some good responses from the more knowledgeable posters.

Wow those Tour Exotics look great. I used to play a 7-wood back in the day (Cobra with a significant offset). I still have it in the garage, haven't hit it in years. I ended up taking it out of the bag because I discovered that I hit hybrids better. Hope the OP finds a 7-wood he's happy with. Having confidence in what you are hitting makes such a difference.