Went to the range again today to see if my drives were still there.

Yep, I was hitting my driver with the same consistency as Sunday. Maybe it was because I had a great night of sleep (12 hours worth after a grueling 21 hours at work). I then picked up my 5i, which I have no consistency ever. I was hitting it about 170-180 yards. I usually don't my my 5i in my bag and never take it to the course, but today it was in my bag so I had to hit it.

Sometimes I wish I would be able to take this onto the course. Like my signature below states: "Practice like you play. Play like you practice." Now I just need to follow that through.

You will, Doc, give it time. You've proved you have it in you.

Even though I've heard this a million times, I finally noticed how I get tense out there, and how on the range it only works when I'm really soft and relaxed. When I was on the course, thought I was relaxing, but somehow the wrong body parts would relax, and the right ones would stay a little stiff. I did better the next time I played (knock on hickory).

I had the same problem with my last girlfriend

Where is Bill or Don to reply to this one!

Hmmm, she stayed so stiff that you couldn't relax?
I don't know, but Chief seems absolutely capable of filling their ornery shoes.

I don't remember EVER having a problem with the wrong parts going soft. At least that's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

The next time you are hitting the ball really well at the range, think about whether you are staying relaxed. Then try to do the same thing at the course. Tell yourself to relax when you setup, and it should help.

Well, I don't think it's right for you all to take what laney writes as an excuse to make subtle little inuendos.



Uhh! Laney, hmmmm, next time you go to the range, would you mind if I went with you?

Had another good practice session at the range. Started with the SW and worked up to 3 iron little by little. Just like I was told to do years ago, but haven't done until recently. Seems to really help with taking the same smooth swing with the wedges right on up to the woods. I seem to remember being told this is the whole idea of golf. To make the same smooth swing with all your clubs, not just the short irons. I ended up spending over 3 hours hitting a hugh bucket of balls with pretty much decent results. Only complaint was the cloud cover which made it impossible to see the ball flight with the driver. With the short irons, the clouds were not a big deal, but with the longer irons and wood, I lost sight of the ball, or never saw it at all. I have to fine a different range, one that isn't cloudy when I'm hitting balls.

Back to the range today, hoping to work out the problems. Hit thru a medium bucket, PW up to 4 iron, a few with hybrid. Focused on making sure I was good with the mid irons.
I'd say irons were 80% good shots, so that's an improvement. Key things I'm watching out for are to make sure the ball is far enough back in my stance and keeping the right elbow in.
I'm not getting in to the stance that the Pro wanted me to do, but I couldn't get comfortable and felt off balance, so I'm probably a little between where I was and where he wanted me to be. It's all about the results.

Aimee, when you want to keep your right elbow from flying. Try addressing the ball with your elbows, relaxed, against your sides. Your arms will stay in position through your swing and your turn and arms will be in sinc through your entire swing.

What I'm trying to do in my pre-shot is hold the club out perpendicular (arms out straight) to check grip; drop arms down and waggle to reduce tension and at that point checking my right arm position. I think part of my problem was with the overall tension, the right arm wasn't able to fall into a relaxed position.

Had another good practice session at the driving range. Did it right again, starting with a SW and hitting a good 30 balls before moving up to my 9 iron. It's not easy to work my way up through the bag, rather than warm up with a few 9 iron swings and then grabbing my driver. But it sure works better in the long run. I pulled out the 9.5* FT-i Tour and hit it pretty well, which is a lot different then when Scott and Laney were here last fall. No stinking slices, just a 10 or 12 yard fade, which I don't like but can live with if I have to. I was really hitting the short irons well. Had a guy stop and tell me how nice I hit one 9 iron shot. That was good for the ego. I hit it very high and right over the flag I was aiming at. Who cares if it was only 70 yards, it was nice and straight.

Hit the range tonight, working on my irons mostly. Trying to get a handle on why I'm not controlling them quite well right now. Sometimes hit solid other times left and more left. Remebering my instructor's feedback, I stood taller, made sure there was enough room between my hands and my body so the club could clear, and many time hit the ball pretty solid. So maybe I'm on to it.

Played 9 holes yesterday and had 6 pars, 2 bogeys and 1 dbl. Pars though were good chipping and goo putting as I only hit 3 GIRs out of those 6, but had 3 up and downs. So got some work to do.

Scott, at least when you missed the greens, your chipping was working for you. That's always a nice plus, as it should help you relax on the approach shot knowing you can recover if you miss the green. Much better than the other way, where you can't chip to save your sole, and you have that much more pressure to hit the green. Like you, I've been working on mostly my irons the past few time out to the range, and it does seem to help. I'm hitting more good iron shots, before I even pull out the woods.

Scott, at least when you missed the greens, your chipping was working for you. That's always a nice plus, as it should help you relax on the approach shot knowing you can recover if you miss the green. Much better than the other way, where you can't chip to save your sole, and you have that much more pressure to hit the green. Like you, I've been working on mostly my irons the past few time out to the range, and it does seem to help. I'm hitting more good iron shots, before I even pull out the woods.

Went out Friday to hit range balls. Worked my way up through my irons starting with a SW. Didn't have a swing for my 3 iron,but the driver was doing real well. There's a 225 yard marker donw range, and I was hitting some balls a good 25 yards over it in the air. Pulled out my laser to check the exact yardage for the marker and it turns out I got a reading of 251, not 225 as it says right on the marker. So I guess that means I was hitting the range balls 275 carry. I'll take that any day. Only bad part of the session was when I tried to hit my 3 wood and get a carry yardage for it. For some reason, I just couldn't hit my 3 wood to save my soul. Gave up after mishiting 5 balls and went back to my driver. Next time out I have to work on hittng my short irons from grass. That's where I tend to mess up more often than any other part of my game. I want to work on this so I don't waste any more good drives with rotten approach shots.

After another terrible round of iron-striking, took a lesson today (husband and I shared an hour with the Pro). Since I was mis-hitting mostly thin and to the right, he determined after looking at a couple of swings that in my effort to "stay behind the ball" I was dropping my right side...so I was coming up on the ball instead of striking down on it. Also still have a little too much tension in the arms. Worked most of the time with my PW to "groove" the swing mechanics, then towards the end went up in clubs and did see improvement.
Side note: how fun is it to see the Pro hit the dickens out of your clubs? He took my 3W and hit it so far off the tee I lost site of it in the haze!

Last week was a bad week for me. Because of work, I had missed a few practice days. When I went to the range on Saturday, it was just aweful I had to quit after 30-something balls. I could not hit anything. This was a complete 180degree turn from my round on Sunday. So I went back to the range this morning, and it was the same. Maybe it's because I came home from work after midnight and had a few hours of sleep? nah, I don't think so. I had to give up again after about 50-something balls.

My favorite iron and hybrid resulted in shanks and tops. ugh I think I'll rest a few days and get back into it again.

Because of the threat of serious T-storms, hubby and I decided to go to the range. He wanted to get his driver regripped and the guy who teaches us did it while we waited. We did get caught in a violent (brief) storm, we were on the range and saw the lightening. Hung out in the garage/shed until it passed.
Before the rain we did hit some balls. I started with the 8i and worked up to the 5i. The swing is coming along, I just have to watch my tempo (not too fast on the downswing) and remember to finish high. The change in setup/stance is starting to feel more comfortable. Hit 3-4 driver shots (still good) and that was it.

Went out to the driving range yesterday to help a guy decide on a new shaft for a driver. Took 8 drivers each with a different shaft for him to they. Turns out he liked the ProForce V2 65 gram S flex the best. Also worked on a test of a set of Acer XK Pro irons. Pretty nice set of irons and pretty close to the new Callaway X22 set. More on them later after I play a round or 2 with them.

Had a pretty good practice session today. Worked mainly of hitting my short irons staight at my target. Been fighting a nasty pull the last few weeks, including one range session and one round of golf. Pulling everything way left, up to 50 yards with a 7 iron. Nice solid ball contact, nice ball flight, but way left on my target. Like most everyone, I have this happen from time to time, but last range session I hit about 97 percent of my shots left. Wierd to say the least.

Don, any chance you were coming down from the outside? The face doesn't stay square for as long when I do that.

Laney, I don't know what I'm doing. Thinking I might be turning my shoulders to the left before impact, but not sure. Ball flight is dead straight when I pull the ball way left, so I have a assume the clubface is square to my swing path, or I'd be hitting a big hook. I really need to take my video camera with me a record my swing and look at my whole body during my swing, especially at impact. That should give me a good idea of what the problem is, Then all I have to do is figure out the best way to correct it.
Yesterday I was hitting somre really nice shots, great contact, nice solid feel, only to have the ball miss the green out by the target flag at 130 yards. Hitting my PW just past the flag, but way left isn't going to score too many birdie last I checked. Thanks for your input, always appreciate any advice I can get.

Yeah, when I go straight left, it's often because I turn my shoulders too soon at the startdown. You'll get it straightened out.

Went to the range this morning as they had a free offer of use of their vector monitor.
So hit my 2 drivers (9 deg stiff Mizuno & 10.5 deg reg nichlaus)
Both came in at swing speed 95 - which is right for stiff - - average for mizuno was 225 - Nichlaus - 237 - both had a little left to right spin

then went to my 5 wood - again stiff - again 95 mph swing - but was hitting it 210+ (but one shot had 0 side spin -
)
then it went slightly downhill
had my 7 iron with me - but could only get to 76 mph but it was only going 127 yards - I thought it would be going 150. ..
I had over 6k back spin though which is a tad too much (pro thought I was hitting a 9 iron at one point!)

in the end we discussed what clubs I needed to get - which was an 11 deg stiff driver (hope to get it from there and do an exchange with the 2 I have - any ideas of a driver that is about 1 year old?)
as well as going to a smaller cavity than the one I have - acer hollowcore. This should reduce the height I hit - but I wont be looking at changing my irons for at least 3 years

Kevin