Fore! Who's playing golf, yo-

[spook]

i can't get used to fowler's new hair etc. can't stand the big flat brim hats or the wide belts with big buckles but those are the same. particularly irritating on dj because he's too tall on top and walks like a lazy ass with a swivel in his hips.

[TahoeJ]

You guys are talking about Fowler looking ridiculous without even mentioning that lame excuse for a mustache?

[iceman]

Well he was born in a desert and raised in a lion's den. It doesn't actually say the lion's den is in the desert. Apparently he moved somewhere along in there.

[DBdude]

my general impression is that they usually live on the edge of deserts if they are near deserts, otherwise savannah, but somebody can correct my ignorance of such things. in any case, it still had never occurred to me.

Nature on PBS told me so

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episo...roduction/686/

[iceman]

C'mon it's a desert, nothing grows there. Sam told me so.

[spook]

You guys are talking about Fowler looking ridiculous without even mentioning that lame excuse for a mustache?

i lumped that with the hair.

[spook]

Well he was born in a desert and raised in a lion's den. It doesn't actually say the lion's den is in the desert. Apparently he moved somewhere along in there.

could be. but still nothing i considered.

[iceman]

could be. but still nothing i considered.

If the topic is "Spook's Failings" may I be first in line to participate?

[spook]

if your need is so great -- and i know it is -- you may proceed. i have considered that you are that petty.

however, from the opb article: Field studies by Dr. Flip Stander have shown that the lions of the Namib, which live mostly at the northern edge of the desert, can survive in extreme conditions, feeding on gemsbok, ostriches, and seals captured along the Skeleton Coast. They breed rapidly and quickly spread into new, suitable, habitats.

[skiballs]

If the topic is "Spook's Failings" may I be first in line to participate?

spoke put me on ignore over a year ago for that. You're way late to the party.

[PassTheDutchie]

Faaaak! Frustrating game; got out yesterday and was snap hooking everything w/ the driver. Think my arms are coming through/releasing early; managed to hit two decent drives all day. Made for lots of scrambling & bogeys+, and a supremely ugly 95. The only upside is I wasn't hitting it far enough off the tee to get myself into real trouble. Gah. Where the fuck did a snap hook come from? How do I kill that fucker?

[spook]

spoke put me on ignore over a year ago for that. You're way late to the party.

no, i put you on ignore because you were being a dick in the golf thread rather than someplace more appropriate.

[Gcooker]

Faaaak! Frustrating game; got out yesterday and was snap hooking everything w/ the driver. Think my arms are coming through/releasing early; managed to hit two decent drives all day. Made for lots of scrambling & bogeys+, and a supremely ugly 95. The only upside is I wasn't hitting it far enough off the tee to get myself into real trouble. Gah. Where the fuck did a snap hook come from? How do I kill that fucker?

Swinging all arms perhaps? Exaggerate the hip turn to make sure its happening....

[4matic]

Where the fuck did a snap hook come from? How do I kill that fucker?

Coming back too flat. Try taking the club back outside a bit and more upright. Also, hold your hands and let torso rotation rotate the club rather than a flip.

[PassTheDutchie]

Swinging all arms perhaps? Exaggerate the hip turn to make sure its happening....

That's it for sure. Just couldn't get it straightened out yesterday despite my best attempts (and knowing what the issue was).

[stfu&gbtw]

Faaaak! Frustrating game; got out yesterday and was snap hooking everything w/ the driver. Think my arms are coming through/releasing early; managed to hit two decent drives all day. Made for lots of scrambling & bogeys+, and a supremely ugly 95. The only upside is I wasn't hitting it far enough off the tee to get myself into real trouble. Gah. Where the fuck did a snap hook come from? How do I kill that fucker?

Relax your hands/wrists. The sudden snap hook often means you're not letting the club off at the top of your swing - the club head is tracking behind your body and you're swinging across the ball as a result.

[DasBlunt]

Faaaak! Frustrating game; got out yesterday and was snap hooking everything w/ the driver. Think my arms are coming through/releasing early; managed to hit two decent drives all day. Made for lots of scrambling & bogeys+, and a supremely ugly 95. The only upside is I wasn't hitting it far enough off the tee to get myself into real trouble. Gah. Where the fuck did a snap hook come from? How do I kill that fucker?

Fast hips can also be the problem for some. Relax the wrists like STFU said is also really good advice, but a different issue from hips.

I have the opposite problems, if I can get my hips to fire, I hit it tour length with the driver. If not, I am stuck with high slices all day.

Alignment is the root of problems more often, as our body and eyes, compensate….will power is very strong to get the ball to go where we think we are lined up.

[spook]

for me slowing everything down made a huge difference. especially the backswing, which helped keep me from trying to kill the ball on the downswing. i've also finally started to grasp striking down and compressing the ball and taking a divot. i'm not going to take lessons this time in south america. i'm just going to try to play every day, even if it's only 9 holes.

and as for dasblunt's last comment, i have had the same problem of thinking i'm aligned when i'm really not. one thing i've noticed -- and it could be totally wrong, is that if my rear foot is perpendicular to my target, i hit it a lot straighter. if my foot is open, i tend to have problems. in ben hogan's book, he's got a little foot placement mat and the longer irons and driver have the rear foot moving further behind the left foot as the length increases. i played with somebody who was pretty good and he asked me why i was setting up that way and i told him about the book. he said that your feet should be square on most clubs with your front foot open toward the target. i've been working on that a bit and at first i was hitting a lot of slices, but i realized i wasn't swinging down from the inside out and ended up swing over the ball and hitting a lot of slices.

anyway, i've been doing a lot of reading and it's helped just in how i feel when i step up to the tee. not so much anxiety or concern about hitting a great tee shot because my rescue shots and shorter clubs have improved a lot. my putting was pretty good last time out but now i'm heading to the land of sunbeaten greens that are super fast.

[stfu&gbtw]

Fast hips can also be the problem for some. Relax the wrists like STFU said is also really good advice, but a different issue from hips.

I have the opposite problems, if I can get my hips to fire, I hit it tour length with the driver. If not, I am stuck with high slices all day.

Alignment is the root of problems more often, as our body and eyes, compensate….will power is very strong to get the ball to go where we think we are lined up.

Re: the high slice... I have a tendency toward that mistake. I can usually compensate by really being sure to brace my backswing with my right knee, and making sure the clubface is closed all the way at address. If I don't sway off the ball, I can get back to square at impact. Normally drive in the 290-320 range at 5k' above sea level.

for me slowing everything down made a huge difference. especially the backswing, which helped keep me from trying to kill the ball on the downswing. i've also finally started to grasp striking down and compressing the ball and taking a divot. i'm not going to take lessons this time in south america. i'm just going to try to play every day, even if it's only 9 holes.

And this. I walk around the golf course these days thinking about hitting down on the ball and releasing my wrists at the top of an easy back swing. It's the ultimate paradox. Swing more slowly for greater clubhead speed. It's the swing within the swing that counts.

[spook]

i also have found that if i'm trying to work my way out of a shitty groove, i just keep slowing down the backswing. if i'm anxious or having other thoughts pop in and out, i try to kill it. my body can't take that anymore for one thing and i never have anything but the occasional lucky contact when i try to kill it. i cease being aware of my true intent. so i just slow down everything. i think i posted a video of hogan maybe on the beach practicing and part of his practice was making his swing as slow as possible. once i've slowed everything down, it's easier for me to see or feel what i'm doing wrong.

the other thing i'm still struggling with is releasing the hips. i was proficient at other sports requiring a lot of hip action to throw people and also the javelin and for me releasing the hips is a comparatively violent action involving legs and lift leading to an opening of the upper body and transfer to the extremities. i believe the concept is basically the same for golf, but it's much more finesse (although i was very technique oriented in the other sports as well) and i have yet to regularly find the rhythm connecting the body parts in the proper order and time to be consistent. the last time i was out i felt like i figured out the beginning of a couple things -- they all involve relaxation and rhythm ultimately, but trying to transfer it to the existing structure that tends to want to kill the ball is very awkward. i've also had enough injuries to make my body less able to do what i want it to do, but the more i read, the more i hear or at least feel that there are basic mechanics involved in a good repeatable swing, but within that swing there is signficant room for variation and people have to work out their swings for themselves. like there is no right way or perfect swing. maybe for each individual there is, but not The One Swing. so i just keep slowing things down and trying to take relaxed swings because relaxed is such a foreign state for me golf is one therapy that is helping me relearn that state.

oh and committing to the shot is the other thing i've been working on, which also involves focus, which also further decreases my chances of trying to kill it.

it's interesting. i'm a complete hack, but i have had numerous moments -- like last spring or summer? at heron lakes when i was at 40 at the 9th tee and 44 on the 18th and completely imploded -- i imploded but i also hit more of my best shots than ever before during those 18 holes. i should have broken 100. maybe even 95 the way i was playing, but my mind completely imploded.

anyway, as i was saying, i'm a complete hack, and i still love the challenge and everything about it and it's all new to me and i suck. there is a physiological feeling to the game for me. much like snowboarding. i have nobody to snowboard with because the few people i know who did wanted to stop all the time and i want to go go go until i can't go. which may change with the way my knee is deteriorating, but in any case, going hard all day on my board leaves me feeling like something has been altered in my brain and my body. it's no exaggeration to say that snowboarding saved my life. i just started playing golf like 4 years ago and it is a distant second to snowboarding, but i have a similar experience playing 18 holes, especially when i can play alone. there is a significant impact on my brain and my body when i hit a good shot. 4 hours or whatever of a developing image of overall decisionmaking and performance.

i love it.

oh yeah, and i wrote all this thinking about you skiballs the whole time.

[skiballs]

[stfu&gbtw]

i also have found that if i'm trying to work my way out of a shitty groove, i just keep slowing down the backswing. if i'm anxious or having other thoughts pop in and out, i try to kill it. my body can't take that anymore for one thing and i never have anything but the occasional lucky contact when i try to kill it. i cease being aware of my true intent. so i just slow down everything. i think i posted a video of hogan maybe on the beach practicing and part of his practice was making his swing as slow as possible. once i've slowed everything down, it's easier for me to see or feel what i'm doing wrong.

the other thing i'm still struggling with is releasing the hips. i was proficient at other sports requiring a lot of hip action to throw people and also the javelin and for me releasing the hips is a comparatively violent action involving legs and lift leading to an opening of the upper body and transfer to the extremities. i believe the concept is basically the same for golf, but it's much more finesse (although i was very technique oriented in the other sports as well) and i have yet to regularly find the rhythm connecting the body parts in the proper order and time to be consistent. the last time i was out i felt like i figured out the beginning of a couple things -- they all involve relaxation and rhythm ultimately, but trying to transfer it to the existing structure that tends to want to kill the ball is very awkward. i've also had enough injuries to make my body less able to do what i want it to do, but the more i read, the more i hear or at least feel that there are basic mechanics involved in a good repeatable swing, but within that swing there is signficant room for variation and people have to work out their swings for themselves. like there is no right way or perfect swing. maybe for each individual there is, but not The One Swing. so i just keep slowing things down and trying to take relaxed swings because relaxed is such a foreign state for me golf is one therapy that is helping me relearn that state.

oh and committing to the shot is the other thing i've been working on, which also involves focus, which also further decreases my chances of trying to kill it.

it's interesting. i'm a complete hack, but i have had numerous moments -- like last spring or summer? at heron lakes when i was at 40 at the 9th tee and 44 on the 18th and completely imploded -- i imploded but i also hit more of my best shots than ever before during those 18 holes. i should have broken 100. maybe even 95 the way i was playing, but my mind completely imploded.

anyway, as i was saying, i'm a complete hack, and i still love the challenge and everything about it and it's all new to me and i suck. there is a physiological feeling to the game for me. much like snowboarding. i have nobody to snowboard with because the few people i know who did wanted to stop all the time and i want to go go go until i can't go. which may change with the way my knee is deteriorating, but in any case, going hard all day on my board leaves me feeling like something has been altered in my brain and my body. it's no exaggeration to say that snowboarding saved my life. i just started playing golf like 4 years ago and it is a distant second to snowboarding, but i have a similar experience playing 18 holes, especially when i can play alone. there is a significant impact on my brain and my body when i hit a good shot. 4 hours or whatever of a developing image of overall decisionmaking and performance.

i love it.

oh yeah, and i wrote all this thinking about you skiballs the whole time.

Tl;dr

Seems like you're making this way too complicated. Google Moe Norman. All you need is for the club face to track straight through the ball. Driving 240 yards to your target is a lock to win compared to spraying it 280.

[spook]

i like talking about golf and technique. you don't have to read it. sometimes i just put it down for myself more than anything. sometimes something strikes somebody. sometimes it doesn't.

i don't think i'm making it more complicated. i think i'm making it simpler, which is why i'm improving i think. some people have to go through a lot of minutiae before they really start to grok something on a deeper level. and i'm very early in that process. i've been the same way about everything. obviously, it has advantages and disadvantages.

what do you think, skiballs?

[spook]

Tl;dr

Seems like you're making this way too complicated. Google Moe Norman. All you need is for the club face to track straight through the ball. Driving 240 yards to your target is a lock to win compared to spraying it 280.

i hit my driver 250. i hit it 300 once. part of the problem is the difference between what i think i'm seeing and feeling myself doing and what i'm actually doing. that contributes to my slice and i end up coming from the outside in. i've had just enough lessons and playing time to be relaxed enough on the course to be able to straighten myself out if i start sliding sideways.

if there weren't both a somewhat complicated technical side and a basic physical side i probably wouldn't be interested. i don't enjoy hitting things with a bat for the hell of it.

[wooley12]

I hear what your saying Spook. Yet more often that not for me, turning my hat backwards and retying my left shoe cures the "where did that come from" mishits. Lately my ball striking has been better AND worse than ever in the same round. Actually bounced my driver over the ball. My second swing went OMG long and lying 2.