Golf Questions and Answers

I am an 8 hcp. I have been in the golf business for 20 years starting over at 33 as a second recreational career. I have been to PGA teaching seminars and taught lots of beginning golfers how to get started. I work for Callaway as a tech rep and have to give 15 minute golf lessons to probably 5 people a week in season because if they can't hit our clubs, they won't buy our clubs.

- how do I get more comfortable with a "stronger grip"? left hand feels funny because forearm is rotated uncomfortably to the right with a strong grip. Right hand feels funny during take away

The most common mistake I see people make is getting their grip too strong. The slice is the most common ball flight error (because we stand on the left side of the ball) and people think that strengthening up their grip will fix it. It can, but that's a bad way to approach it. A too strong grip (rotated to far clockwise) can give you two results and they are both bad. If you actually get your right hand to rotate through the ball you get wicked overspin and hit a hook; the more likely result is you will bot rotate your hand through the release and you will block the ball right.

Most teaching manuals will tell you that you should have the V made by pinching you thumb and index finger on both hands pointing at your right shoulder, about 1o'clock. I always try to get people to get an old 7 iron and put a training grip on it. Hit ball with that to get used to where your hands are on the club and how the rotation should feel.

Most people also get the grip too much in their hands and not enough in the fingers. The bottom of the grip, at 6 o'clock, should touch the middle fold in your finger (under your knuckle). Having the club in your fingers forces your grip to be lighter and allows free rotation through the ball. The only good golfers with a really strong grip (Azinger) have learned basically how to block on target line.

Instead of trying to fix a slice with your grip fix it with a correct swing path.
Many golfers make a path that is outside in not inside out because it is the more natural motion. Chopping wood is natural, a golf swing is not. Chopping wood hits across the ball from the outside spinning it back to the right. Visualize the ball as sitting at the center of a clock. Your target line is from 6 to 12; make your swing arc from 7 to 1; hit inside out through the ball; Thar spins the ball left and results in a draw

- how the hell do I take a divot? I consistently pick the ball clean.

Divots should be made after the contact with the ball...the ball is already gone. What they indicate and why you want to make them is that they are the result of a descending blow. A descending blow imparts more spin and lift on iron shots for more control and distance. If you are not making any divot you might have the ball to far up (left) in your stance and are not catching the ball at the apex of your swing. Long irons should be about in the middle of your stance (your zipper line) and moved slightly back (right) as you go through the shorter irons.

Also you should look to see if you are moving your spine angle (probably to the left) during the swing. Visualize your spine as the hub if bicycle wheel and your club as the apex of the tire. Rotate the club around your spine so that it remains centered and the club returns to the ball in a circular arc. When you spine moves back and forth you are making parabolas instead of circles...calculus instead of geometry.

- does the quality of the golf ball really matter for a 20 handicap.

no, just decide whether you like a harder lower spin ball or a softer higher spin one. I get mine free and I play with Topflight D2 Feels all the time.
They are like $15 for the 15 pack.

- I have a 44 degree PW (TaylorMade R7 CGB). I have a 56 degree sand wedge - Cleveland. Should I pick up a 50ish degree gap wedge? Is that money well spent?

Probably yes. Because of advances in perimeter weighting and the lowering of the center of gravity club makers are making clubs stronger and stronger because people will buy the clubs that they hit the farthest. But the sand wedge has pretty much stayed the same loft. Your pitching wedge is pretty much the loft of 9 iron from 10 years ago and you have a 12 degree gap between them. You probably hit your P 115-130 yards and your SW 80- 100. The gap between those clubs is probably at a yardage you commonly need, for me my Gap is my 100 yard club. So really todays set of 4-P G SW is the same as the old 3-P SW, the numbers have just changed.


- I don't really understand bounce. my sand wedge is low bounce. for a high handicapper, should I have a high bounce? What situations (other than sand, is good for bounce use?)

Bounce is the angle past 90 degrees on the sole of a sand wedge. It bounces on the sand rather than digging into the sand. The fluffier the sand you play the more bounce you want. In Houston's clay packed sand traps you want less bounce. Same with pitch shots, more bouce is better in fluffy rough but you take a chance on skulling the ball on very tightly mowed grass. For general purposes, bounce is your friend. Get something around 12 degrees.

- how far does the normal golfer hit a 7 iron? If I hit mine squarely, I hit mine about 155 yards.

That's about average

- what's the normal difference in yardage between clubs? Ie, how far should I be hitting my 6 irons? 10 yards longer?

10 yards is the rule of thumb but it depends on the loft spreads through your set. Also, range balls are inconsistent and only go about 90% of distance of a new ball, but people almost always club for the sweet spot but rarely hit it.

- what's a good putter. I suck at putting and think I might benefit from a putter with alignment assist (ie, the oddessy multiple ball thing) or a heavy putter. heavy putter might help my tempo. I have an old oddessy blade putter. Man I'm a crappy putter.

I like an alignment device. I try to see a line from the spot where I am aiming for, through a spot 3 feet in front of the ball, and through the ball . Then I try to take the putter back on this line and release it down that line. The main idea though is to hit the ball on the very center of the putter head. My aiming spot is the high point of the break.

Thats a 'square to square' technique and it is somewhat less popular than the rotating putter head technique that teaches a swing arc for the putter.

The main things are to visualize the path you want to hit the ball on, get your eyes over the ball, keep you head still through contact and make contact on the center of the putter head. Once you are lined up, distance control should be you swing thought. Your best putts aren't always going to roll in, a lot of that is luck; but if you can leave the ball inside of 3 feet consistently you will cut out a couple of the three putts a round and lower your scores.

Distance control is practice and feel.

Now I get to go do this all day at Games People Play driving range in Beaumont.

Our last Demo Day for Callaway (South Houston region) until the Fall will be tomorrow morning Blackhorse.

 

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I'm not a pro, but it sounds to me like you've been given advice by someone who's giving you "fixes" for problems you're having. I don't recommend such fixes. If you practice some fundamental things, you can get yourself into the habit of swinging properly and not trying to patch a bad swing with fixes.

During a practice swing, bring the club all the way back to the top of your swing. Begin your downswing in a sort-of slow motion manner. When your clob is halfway down your downswing, freeze. the handle of your club should be pointing directly at your target. If it isn't, you haven't swung on the proper plane. Stop your swing and start over. If you get it right, stop your swing and do it again. Do it again and again. And once you have the feel for it, go ahead and do a complete swing, trying to focus on keeping your club in that same plane.

note: I should point out that, though I say things like "proper swing"... in truth, there is no one "proper swing". There are players, such as Jim Furyck who don't have a conventional swing, but.. hey, if it works for you, go with it. I'm just conveying some things that are commonly held as good advice for building a good conventional swing.