My goal for 2010 is to get to be a scratch golfer. I've worked pretty hard on my game in the past year, and have put together some pretty good rounds.. 73, 74, etc.. Right now, I'm starting to work with a pro and have signed up for 10 rounds with him. It's been going well, and I'm already seeing improvement.

I have a decent short game, and putt fairly well.. .I definitely save shots from time to time around the greens. At my home course, we have a really nice short game area, so I try to take advantage of that as much as possible.

Here is a sample of me swinging a 5 iron at the range.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x545ko8mnc4

I think in this sequence , my tempo was a little fast.. Sorry I don't have a down the line shot, but the sun was basically right in my face..

Any tips on how I should be practicing, swing improvements, etc, are appreciated. I would say my major weakness is keeping the drive in play..

Hello Beermoney,

I am interested in your ambition this year. Also interested in where you live given that youtube video but that is a story for another time - damn I hate winter. I have been a solid 6 for several years and want 2010 to be the year for me.

Your swing and routine look good to me.

Where does the drive go when you miss? Right? I am a total amateur but I will throw in two cents to get this discussion moving. Do you feel like you hold on to the shot on the follow through? Or is this something you are trying to do? It just seems you may have a little too much right hand on the club.

Total amateur sighting/guess. Anybody?

Lot of potential in that move, but I'm curious what you are working on right now in your swing?
Specifically, the right knee kicking in and the restricted follow through.
Knowing what you are trying to do in the swing may improve the advice you get.

As to getting to scratch-
You've got to get it in play off the tee, and know/control your misses
(I may take a stab at that later when I have an idea of what you're working on)
You've got to have good distance control with your irons ( I expect this will not be a problem given the youtube video)
You've got to keep improving your short game
(I'd recommend a steady diet of 40-60-80 yd. wedges to a specific target where you can see exactly where the ball lands)

where you playin at? those hills look california like.
swing looks good. Follow-through is a bit short/shallow maybe? idk.

Looks good for starters...I would like to see your hips further left at address. I think you have too much weight on your right as a result. Looks like that is a long iron so I assume you are trying to "help" the ball into the air. That should be done with weight left and a hybrid hitting down more like a 6 iron than what it looks like you are doing. I also think that will help you get to your left side in the follow through which will help the restricted follow through mentioned above. First swing in the vid was your best but you can see you hang back in the follow through. Weight/hips further left at address then try to get your right hip and shoulder over your left foot in follow through.

pretty poor setup

OMG I hate when I have a whole response typed out and it gets deleted.. It's like running bad.

I should have mentioned that club in my hands there is a 5 iron, and if I remember correctly, I believe I hit all of those balls well.



Anyway.. to address the first question, I'm in Thailand and my home course is here http://www.chiangmaihighlands.com/we.../cmhlayout.php. A lot of people on here know Cinnabar, and I would rank it better than that, but comparable in that every hole is memorable. However, it is a better test of ones over all golf game, and exposes any weakness one may have. It cost me $1500 for the year to play, but unfortunately it's kind of a long drive across town. ( 35-40 mins with the pedal to the metal. ) And yes, I can have a hot caddy carry my clubs for 10 bucks. (Mentioning Thailand always brings further questions, so I tried to answer what might come up.)

If any of you are in the area , a round of golf is on me.

My coach that I've had 3 lessons with is a Thai guy.. His English is ok, and we do our best communicating, but it's possible i miss some details here and there.

As for what I've been working on..I've always had a tendency to sway back to the right with my take away. I first remied this (I think) by taking the club away in a smooth manner, rather than jerking it away with the wrists. Anyway, my coach has my keeping my right knee really tucked in at address, and keeping it tucked in. (Is this correct.)

Another thing I tended to do was lift my RIGHT heel up in the downswing. I think this had my hips all screwed up. So we're working on keeping my right foot down. Is this ok? I think he's trying to model me after luke donald. I've only had 3 lessons with him, but I'm definitely seeing improvement, and he works hard during our lessons.

Something else I'm trying to work on is having my arms extended and pointing more towards the target rather than inside at three-quarters of the way through the swing when the arms are parallel to the ground in the follow through.

My coach is also working on me with my posture and having my head and back straighter , rather than hunched over like a hack.

Here is a view of my driver... (Which I had a half an inch shaved off to stiffen it up. Also as I'm shorter, I like a shorter club. It is now I think 44.5" taylor made r5 with 9.5 deg.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7-Wq47QriQ



To ship--this: I'm not consciously trying to help the ball in the air. I think you're spot on about my weight on the left side. I will def work on that next time out. One thing about me is that I have a strong upper and lower body, although my hands are on the smaller side. I'm not very flexible tho, lol. You've mentioned that fitness is very important. I run everyday and do dips and pullups twice a week. Anything else you would recommend? I really don't have access to a gym and would prefer keeping my exercises more natural. Perhaps daily stretching?

One thing about the follow through is that I think cause the camera isn't that fast, I think the follow through looks a little shorter than it is ...But there's definitely something weird going on.

TripleH, my miss used to be to the right because I was always blocking it out there and my hands weren't releasing.. I'm doing a better job of drawing the ball off the tee nowadays. Tx for getting this thread going. It took a while and I was crying in the corner and pouting 'no one loves beermoney'. lucky for me, it had some replies when I woke up.

Spenda : Anything further?

TX for all of the responses.

Ship, I just read your statement on fitness in the other thread, so.........

One other thailand thing... You know those hybrid clubs.. In Thailand, they call them katooey, which is Thai for 'Lady Boy'...

pretty much was ship said, clearly too much weight is on your right side at address here, it's causing a lot of tilt in your shoulders/hips at address which manifests itself into a poor impact position



In comparison look at Tiger, now this is a shorter iron so its a slight difference, but look at how his weight is much more centered, his shoulders/hips are more level, and his head is more on top of the ball

Roll around in poison ivy.

/thread

BO

1. Abandon quest for 4 million VPPs in 2010
2. Play more golf
3. ???
4. Never mind.

That's the most violent 'waggle' I've ever seen.

Do you ever hit the ball during your setup?

Have you hit any balls with different address yet beer?

Yes, I have. I felt like I was creaming my driver. I actually hit a few irons fat, which is kind of rare for me.

That would make sense since you should change your angle of attack to a least a little steeper if you are getting your address to a better spot. Better compression on the ball with the irons and the driver should feel solid.