Conference 7.286::golf

    go back to the fundamentals....grip/posture/stance/ball position
    
    whenever I top/skull/hit fat or whatever I usually find that
    I gone back to some old bad habits with my fundamentals..
    I moved my ball position
    
    I got my stance too closed/open
    
    I didn't bend my knees some at adress
    My grip go too much on the strong/weak side
    
    etc.
    Usually something simple like these has changed just slightly from
    how you normally have it...

    A couple of years ago I couldn't hit a wood off of the fareway to
    save my A**. I read an article that highlighted to make sure to
    bend you knees and keep them bent,don't stand up during the swing.
    Now I set up with the ball app. 1 balls width back in my stance
    from where I would hit it off of a tee, bend my knees and say to
    myself " Go down and get it" and I'd say 90 % of the time I hit
    a good shot. Did this last night. bad tee shot on a short par four.
    I had 185 yrd to the flag. Played a 4 iron to within 4 ft of the
    cup. Just tell yourself to "go down and get it".   
    
    My partner in the league I play noted that I was hitting all of
    my ruff shots fat (earlier in the year). He told me to play the
    ball a little bit back in my stance in the ruff. It has made a
    complete difference in my game from the ruff. Try it!
    
    Tom

    Cable TV has a great Jimmy Ballard on Sunday mornings.
    Next to Nicklaus, he will win the next Nobel Prize in golf.
    
    He might help you on the very "why" of the basics that 698.1 so
    very well covered/reminded us all of.
    Tom

If you find that you are both topping balls and hitting them fat then you
probably are not keeping your hips or sholders on the same level throughout
the swing.  Some people find it helpful if they try to hold their head still.

Larry

     One of my most common mistakes when hitting a long iron/club is
    to reach too much. Then it becomes difficult to repeat the angle
    you have your arms. I believe a "little" reach is OK, but if you
    feel as if you are swinging your arms outward more than downward
    you will not get consistent hits. Maintain a full extension of
    the left arm, don't dip the head, and finish with a good weight
    shift to the front foot annnnddddd  Don't reach ...
    
    	Good luck!
    
    		Walt
    
    	

    I may be trying to simplify things to much but I thnk that 90% of the
    problem with people hitting a long iron or for that matter a long shot
    be it a iron or a wood is that they tend to swing to hard. I believe
    when you swing hard or to fast at the ball your machanics break down.
    The head moves, the right shoulder drops to fast, grip the club to hard
    and basicly take a bad swing. If you can hit a seven iron you can hit a
    3 iron it's the same swing. People tend to swing harder with a 3 iron
    than a 7 iron. Fairway woods are the same. Don't try to hit a 3 wood
    200 yds try to hit it 150 and it will go 200. Slow the swing down,
    relax and don't get intimidated with a long shot it's just a different
    club not a different swing.
    
    nice and easy
    
    pete

    re: .3
    
    Don't think Ballard will ever win anything....
    
    His teachings are (to me) tooo...complicated and technical
    he does not keep things simple.....
    
    golf is an easy game...we all make it more difficult than it really
    is by neglecting simple things that must be done right...
    
    I'll stick with Nicklaus/Hogan for my fundamentals...they practiced
    what they preached and proved(to me) that it will work...
    
    Ballard has never proved anything except that he can sell tv time
    and video's...
    
    just my 2 cents worth

o Try putting 40% of your weight on the front foot and 60% on the back.

This will really help make your backswing and downswing easier and more
consistent.  You'll notice that keeping the weight on the back foot will
help you load up without causing a sway or reverse weight shift, both of
which can cause inconsistent ball contact (i.e. fat shots, topped shots,
etc.).  You'll also get more power with less effort.

o Regarding the ball position -- practice   to see what works best.


Jeff

    re .7
    
    Contraire, mon ami!  Ballard is EXTREMELY simple and nontechnical.
    All he has done is reword the Hogan/Nicklus fundamentals into language
    even a dunce like me can understand.  His seven keys to a good swing
    are sensible and easy to remember, the drills he recommends are
    also sensible in that you can readily see that a certain drill is
    teaching a certain "fundamental". Yeah, his supersalesman presentation
    style is a distinct pain in the nether regions, but don't confuse
    the method with the message.  
                               
    

    P.S.
    
    Sandy Lyle, Curtis Strange, and Mark Macumber don't seem to agree
    with you.  

    re: .10
    
    for a price I wouldn't agree with me either....remember MONEY TALKS...

    O.K., here's a quarter, disagree with yourself.

    o.k....ballard is a great teacher right up there with Grout/Picard/etc.
    
    and for $1.25 I could really sing his praises.....
    
    

    I am looking for some info. on an indoor golf center in the worchester
    area that is supposed to be like the real thing except you hit into
    a screen. I read about it in this golf notes file but I can't seem
    to locate it now.
                                                      thanks
                                   
                                                           scratch dana
    

    
    Dana,
    
    Try a dir/title=indoor...
    
    Gene