Joe,
I am a beginner and I know that the lower numbered clubs are supposed to hit the ball farther, but I hit my 5 iron farther than my 3 and 4 iron, and I hit my fairway woods farther than my driver. Am I a freak of nature? What is going on here?
Lonnie

Hi Lonnie,
This is not a freak of nature. It is not always true that lower ball flight means longer shots. It is entirely possible to hit the ball too low if the ball does not stay in the air long enough, especially in wet conditions. In the old days conditions were a lot dryer and firmer, so the ball would roll forever, so low shots were preferred, but nowadays conditions are generally softer, so you get less roll, so the ball must stay airborne longer. My advice is to replace your long irons with hybrids and replace your driver with one that has 15 degrees loft.
Joe

Joe,
I understand the knees are supposed to be flexed before the swing, but when I do that I feel my turn is restricted. Is it OK not to flex the knees?
Kenny

Hello Kenny,
There is a term called an athletic stance, which is used in several sports like baseball, basketball, football, and more. The idea of this stance is to be in good firm balance and in a position that is ready for action. For golf, the knees should be flexed, but less so than other sports, because as you pointed out, it is possible to flex them too much which will restrict your turn. I do not think you will have much success with zero knee flex, just allow them to flex a little bit, and your turn should not be restricted by them.
Joe

Joe,
It is really cool when the pros can make the ball back up when hitting the green on an approach shot. What swing changes do I have to make in order to do that?
Becky

Hi Becky,
Be careful about making swing changes if you are already striking the ball consistently. It is never as important to get shots to spin back as it is to get clean contact on every shot. Even pros cannot make backspin work when the greens get "firm", and they get to play on the best greens while the rest of us have to play on public courses that have greens that are about as firm as a parking lot. So unless you are a single digit handicapper, forget the spin and just keep striking the ball better and avoid tips that cause fat or thin shots. If you are a single digit handicap, and you do want to get more spin, clean your iron grooves before every shot with a small wire brush, play the ball a little further back in your stance and hit down at it.
Joe

Joe,
I have been trying the X-factor theory to get more distance by turning the shoulders more and the hips less, and it works most of the time, but sometimes I block the shot out to the right. I do not feel like I do anything wrong, but it just happens too often and I don’t know why. Help!
Jonathan

Hello Jonathan,The X-factor requires perfect timing on the downswing between your lower body going forward and your shoulders trying to catch up. If your hips are too quick and your shoulders cannot catch up in time, a blocked shot is a likely result. Instead of the X-factor, you might want to try a one piece backswing which means the shoulders and hips work together so there is no timing difference. The golfer whose timing is best is Annika Sorenstam who seems to just flow into the ball, watch how her shoulders and hips work together without the X-factor.
Joe

Joe,
For the backswing, is it better to set the wrists early or at the top?
Ed

Hello Ed,
Although some people have success setting the wrists early, most people get inconsistent results with this because the wrists set a little earlier one time, and a little later the next time. Those who use the one piece backswing tend to have more consistent results because the wrists do not set until the top of the backswing. The important thing is to reach your best hitting position at the top of the backswing. If you can feel that strong position, then try both methods and use whichever method that gets you there.
Joe

Joe,
I would like to putt with my shoulders as you suggested . . .Sometimes this works great . . .But often times, I move my whole body with the shoulders with terrible results . . . .Is there something I can think of to use only the shoulders?
Ed

Hello Ed,
There is no single putting method guaranteed to work for everyone. Using the shoulders is only a common recommendation on the best chance for success for those who have not been able to find any other method that works for them. In your case, I can only guess that you tried the shoulders because you were not satisfied with your other methods, whatever they were. It may be time for you to try a belly putter, which forces your arms, shoulders, hands, and body to work together. Many golf stores have a putting area where you can try one. You can even make your own by cutting a hole in the top of the grip and inserting a broken shaft to any desired length, even a wooden dowel will work. Good luck to you.
Joe

Joe,
I cannot seem to get any consistency to hit longer chip shots and pitches, many times I will hit the ball thin or fat. I have tried to follow all the conventional ways to do these shots but I just cannot do it. What else can I try?
James

Hello James,
Most of the time this is caused by failing to keep your hands ahead of the club. If you allow your wrists to flip too soon, the likely result is a thin or fat shot. If the conventional methods do not work for you, you might as well try something unconventional to keep the wrists from breaking. For example, you may have heard of the term called a flying elbow. Usually this term is not recommended, but on putts and chip shots if this helps to keep your wrist locked, then it might be worth a try. Move your back elbow outward so that your forearm is more along the target line and feel how this bends your wrist. Now if you can keep the wrist in this position while you execute the stroke, your ball striking may improve. Again, this is a bit unconventional, but it might be worth a try.
Joe

Joe,
Firstly thank you for all the great tips. Hopefully you receive this email and respond. It would be highly appreciative of you. I've being playing golf for almost a year now and I'm hooked. I would like some advice on a good practice routine at the driving range.
Regards
Christopher

Hello Christopher,
First of all warm up with some stretching and some double clubber drills. To avoid wasting any balls, swing at a tee first. Always have a target. Start with wedge shots. Whenever you hit two good shots with one club, move up to the 9-iron, then 8, then 7, etc. until you have used all your clubs. Then try a few half wedges and when all this is done, pretend you are playing a hole by starting with a driver, then a short iron, then a half wedge. Then play another pretend hole by starting with driver or fairway wood, and a different iron. Do not hit too many shots with the same club. By alternating clubs you will avoid the problem of getting into a groove with one club and being unable to hit any other club. Good luck to you.
Joe

Question:
Tiger was recently criticized for saying he putted like a spazz. Do you think there was anything wrong with that?

Answer: What goes around comes around. Tiger was only trying to be funny, just like when Fuzzy Zoeller tried to joke about Tiger winning his first Masters, saying the food will be something like greens and watermelon. There was no intention of offending anyone, it was only a joke. The sad thing is that Fuzzy really took a beating for saying that, and I don’t remember Tiger coming to his aid, and as a result Fuzzy, one of golf’s most charitable ambassadors, was brought to tears. Just one example of how the press will do anything to get a story by creating unnecessary controversy.

Joe,
My swing on the range is fine, but on the course I cannot seem to repeat the good shots I left on the range. This is driving me nuts. What is going on here?
Ronnie

Hello Ronnie,
On the range there is no pressure, no penalty for a bad shot, so your mind is more relaxed. Also you are swinging every few seconds so it is easy to get into a good rhythm. On the course you only swing once every several minutes, and the mind knows there are potential penalties out there on every shot. The mind is a powerful thing. It can change the way you swing without you being aware. Sometimes in the middle of your stroke you could feel a little fear, and when that happens the stroke is usually ruined. You have to train yourself to execute a stroke with certainty, without any fear. If you can commit yourself to that and a bad shot still results, then you can be pretty sure your error was mechanical and you can take steps to correct it. You can already have good mechanics but a sudden fear thought can spoil a swing. If you don’t understand that you might be trying to correct mechanics that had nothing wrong in the first place. These are mental errors that you must be strong to overcome.
Joe

Joe,
I hear sometimes the pros get put on a clock for slow play. How is that fair to a fast player who must play with a slow player?
Kelly

Hi Kelly,
In my opinion, it is not fair to the faster player. That player is trying to hurry up while the slower player does not care, but both get the penalty for slow play. I think the time has come to use a shot clock for individual golfers, just like basketball, if you don’t get the shot off within a specified number of seconds, a penalty is assessed to you alone, not your playing partner. Another idea might be that when it is your turn, you can only line up a putt from behind your ball, walking elsewhere on the green should be disallowed. You would be able to do that either while first walking up to the green or while it is someone else's turn.
Joe

Joe,
If I want to make sure my hands are in the correct position at the top of the backswing, is there an easy way to feel this without having to stop and look?
Theo

Hello Theo,
One way to do this is to think about where your thumbs are. Usually you do not have to look to feel their position. At the top of your backswing if your thumbs feel like they are under the grip or on the swing plane, you are probably in a good position. You might want to stop at the top of your backswing and see where you natural position is, especially when you feel good about your swing. That way, the next time you get into a slump, you can do the same check to see if this position has changed.
Joe

Joe,
I am a pretty good putter on the practice green, but on the course I seem to lose my touch. I am aware that nerves can have something to do with this, so I try to put some pressure on myself on the practice green, but the results are the same. Can you suggest something?
Al

Hello Al,
I have seen this happen with people who like to use some wrist action for their putting stroke. On the practice green, even when you try to apply some false pressure, the wristy stroke can work OK, but on the course where the pressure is real, the wrists are more prone to The Yips. Hal Sutton explains that small muscles do not work well under pressure, so rely on the big muscles instead. That is why you see so many pros putt with their shoulders and not their wrists.
Joe

Joe, were you self-taught or did you learn from others? What was the most important thing you learned?
Sammy

Hi Sammy,
I am mostly self-taught, but I did learn some important things from others. In this game you never really stop learning because we all have slumps and we need to know how to get out of slumps. The most important thing I learned was while playing with my first 7-club set I was always faced with shots that were in-between distances, so I had to either swing harder with a shorter club or easier with a longer club. My results were always better by swinging easier with the longer club. Then when I was able to afford a full set of clubs my game was in pretty good shape because there were fewer in-between shots and I already learned the hard way that swinging too hard seldom produces good results.
Joe

Joe,
Can you tell me why is it that the pros take such a huge divot and the ball goes the distance, but when I tend to hit under the ball and get a divot my ball goes half the distance. Why ?
John

Hi John,
The pros are not hitting under the ball, they are hitting down at the ball, striking the ball first and then the ground. They do this on purpose because a downward stroke results in more backspin on the ball. The fairways they play on are very lush, so the divots are usually quite large. Public courses are usually not so lush, so with the same swing the divots are likely to be smaller. In your case, you are probably striking the ground before striking the ball. This is known as a fat shot and that is why it goes only half the distance.
Joe

Joe,
I hit the ball much farther than my buddies, but I cannot seem to beat them. This is so frustrating. I don’t think their short games are that much better than mine, so I am at a loss to figure this out. Any help would be appreciated.
Hal

Hello Hal,
You have got to chart you shots in order to identify which area of your game needs the most attention. For example, do you hit more fairways than you miss? With each of your irons, do you hit the green more often than you miss? When you pitch and chip, do you get the ball within 1-putt range more often than not? Do you 1-putt more often than you 3-putt? If you can answer yes to all these questions, then you should be able to beat your buddies unless they also are saying yes to the same questions. If that is the case, you will have to “raise the bar” on the same questions, you must specify how many times yes must beat no for each question. This is the great thing about golf, you can never be so good that there is no room for improvement. And for people who cannot hit the ball very far, like your buddies, the great equalizer is the short game, so they still have a chance to beat long hitters like you. Every shot is a circumstance that could turn out great or horrible. Your next emotion could be a great thrill or a stunning disappointment, you never know, you can only anticipate, and that’s what makes this game so fascinating.
Joe

Richard,
I can't seem to get my timing back. Especially on my fairway woods and hybrid clubs. I either top the shot or hit it fat. I am a bit stiff now and I may be giving in to the device that is under my left collar bone. Any ideas or drills I can do. I have even gone back to hitting a five or six iron and I have intermittent same problems, with only a good shot every third or fourth time.
Hawk

Hawk I am sending this email to Joe DeLorenzo. Lets see what Joe has to say.
Joe, here is the email I sent you from Hawk. He is 70+ and has just had some kind of transmitter or something installed in his brain to help with the shakes and balance. He is an avid golfer and is trying his best to keep playing. Can you offer anything to him?
Richard

Hello Hawk, I hope you are doing well. It is good to see your love for the game is not going to stop you despite the challenges you are facing. I can imagine this transmitter is sending occasional pulses to your nervous system, and I am not clear on how frequent these pulses occur. If they occur at random times during your swing, I can see why that might cause a twitch that could result in occasional fat and thin shots. It is not easy to focus on one or the other when both are occurring. Here are some things to try. In my book, 30 Ways to Lower Your Scores, there is a concept called the Wagon Wheel, where your head is the hub and your leading arm is a spoke. If the hub moves too much, or if the spoke bends too much, the arc of the swing changes, leading to fat or thin shots. Another possibility is the timing of your weight shift. Do the double clubber drill as shown in the Body Golf videos, because this drill helps ingrain better timing and proper weight shift, you can feel it much more surely. While doing this drill, also think about the Wagon Wheel concepts and hopefully things will start to get better. Good luck to you.
Joe

Question - course conditions in my area are terrible. I have complained at the pro shops but little has changed. How can one person make a difference?

Answer: I am one of those people who are just happy to be out on any course anywhere, so conditions do not bother me so much. However, sometimes I notice the complainers are the same people who do not bother to fill divots or fix ball marks on greens, or rake sand traps. Seems to me if you fail to do those things, you have no right to complain. I hope you are not one of those people, may they be infected by the fleas of a thousand camels. If you already do those little repairs, I take it back, good for you, you are setting a good example. There is one stupid rule that says you can fix ball marks but not spike marks, but I say when everyone is done putting, fix the spike marks also as a courtesy to other golfers. Even if you say the ball mark cannot be yours because you have never hit a green in your sorry life, fix one or two extra anyway, it only takes a moment. Ask you pro shop to post signs saying conditions are not likely to improve much unless all golfers do their part to help correct these things. The sign can also mention the fleas.

Joe,
We have a friend who plays golf with us. He takes a long time to hit the ball. We are uncomfortable and don't know what to do or say to him without hurting our friend's feelings. What is the amount of time one has to hit the ball? How would you approach this problem?Mickey

Hi Mickey,
This is not an easy one. No matter what you say, your friend’s feelings may be hurt. Some people are not even aware that they are playing too slowly, and they act surprised and in denial when they are told to speed up. Furthermore they openly state that they refuse to play sprint golf or polo. If you have a friendly ranger at your course who is good with diplomacy, explain your plight to him or her. Maybe the ranger can explain that your group must pick up the pace OR ELSE. That way no individual is accused, and it establishes a sense of urgency for your group to stay on the clock. If you friend still does not get it, then it is time to say you do not want to get kicked off the course for slow play, so let’s agree to be a little more strict with each other. Let’s line up our shots while others are shooting, and take less than ten seconds to hit when it is our turn. If that doesn’t work, you could solve your problem by inviting Jody to play in your foursome. Read on…

Question for the Evil Twin:
Jody, what would you do about this?
Answer: Diplomacy is not my strong point. People expect wise cracks from me anyway, so I have no problem saying stuff like Please while we are still young, or I think rigor mortis may have set in, or Are you one of the Palace Guardsmen? Or Do you want me to time you with a sundial or a calendar? Or if you stand there much longer you will start to grow roots and attract pigeons.

Joe,
I have a question on what type of shaft to use. I currently have an old set of Great Big Bertha (1997) irons (regular graphite shafts). I do not have an official handicap. My game is all over the place generally high 80's to low 90's on a course of about 6300 yards. I am considering purchasing the new Great Big Bertha irons or the fusion version (2006). Recently, while playing I tried a 7 iron of one my playing partners hitting to a par 3; the club was a GBB 2005 model with a uniflex steel shaft. Compared to my 7 iron the shot I hit exploded off the club face giving me 10-15 yards (approximately 150 yards in total) greater distance. I tried it later in the round with similar results. My swing speed with a 6 iron (Mizuno MP60) was measured at the golf shop at 72 mph. I am 60 years old and seem to be hitting shorter all the time. At what point should one move to graphite senior shafts over regular graphite. Can one expect an increase in swing speed due to the lighter more flexible shaft? Is accuracy greatly reduced?Your opinion is greatly appreciated.Marshall

Hi Marshall,
With irons, I would choose accuracy over distance. There really is no advantage to hitting irons for longer distance. Club manufacturers may brag about this but some of them are only de-lofting the irons. Just because you are holding two different 7 irons does not mean they both have the same loft. The one with the lower loft will hit the ball farther. But why do we want the ball to go farther, just so we can brag that we can sometimes reach a long par 4 with a drive and a 7 iron? Isn’t it better to be able to do the same thing more consistently with a 6 or 5 iron? That being said, I was never a believer that graphite shafts will help your iron play. In my opinion, using stiffer steel shafts will help accuracy. So you lose a little distance, who cares, the upside is that you have less of a distance gap between clubs. The only clubs that matter for distance are your woods, not your irons. Go ahead and get graphite shafts for your woods for distance, but irons are not made for maximum distance, they are made to control distance.
Joe