Joe,
Sometimes I see golfers stop their backswing at the top and check their position. What can I learn from this?
Chester

Hi Chester,
Some people prefer to check the position of the leading wrist. I prefer to check whether or not the shaft is on the same plane as my leading arm, and also that the clubface is not overly open or shut.

Jody, my Evil Twin, what is your opinion on this?
Answer: You can learn how many hands you have, and which one is wearing the glove.

Joe,
Is there a drill for learning to stay down on the shot?.
Frank Danoy

Hi Frank,
Next time you are at a practice range where they have mats with permanent rubber tees, take several lazy swings back and forth, and try to clip the rubber tee on both the backswing and the downswing. This will help you stay focused on the spot. On the course, whenever you take a practice swing, visualize a ball being there as you swing. When you take your actual shot, visualize that the ball is not there and just execute the swing. Let us know if this helps you.

Jody, my Evil Twin, what is your opinion on this?
Answer: Tie some fishing line to one of your shirt buttons with a large fish hook at the other end, place the fish hook between you legs. Whenever you look up, you will receive a biofeedback reminder.

thanks a lot for your email with lot of information regarding Golf. i have a question for Mr.joe Delorenzo
my left arm goes up before impact and result slightly bend in my left elbow (sign motion). i have been through many pros and watched many DVD. i put towel under my left chest, i hold my left arm attach to my left chest and etc.... i have handicap 13, but i am short with driver, and because at impact my left arm goes up and overpowered by right arm. so in this case i won't be able to have proper follow through. thanks in advance for your tips.
rgds
bahman
Germany Hamburg

Hello Bahman, this is Joe,
It sounds like you have what is called a chicken wing follow thru, where you left elbow stays high. You need to make it go low. To do that, you must roll your right arm over the top of your left arm at impact. Your left elbow then would be pointing toward the ground instead of the sky. Forget the towel and forget attaching your arm to your chest, this will only restrict you and cause loss of distance. You must extend your follow thru away from the body with your right arm above your left, and your distance should improve.
Joe

Joe,
It is said that each higher club hits the ball that extra 10m or so longer. So if my PW travel about 100m the 9I about 110m etc... What I have found is that I have gaps between clubs. Let me explain, PW (100m), 9I(110m), 8I(120m)..7I(150m), 6I(155m), 5I(165m), 4I(175m), 3I(180m). I use the same set of irons (Taylormade RAC OS2). Without making it out to be a very private lesson, can you explain the big difference between the 8I & 7I... it is a problem for me as some of the Par 3s I am in between clubs & usually miss the greens as either I try & slam the life out of the 8I or ease off on the 7I & mess up both of them more often that not. I play off a 18 HCP
Thanks in advance.
Sid

Hello Sid,
Your information suggests that you need your loft angles adjusted on some of your irons. At minimum, your 7i needs more loft. However, most people who are not scratch golfers do not hit the ball squarely every time, so the distance can vary quite a bit. In your case even if you did hit your irons exactly the way you say, your handicap should be a lot lower than 18, so it would seem your short game should be more of a concern to you than your iron game. Try this experiment. Play a round using only your even numbered irons and PW. I suspect your score will not be much worse than with a full set, plus you will get a lot more practice on chipping and pitching since you are not likely to hit as many greens. You will also be forced to learn how to adjust your swing for those in between distances. Most of the time you will be better off swinging easier with more club rather than swinging too hard with less club.
Joe

Joe,
Every now and then I see an ad about secrets of golf. Are any of these secrets any good?
Bill

Hi Bill,
All of us are built differently, so a "secret" position or "magic move" move for one person may or may not work for another person. Many times a "magic move" will work for awhile, and then it will stop working and you won’t know why. There are a lot of things going on during a golf swing, and sometimes a magic move will result in aligning your muscles in a good way. But your muscles are changing every day, some stronger, some weaker, in different combinations, so it stands to reason that many of these "secrets" fall in the category of "Mannerisms" which are different than "Fundamentals" which are more important. For example, in Ben Hogan’s secret the supination of the wrist is a mannerism that leads to the fundamental of lining up the club shaft on the same plane with the leading arm for the downswing. The secret of driving the right knee is the mannerism that leads to the fundamental of shifting the lower body weight from the back leg to the front leg. If you only think of the mannerisms without the fundamentals, then you have to guess how much or how little to supinate the wrist or how hard to drive the knee. By thinking of the fundamentals instead, you can reduce this guesswork.
Joe

Joe,
I have played golf once per week for many years, but from the third year onward, my scores have not improved. I should think that a person should continually improve over time, but I have not. I don’t understand why. Is there no hope of getting any better?
Rory

Hi Rory,
If you play once per week, but you do not practice in between, then it is not logical to assume that things will get better while you continue to do things the same way as always. Nothing is going to get better unless you change the way you do things. If you cannot get to a range in between rounds, just hit some wiffle balls at your local park. At least you ball striking should improve. Have a contest with your current grip against a different grip. Many people think the interlock grip is best just because it is used by Tiger and Jack, however many people find that the overlap works better, and the simple 10 finger grip may work best, despite the perception that it is a beginner’s grip, which is a false perception. Some people are blessed with a lot of natural athletic ability, while others must work at it to get better. Set some realistic expectations for yourself. Everyone has some bad shots. Just try to minimize them, or make them better bad shots. That may sound silly, but for example, a thinned shot is usually better than a fat shot, so make sure your strikes the ball before it strikes the ground.
Joe

Joe,
I usually hit a tee shot with a driver fairly high, and often see a ball mark not too far from where the ball comes to rest. This obviously means that I am getting very little roll on the ball after it hits the ground. A few weeks ago, I "accidentally" hit three drives low, and each of these drives ended up being by far the longest drives that I have ever hit on those three holes. I think it's obvious that I got a lot of roll on those drives, and that I should work on learning to hit lower drives (when needed). What is the best way to adjust my swing (including setup) to hit lower drives and get more roll on the ball after landing? Much appreciated.
Garth

Hi Garth,
The quick answer is to tee the ball lower, but there could be more to it than that, I would have to see how you setup and swing to comment further. If your ball flight starts out low and balloons upward, you are hitting down too much and giving the ball underspin, so your ball position might be too far towards center. If your ball position is forward and you hit all your shots higher than most people, and also tend to fade, it is likely the way you swing. If you only hit your driver high, and you do not fade, then I suspect your driver shaft has too much flex, so try a driver with a stiffer shaft and lower loft and compare results.
Joe

Joe,
Would you please answer this question?.... What do you do if your shot plugs in the lip of the cup?... I hit a shot yesterday that plugged on the edge of the cup. About on fourth of the ball was hanging over the edge of the cup...If I had repaired the plugged ball, the ball would have rolled into the cup... It was the first shot on a par three ... We did not count it as a hole in one... We counted it as a birdie. Hmmm... Thanks for any response....
Sandy

Hi Sandy,
A ball is not considered holed until it rests at the bottom of the hole. There have been cases where it looked like an ace because the ball was resting against the flagstick but when the flagstick was removed, the ball came out and did not fall. That technically is not an ace. In your case perhaps removing the flagstick would jar the ball loose, I do not know. If not, you must mark the ball, repair the ball mark, and replace the ball at the edge of the cup and then putt it in for your birdie.

Jody, my Evil Twin, what are your thoughts about this?
Answer: Joe, you are acting like a Purist again, cut that out. I would remove the flagstick and accidentally on purpose jar the ball loose. And I think anyone who thinks a ball resting against a flagstick is not holed is an idiot. And that is the name of that tune.

Joe, in your opinion who was the best ball striker ever?
Zeke

Hi Zeke,
It’s Canadian pro Moe Norman, winner of over 50 events in Canada. Moe was called "Pipeline" because he hit the ball straight every time. Ben Hogan, who believed all straight shots were accidents, watched Moe on the range one day, and kept saying "accident" after every one of Moe’s shots. After awhile, Ben gave up and told Moe to just keep hitting those "accidents".
Moe’s comments on the golf swing:
"Why am I called the greatest ball-striker? Because I have the least moving parts. I keep it simple."
"Stay within yourself. I never swing 100 percent. Most of the time, it's 80 percent. Sure, you can swing 100 percent and the ball will go further, but it's work. Swing easy. Golf isn't a game of violence. Just bump it !"
"With a short backswing, you can't get off line. How can you not hit it straight when you do that?"
Moe’s comments on the mental side of golf:
"Be your own best friend. Have a good attitude. Don't let the game eat you – you eat the game. When you step up to the tee, be glad you're up. Don't be afraid."
"I never got mad at myself. Why? Because getting mad only makes you swing worse."
"Golf isn't supposed to be work. It's to have fun. So have fun!"
"Golf is easy. People make it hard."

Joe,
I can almost break 90, but just when I think I have my swing figured out, my shots become inconsistent again. I need some ideas on how to be more consistent. What should I try?
Kilton

Hello Kilton,
Give yourself some credit, you are an above average golfer and you have the desire to get better. Everyone suffers periods of inconsistency, all you can do is minimize this by developing your own set of "key" swing thoughts. Have a set of "keys" for the backswing and another set for the downswing. Of course it is not possible to think of more than one or two keys while swinging, but you can select a different key depending on what the particular problem happens to be at the time. Here is a sample list of some keys to select from on the backswing - head steady, keep the left arm comfortably straight, take it back low and wide, feel the weight on the inside of the back foot, while the wrist is hinging, get the shaft on the same plane as the leading arm. Here are some keys for the downswing - smooth tempo while shifting the lower body weight to the front foot, swing down at the ball on a path that is inside-out, extend the follow thru while you are still looking at the spot where the ball was after you hit it. These are just a few examples, there are many other things that may work for you, so compile your own list and then pick one or two at a time from the list until you find the right combinations for the backswing and downswing.
Joe

Joe,
Why do some same number woods have a shallow face and some have a taller face? What difference would I get if I used either? Are there any advantages for using either?
Trent

Hello Trent,
The wood with the shallow face will have a lower center of gravity, making it easier to get the ball airborne, especially from tight lies. You may have noticed the Adams company makes a complete line of shallow faced clubs called Tight Lies. The only disadvantage of this design would be the risk of popups from fluffy lies where the ball is sitting up, or from the tee because it is easy to tee the ball too high. A taller faced wood would solve both these problems but would not work as well from a normal or tight lie because the center of gravity is too high, resulting in lower shots with less carry.
Joe

Joe,
When I take my kid to the miniature golf course, she beats me and I find that very embarrassing. I figure she is not yet old enough to be affected by nerves, while here I am getting the yips on every putt because of the pressure of losing to a little kid. She just steps up and putts it while I take my time and aim carefully, but to no avail. There must be something I can do, what is it?
Defeated Dad

Hello Defeated,
The Yips cause your left and right hands to fight each other for control. When one of them wins you push your putts, and when the other hand wins, you pull, and you never know which hand will win. You need a way to force them to work together. Try this as a drill, whether on your indoor rug or a practice green, take your Driver (yes, your Driver), which is about the same length as a belly putter. Put both hands low on the shaft, and press the shaft onto your belly, wherever it is comfortable. You will be surprised how smooth your putting stroke becomes, because when the shaft is anchored into your belly, the hands can no longer fight each other, therefore they are forced to work together. Also, you can experiment by gripping the club different ways to see which is best for you, like reverse overlap, left hand low, the claw grip, or hands split apart, etc., because almost any grip will work with a belly putter. Of course you will probably not want to do this at a miniature golf course, that would probably look a bit too weird. But now you should have a better feel for a smooth stroke, and with a shorter putter, you might also get good results by anchoring the grip against your leading forearm instead of your belly. Might be worth a try. Bernhard Langer actually did this for awhile, he actually used his right hand to hold the handle against his left forearm, and his grip was nicknamed Der Clamp. Another possibility is that your daughter happens to be a really good putter and if that is the case, you may never beat her. Instead of feeling defeated, tell her how proud you are of her and watch her eyes light up.
Joe

Joe,
Any thoughts on why the US keeps losing in the Ryder Cup?
Joss

Hello Joss,
Once upon a time it was the US against Britain, and the US had a stronger team since it had more golfers to choose from. Now it is the US against all of Europe, and the US is now the weaker team. Since golf is growing all over the world, it seems to me that the competition should open up for all countries, each country should have its own team. I do not say this just so the US would be the strongest team, I think they would still only be third best behind Australia and South Africa, who are both getting stronger and stronger. Of course the format would have to change. You could not have that many countries involved in match play or else the event would take several months to complete, and the best golfers would not want to miss their tour commitments. In order to hold the event over one weekend, it would have to be stroke play, but you still could have alternate shot, singles, and best ball formats going toward a team score. Hey readers, what do you think about this? How would you do it?
Joe

Joe,
Why is golf not an Olympic sport, and if it were, how do you think the format would be?
Ian

Hello Ian,
It makes no sense that golf is not an Olympic sport. Golf is played all over the world. Other Olympic sports are only played in a few countries. Maybe the day will come. I do not think you would be able to use the Ryder Cup format because there would be too many teams for match play. I suppose people could play as individuals just like track and field events, and these scores could also count toward a team score. Golf could actually host its own Olympics because there are so many aspects of the game to consider. You may have seen TV events like the Skills competition, with separate events for putting, chipping, pitching, irons, drives, trouble shots, etc. What would be really cool is to have four person teams from each country and play alternate shot. That would really be pressure-packed and it would truly be team play.
Joe

Joe,
My friends are always telling me I am lined up wrong. I do not feel like I am lined up wrong, but I do push a lot of shots to the right. I can just aim to the left but I do not like that because it just feels wrong. How can I get a better feel for lining up correctly?
Will

Hi Will,
This is typical for those who only aim at a distant target. You need an intermediate target. Stand behind the ball along the target line, and hold your club up so you can see both the ball and the target along the shaft. Pick a spot on the ground two feet in front of the ball. Usually there will be something on the ground like a weed or a divot or just discoloration. Then place your clubhead behind the ball, aimed at that spot. Then take your stance and you should be able to easily align the rest of your body (feet, hips, shoulders) parallel to that target line.
Joe

Joe,
I am weary of long winded descriptions on how to do proper setup. They confuse me. Put the club behind the ball with one hand, then add the other hand. Square up your feet and shoulders. Watch your spine angle. Line it up to the front toe, then take a small step forward and larger step back. What is this, dance lessons? How big of a step is correct? There must be a better way to describe this. Lets hear yours.
Dutch

Hi Dutch,
Try simplifying things. If you are hitting shots on line, then your alignment process must be OK, so think about other things. First take your grip with both hands, then address the ball with your feet together, ball off the BACK foot. This way you do not have to take that small step forward. The step back depends on which club you are using, longer club, longer step back. How far back is up to you to experiment on the range until you get your best ball striking. Then tilt your spine slightly away from the target and you are ready to go.
Joe

Joe,
My name is Wm. Al Adamson and I have a question about golf clubs. Can you please provide me with the source by which I can find out what the parameters (weight & size) for a club to meet but not exceed PGA standards? Thanks
Al Adamson

Hi Al,
The source for your information is www . usga. org. where you will find many details on what is conforming and what is non-confoming. However keep in mind that this is mainly for tournament golf. If you are just a recreation player who wants to push the limits, consider these points. The weight limit is not an issue, a club that is too heavy will not help you because it will decrease your swing speed, resulting in less distance. The largest clubhead allowed is 460cc, trying to swing a larger one would be like trying to swing a Buick. Shaft length is not an issue because the longer the shaft, the more difficult it becomes to strike the ball on the sweet spot of the clubface. Skilled players can use a driver with a 45 inch shaft, but less skilled players might do better with a 43 inch shaft, it all depends on your body build and skill level.
Joe

Joe,
Whenever I see people freeze over the ball, I ask them why and some of them are in denial so they say do not rush me, this is not sprint golf. Others admit it but they say they are just not yet ready to start the swing. I ask them what would make them ready to swing, and they cannot tell me, they just are not ready. Can you give us some advice on this?
Ned

Hello Ned,
In your first example, someone who plays slow and accuses others of playing sprint golf is just being insensitive. They just do not get it, and there is probably little you can do about that without making them feel insulted. In your second example, people who hesitate to start the backswing until they receive a moment of enlightenment, are probably trying to think of too many swing keys at the same time. One way to overcome that is to limit your swing thoughts to one key for the backswing, and one key for the downswing. Another way is to convince yourself that you are guaranteed to have a bad shot if you stay over the ball too long. Ask yourself, do you want a bad shot? Do you? Do you? No, so swing already before it is too late.
Joe

Joe,
Last fall I won a new set of irons in a raffle and they look a whole lot better than my old irons, and they hit the ball farther too, but too much to the right. I did not have the same problem with my old irons, but I like the extra distance that I get with the new irons. I am right handed. The shafts are the same length. What can I do?
Willa

Hi Willa,
The first two things I would look at are the lie angle and shaft stiffness. If the new shafts are stiffer, you are likely to hit the ball more to the right. If stiffness is not the issue, the lie angle might be too flat. Check your divots to see if they are deeper near the toe. Since your shafts are the same length, stand up your old and new 5 irons on their grip ends together and you may be able to see if there is any difference in their sole angles. The best way to tell if your clubs have the correct lie angle is the striking board, where you put tape on the sole of the club and when you swing and hit the striking board, you can see where the tape is damaged. It should be damaged in the center of the sole if your lie angle is correct.
Joe

Joe,
What’s the difference between a pitch shot and a chip shot?
Ralph

Hi Ralph,
A pitch shot has more air time and less roll, a chip shot has less air time and more roll. A chip shot is usually played when the ball is very close to the putting surface but there is some taller grass in the way that would prevent you from using your putter. So by using one of your irons, maybe a 7 iron, you can still use your putting stroke and the ball will sail over the tall grass and then roll like a putt. A pitch shot is needed when you are a little too far from the putting surface to use the putting stroke and you need some height on your shot and you do not want the ball to roll so much, so you use your most lofted club and take a half swing, varying the tempo to control the distance of the shot. In both cases, make sure the clubface stays pointed at the target after you strike the ball.
Joe

Joe,
I cannot seem to hit the ball straight consistently. Sometimes it will go straight, and sometimes it will fade a little and sometimes a lot. I am left handed so whenever I adjust my aim to the right to allow for the fade, it seems to fade a lot more. Even when I make an extreme adjustment, the fade increases. What is going on?
Lowery

Hello Lowery,
It sounds like you are trying so hard to pull the ball that you are coming across it. The more you come across it, the more it will fade. This would explain why your fade is not so bad when you are not adjusting your aim. I suspect it will help if you extend your follow thru on an inside out path, that way you are less likely to come across the ball. Then take notice of how consistent you fade becomes. If it seems very consistent, then stop trying to hit the ball straight, just play the fade. Players like Mark Calcavecchia do exactly that because it takes away all the dangers on one side of the course because he trusts his fade.
Joe

Joe,
I have a lot of trouble chipping. I either hit it too fat or too thin and as a result I have no distance control. What can I try?
Emily

Hello Emily,
Here are some things to try. First, for the chips that are just barely off the green, always use a putter unless the grass is too tall. Second, if the grass is too tall, but you are still close enough to the green, putt with a 5-wood, it should loft the ball just enough to carry over the tall grass. Since the shaft is rather long, use it like a belly-putter. Third, if the chip is a little too far from the edge of the green, you must use a more lofted club to carry over the tall grass and land on the green. Here is where most people have trouble with ball contact as you described. Most of the trouble is caused by too much wrist action. Use a wedge, play the ball at your back foot, and keep the hands ahead of the clubhead and keep your wrist locked so you only use your arms, contacting the ball with a downward stroke. Your hands must stay ahead of the club at all times, even after you hit the ball. For distance control with a wedge, hit the ball twice as hard as you would for a putt of the same distance. Let us know if this works for you.
Joe

Joe,
I NEED TO REGRIP MY IRONS. ARE THERE ANY GRIPS YOU PREFER?
Jay

Hi Jay,
Most brands of grips are pretty good, even the less expensive ones. I will assume your grips are getting worn and therefore feel a bit smooth. When I was younger I found out the hard way how dangerous this can be. I laid my driver down on the ground waiting for my turn to hit, and the ground had some dew on it, but I paid no attention to that. But when I swung with the moist grip, the club slipped out of my hand and flew 20 yards, much to my embarrassment. If you are playing well with these grips, you can rough them up with sandpaper to get rid of the smoothness for awhile, but if you are not playing well with them and hoping new grips will help your game, then I would recommend a thicker grip for better control. The theory is the same for a baseball bat, the thinner the grip, the more clubhead speed you can generate, the thicker the grip, the better control you have. In my case, I like the mid sized grip because the skinnier grips give me a feel that the club is rattling around in my hands, and the jumbo grips have the feel of a baseball bat. For materials, some people like the feel of soft leather, but in my case I choose the rough feel of the black and white cord grip.
Joe

Joe,
On a flat green I putt pretty good, but on tilted greens I am clueless, I need some tips.
Slim

Hi Slim,
The first thing to do on every hole is to observe the terrain as you walk up to the green from 100 yards inward. Try to see which way will water would likely drain off the green. That is the way putts will break in general if you do not see any other breaks when reading your putt up close. Try the plumb-bob method where you stand behind the ball and hold up the putter’s shaft so you can see the hole along the shaft. Does the hole look perpendicular to the shaft, or is there a tilt? The third idea is to aim at an intermediate target, rather than aiming at the hole. You should already have estimated how much the putt will break, so pick a discolored spot on the green along that line and aim at that spot, it is much easier to aim at a near spot than to aim at a further spot such as the hole itself. Find a practice green that has a lot of slope and observe the differing amounts of break on uphill or downhill putts along the same line. Only with practice and observations can you get a feel for this.
Joe

Joe,
Every now and then I will hit a great drive and a great shot to the green and have a short birdie putt, and I get so $%#!ng mad when I miss it, like all that work for nothing. As I stand over the putt I am already telling myself I just hit 2 great shots and I will have wasted them if I miss it. This really psyches me out, I can make the same putts all the time on the practice green. What should I do?
Matthew

Hi Matthew,
The mind is a powerful thing, and pressure makes the mind behave differently, which can interfere with your putting stroke. It is natural for you to feel that you do not want to waste your good shots, but you need to use your mind to your advantage. Negative thoughts are a disadvantage, like worrying about missing the putt. Instead, understand that you cannot steer a putt. Once the stroke is made, you have no more control over where the ball goes. All you can control is the way you make your stroke. So tell yourself if you miss it, it will not be because you did not do your best to read the putt and commit yourself to executing a proper stroke. That is all you can do, and you have already proven on the practice green that you can do that. Once the stroke is made, if the ball does not go in the cup, oh well, at least you gave it your best shot. Worrying about a miss will only disrupt your stroke which is not giving it your best shot. Once you are able to focus on execution instead of results, I think you will see more of these putts fall.
Joe

Joe,
On the putting green I do OK but on the course I tend to baby short putts and leave them short of the hole. This is very frustrating. I know pressure has something to do with it, but is there a mechanical idea I can use to overcome this?
Bobby

Hello Bobby,
The simplest way to fix this without changing your putting style is to extend your leading elbow outward, so your forearm is along the target line, and then use that elbow to control the pace of your stroke. This elbow action forces a more complete follow thru, so you are less likely to baby short putts. You also may find improvements in your longer putts as well.
Joe

Joe,
I am not sure what to do. One magazine article says most people should take one more club on shots to the green. Another article says if you want to reduce 3 putting, you need to avoid downhill putts. Since most greens are slanted back to front, why should I take one more club and risk having a downhill putt? Another article also says to put your ball on a specific quadrant of the green if you can, depending on where the flagstick is. What do you think about all this?
(no name)

Answer: Just aim at the flag. Do you really think you will get any closer if you aim away from the flag? Sometimes we pull, or push, or hit it fat or thin, and we cannot predict which of these might occur, so I do not think the average golfer is so consistent that they can put the ball on a specific quadrant of the green every time. If you can do that, why not just put it in the hole?

Joe,
I am too wild with a driver, so I want to use a 1 iron instead because it has a flat face instead of the bulging face of a wood. But I am having a hard time finding one. Why is it that nobody makes a 1 iron anymore?
Ronald

Hi Ronald,
A 1 iron is not likely to help you. Lee Trevino says when there is lightning, hold a 1-iron up in the air because even god cannot hit a 1-iron. Jim Murray says the only time he ever used a 1-iron was to kill a tarantula and that took him 7 strokes. Someone else once said a 1-iron goes just as far as any other club, when you throw them. When I tried it, I found that a 1-iron hits the ball about as far as a fairway wood when I hit the sweet spot, maybe with a little more accuracy, but the sweet spot on a 1-iron is very small, so when I miss the sweet spot, the distance is much less, so in my opinion it is better to use a fairway wood or hybrid instead.
Joe

Joe,
I consider myself to be a fairly good athlete, and my golf game is OK. At times my swing feels really good but other times it does not feel right and I do not know why. What are the things I should be looking at?
Lukey

Hi Lukey,
In golf it is nice to be able to rely on natural ability and feel because you do not have to think so much. However, when you get into a slump, something wrong must be going on, and if you do not think about it, you cannot correct it. Feel is an elusive concept. It seems to come naturally to those who are the most gifted with athletic ability and who play several times per week, but many golfers are not so physically gifted and they cannot play as frequently, and therefore they cannot always count on feel, so instead they must concentrate on mechanics. Here are some check points for you. As you start the backswing, take the clubhead straight back and wide along the target line. As you get to the top of your backswing, use your wrist cock to get the shaft on the same swing plane as your leading arm. This should help to arrive at a strong hitting position at the top of the backswing. You can experiment with how high your hands are to optimize your ball striking. For me, higher is better, but may not be the same for you, depending on your body build. Also, be sure to extend your follow-thru toward the target or maybe even a little outside the target line.
Joe

Joe,
In your opinion what is the best golf movie?
Billy

Hi Billy,
The best golf movie ever is The Greatest Game Ever Played, and the book by Mark Frost is even better than the movie. It is a true story. If you ever get a chance to see the DVD, make sure you see the section called Special Features for a personal interview with the actual main character.
Joe

Joe,
I need a new idea for putting, I have tried every idea in the golf magazines and nothing works. I do not have the yips, I just cannot seem to keep the clubface square all the time and I cannot get a feel whether or not I am lined up correctly. I refuse to try a belly putter or longer putter because I do not think they belong in the game. There must be a way to putt better with a conventional putter. Is there a method that I might have missed?
Terry

Hi Terry,
I am fairly sure you have tried just about everything including different types of grips and stances. The only things left to try are combinations of methods. For example, you may have tried a cross handed grip, but you may not have tried it along with both elbow positions extended outward along the target line. This may help to keep the clubface square along the target line all during your stroke, and the elbow positions may also give you a feeling that you are better aligned. You might also want to try pacing the stroke with either the right elbow or the left to see which works better. There may be other combinations to try if you put your thinking cap on, but in your case I think this one has a chance of working.
Joe

Joe,
Happy New Year to you and all. What can I do to have the same swing plane ?
Jimmy

Hi Jimmy,
I use a device that is a grip with no shaft with a laser pointer at one end. First I have the laser pointing at my chest while addressing the ball. Then in slow motion I take a backswing and notice where the laser is pointing. As I start the downswing, the laser should pass thru the ball position, indicating that the club will be on plane. Next, I address the ball with the laser pointing at the ball. Then I take a swing to make sure the laser passes thru the ball position. The second part of this drill is more important than the first part, because you can make sure your swing path is inside to square at impact. If you cannot get such a device, you can stop at the top of your backswing and look at the positions of your leading arm and the club shaft. Adjust this position to where you think the shaft is on the same plan as your leading arm, and then get a feel for this position as you try some full swings. Use a movie camera to view your own swing to make sure you stay on plane during the downswing.
Joe

Joe,
Please let me know if you can help me with my big problem. during follow through (or at impact) my left elbow start bending toward the sky and the result lack of distance. i put towel under my left chest and didn't work. i hope you will find a good tip in this regard.
regards,
bahman

Hello Bahman,
It sounds like you have the granddaddy of all clucking chicken wings. Once your body movements are ingrained into your motor muscle memory, they can sometimes be difficult to change. However, here are some things you can try. First, take a slow motion swing, and after the impact position keep your left elbow under your right elbow. You can make this happen by rolling your right forearm over your left. This should force your left elbow to point toward the ground instead of the sky. As a drill, swing continuously back and forth faster and faster until you ingrain this move into your motor muscle memory.
Joe

Joe,
What are some key tips to hitting a fairway wood solid?
Thanks man
Caleb

Hi Caleb,
Does this mean you can hit your irons solid but not your woods? If so, it could mean your set is not matched. If this is not the case, and your set is matched, then I would suggest experimenting with different ball positions. Do you take a divot with your woods? If you do, try a more forward ball position. If you are topping your woods without taking a divot, then maybe your ball position is too far forward. Try to use the same swing for both irons and woods.
Joe

Joe,
Why do they make drivers that have the face lined up for a pull when you rest them on the ground, what good does that do?
Pedro

Hello Pedro,
The idea is to help cure a slice. If you take your normal grip while the driver is resting on the ground, and then you raise it off the ground and line up the clubface to the target line, you have effectively rolled your hands to a stronger grip, which eliminates one of the main reasons people tend to slice. Of course there are other reasons too, but many people find this to be helpful.
Joe

Joe,
This time of year I try to play whenever the temps are above 40 and there is no wind. I seem to be hitting the ball OK but my scores are much worse. I know wearing extra clothing might restrict my swing so I wear loose fitting clothes and I do not feel restricted. The ground is rather hard and I get good roll, yet my distance is still lower than normal. I try to use more club sometimes but I cannot hold a green. Are there any strategies that work better for this time of year?
Gert

Hi Gert,
There are several factors working against you this time of year, the ball does not fly as far, the greens are firmer, and the pins are not moved as often. As a result, the area near the hole gets trampled down by all the traffic near the hole. This means you may have a slow green away from the hole and a fast green near the hole, so lag putts will either stop short or sail right on thru this area, leading to more 3 putt greens. This also makes it harder to stop chips and pitches anywhere near the hole, so you may be having a good day with ball striking, but you will still have a problem scoring, so just enjoy the challenge and the experience rather than having high expectations for a great score. In fact, if you can shoot your average under such conditions, think of it as a great round, not very many people can do that.
Joe

Joe,
I have a bad habit of swinging from the top. You can imagine all the ugly things that can happen. Speed is somewhat important at the bottom of the swing so I go at it from the top. What can I do to get rid of this swing habit??
Thanks
Jarry, J. A. Roessler

Hi Jarry,
Yes, speed is important, but only at the point of impact. At that point clubhead speed is the sum of arm speed and wrist speed. If you allow your wrists to break too soon, the only speed left at impact is arm speed and you have robbed your overall swing of the wrist contribution. You must delay your wrist action until the last possible instant before impact. To illustrate this, take a ping pong paddle and ball, and hit the ball with arm speed and no wrist action. Then do the same thing with no arm action and all wrist action. Then do it with both and you should get the idea. Watch the slow motion replays of the pros on TV and you will see this is exactly how they do it.
Joe

I have a question for Joe:
A couple of days ago, while playing the front nine, I pulled seven or eight shots and hit three or four of them fat. An unusually bad evening for a guy who has shot as low as a 37 on this nine. A couple of these mis-hits were a combination of a pull and a fat shot. Something has crept into my game, and I have a strong feeling that the pulls and the "fats" are rooted in the same cause. If pulls and fat shots have been addressed simultaneously before, I certainly have not seen or heard of it. I'm guessing a problem at address, but it's just that -- a guess. Your thoughts on this? Until a couple of years ago, we used to play golf here on an all-sand course, hitting all our shots (except putts) off a piece of Astroturf that we carried around with us.Thanks a lot.
Garth Jahraus
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Hello Garth,
A pull is caused by the path of the club going from outside the target line to inside at impact. Since this is an incorrect swing path, it could also cause inconsistency in ball striking, so in that sense they could be related to fat shots, but not necessarily. Fat shots can also occur when your club is correctly on the target line, but your head is not steady enough. It is OK if your head moves sideways a little bit, but not up and down. Jack Nicklaus had an instructor who held the back of his hair to keep his head steady while he swung, and since Jack had a pretty good career, I would go along with that advice. That should take care of fat shots. For your pulled shots, you are going to have to try to swing more inside out. You can get a better feel for this by doing the double clubber drill, which allows you to view your swing path more clearly, since the extra weight slows you swing down enough for you to view it. I hope this helps.
Joe

Joe,
I am a believer of Never Up Never In, so when I 3 putt it is usually because my first putt is too far past the hole. However I do not want to lose my aggressiveness or else I will never sink anything. How can I reduce 3 putts?
Marv

Hi Marv,
Most people who miss a putt show their disappointment by turning away and giving an Oscar performance of pain and woe with an overabundance of body language. It would be much better to pay attention to what the ball does after it goes by the hole. You should notice which way it breaks as it trickles to a stop, and then you will have a much better chance at making the comebacker putt.
Joe

Joe,
My buddies and I play golf just for fun and small bets. We do not have handicaps and we do not play in tournaments, but sometimes they call penalties on each other for reasons that seem silly. Whenever I ask for logical reasons why these must be penalties, the answer is always a rule is a rule – duh, yup yup yup. Nobody seems to know the reasons some of the sillier golf rules got made. Do you know?
Confused Victim

Dear Confused,
The game was originally played only by rich people who made bets while playing golf. Money and egos were both on the line, so if there were any chance of catching an opponent with the smallest of rule violations, these people would pounce on it without mercy. Common sense and sportsmanship had nothing to do with it. The point was, and apparently still is, all about money and pride, not common sense. Some say there is integrity involved with following these rules, but common sense says many of these rules were made by egotists with very little integrity and some of these rules had nothing to do with the skill of the game. For recreational players, I don’t think there is much integrity or sportsmanship in calling a penalty on someone who had no intention of gaining an unfair advantage with some miniscule violation that had no bearing on shot making. That is like playing the kids game Simon Says. This leads to the question, do you really have any integrity if you have no sportsmanship? I say no. Sportsmanship suggests to give a person a break if an incident had nothing to do with the skill of the contest, for example, a meaningless penalty for the wind moving the ball after you ground your putter, especially if you are only playing for fun. You might enjoy a website called sortagolf.com, where there is lots of information on similar topics, for example, there really is a difference between tournament golf and recreational golf, and if you are not a tournament player, you will enjoy the game less if you subject yourself to tournament rules, so sortagolf suggests what recreational rules should be.
Joe

Joe,
I consider myself to be a pretty good ball striker, I do not hit many fat or thin shots. But one day I will hit everything left and another day I will hit everything right, and sometimes both ways. My set of clubs has been custom fitted, so that cannot be the reason. My friends say I am not swinging any differently, and I am not overswinging. What can I try to fix this?
Harvey

Hello Harvey,
This is typical of a backswing that is too loose at the top and pays no attention to keeping the clubface square to the target line. Without you thinking about it, sometimes your clubface will be closed at impact and other times it will be open. Picture your clubface being square at setup. Using your chest as a reference point as you turn on your backswing, keep the clubface square to your chest. When you have completed your turn, your chest has turned away from the target line and so has the clubface. If you have ever seen Mike Weir swing, you will notice that before his swing he will take the club halfway back and look at it to make sure the clubface is in the correct position, and ingrain that feeling in his mind. Then while he still has that feeling, he quickly starts his backswing the same way. Give that a try and let us know how it turns out.
Joe

Joe,
I know we are supposed to keep a positive attitude all the time, but that is hard to do when you get a snowman on the first hole, which ruins the entire round, especially after you have just had a good practice session. That is very deflating and I do not know how to handle it. Help please.
Frosty

Hi Frosty,
With a name like that you deserve to get a snowman, just kidding. Having a bad first hole is something that will occasionally happen to everyone. The way to handle this is with a mental strategy. Tell yourself you would still rather be on the golf course that be at home doing chores. You still have 17 holes left to go, and you can only play this game one shot at a time, so just look forward, not backward. You cannot change what just happened, but your attitude can affect what happens next. Each shot is a new adventure, you can never be sure if the outcome will be good or bad. Your round is not yet ruined, sometimes your better scores will include one bad hole, so you have just gotten that bad hole out of the way sooner. Enjoy the rest of the round as much as you can. Or would you rather go home and do some chores? Fooey. Feel better now?
Joe

Joe,
Is it just a myth, or is it true that if you act confident when you putt, you will make more putts?
Ashley

Hello Ashley,
It is true, because those who feel confident are committed to the read and to the execution of the stroke. Those who are not confident of the read are not likely to commit themselves to make a confident stroke. Instead they make a tentative stroke and look up too soon. The lesson here is that even when you are not sure of the read, you must commit to your best guess and make a confident stroke. A tentative stroke has very little chance of success.
Joe

Joe, quit griping about the rules. People who do not follow all the rules must be lacking in integrity.

Answer to Mr. Integrity: If you have so much integrity, the next time you drive one mile per hour over the speed limit, go to the nearest police station and report your violation and insist on paying your fine, or else you are a hypocrite. Of course you think that would be silly because there was no harm in such a minor violation. Now do you get my point? If a minor violation has nothing to do with the skill of the game, it is an insult to sportsmanship to spoil anyone’s round by calling a penalty for any petty instance that had nothing to do with gaining an unfair advantage.
Joe

Joe,
Sometimes I hit shots too fat and sometimes too thin. Any suggestions on improving this?
Marty

Hello Marty,
There are a few things that can cause this. First is allowing your front elbow to bend too much. You do not have to keep it rigid, but comfortably straight to eliminate this unwanted variable. Next cause could be allowing your head to move too much during the swing, you need to keep it reasonably steady. Another possibility, your problem may be caused by a swing that tries to sweep the ball up off the ground. I would recommend hitting down at the ball, so that your club first strikes the ball at the equator and then takes a divot. Notice on TV how the pros take a divot on every fairway shot. By hitting down, the ball spins up the clubface, even when you strike it at the equator. If you do not hit down, and you strike it at the equator, the result is a grounder or low line drive. This means by hitting down you improve your margin for error. Even if you think you are risking hitting more thin shots (and you might not), this is better if you have eliminated fat shots, because fat shots usually do not travel as far as thin shots. Everyone hits occasional bad shots, but there is an old saying that improvement begins with better bad shots, so thin shots would be an improvement over fat shots.
Joe

Hi Joe,
I have a constant problem with ball position. Not the typical should the ball be in the back, middle or front of my stance, but how far should I be away from the ball. What happens, and sometimes I can go an entire round and not figure it out, is that I stand too close to the ball. When I get home and look in the mirror it can be come obvious. When I stand too close, I tend to "jam" my front arm swinging at the ball, and my back hand tends to get too active and scoop the ball. Also, with club too close, my front shoulder tends to tilt more than swing back and around. It seems like this should be obvious, but it is clearly not.Thanks. Larry

Hello Larry,
One of the reasons people stand too close to the ball is because they sole the club flat on the ground and then take their stance, assuming you are supposed to leave the club soled flat against the ground. This may sound logical, but the force of the swing causes the toe to dip down, and to prove this you can check your divots to see if they are deeper towards the toe end. Therefore when you set up, the toe should be higher than the heel, and that will move you a bit further away from the ball. At setup the distance between your hands and body should be at least 6 inches, maybe more depending on your body build. If you can keep this distance consistent, the problems you described should be lessened.
Joe

Joe,
You say to avoid the no mans land area where you must use a half swing for 20 yards out to 70 yards. I am OK with a full swing wedge, but the half swing I either hit it too low with my pitching wedge or skull it with my sand wedge. I actually get a fear attack as I take my backswing for these shots. Is there anything to cure these things?
Bradford

Hello Bradford,
This is the most delicate area of the game, so you can get the yips for pitching just as bad as yips for putting. As a matter of course management, many golfers try to stay away from these distances due to the same problem you described, but sometimes you will find yourself in those spots anyway, so you might as well try to learn a stroke that can execute these shots with some confidence. It sounds like you only carry 2 wedges, and the soles are different. Notice a sand wedge does not lay on the ground the same way as a pitching wedge because the back edge of the sole is lower than the leading edge while the pitching wedge sole is more flat. The term for this is bounce angle. If your sand wedge has a lot of bounce, this might explain why you are skulling shots if you do not change your ball position. Try playing the SW off the back foot to reduce the effect of the bounce angle. Do not be afraid to take a bigger divot. You might find this works well for shorter pitches but not for longer ones. If that is the case, get a lob wedge which does not have much bounce angle and then you can use your normal ball position for longer pitches with less fear of skulling it. You will also get the extra height that you will not get with a pitching wedge. As strange as it sounds, a pitching wedge is not always the best club to pitch with.
Joe

Joe,
Is your game as consistent as your sarcastic remarks?

Answer: Here is an example of my consistency. Last week I played a quick 9 at my local course Fox Run. The course was empty so I played alone and hit two balls off the tee, first with a hybrid and second with a 3 iron as a contest. On the first hole the hybrid went down the middle but the 3 iron went into a fairway bunker. Then, of course since nobody was watching, the first ball 8 iron went into the cup for an eagle. Although that is hard to believe, the rest of the story is much easier to believe. From the fairway trap, I topped the second ball about 20 yards forward, pushed a wedge into the greenside trap, blasted long and 3 putted for a triple bogey 7. That was a 5 shot swing, resulting in aggregate score of one over par for that hole, which is what I usually score on that hole anyway, thus restoring the fundamental equilibrium of the universe. That should answer your question about my consistency. For what it is worth, over the 9 holes the hybrid went just as far as a decent 3 iron shot, but was much more consistent and forgiving on off center hits. Is it spring yet?

Joe,
Please give me some advice on tendonitis in the right elbow. I am 63, and have played 160 rounds this year and have this pain in my right elbow, and it started in the last part of the year (that is in September). I have never had this condition before. I am interested in preventative measure for the 2007 season, and I have decided to rest my arm for several months before 2007. I have used the common wrap while playing, and have felt no pain while wearing the wrap. But I would like to cure the condition and start anew in 2007. In advance, thanks!
Roger Dodger from Minnesota

Hi Roger,
Wow, 160 rounds is a lot, I think my arm would fall off. Since I am not a doctor, I can only guess what to do. Are you sure this is tendonitis and not arthritis? There are plenty of items you can buy off the shelf at your local drug store for arthritis, just in case that might be the problem. If it really is tendonitis and the wrap seems to help, there is no rule that says you cannot keep wearing the wrap. However if the wrap restricts you, I can understand why you would like to play without it. I have heard other people having this problem if they swing with the flying elbow like Jack Nicklaus, Fred Couples or John Daly. I do not know if you also do this or not, but it might be worth a try to swing with your elbows closer together like Vijay Singh or Tiger Woods.
Joe

Joe,
Sometimes I read about how a pro was struggling in a tournament and had to manufacture a swing in the middle of the round. What does that mean and how do they do that? I have always heard that it is a bad idea to try changes in the middle of a round and to save swing changes for the practice range, right?
Ryan

Hi Ryan,
That is a great question. When our muscles begin to tire, they behave differently, so the good swing we had on the practice range can disappear during a round, and we must do something different to avoid ruining that round. People who rely only on their natural ability usually find it harder to make adjustments because they do not know what to adjust. On the other hand, people who understand their swing mechanics already know there are several things going on during a swing, such as the relationship between hip turn and shoulder turn. If either one is turning more or less than usual, the overall swing can change. At the same time, tiring muscles can cause the arc of the swing to become too flat without you realizing it. Your tempo may also change slightly or you may be overswinging. So to manufacture a swing in the middle of a round, you have to analyze the results of your shots and decide which of these things has the best chance to correct the erroneous shots. Most good golfers have a list of keys, or swing thoughts to focus on. On some days, one key may work better than another key. I personally do not want to wait until the next time I get to the practice range, because that is giving up on the round. I simply try some practice swings using another key that I know has worked in the past and see how it feels. If I do not feel confident with it, I will pick a different key until I find a practice swing that give me a feeling of confidence. Your comment about saving things for the practice range is correct for new ways to swing that you have never tried before.
Joe

Joe,
if you are not sure if you hit a ball out of play, if it is a yellow stake you cannot take a provisional, you have to take a drop and play on, but if it is a white stake you are allowed a provisional or else you have to go back to the tee and play it over. Since the ball may be out of play in either case, why is there a difference? Why is it you cannot take a provisional for a yellow stake?

Answer: For the same reason in North Dakota, it is illegal to lie down and fall asleep with your shoes on. It is dumb but true, you can look it up. This means if you are not sure that your shot cleared a pond with yellow stakes, you have to walk all the way around the pond to see if you can find your ball. If you cannot, you must walk all the way back and drop behind the pond, no provisional is allowed for yellow stakes, only white ones. This means if you are in North Dakota, you can possibly get arrested for falling asleep due to the slow play this dumb rule can cause, unless you remember to take your shoes off first.

Joe,
I read somewhere that the rule makers are thinking of reducing the number of clubs allowed in your bag from 14 to 10. What do you think of this idea?
Tanaka

Hello Tanaka,
I like the idea because it adds another level of skill required to adjust your swing with the same club rather than using the same cookie cutter swing for an entire set of clubs. However, I do not think the club manufacturers will allow this, they want to sell more clubs, even if all of them are not necessary. I would like to see the limit even lower than 10. Francis Ouimet used only 7 clubs to win the 1913 US Open, and Richard occasionally suggests during the off season you might do just as well playing with only 8 clubs. I put this to the test myself and found Richard and Francis were right, you can play just as well with half a set. Driver, putter, sand wedge, pitching wedge, 8 iron, 6 iron, and a hybrid 4. Whenever my distance to the green was in between clubs, it was not a problem to compensate by either swinging a little easier with more club, or adjusting the grip to a little weaker or stronger position and playing for a fade or draw. You can learn a lot about your swing this way. Walking is good exercise. No need for a pull cart, the bag was much easier to carry, in fact I was able to use a tiny Sunday bag, as light as a feather like a quiver for arrows. You might ask, what about the lob wedge? Well, for most people, unless you are really good with the LW, it can cost you more strokes than it can save you. Most people can pitch just as well or better with the SW. What about fairway woods? Based on what I have seen, most people can hit a hybrid 4 as well or better than any fairway wood or long iron. What about the missing irons? Not very many people hit all their irons equally well anyway because even in a matched set the shafts are all different lengths. If you carry only your favorite irons, and they happen to be either the even numbers or the odd numbers, you might have more confidence in each shot. Those of you who have the guts to try this might be in for a big surprise. For example, the next time you have a mediocre front 9 with all 14 clubs and your total score will not be important, use only the half set for the back 9 and put some excitement back into the round to see if you can beat your front 9 score with that half set. Have fun with this experiment.
Joe

Joe,
If you accidentally bend or dent a club, why is it a penalty if you use it anymore during a round?

Answer: For the same reason in Seattle, residents may not carry concealed weapons longer than six feet, it is just another dumb rule. The rulemakers must think damaged clubs are giving you an unfair advantage. If that were the case let’s all improve our games by bending and denting our clubs. Maybe stores will jump on the bandwagon too, and make some extra money by selling bent clubs at premium prices.

Question, why is it illegal to use a tee to flick a bug out of your putting line, supposedly because you might be testing the surface, but you can use a tool to repair a ball mark, which of course is a much better way to test the surface?

Answer: For the same reason it is illegal to set a mousetrap without a hunting license in California, a rule is a rule. It is true, you can look it up. And the purists who are incapable of rational thought had better follow this one too or else I would have to question their integrity.

(scroll down a page or two, for some reason there is a lot a blank space before the next question)

Joe,
Are there any rules that prohibit a man from using a golf ball designed for women? I like to use the Precept Lady because I can get them for $9.99 a dozen and I like the feel. I think they're very similar to Maxfli's Noodle, but I save about $5-6 per dozen. Some of the guys in my Wednesday night men's club have given me a hard time about using a ladies ball.......until I outdrive them.
Sincerely,
Darren Meyers
Silver Lake, KS

Hello Darren,
You are not the only one who discovered this. Several years ago golfers who wanted more distance would use high compression balls, but these balls lacked the feel as you mentioned. When oversized drivers came out, golfers discovered that they could hit lower compression balls just as far or farther than higher compression balls, but they also liked the feel of lower compression balls, so the Precept Lady began selling like hotcakes. Other companies recognized this and came out with their own versions of Lady balls. Precept also went one step further for those macho types who felt funny hitting a Lady ball, by introducing the Laddie for men, which also had low compression but not quite as low as the Lady. There is no rule that says you cannot use a Lady ball, you do not even have to wear a skirt.
Joe

Joe,
Question - I am a swayer (Not really a word), but I tend to sway on all shots, my back hip moving laterally. It's inherent from playing years of baseball, having taken up golf later in life. Don't know how to stop it, as when it gets bad, tend to reverse pivot as a result.Any ideas?
Larry

Hi Larry,
It is not easy to overcome motor muscle memory, it takes lots of drills to unlearn something. Start by posing at the top of your backswing and notice where your hips are. If the hips have swayed too far back, move them to the correct position while you are still posing and get a good mental feel for that position, just like a baseball player. Then try to repeat your backswing over and over again until you can arrive at your new position. Take a look at the way Kenny Perry swings. No hip motion at all until he gets to the top of the backswing and then all of a sudden he turns the hips and begins the downswing. Here is another thing you can try. While addressing the ball, tilt your spine toward your back leg while keeping your hips forward. This places most of your weight on the back leg, so there is no need to shift weight during the backswing, Just keep the hips forward and your head steady. On the downswing, make sure all your weight ends up on your front foot, and this should correct your reverse pivot.
Joe

Joe,
I am ready to buy new clubs and I am thinking about trying stiffer shafts. Is there such a thing as too stiff? What would happen if you get shafts that are too stiff for you? How would I know which is the right amount of flex is best for me?
Bud

Hi Bud,
Many golf shops have a monitor that measures your swing speed and launch angle to give you an indication of which flex is best for you. Unless you have a very high swing speed, with ordinary stiff shafts you might lose distance and hit the ball too low, but you might be a little more accurate. I used to think that stiffer shafts were always preferable because they theoretically would reduce an unwanted variable, that being the flex translating to variations in clubface positions, but today’s shaft technology has introduced the low-torque concept which helps keep the clubface square while the shaft is flexing but not twisting. This allows us to take advantage of the shaft's spring-effect without sacrificing accuracy. Depending on your swing speed, this spring effect should happen just before impact in order to get maximum clubhead speed and launch angle. It makes me wonder how in the world did the old time golfers ever shoot par with wooden shafts? It gives you a sense of how good those guys really were. No technology, no matched sets of clubs, just a stick with a hunk of wood or metal on the end, playing on scruffy fairways and greens with golf balls that were far inferior to what we have today. If those guys had the chance to play with today’s equipment, I think they would beat today’s pros. Maybe someday in heaven we will find out.
Joe

Joe,
I get so mad when I have a good round going and then all of a sudden I start hitting iron shots straight to the right. It does not feel like I hit it off the toe, it feels like a fairly solid hit. My confidence is ruined because on every subsequent swing I am afraid it might happen again, so I get very tentative. This does not make any sense to me, one shot straight ahead, next shot straight to the right. Is there anything I can do to help prevent this?
Samuel

Hello Samuel,
Take a look at ball marks on the clubface. I think you are striking the ball too close to the shaft hosel, and this is called a shank, and it will send the ball far to the right. I also have experienced the shanks, and I found a couple of ways to cure them. I my case, I was standing with too much weight on my toes. When I put a little more weight on my heels, the shanks disappeared. Another possible reason for those who have a rather flat swing plane is that the harder you swing, the more the clubhead extends further from your body due to centrifugal force, increasing the chance of striking the ball on the hosel. If you like swinging hard, try a more upright swing plane, and let me know the results. One more thing to consider, maybe your irons are not fitted properly to your body build, better visit your local pro shop and check this. If the shafts are too long, just have them shortened and regripped, it is not that expensive. Good luck!
Joe

Joe,
How about settling a friendly discussion. Bunkers and rakes. Are rakes to be left in or out of the bunkers?
Thanks, Dick Bruce

Hello Dick,
There is no rule one way or another. Each course may have its own preference, so ask at the pro shop. If you want to make it easier for the guys who mow the grass, put the rakes inside the bunkers but not on a sloping area. However, on the usga.org site there is a “decision” misc/2 that says it is better to leave the rakes outside the bunker just in case a ball rests against the rake, because if that happens and you move the rake, the ball might roll down the slope and you might not be able to replace it in the same spot, resulting in a stroke and distance penalty, which I think is really a stupid rule, because if the rake was not there the ball would have rolled down the slope anyway. You don’t want to get into debates with usga-holes, it is like trying to wrestle a pig. All you do is get muddy, and the pig likes it. After I make my first billion, I am going to buy the usga and change all their stupid rules.
Joe

Joe,
What is your opinion on why the Americans have not done very well in the last several Ryder Cup matches?
Javy

Hello Javy,
Some people think all the Americans have to do is show up to win. I think that is a dangerous attitude. Every so often I will mention one of the best golf books ever written, The Greatest Game Ever Played, by Mark Frost. In this book you will get a feel for the extra passion the Brits have whenever they play Americans. In my opinion, we need to give credit to the Europeans for playing better golf instead of saying the Americans played poorly. You can still play well and get beat anyway, especially by passionate opponents. I say hats off to the Euros instead of what is wrong with the Yanks.
Joe

Joe,
I think it would be really cool to play under the same conditions as the tournaments where the rough is grown tall and the greens are lightning fast. Why don’t more courses do that?
Chen

Hello Chen,
Pace of play is usually the reason. If the rough is too tall, it is sometimes hard to find the ball, and the constant searching will delay play. Overly fast greens are also going to slow play because everyone will be 3-putting. Also it is not healthy for the greens to always be cut too short. Conditions such as these are more suitable for tournament golf than recreational golf. If you ever hear about a course bragging about their high rough and double digit stimpmeter readings for their greens, you can count on a very slow round.
Joe

Question for the Evil Twin:
Jody, last week the topic came up about the advantage of using more expensive balls. Let us hear what you have to say about what difference it will make if I use a four dollar ball instead of a one dollar ball?
Answer: The difference is you will be three dollars poorer with little change to your game.

Joe,
Do expensive balls really help? What ball do you use and why?
Jim

Hi Jim,
I like the Pinnacle Exception because for me it seems to have the right mix of spin, feel, and distance, and it is more reasonably priced than the more highly advertised balls. Other good balls that are not expensive are the Wilson Pro Staff 360 Tour, Maxfli Noodle, and the Top Flite XL Extreme. I do not seem to score any better with more expensive balls. This does not mean these balls will be best for everyone. For those of you who hook or slice too much, you may do better to use a low spin or a distance ball.
Joe

Joe,
I find it confusing when I read instructions, some of which say to take a full shoulder turn but not much hip turn. I find this to feel most unnatural. If I turn the shoulders fully, my club goes past parallel, which I hear is not a good thing. This seems like too much to think about. What is so bad about turning the hips also, is there such a thing as too much hip turn?
Hank the Shank

Hello Hank,
Some instructions are intended for low handicappers who have better than average athleticism. Golfers with average athleticism might do better to keep things a little more simple. It sounds nice to say you should imitate the swing of the pro, but that is hard to do unless you have the same degree of athleticism as the pro, which is not likely. Average golfers should consider this, the farther you turn, the harder it might be to meet the ball on the sweet spot of the clubface. Therefore you have a better chance if you take a comfortable amount of shoulder turn, and allow your hips to turn naturally without restricting them (be careful not to sway). Only increase your turn if you can hit the sweet spot most every time. Also, going past parallel is not always a bad thing. John Daly, Phil Mickelson, and several others go past parallel, even the great Bobby Jones did that, so as long as you are making good contact, no need to change.
Joe

Joe,
How do you explain the unusual swings of Jim Furyk and Kenny Perry, who do not swing at all according to any instructions you will find anywhere? How are they able to get away with that?
Willie

Hello Wille,
Jim’s college golf coach said he would never make it on the tour unless he changed his swing, boy was he wrong. Kenny Perry’s swing has been described as home grown. In either case, nobody else even tries to swing like that. How do they get away with it? The answer lies in understanding the difference between mannerisms and fundamentals. Backswings are mannerisms, downswings are fundamentals. Jim and Kenny do not look much different than any other pro on the downswing, therefore their fundamentals are correct. Their backswings, although unusual, succeed in getting them into proper position at the top, which indicates it does not matter how you get there, so the different ways that they get to the top are only mannerisms. On the takeaway Jim sets his wrists early, bringing the club inside, but then raises his arms up to get on plane, which looks very loopy. Kenny raises his arms with no body movement, and just before he gets to the top, he turns his hips and shoulders to get on plane. Both guys at that point are in a powerful position, and that is the most important idea here. Again, the only purpose of the backswing is to get you to your most powerful position at the top.
Joe

Joe,
What is recommended, a thinner grip or a thicker grip?
Ramon

Hello Ramon,
It depends whether or not you want more or less hand action. A thinner grip allows more hand action, a thicker grip reduces hand action. Since everyone has different sized hands, here is a way to tell how thick your grip should be. When you grip the club, the tips of your fingers should be just barely touching the heel of your palm. If your grips are too thin, your fingers will pressing too much into your palm, and this might cause the club to rattle around in your hand. I personally prefer my grips to be on the thicker side because it gives me a feeling of better control.
Joe

Joe,
Now that I am shooting in the 80s I believe I can par any hole, in fact I get mad at myself whenever I bogey. Of course when you shoot in the 80s you must be getting more bogeys than pars, so I am mad at myself most of the time, and as a result my overall enjoyment is less than it should be. Even when I am playing better than normal, I always seem to have 1 or 2 blowup holes to keep me out of the 70s. Since I am getting older I am not sure I will ever get any better, so is there a mental strategy I can use to enjoy the game more?
Everett

Hello Everett,
You are not alone. Everyone thinks they can shoot better scores than they really do. We take pars for granted when we should appreciate that fact that a par is a successful score to feel good about, especially if we are not zero handicappers. Join some competitions where you have a chance to beat an opponent. Even if you have a mediocre score, it still might be better than your opponent’s score. If your score always suffers from one or two blowup holes, try some match play competitions where no matter how bad one hole gets you only lose one hole, not the entire round. If you are playing alone, you can still have your own match play competition like this – if you get a par you win the hole, if you get a bogey you lose the hole. For other people who shoot in the 90s or higher, you can change this to say if you bogey you win the hole, and if you double bogey you lose the hole. Whatever you do, make it fun. The fun is in the challenges, so even when you are not scoring well, create some new challenges for yourself and go after them.
Joe

Joe,
With all the modern technology, why is it that the average golf scores have not improved over the years?
Raul

Hello Raul,
I have seen people spend a lot of money on swing analysis and launch monitors to get custom fitted clubs with the proper shaft with the proper kick point and matched with the right type of multilayer ball, and they still cannot beat the guy who got his clubs at a garage sale and who uses whatever ball is found in the pond. All the technology in the world is not going to lower scores without a good short game. You can hit a par 5 in two shots and if you three putt, you cannot beat the guy who takes 4 shots to reach the green and only needs one putt. Over the years, golf courses have gotten more difficult, especially those that brag about their stimpmeter readings like it is a prestigious macho thing to have the fastest greens. However, I think that detracts from your enjoyment of the game when you hit a good shot that ends up above the hole, but you have no chance to 2-putt because there is no way to stop a downhill putt near the hole when the stimpmeter has the same reading as the hood of your car. The answer to that is to stay below the hole, but then if you stay too far below the hole you again are risking a 4-putt if your first putt goes past the hole, and if the pin is near the front of the green, you are likely to miss the green altogether, which still might be preferable to have an uphill chip instead of a downhill putt if the slope is severe. Stimpmeter readings should stay in the single digits, otherwise scores are not ever likely to improve.
Joe

Joe,
I have been told to chart my shots, but that seems like too much work. I need a simpler way to check my progress. Which things make the most sense to chart and which are those that do not matter so much and therefore are not worth charting?
Statman

Hello Statman,
I cannot believe that is really your name, but anyway it fits your question, I bet you are an accountant, right? My method is different because I only want to identify areas that I need to work on the most. I use 7 categories. When I count fairways hit, I also include a good drive that ends up in light rough with a good lie and a clear shot at the green (purists count that as a missed fairway). On the other hand, I do not count a poor drive that happens to end up in the fairway with no chance of hitting the green (purists count it as a fairway hit). For hitting greens in regulation, I include good shots that happen to end up on the fringe to allow a reasonable putt (purists count it as a missed green). On the other hand, I do not count a mediocre shot that ends up on the wrong end of a kidney shaped green where there is no chance to 2-putt (purists count it as a green hit). For counting putts, I include putts from the fringe (purists do not). After all, it is still a normal putt, not like a British Open roller from 20 yards out. In counting up and downs, I do not include the Texas Wedge, or putts from the fringe (purists do) because to me it is not a chip shot. In counting penalties, I include chipping out from behind trees, or other recovery shots where hitting the green is not possible (purists do not), because that amounts to the same thing really, and it makes me think about course management. I count mechanical errors that cost a stroke. Sometimes it does not cost a stroke, like a thinned shot traveling almost as far as a decent shot. I count mental errors if they cost me a stroke, like picking the wrong club and then realizing too late that I did not account for wind or elevation change or the type of lie. Keeping track of these things gives me a better idea of where to spend my practice time.
Joe

Joe,
My question has to do with the triangle and all swings. Due to limited shoulder/upper body flexibility, my back hand tends to separate (pull away) from the grip on the back swing. This pulling away, reduces the connection of the triangle, as I tend to only feel like I'm swinging with my front arm/ shoulder. It feels like I lose the connection of the back shoulder when I swing down. It's like trying to hit a baseball one handed, much harder. When I swing my arms, with no club, I can really feel the connection of shoulders/arms moving as one. Any ideas, I figure I can't be the only one with this problem.Thanks.
Larry

Hi Larry,
Here are some things to try. First the grip. There are 3 commonly acceptable ways to grip the club. Interlock, Overlap, and Ten Finger. Whichever one you are using, try the other two and use the grip that gives you the best results. If you find no improvement there, perhaps you are trying too hard to maintain the triangle since you said you already have limited flexibility. The triangle works best for those who have a lot of flexibility, so just use the triangle for the first part of your backswing takeaway, then get to the top of your backswing like Vijay Singh with your elbows not too far apart, which means the back elbow must fold down. In other words, if you try to maintain the triangle too long, you may end up with a flying elbow, which could result in your back hand separating. I hope this helps, good luck to you.
Joe

Joe,
Is it true that a hook rolls more than a slice because a hook has overspin?
Spud

Hello Spud,
Anyone who has ever played ping pong knows if you put overspin on the ball it will dive down quickly, and in golf that is known as a duck hook, so overspin is not the answer. The ball must have a little bit of underspin in order to stay in the air longer, and you can also prove that with a ping pong ball. There are two reasons why a hook rolls more than a slice. First reason is a hook has less underspin, and the other reason is that the clubface must strike the ball in a more closed position for a hook, which means less loft and lower shot trajectory than the slice, which has a more lofted open clubface position. As a result, the lower hook is likely to roll more than the higher slice.
Joe

Joe,
I enjoy your newsletter and was wondering if you can help. For some reason I keep topping the ball with the fairway metals on the fairway, never when I am hitting them off the tee or with the irons or driver and the annoying thing is that it only happens on the course. I can always hit the ball properly on the driving range and even draw and fade at will. The miss hits are costing me a lot of shots in our competitions.
Look forward to reading the solution in your newsletter.
Best regards Tom Boyd

Hello Tom,
There are a number of possibilities for this, without watching you swing I can only offer a few suggestions. Perhaps your fairway metals are not well matched to the rest of your set. Perhaps at the driving range you are hitting off synthetic mats, which are more forgiving than grass. If neither of these are the case, then other possibilities are the lack of tension on the range allowing you to make more relaxed swings while on the course tension causes a slight change. Some instructors say to swing fairway woods differently than irons, in other words sweep the ball without taking a divot, but I say if this is causing you to top the ball, then by all means swing the same way you do with the irons and hit down at the ball and make sure you complete the follow thru with all your weight on your front foot, or else you might be doing a reverse pivot with some of your weight on the back foot, which can also cause topping. I hope this helps.

Joe,
Sometimes I read about good golfers being able to will the ball into the hole with positive thinking. I have tried this with no good results. I do not believe that can work, after all we are not magicians. Is this a bunch of baloney or not? How can the average golfer make this work?
Marvin

Hello Marvin,
Positive thinking cannot guarantee anything, but it will give everything a better chance for success than negative thinking will. This is why the better players visualize a successful shot beforehand, because that thought process leads to proper execution. You cannot execute properly if you are not sure the shot is going to work. This is most evident with putting. Those who commit to the read will usually make a better and more confident stroke than those who are not sure of the read and make a tentative stroke. The average golfer, or any other golfer, can make this work simply by convincing oneself to avoid making tentative strokes by focusing on proper execution and follow thru.
Joe

Joe,
Why is it that whenever I feel confident that I will have a good round, I am usually disappointed, and the opposite is true, when I am not so confident, sometimes I have a great round? I thought it was a good thing to have confidence, how should we handle this?
Fordham

Hello Fordham,
When we are overly confident, our human tendency is to lose a bit of focus because we just assume we are going to hit good shots without properly concentrating. The next time you feel this confidence, tell yourself that you are determined to execute your main swing thoughts. Take nothing for granted. You can only play the game one shot at a time, and any one of those shots can mess up your round if you lose concentration to execute each shot fully and properly. Once you understand this, you will have fewer disappointments.
Joe

Joe,
I used to be a pretty good putter, and I never really believed what I read about how the yips affect senior golfers until I got them myself, and my putting got worse and worse. I have tried everything, fancy putters, belly putters, chest putters, claw grips, cross handed grips, you name it and I have tried it. I got books from Pelz, Utley, Crenshaw, Watson, and other putting gurus, but I still have the yips. I am right handed and I even tried putting left handed, nothing seems to work. I am out of ideas. I need a new and different idea, is there anything else I can try?
Bernie

Hi Bernie,
You came to the right place because I have been there too. When ordinary methods do not work, you might as well try something else. Here is what I did, and it is still working. Of course there is no guarantee that this will work for you, but at least it is another thing you can try. You won’t hear this anywhere else because this is my own discovery. Take a regular length putter and grip it with your left hand really low on the shaft below the grip. Use your wrist to press the handle against your forearm and keep it there. Now add your right hand below the left with an ordinary ten finger grip. Keep your head completely still, make sure the handle is still pressing against your forearm, and use your shoulders to make the stroke. I use an open stance and center ball position for this, but you can experiment with whatever stance and ball position that works best for you. Of course you will have to bend over quite a bit, so find a comfortable stance, but if this hurts your back, get a longer putter and you will not have to bend over so far. If this works for you, consider getting your putter regripped with a much longer grip so your hands do not have to grip the skinny shaft. Let me know how this turns out.
Joe

Joe,
I am not a golfer but my husband reads this newsletter, and now he makes me read it too. Up to now it seemed stupid to me, the complicated rule book makes no sense, all you are doing is hitting a ball into a hole. Is it OK to ignore the rule book and just have fun and go play? Otherwise give me some reasons why I should bother to try it?
Jane

Hello Jane,
If you are a beginner, don’t worry about the rule book so much until you decide to take the game more seriously. Golf can be simple but purists make it overly complicated. If you want reasons to try it, here are some facets of golf to consider. Ages and genders do not matter, all can play together. Children can learn to play it well, while adults can never master it. Every round brings unexpected thrills while seemingly good shots can end up in disaster. It can be treated like a science, or a puzzle. Answers to problems are only temporary, good swing corrections only last for awhile, and then they no longer work for no apparent reason, so one must learn how to make adjustments. It requires concentration, but is played better when feeling relaxed. It allows you get into the great outdoors and enjoy the beauty of nature. It satisfies the thirst for adventure, but frustrates the mind. It can be rewarding and it can be maddening. You can experience the thrill of a good shot and the agony of a shot gone awry. For every attempt you never know for sure which one you will get, until the ball stops rolling. It gives you a great opportunity to meet new friends and to recap the round afterward, recounting good shots and bemoaning bad breaks and injustices, encouraging each other and ourselves. Just as in life, you can use each experience as a chance to grow, improve, and reach your full potential. Because of these things, golf is the greatest game ever invented. That is why you should bother to try it.
Joe

Joe,
i'm 67 years on this earth, (can't say old or young) started golf three years ago, have a fairly good athletic body, plays golf twice weekly, left handed , from 9iron to 3 iron between 85 &150 yds. with a slight draw 3&5 wood between 160 & 180 on good shots. my driver a vicious slice about 200 yds out of bounds, normaly use a strong grip, would i be better off to weaken my grip. also my clubs are a cheap grade would better clubs improve my game can't seem to break 100.
frank.

Hello Frank,
If you draw all your other clubs but slice the driver, get a different driver, it does not match the rest of your set, and yes, better clubs might help, but don’t discard your old clubs too soon, you might find a little draw is a good thing, and there is no guarantee that newer clubs will perform any better until you try them. I would not recommend changing your grip if you can draw the ball with your natural stroke. There must be another reason why you cannot break 100 besides your driver, I suspect you need to work harder at chipping and putting. Good luck to you.
Joe

Joe,
I am a 71 year old male in good physical shape. I am using Taylor 465 driver with 9.5 degrees. For a month now I haven't been able to launch the ball. They just seem to be low drives. Would I be helped with a new Taylor R545XD with 10.5 degrees?
ThanksJay

Hi Jay,
I had the same problem as you. Trying to adjust my swing to get more height did not work. I finally tried drivers with 15 degrees loft and for me they work great. I have a Ping G2 that has a draw bias and a Golfsmith Snake Eyes High Launch model that I can hit straight or fade with a little weaker grip. There is a theory that a shaft with a low kick point will make a big difference in launch angle, but for me it also introduces wildness, but maybe that’s just me. If you really like Taylor Made, try the shaft with the low kick point.
Joe

Joe,
I've got a problem I can't seem to shake. I keep hitting into my left side (in baseball we call it stepping in the bucket!). What drills can I do to solve this situation. When I do this the ball is either pulled left, or I cut across the ball and slice it. I'd appreciate any help I could get.
Tom VanoverSpringdale, Ohio

Hi Tom,
In baseball when you step in the bucket, your front foot actually comes off the ground and comes back down away from the target line. If you are doing the same thing you probably are shifting too much weight to the back foot on the backswing. I would recommend the toe drag drill as shown in the Body Golf videos. If your front foot is not really leaving the ground, your pull is probably caused by your downswing path. This happens to many people who try to swing down the target line while their body is still turning, and by the time the club arrives at the ball, the turning has caused the path to change, and that leads to a pull. Try to change your downswing path. If you consider your target line to be 12 o’clock, if you are right handed, extend your follow thru to 1 o’clock. If you are left handed, extend to 11 o’clock.
Joe

Joe,
i have handicap 14. these days i suffer from putting. Most the time, when i take the club back it goes to inside and result miss the hole and cost me one shot extra. i have tried many way but without success. My main problem is one metter away from the hole. Kindly let me know if you have any tips for me in this regard.
rgds
bahman

Hello Bahman,
Since I have never seen the way you putt, I can only guess that your backstroke is too long. For a one meter putt, keep the backstroke as short as possible and keep the clubface square to the target all during your follow thru. If you can do that, you should make more putts.
Joe

Joe,
I don't know if it's due to improper use of arm, my shoulder inflexibility, but one point caught my intention. Someone watching my pitching/chipping noticed that my front arm wrist breaks way too early, about 1/2 the way to hip high. When that happens, bad things occur as my wrists/hands flip on the way down and I ground the ball. Any suggestions?
Thanks.
Larry

Hi Larry,
Some instructions say to break the wrists early and some disagree. I feel it is an individual preference, whatever leads to better ball striking. In your case whatever you do, you cannot allow your wrists to flip on the way down, keep your hands ahead of the club all the way thru contact. As a drill, take the club back and stop, set your wrists to the desired angle, and keep them locked in that position as you execute your downswing.
Joe

Joe,
There is a theory that an object flies farthest when it starts with a 45 degree launch angle. That seems ridiculous to me because in golf that would be like a popup. What do you think?
Louie

Hi Louie,
This theory assumes the object has no underspin and the force path of the propellant is also at 45 degrees. In golf the ground obviously prevents such an angle for the path of the club, so there must be some loft on the clubface in order to keep the ball airborne longer. The more loft, the more you have underspin. If the ball were to be launched anywhere near 45 degrees with underspin, it would balloon up to an even higher angle, and the result would be like a 9 iron shot. So the ideal launch angle would have minimum underspin but still be as high as possible to stay airborne as long as possible. With the ground being in the way, it is not easy to hit the ball while the club is in the upswing, but if you play the ball further forward in your stance, you can at least reduce underspin.
Joe

Joe,
I am fighting a hook, and I am told that my grip is OK (Vs pointing at the chin), but I am rolling my forearms too much, but that is my natural move, and whenever I try a move that feels unnatural, I have poor contact. Other than just playing for my hook, is there anything else I can try?
Herbert

Hello Herbert,
During the setup, look at your leading arm. If your leading elbow is pointing at the target, this could cause your arms to roll on the downswing. If you have ever seen a photo of Ben Hogan’s setup, both his elbows are pointing in toward his body. This helped Ben fight his hook because the forearms are less likely to roll as much from that position. I hope this helps you.
Joe

Joe,
With today’s better balls and better clubs, the experts say a lot of courses will become obsolete because they have no more room to expand. But everyone I talk to says they are not scoring any better than they ever did. How can this be if everyone is hitting the ball longer than before?
Tabby

Hi Tabby,
Many courses in my area cannot expand, so they have undergone renovations to make them more attractive and more difficult, some call it tricking up the course by adding more bunkers and water hazards and letting the rough grow taller. But the main thing I have noticed is faster and more sloping greens with thicker grass around and up against the edges, so if you miss the green, there are no easy chip shots. You can forget about chipping with any other iron but a wedge. Even if you hit the green, if these greens get firm, your approach shots will bounce on and over into the thick grass. So even when these courses are not longer, they are certainly not as easy to score on.
Joe

Joe,
If a wider swing arc leads to more distance, it would seem to make sense to use clubs with longer shafts than standard length. I have tried such clubs without much success. What is the reason for this?
Ray

Hello Ray,
It is true that clubhead speed increases with wider swing arc, but there is something more important going on here. The longer the shaft, the more difficult it is to strike the ball in the middle of the clubface, which we call the sweet spot. I have seen cases where a golfer improved simply by getting shorter shafts than normal and being able to strike the sweet spot more often. Longer shafts may give you occasional longer shots, but your average distance is not that great if you have more mis-hits. Unless you can strike the ball on the sweet spot every time, longer shafts may not be such a great idea.
Joe

Joe,
Here's a question that I've never seen asked or answered: What is a drill or a technique to help hit the ball on the sweet spot more consistently? Everyone talks about hitting the ball on the sweet spot but what is a good drill to get you into hitting that sweet spot.
Thanks,
Bill Lapitsky

Hi Bill,
I like to start with the double clubber drill as shown in the Body Golf videos. Then I use a single club and a practice mat that has a permanent rubber tee and repeat this back and forth motion, trying to clip the tee on both the forward stroke and the backward stroke continuously. This helps to train your muscles into the same groove for each stroke. If you can do this every day, it should help your consistency.
Joe