Question:
I hear you and I think I have a solution for your game. You sound like a very competitive lady….am I right? Then next week bet those girls to the hilt and kick their butt like you know you are capable of. Golf is 90% mental and 5% physical and the other five is your frustration level. Swing the Club and let the ball get in the way and take those girls for all they bring to the club….! Seth
Response:
Divmercy, your problem sounds very similar to one that I had a few months ago. I am not a woman like yourself but still had the same types of problems. My swing was VERY inconsistant. It started out great but then one problem after another would arise. I found that I would "de-loft" the club when I hit so my iron shots were very low and and then I couldn’t hit woods anymore. I went to the range and practiced a lot and when I did connect with the ball it had a horrible slice. It was, like you said a "disaster". I gave up golf for a while and about 4 or so months ago I started using the "Natural Golf" system and it works! I can now hit all my clubs consistantly with great accuracy. My iron shots are high and straight and I am crunching woods a lot longer and straighter. In case you are wondering, No, I do not work for the company. I am just very satisfied with the system. If you love golf as I do and don’t want to keep fighting your swing, give Natural Golf a try. It can’t hurt. They have a web site. The URL is: www.naturalgolfer.com Oh, by the way, I totally agree with your idea for a "mini course". If there was such a thing around here, I would definately go. Dm – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello Larry (and all in this newsgroup)… I’ve been having a *killer* of a time this year with my swing… my iron play has been a disaster! Last year I used a regular golf grip and I daresay I hit all my woods (3 and 5) very well and with high trajectory… no problem, right? Then, this year I changed my grip to an interlock (I’m a lady with small fingers and hands), which suited me just fine – but my swing with woods only resulted in topped or fat shots, and my irons *seemed* to be okay… but then I took 4 lessons from a local PGA pro which has my swing totally in knots… I go to the practice range and, I couldn’t agree with you more: I could *never* replicate the good shots on the range onto the course!!! 
Not only that, the pain of resultant fat shots have caused me some kind of bump-injury over these past 4 months on my right forearm, and I’m tempted (yikes!) to give up the sport for good… I’m so frustrated and humiliated, especially when playing once a week on the course with 3 lady friends who consistently hit their irons with ease and high trajectory! I told my fiancee that, I’m surprised, as a SOLUTION… why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?: to have "mini courses" established whereby people could literally practice as they play (hills, water hazards, chipping, sand, tees, etc.) – without any pressure of having x-number of people waiting behind??? I swear – if I had a million $$$, I’d open one here in Cleveland, cause I (and I’m sure others!) are sick and tired of fake-junk carpet mats that don’t do **** for your game! ‘Nuff said… sorry for the long post
Response:
Well I hit great the other day off the grass and off the mats. My problem seems to be the most obvious of them all. Rather than trying to hit the ball I was more involved in trying to swing right. The second I decided to just hit the ball, I hit like I can from the mats: long and straight. The only swing thoughts I had were to not shift all my weight to the outside of my right foot and to keep the back of my left hand pointed to the target. That is basically it. (Keeping the correct lie angle is another problem I had but that only happens as I get tired – real golf isn’t machine gunning) My advise, dont forget that you are trying to hit the ball. Winning a beautiful swing contest isn’t what matters. Thanks, Craig Luna
Response:
Well, unfortunately pressure isn’t part of it. I have the problem when hitting off grass at the range. There is something I’m going to try the range tonight. I think that I might be widening my stance too much on the grass since I don’t have the same visual reference points that I have on a flat, single colored mat. I’ll let yah know if all the mosiquitos here in Memphis don’t eat me up. : Thanks, Craig Luna – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Craig, I’ve got the same problem, and I think I figured out partially why it is happening. Second, there’s really no pressure on a driving range. You are hitting, I think it’s your theory number two that is right on. A mat is not that I’d recommend that Craig get to the course early and do a good warm up to build confidence, do about 15-20 putts, 15-20 chips, hit about 3-4 balls Anthony
Response:
Hello Larry (and all in this newsgroup)… I’ve been having a *killer* of a time this year with my swing… my iron play has been a disaster! Last year I used a regular golf grip and I daresay I hit all my woods (3 and 5) very well and with high trajectory… no problem, right? Then, this year I changed my grip to an interlock (I’m a lady with small fingers and hands), which suited me just fine – but my swing with woods only resulted in topped or fat shots, and my irons *seemed* to be okay… but then I took 4 lessons from a local PGA pro which has my swing totally in knots… I go to the practice range and, I couldn’t agree with you more: I could *never* replicate the good shots on the range onto the course!!! Not only that, the pain of resultant fat shots have caused me some kind of bump-injury over these past 4 months on my right forearm, and I’m tempted (yikes!) to give up the sport for good… I’m so frustrated and humiliated, especially when playing once a week on the course with 3 lady friends who consistently hit their irons with ease and high trajectory! I told my fiancee that, I’m surprised, as a SOLUTION… why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?: to have "mini courses" established whereby people could literally practice as they play (hills, water hazards, chipping, sand, tees, etc.) – without any pressure of having x-number of people waiting behind??? I swear – if I had a million $$$, I’d open one here in Cleveland, cause I (and I’m sure others!) are sick and tired of fake-junk carpet mats that don’t do **** for your game! ‘Nuff said… sorry for the long post
Response:
Its not that bad, sure I love hitting off turf, but Mats are OK if you know what your doing. Put a penny right behind your ball and one 2.5" infront of it "Slightly" off center towards the outside. You get instant feedback as to how you hit that ball (hint: if you see the penny fly out front you lifted your head) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – What you describe is very common for people who practice off mats. In essence, those mats give you a hube margin of error, both when you hit fat, and what most people dont realize, when you hit it thin too. On fat shots, those mats just slide the clubhead right into the back of the ball. What would be a horrible shot on the course, turns into a perfect shot on the mats. On thin shots, you actually get a LOT of bounce off the mats and the ball has a tendency to fly striaght and a little low. Bottom line…no one who is serious about their game should be going within 100 yards of a mat. It just covers up way too many swing flaws, as youve found out. Practice on grass. mark Well, having just restarted trying to playing after a 3 year layoff, I’ve been doing alot of driving range practice. Having spent $1500 on new equipment I forcing myself to substatiate the costs by making the time to play. I’ve gotten very comfortable in my swing again and actually hitting the ball very straight, quite far and very close to where I wish the ball to drop. Of course I still have inconsistancies in my swing and the occasional flyers or topped balls. as I get off the fake grass mats and start hitting off the real grass, only 1 out of 5 iron shots are worth a crap. The others are topped balls, divots 5inchs before the ball, hit fat or just plain horrible. Its almost to the point of wanting to get a 7 and 9 TightLies (and scrap the long irons) since almost always hit a sweet shot with my original Adams. So anyone have a clue? Craig Luna
Response:
What you describe is very common for people who practice off mats. In essence, those mats give you a hube margin of error, both when you hit fat, and what most people dont realize, when you hit it thin too. On fat shots, those mats just slide the clubhead right into the back of the ball. What would be a horrible shot on the course, turns into a perfect shot on the mats. On thin shots, you actually get a LOT of bounce off the mats and the ball has a tendency to fly striaght and a little low. Bottom line…no one who is serious about their game should be going within 100 yards of a mat. It just covers up way too many swing flaws, as youve found out. Practice on grass. mark – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Well, having just restarted trying to playing after a 3 year layoff, I’ve been doing alot of driving range practice. Having spent $1500 on new equipment I forcing myself to substatiate the costs by making the time to play. I’ve gotten very comfortable in my swing again and actually hitting the ball very straight, quite far and very close to where I wish the ball to drop. Of course I still have inconsistancies in my swing and the occasional flyers or topped balls. as I get off the fake grass mats and start hitting off the real grass, only 1 out of 5 iron shots are worth a crap. The others are topped balls, divots 5inchs before the ball, hit fat or just plain horrible. Its almost to the point of wanting to get a 7 and 9 TightLies (and scrap the long irons) since almost always hit a sweet shot with my original Adams. So anyone have a clue? Craig Luna
Response:
Well, having just restarted trying to playing after a 3 year layoff, I’ve been doing alot of driving range practice. Having spent $1500 on new equipment I forcing myself to substatiate the costs by making the time to play. I’ve gotten very comfortable in my swing again and actually hitting the ball very straight, quite far and very close to where I wish the ball to drop. Of course I still have inconsistancies in my swing and the occasional flyers or topped balls. get off the fake grass mats and start hitting off the real grass, only 1 out of 5 iron shots are worth a crap. The others are topped balls, divots 5inchs before the ball, hit fat or just plain horrible. Its almost to the point of wanting to get a 7 and 9 TightLies (and scrap the long irons) since almost always hit a sweet shot with my original Adams. So anyone have a clue? Craig Luna
Response:
Craig, I’ve got the same problem, and I think I figured out partially why it is happening. First, hitting off the mat allows the club to "bounce" into the ball much more than playing off of grass. For example, if you hit an inch behind the ball on a mat, the clubhead will more than likely "skid" to the ball and till produce acceptable results. However, hit a fat shot like that on grass, and you’ve got a nice crater to deal with and a ball to hit again about ten yards in front of you! Second, there’s really no pressure on a driving range. You are hitting, most likely, many balls with the same clubs to the point where you are effectively "grooving" your swing. On the course, it’s a much different animal. Each shot is critical to your final intended outcome, and therefore each shot weighs more heavily on your mind. Trying to maintain the same ‘looseness’ that you experience on the driving range is difficult under these conditions. I’ve presented my two theories, with no suggestions on how to avoid them simply because I don’t have any!! If anyone DOES, I’d sure like to hear them! Larry Not just a domain — it’s a way of life! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Well, having just restarted trying to playing after a 3 year layoff, I’ve been doing alot of driving range practice. Having spent $1500 on new equipment I forcing myself to substatiate the costs by making the time to play. I’ve gotten very comfortable in my swing again and actually hitting the ball very straight, quite far and very close to where I wish the ball to drop. Of course I still have inconsistancies in my swing and the occasional flyers or topped balls. get off the fake grass mats and start hitting off the real grass, only 1 out of 5 iron shots are worth a crap. The others are topped balls, divots 5inchs before the ball, hit fat or just plain horrible. Its almost to the point of wanting to get a 7 and 9 TightLies (and scrap the long irons) since almost always hit a sweet shot with my original Adams. So anyone have a clue? Craig Luna
Response:
I’m hitting a new set of Titleist DCI Oversize Blacks.Graphite shaft, stiff flex. I hit 7 through wedge excellent. With 5 and 6, I’m shaky. With the 3 and 4 irons, very shaky. Anyone care to venture a guess as to what my problem might be with the longer irons? – Mike
Response:
Mike, I had the same trouble about a year ago. Two things I know I was doing wrong. First, because I knew I should be longer with the 3,4,5 irons, I would over swing them. Second, I would not stand far enough away from the ball when hitting the longer shafted clubs. I’m not 100% now, but I’m better. –Jerry
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I’m hitting a new set of Titleist DCI Oversize Blacks.Graphite shaft, stiff flex. I hit 7 through wedge excellent. With 5 and 6, I’m shaky. With the 3 and 4 irons, very shaky. Anyone care to venture a guess as to what my problem might be with the longer irons? – Mike