Instruction -- Bill Forrest, 2007 PGA Teacher of the Year
Hi Guys,
Everytime I am putting I seem to over power with my front arm and pull the ball past the cup on the left side. Any idea why that could be, or any practice drills that could help me hit and finish my putts straighter?
Thanks, Ty
Ty: There are several reasons you could be pulling the ball to the left. Firstly, check your address position...... make sure the ball isn't more than one or two inches forward of center in your stance. Secondly, check the lie angle of your putter to insure that the toe doesn't sit up in the air too much. If it does don't adjust your posture, simply get your putter's lie flattened. Lastly, balance out your stroke by making it equidistant both back and through. If it is short on the back side and much longer on the through side try doing the reverse and going from long to short. This "pop stroke" is making a bit of a comeback. Let's see if that helps you.
I was recently playing a rolling hill course and I was struggling with the lies the course gave me. The ball was also above my feet or below my feet and I was struggling to make solid contact with the ball. Is there a general rule from where you should stand according to if the ball is a above or below versus your regular swing?
Tyler Breitenfeldt
Understandably that you are having difficulty making solid contact with these two lies. One has a tendency to hit the ball thin and the other fat.
When you encounter a side hill lie and the ball is above your feet, it will have a tendency to go left. Simply aim to the right, choke down an inch or two on the handle, and try to feel like your swing is a little more around you. With the ball below your feet aim to the left, bend your knees, and keep the flex. Your tendency here is to lose your knee flex in the backswing and hit the ball thin and to the right. Your swing here is going to feel a little bit more upright and less rotary. Don't panic when you get these lies, simply change the way your eyes see the shot happening, and adjust accordingly.
Rules -- John Crumbley, Certified PGA Professional & Rules Experts
Rule concerning sprinkler heads around the green...
I had been told (by a former golf pro at our club) that if your ball is behind or adjacent to a sprinkler head that is within 2 club lengths of the green, or if that sprinkler head interferes with your stance, you are allowed a free drop within 1 club length of the sprinkler head, no closer to the hole. Is this the coreect procedure?
Norm Harding
Norm,
A sprinkler head is an Immovable Obstruction and the Rules of Golf give you free relief for interference from an Immovable Obstruction. Rules 24-2a defines interference from an Immovable Obstruction as - "Interference by immovable obstruction occurs when a ball lies in or on the obstruction, or when the obstruction interferes with the player's stance or the area of his intended swing. If the player's ball lies on the putting green, interference also occurs if an immovable obstruction on the putting green intervenes on his line of putt. Otherwise, intervention on the line of play is not, of itself, interference under this Rule."
For relief from the immovable obstruction the player will lift the ball and drop without penalty within one club length and not nearer the hole of his nearest point of relief. The ball must not be dropped on the putting green or in a hazard.
Your former pro was partly correct. This point is misunderstood often in applying the rules but there is no line of play relief from an obstruction unless your ball is on the putting green.
I'm not an expert on the history of the Rules so I don't know if way back at some point there was some relief allowed for line of play from just off of the green. But I do know for sure that today it is not.
Thanks for the question.
Is there a limit of golf balls a player may use in one round of golf? If so, how many?
Thanks
Gus Tsiamas
Gus,
There is no such limit. You may use as many as it takes. The Rules do limit you to playing only balls from the USGA comforming ball list. These balls have been tested by the USGA to conform to the Rules of Golf limits and specification for golf balls. This list can be found at www.usga.org.
Today, in a High School District round, a question came up about a particular event. I would like to get the correct ruling.
On hole 9 Player 1 took the flagstick out of the cup and laid it down on the green after all 4 girls had hit onto the green. Player 2 made an awful putt and hit the flagstick that was laid down on the green. The foursome didn't know what to do at that point. So they finished the hole and agreed to ask the local pro what to do. After completing the round, they compared scores, agreed that they were correct, and then all four signed all four cards and turned them in. At this point, another player asked about the event that happened on the aforementioned green. The rules committee (coaches and local pro) voted to give the girl a 1 stroke penalty, but not disqualify her. Later a coach was upset that she did not get disqualified and raised a question about it.
My question is, What should have happened when it first occurred? And, are all four girls at fault for signing a scorecard with an incorrect score, or only the player with the incorrect score?
Thank you,
Russell Vest
Russell,
The player who's ball struck the flagstick should have incurred a two stroke penalty under Rule 17-3. When that player did not add those penalty strokes to her card and therefore signed and returned a scorecard with an incorrect score lower than the correct score she should have been disqualified under Rule 6-6. Rule 33-7 does give the committee the discretion to waive the penalty of disqualification in exceptional individual cases such as being late to the first tee due to sudden illness would be an exceptional individual case. But Decision 33-7/4.5 tells us that in the case of signing a wrong card is not an exceptional individual case and the committee should not waive the disqualification penalty.
Fitness -- Dave Phillips, PGA Professional, Titleist Performance Institute
Dear Dave,
What are the three most important forearm strengthening exercises that will prevent "golfer's elbow"?
Will stronger forearms help me to increase my club head spead?
Thank you
Attie
Golfer's elbow almost always occurs in the trail side arm and is usually due to early releasing the club on the downswing. Overuse of the muscles that flex the trail wrist cause repetitive trauma at their attachment site at the elbow. First and foremost, your technique needs to be addressed to try and stop the underlying cause of the injury. Trying to keep the trail wrist cupped or extended longer into impact will dramatically reduce this injury!
As far as exercises go, this is a much harder question because early releasing the club is not always due to forearm weakness. Usually there is an underlying lower body weakness that causes over-dominance of the upper body which leads to this problem. With that said, here are a few exercises that I would try:
1) Gentle stretching of the flexors and extensors of the wrist. Lock your elbow in extension and try to flex and extend your wrist using your opposite hand for assistance and stay under the pain range if it hurts.
2) Wrist curls - palms down and palms up. Using a light free weight try doing 1 set of 10 wrist curls with your palm up and then switch to palm down.
3) Step Change of Direction - this exercise helps get the lower body involved and takes stress off the hands and elbows. Pretend you are Happy Gilmore and practice hitting balls with a forward step during the transition zone. This will force your lower body to lead the downswing and hopefully allow a better release of the golf club.
Good Luck
