This is my first bolg of, I'm sure, many to follow. For the past 15 years I have been on the neverending quest to find the set that will never be knocked out out my bag. I have to say that the 2 hardest clubs to get right have been set (my driver and 3 wood), so the rest should be easy since I have been gaming my current set of irons for the better part of the past decade. I have tinkered for the past year with just the driver alone and have found the perfect combination finally. I have the Taylormade Burner Superfast Long Hossel Prototype in 9.5 loft, 4* open,  with a Mitsubishi Diamana Whiteboard Matte Blue Prototype 73 gram shaft at 44 3/4 inches. This was a long and frustrating process, but the results are just amazing. I tried the Japan and U.S versions of the Whiteboard, but this Prototype version just killed it in feel, ball flight, workability, spin numbers, looks, etc. The head is just awesome looking and feeling. Super long and pretty forgiving as well.  I can see why Mr. Elkington still has this "Big Black" in his bag. The three wood I am gaming now is the Taylormade R7 HFS Prototype in 13* with a Mitsubishi Kai'li in 83 grams. This one is never leaving the bag. Both of these heads are amazing, but combined with these shafts, they are just over-the-top. I have been a long time user of the Matrix TP series of shafts, but I have been blown away by the consistency and distance I have been able to achieve through the use of these Mitsubishi shafts. Normally, I like really harsh and stiff feeling shafts in my driver and fairway woods, but the feel that I have experienced with these are just amazing. The loading and unloading of these are second-to-none and feel just downright powerful. The ball flight with both are easily manupliated from high, low spin bombs to low snipers that run forever. They both are easily workable in both directions too, which is the main reason that they are in my bag and not going anywhere, ever!!

The irons however, are a different story. The same set has been in the bag for the past 10 years, along with the shafts. This is a remarkable feat to say the least. I have tried everything that has come out in a blade model, but they just do not compare to these. Today's batch of blade irons are just not the same as the older models. I have been gaming a raw set of Titleist 680 blades with the origional Rifle Project X shafts in 6.5 flex except for the 3 iron that was a 6.0 flex. Recently, I switched out the 680 three iron for an AP2 model. Great choice because this iron not only looks good, it really has a good ball flight that can stop on any green, and I am able to hit a sizzler with it as well. It just so happens that recently I have not been really impressed with the ballooning ball flight that I have been seeing for the past couple of years. I was not sure if it was just the shafts finally giving out or what, so a change was in order. After a TON of research, I chose the KBS Tour C-Tapers in the 130 gram X-Flex for everything except my gap wedge that is a 125 gram s+ and I have to say that these shafts are just downright amazing. The feel on these are amazing and they are literally a extra club longer in distance than the satin PX's. I was blown away by the performance of these shafts. They take a little spin off of the ball, so shots into the green that used to spin back a ton for me are now just almost stopping dead or hitting the green, bouncing, and maybe just spinning back to the pitch mark. I would reccomend these shafts over and over again.

My thoughts go out to Ken Venturi.  I wish I could meet or be a man like him. He is great.  He played with the greats when the payoff did not always add up.  From what I have read, he played just after a time when golfers would take their prize money and buy tires so they could continue their tour or return home.  Some of these golfers were warriors in the truest sense.  They fought their own demons, they fought for each other and they fought for our country.  Ken met challenges that I may never know.  I see him as an elegant individual that shared his success with others.  I love his swing, but I have to say that my favorite footage of him is when he is playing the drums.  He has skin in the game.  Thank you for all that you do.

Golf is a great pastime for people all over the world, but it comes with a legitimate price tag. Similarly to other hobbies, many people shy away from golf because the sport is expensive. Green fees are substantial and can be enormous at the nice courses.

If you are looking to hit the links frequently this season, I’ve got some advice for you. Below I list ways that you can enjoy many rounds of golf without draining the bank account.

The anchoring debate is an interesting topic.  It seems people are either all for the ban or 100% against the ban.  Webb Simpson tweeted out earlier today this: '2 guys in the top 45 in strokes gained putting category (PGA Tour's most accurate putting stat) use a belly putter or long putter.'

You can argue statistical data all day long on both sides of the anchor ban fence and make great arguments both ways. The above stat thrown out by Webb makes one believe anchor putting has no profound advantage over the short putter. Based off this one piece of data you would be hard pressed to argue against that.

One of the simplest things that can help you create a repeatable swing and feel how to time your lower body at the right pace for you, is how you turn around your "Rear Leg". Most individuals will let themselves move through their swing with a considerable amount of lateral movement or sway which can cause a huge multitude of problems including coming over the top, picking your head up, fat shots and every other miss you can imagine. The best way to stop this from occurring is by watching the way that you turn around your hind leg (right leg for a right handed player) to keep an inside angle that will not allow your to sway.

This should also be accompanied by the feeling that when you start the rotation back you feel as if the muscles through the back of your right leg are moving you away from the ball and around. This will create the separation needed at the beggining of the swing to stay tension free and create a well timed swing. Jack Nicklaus used to say "I can tell in the first foot of my back swing if I have hit a good golf shot". Get your swing started off on the right foot and your odds will greatly improve.

Elk let us know how accurate you have to keep your tee ball all week. He also said it's a tough course to adjust to your first week out there. Also, since the wind can blow a few different ways there, I tried to pick guys who are playing well, know the course, hit the ball low, and hit the ball straight. Otherwise, this can happen:

If you’ve put any effort into improved performance on the golf course you might have heard someone say, “focus on the process, not the outcome.”  Long story short, it’s super important.  The best way I can explain what it means is by telling the story a recent session that I had with Gary.

Gary and I started working together a couple of months ago and during our first lesson, it took two swings for me to know where we needed to start.  Balance.  He was barely balanced before he started the swing, standing on his tip toes by the time he got to the top, and after impact the only thing he could do was take a full step forward to avoid falling over completely.  He was hitting it all over the clubface and his shot pattern was all over the map, one left, one right, one straight, etc.

Ho Dirters,

My website has had a nice free PDF collection of neuroscience explanations cherry-picked from thousands of videos available on line, so that golfers and golf teachers can catch up to the past 20-25 years of revolution about the human brain and body. Neuroscience research has expanded human understanding of the brain and body by 350 times more than was ever known in all human history up to 1989. Golfers, golf teachers, golf "psychs", motor sports "experts", and even educational experts don't know any of this science. I checked, and have been checking for 20+ years. Public school teachers and university educational experts have "started" catching up about 3 years ago, at Harvard and a few other well-endowed factories, but generally, they are further down the track for catching up than anyone else in the above list.

Have any other beginners like me noticed the many power leaks in modern pros?  Now as I watch the other top instructor's DVDs, ie McClean and others, I detect power losses in their swings while demonstrating drills or swinging in slow motion. I took my first lesson at age 42, almost 20 years ago. Everything was positional. This was to ostensibly lead to a swing. Well, I developed a beautiful swing, but never could smash the ball. But, SECRET IN THE DIRT, HAS PUT A NEW PAIR OF GLASSES ON ME. I am now almost 60, just defeated Lymphoma, have started back ( like LAZARUS ONE MIGHT SAY IF SO INCLINED) and have felt the smash several times so far. I don't want you to think I have now developed hubris, its just fun, enlightening, and Steve E. is right, Martin found the sledge hammer to replace the small nail hammer I used to have.

Or maybe I just think being above ground is wonderful like HOLDING my grandsons. But I still see power loss opportunities in Butch Harmon's videos now.

Hi Dirters,