retch10

Yeah..I agree. I could probably gain some speed just by cleaning up a few things in my swing. Just because I'm swinging it pretty good doesn't mean I'm swinging it as efficiently as I COULD. And each little thing decreases speed. By focusing on those speed leaks, the swing mechanics improve. They aren't separate entities.

Of course not..In my case, I'd benefit even more by reducing strokes around the green. That said, If i'm closer to the green off the tee, I'm also not going to be off the green as much. It all works hand in hand. I need to improve my short game WHILE adding speed on full swings. I don't think thats out of the question and I think those two things would lead me to the spot you said I'd need to be at to worry about swing speed. I agree though. If you don't understand swing path, clubface control and can't more often than not make consistent contact, swing speed is just going to allow you to hit it 15 yards further out of bounds.

I don't agree with this at all. A huge reason a lot of 10-13 (or so) HDCP's are missing greens is because they're in the fairway off the tee but hitting into longer par 4's or long par 3's with a long iron instead of a shorter one. Adding 15 yards off the tee will equate to added GIR. Also, in theory, the same player could be taking one club less with increased speed. In essence, adding speed and gaining distance off the tee, taking less club as result AND being able to hit irons longer is probably equivalent to taking two clubs off. More GIR, lower HDCP. I agree with the premise, though. I just disagree with the measurement. Its not HDCP or GIR..its quality of strike. If you can swing the club efficiently on the right path and make solid contact, you can benefit greatly form speed training. Its probably where I am at the moment. On a shorter course 9 hole course I can score in the 30's on the regular. Mid-single digit. Thats where I am now playing the course I routinely play. Get me on a course with some yardage and I'm gonna struggle and that 6-7 is going to shoot up to a 12 pretty quickly. But if i could add some speed/distance, I'm capable of having that same mid-single digit on that course as well.

To be a good coach/instructor, the knowledge is essential but that alone doesn't get it done. They have to know HOW to impart that knowledge and also know that instruction is not one size fits all. Every person they instruct is different and what works with one will not work with the next. A golfer looking for instruction on there own also needs to keep this in mind. If there is something I want to work on and go looking at say, YouTube, I have to go through maybe 9-10 different instructors/videos looking for what works for ME. Sometimes I take a bit from this one but the rest doesn't work and than add it a bit from another. But yeah, teaching/coaching is a skill in and of itself. Being good at golf and knowing swing mechanics doesn't make you a good instructor.

Same.

Oh.. I know people do spend that much. I was just asking if he actually did or was just saying that. Are there still K-Marts? Ours is gone. There might be some around. Online K-Mart is still a thing. I know that I indeed did buy a putter at a K-Mart (it was probably in the 2005 range) for a song and I used it for quite a few years. I putted about the same as I did with the one before that...and the one before that...and the one I have now.

Did you really pay that much for a putter? I think there should be a new stat...Strokes gained per equipment $. Your score in relation to the dollars spent on your bag. And the longer you keep the same equipment helps your stats. Every 12 foot putt made with the off the rack K-Mart putter you bought 14 years ago for 11.99 drives you further up the leaderboard in the category! 😉

So back to my original unpopular opinion on putters...I'm watching the Bryan Bros and Grant Horvat play Portrush, all with Lab putters. One is a (suspended) tour pro. The others are plus handicaps. I've now seen all three miss putts and say they've pulled/pushed the putt. I ask again...what is the point of investing more than $9 in a putter? Haha.

That sounds like a great setup you've got. Good for you. I look forward to a day when I can have the same. That works if you all have that time. But when you're all still working, one or two still have teenage kids, etc its next to impossible to have a standing tee time or even a standing day of the week to play golf. We try to schedule it. It works MAYBE 2-3 times a summer. So for someone to say that you should never show up at a golf course as a single or to jump onto a group's tee time that is smaller than a 4, its not really practical. It shouldn't be a requirement that you have available friends to play golf.

Trying to find a common time for three of my friends (who actually play) to be in the same spot at the same time is nearly impossible. Its hard enough to find a common time for one or two. When we can find a time, we do it. Its rare. The easiest thing to do if I want to play is grab the clubs, head to the course and then hope that A) No one is on the tee and I can play alone, quickly or B) A decent group needs a 4th (and THEY invite me, to your point on imposing) or C)Another guy like me showed at the same time and is pretty good and a good guy and rather than continuing to wait on tees, we play together.