Ever wonder why one day you hit great irons and miserable wood/metals then get the opposite results during another round?  Well, you're not alone.

Golf's Woes: Most golfers at every level have all too often experienced those seemingly inexplicable rounds when their irons are crisp and pure while the woods/metals are sprayed all over the place, and vice versa. Sound familiar? Instead of going nuts trying to figure out what's different in your various swings with these shots consider that the culprit might well be the equipment you're using.

My Four Year Hook: In the mid 80's I developed a serious hooking problem with long irons and woods that plagued me for the better part of four years. I was certain that the cause was related to my clubs and went through countless drivers seeking a cure for my hook. Regardless of the driver I tried, however, the frustrating hook remained.

The Fix: Coincidentally, towards the end of the fourth year of my hooking miseries I attended a seminar on club fitting and after listening to the presenter for five minutes a light bulb exploded in my head. I realized that my problem might be the lie angle of my clubs.  Sure enough, I was playing irons with lie angles that were 3˚ flatter than my normal spec without realizing it. This difference affected my swing with each club, particularly those that I was hooking so badly. Not surprisingly my hook went into golfers heaven when I had the lie angles corrected.

The Importance of Proper Club Fitting: As a result of the seminar I always check the clubs in a new student's bag prior to beginning instruction. You would be amazed at the array of equipment I've seen over the years. Let's face reality; golf is difficult enough to play well because there are so many variables beyond our control such as squaring the clubface on every shot. As the touring pros say, "winning is a matter of making the fewest mistakes". This being the case, it only makes sense to control as much of the game as you can, and playing with equipment that's right for you can easily be controlled through proper club fitting.

Wide Grooves: Remember, as of January 1, 2011, golf club manufacturers cannot produce the wider grooves that provide more spin we like so much. You can find an in-depth discussion of this in the Newsletter Archive section of my web site at scottwatkinsgolf.com. The pro shop at AZCC has loaded up on the old grooved wedges so drop by and check out our selection.

Serious Game Improvement: Most often problems relative to the golf game will require more than one session with a competent teaching pro because there are so many variables. If you're serious about improving your game let's talk about a series of lessons that will provide you with the following benefits:

• An in-depth analysis of your swing by a skilled professional
• Identifying the cause of the problem(s) you're experiencing
• Implementing a permanent solution to your problem(s) instead of a short lived band-aid fix
• Receive immediate feed back on your progress in fixing the problem(s)
• Lower your scores

To ease your cost I offer 6 lessons for the price of 5. A series of lessons makes an excellent holiday gift and certificates are available at the pro shop.

If you would like a subject discussed in a future Newsletters please email the details to me at scott@scottwatkinsgolf.com.

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