Ask the Pro Archive Index
Golf Questions and Answers - all previous posts by topic and alphabetized

Here I have organized the Ask the Pro Archive by topic area and then tried to semi-alphabetize the entries (the alphabetizing of phrases is problematic). Anyway, if you can't find what you're looking for by browsing down this page to see what is listed under each heading you can always do a search.

	Long Game - Irons | Woods | General
	Short Game
	Rules, Etiquette and Procedures
	Equipment
	Mental Game
	Miscellaneous - Professional golf-related | Terminology - Words and Phrases | Golf course-related | Other

Long Game

Irons

• Creating backspin
• Backspin again
• Blocking it - divot left, ball goes right
• Club distances, how far they should go
• Why does the club face close in the rough?
• Iron distances are all the same
• Power leak, not enough distance on irons
• Divot depth question from a junior player
• How to feel the hands forward
• Hitting it on the toe of the club
• Hitting the ball too low
• Shots "in-between" clubs
• Fairway bunker shots
• Why does a "flier" go farther?
• Graphite-shafted irons going shorter distance
• Should I hit the ground?
• Hitting shots to the left of target
• Hitting the 1 iron to the right
• Why am I hitting my irons fat?
• Hitting long irons fat
• Long irons fat or lacking distance
• Long iron out of the rough
• Misfit clubs causing inconsistency?
• Pulling the short irons
• Problem pushing shots with the irons
• Shanking - cause and cure
• Should you use a tee or not?
• Short yardage approach shot distance control
• Stopping the ball on a hard green
• Switch to blades with steel shafts?
• Iron shots too high
• How do you control trajectory?
• Getting a higher trajectory on middle and long irons
• When to use which bounce on wedges
• Which club for which distance, and inconsistent swing height
• Filling in a yardage gap in the long irons

Woods

• Aligning the face with offset woods
• Alignment on tee shots
• 5 wood goes farther than driver
• Blocking it to the right
• Casting problem with the driver and woods
• Club face alignment at address
• Club head alignment in relation to ball at address
• Erratic results with woods
• Technique for fairway woods
• What is the "gear effect"?
• How big a driver is too big?
• What loft angle goes farther?
• Getting a lower trajectory on drives
• Problem hitting drives on the heel
• Getting more distance on drives
• Hitting longer drives
• Problem hitting drives too low
• Hitting a power fade and slowing down
• Hitting a rising shot
• Use of lead tape to correct ball flight
• Slicing problem
• Swinging from non-dominant hand side decreasing distance?
• How high to tee the ball
• Skying the driver, hitting a pop up
• What is causing me to sky the ball?
• Hitting it straight off the tee
• Tee flight characteristics
• Worm burner, hitting grounders

General

• Alignment, problem lining up
• Alignment deteriorates during the round
• Arms in front of the body?
• Trying to get backspin on hard greens
• Backswing slow or fast?
• What balance means and its importance
• Falling forward off balance in the swing
• Ball above feet, distance loss
• Hitting the ground before the ball
• Ball position, or ball placement, basics
• Callus on finger problem
• Junior mysteriously can't swing from one day to the next
• Chicken wing
• Cold weather and less distance
• Curving shots, hitting a fade & draw
• "Disconnecting"
• Getting more distance, hitting it straight and long
• Trying to draw the ball and having trouble
• Keeping the left arm/elbow straight, or not
• Elevation changes - uphill and downhill
• Erratic results, misses are everywhere
• Another golfer with wildly erratic shots
• Back 9 fatigue, endurance
• Finishing the swing, making a weight transfer to a full follow-through
• Having a forward press to begin the backswing
• Clear hips or use hands?
• Why am I hitting it fat?
• Hitting shots fat
• Flex in forward knee
• Amount of knee flex in the stance
• Previously injured finger problem
• Flying elbow question
• Ground club or hover it above ground
• Grounding the club a lot or a little
• On which hand you wear the glove
• Wearing a hole in the glove
• Which grip to use
• Which type of grip to use
• Which grip after hand problem
• How many knuckles to see in the grip
• Ten-finger grip, good or bad, who uses it?
• How grip position (strong, weak, neutral) affects the club face
• Grip size and its effect
• Using a weak grip
• Swinging with a cross-handed grip, reversing the hands
• Grip reminder, regripping during swing
• Late hand action
• Hand position at address
• Which hand dominates in the swing?
• To emphasize the right hand or the left hand in the swing
• Low handicapper wants to shave off last few shots
• Keep head down?
• Head position relative to ball position at the finish
• When to bring the hips through
• What is hitting from the top?
• How to stop hitting from the top
• Problem hitting the longer clubs
• Hitting a low runner
• Hitting it to the right
• Hooking problem
• How to go from low handicap to scratch
• Hybrid club technique, sweep or divot
• Inconsistecy, hitting it left and right
• Cause of inconsistency, hands versus big muscles
• What "laying off" means and what to do about it
• Lower body getting ahead of upper body in swing
• Outside to inside swing problem
• How to keep from overswinging
• Practice on grass or mats?
• To pull or to push
• Pulling shots
• Going from the range to the course
• How to know if your swing is "repeatable" and "consistent"
• Reverse pivot problem
• Improving balance and rhythm
• Problem rolling the hands in the takeaway
• Scooping
• Self-analysis and correction
• Why do most higher handicappers slice?
• Shot shape, why draw or fade instead of straight?
• Should I hit a fade or a draw?
• Shaping shots, how to fade and draw
• Where to tee the ball in the tee box for shapes
• Does swing speed affect shot shape?
• What speed to swing
• Spine tilt at address
• Spinning on heel because of injured knee?
• Weight distribution in the stance, irons vs. woods
• Stance width, how wide to place the feet
• How far away to stand from the ball
• Same swing with iron and driver?
• The shape of a swing
  
• Dropping shoulder at address
• Adjusting alignment direction for sidehill lies
• Where to aim on sidehill lies
• How many targets are there in a shot?
• How shot distance is affected by tee elevation
• How to find and maintain tempo
• Tennis elbow problem
• Contact VERY slightly toward the toe
• "Strong" top of swing
• Topping the ball, hitting shots thin
• Which arm do you put the towel under in a towel drill?
• Hitting shots on a lower trajectory
• Try to hit or just swing?
• Visual images while swinging
• Use of weighted club
• Can't make a weight shift or transfer
• Where to focus eyes, which part of ball
• Judging wind speed
• Should I flick the wrists for more power?
• Flat wrist at the top of the swing?
• Left wrist bowed or cupped at impact
• Wrist injury from practicing

Short Game

• The difference between a chip and a pitch
• Low bounce on wedges
• Club face opens to right on chips
• Which club to use for chips
• Club slides under ball in bunker
• Buried lie on uphill slope in bunker
• Playing long bunker shots
• Sand Wedge or Lob Wedge from the bunkers?
• Take a divot with pitch shots or not
• Why do golfers take off their glove before they putt?
• Take off glove on the greens
• What putting grip to use
• The Claw grip or Psycho grip for putting
• Putting with a cross-handed grip
• Cutting across putts
• Should I get a lob wedge?
• How to grip with a long putter
• Technique for long putter
• Hitting putts on the heel
• The ball hops when I putt
• Putting one-handed
• Leave the pin in or take it out?
• How to stop pulling putts
• Plumb bob for reading putts
• Which putter to get
• Heavy or light putter head
• Belly putter length
• Putting with the toe up
• Very little sand and hard ground underneath in bunker
• How to get good at short putts
• Opinion about sidesaddle putting
• Speed or line in putting?
• Training aids for putting
  
• What bounce on wedge for which sand type
• Tip for playing from wet sand

Rules, Etiquette and Procedures

• Why balls have numbers on them
• Penalty for breaking a branch
• Bunker rake in or out of bunker
• Ball questions: changing ball types, borrowing balls
• Changing balls or ball types during a round
• How many balls a player can carry, limit on number of balls
• Using Chapstick or foreign substances on the club face
• Correcting a wrong score
• Use of distance measuring devices
• Correct method for divot repair
• To replace or not to replace divots on the teeing ground
• Having course information in written form
• Colors of stakes, lines for hazards, OB and yardage markers on a golf course
• Designated drop area penalty
• When you drop on teeing ground can you use a tee?
• "Embedded" ball
• Why isn't a sand-filled divot ground under repair?
• A problem with taking divots
• Diameter of the hole
• Ball stuck against flagstick
• Hole placement or pin position on the green
• Using distance measuring devices on the course
• Why handicap holes are alternated between front and back sides
• The "last place" the ball crossed the hazard
• Hitting the ball accidentally with a practice stroke
• Lift, clean & place
• Limit on number of clubs
• Lost Ball or what?
• Marking ball when off the green
• Pitching from on the green
• Are "range finders" allowed?
• Match play scoring terminology
• Onesome, or single player's status on course
• Is the ball still in play or out of play
• When to pick up your ball
• Placing ball while another player putts
• Play through, who asks who?
• Playing into another fairway to shorten dogleg hole
• What are "Preferred Lies"?
• Where to stand and how to get a read when another player putts
• What is "resonable evidence"?
• Repair old hole in putting line
• Putting order, who has the right
• What is slope rating?
• Stepping on the putting line
• What are the "stroke holes" on the scorecard?
• Tee block location relative to yardage marker
• Tie breaking by retrogression
• Time limit to search for lost ball
• Time limit for shots on the Tour
• Tournament pairings
• Unplayable lie procedure
• When to move from white to blue tee blocks
• When to read your putts
• Where to stand when another player is swinging
• Who plays the shot first?
• Who is away and who plays first?
• Writing or marking on the golf ball
• Using a line drawn on ball to line up
• Does a whiff count as a stroke?
• Playing a wrong ball

Equipment

• To use a 2 or 3 piece ball
• Are there balls any longer with balata covers?
• What the initials 'CC' mean with golf clubs, what are cc's?
• Difference between Cadet gloves and regular gloves
• All the clubs and what they're for
• Seeking advice on buying clubs
• Club lofts
• Degrees of loft on different clubs
• Adjusting golf clubs to fit
• How do you know if clubs are the right size?
• Can I fit myself for clubs?
• The difference between forged and cavity back
• The difference between Men's and Women's clubs
• Can women play with men's clubs?
• Getting the latest, new clubs
• How many dimples do golf balls have?
• Is a 45" driver too long?
• Is a 1 wood the same as a Driver?
• Junior playing with cut down driver
• Driver loft and its effect on trajectory and distance
• Driver length for player height
• "E" wedge, what does the E stand for?
• "F" wedge, what does the F stand for?
• Fairway wood numbers with a plus "+" sign
• Full set of clubs or half set?
• Golf club wear, do golf clubs wear out?
• Loss of feel after switching from steel to graphite
• Advantages of graphite over steel
• Why clean grooves
• Drivers with no grooves on the face
• Cast irons and forged irons
• How to clean the irons
• Using lead tape to correct swing problems?
• Problem with lead tape not sticking or coming off
• Stronger lofts on modern irons
• How to make a long putter fit in travel bags and on planes
• Importance of changing worn grips
• Ridge on underside of grip
• Grip size and its effect on shots
• The effect of oversized grips
• Larger grip sizes terminology
• Getting smaller grips
• Playing with worn grips
• Creating a home practice area
• Flatter lie angles on wedges?
• Offset driver good or bad
• To get new clubs or used clubs
• How often to replace the ball
• Shaft flexes tutorial
• Matching club speed to flex
• Which flex point or kick point for which golfer
• Why aren't club lengths all the same?
• What is shaft kickpoint
• Driver shaft flex and loft
• Why are club shafts different lengths?
• Is Firm the same as Stiff?
• Will graphite shafts shatter in the cold?
• Sparks flying from club head
• Swing weight tutorial
• Lots of questions about swing weight
• Two-way chipper clubs are not allowed
• Wedge lofts beyond pitching wedge
• The different types of wedges
• What is a W3 or W4 wedge?
• Which clubs to carry in the bag
• Which one club would you use?
• Which wedges to carry after the pitching wedge
• Wood numbering system

Mental Game

• Blow up holes
• Breathing during swing
• Focusing
• Lose focus on course
• Looking up, how to not look up
• Last hole pressure, nerves
• Losing distance once a year mystery
• Mental game tips
• What to do for a nervous putter
• How to play more relaxed on the course and under pressure
• Tee shot anxiety, stage fright
• Trouble hitting tee shots on tight holes
• What to think during the swing

Miscellaneous

Professional golf-related

• British PGA founding
• Why caddies don't wear spikes
• Caddy wages, percentage, payment
• What does a "Class A" golf professional mean?
• What is a "club" pro?
• How the "cut" is determined
• Professionals' exemption for winning a major championship
• "Hit Fairway" statistic
• Average height of professional golfers, advantages of being a tall or short golfer
• How to become a golf professional
• The Masters Tournament founders
• Mini tour information
• When did the PGA begin?
• Professional golfers' fitness training
• How did the Touring Pro's do as juniors?
• Player badges, clip-on medallions
• Putting statistics, what is a putt?
• What do I need to get into Q-School?
• What it takes to become a professional
• Touring Professionals and wearing shorts
• What happens in the case of ties with money
• Making the cut and winning money
• How professional golfers are ranked
• Scoreboard abbreviations - letters
• Becoming a teaching professional
• Tournament formats
• What are "TPC" courses?
• What is a "Major" tournament?
• Professional Major Grand Slam
• How a Major becomes a Major
• How tournament pairings are decided when there are ties
• "Putts per round" statistic
• What does "Open" or "Invitational" mean?
• Who has shot 59 on tour?
• Pro's yardage books
• Yardages for men or women professionals

Terminology - Words and Phrases

• The phrases "be the number" and "be right"
• The terms "birdie" and "bogey"
• The term "buried elephant"
• The phrases "control the ball" and "working the ball"
• The term "duck hook"
• The terms "fade" and "draw"
• The term "fore", origin
• The term "Golf", origin
• The term "links course" or "links style course"
• The terms "out" and "in" for the front and back nine
• The terms "outside-in" and "inside-out"
• The phrase "over the top"
• The term "release"
• The term "scratch", origin
• The term "skins" or phrase "skins game", origin
• The term "stymie"
• The term "sub par"
• Hearing the phrase "unforced error" on TV

See also the Glossary of Golf Terms and Phrases

Golf course-related

• The amount of land or area for a golf course
• Bermuda grass playing characteristics
• Course layout, how many par 3's
• Why the colors of flags on the greens vary
• The term "Links" for golf courses
• Pin depth, flagstick depth -- front, middle or back of the green
• Pin placement relative to edge of green, how close can the hole be to the edge of the green?
• Shared, double or common greens for more than one hole
• Yellow stakes, red stakes, water hazards
• Who hits from Red, White and Blue tees?
• Why do golf courses have 18 holes?
• Hole yardage recommendations
• How hole yardages are measured
• How yardage markers are measured
• Yardages for different pars, par and distance
• Why yardages are shorter for women golfers

Other

• Golf ball size
• Tips for beginners
• Wearing bifocals, effects and options
• When were the first golf carts?
• Effect of mud, why to clean the ball
• How to arrange the clubs in the bag
• Club length for taller player & how to "club" another player
• High golf club prices
• John Daly comment, "not enough club"
• Diet, workout & getting noticed by colleges
• Double-hit, hitting the ball twice with one swing
• What grades for scholarship?
• Ace or hole-in-one records
• Junior golfer reluctant to get instruction
• Junior golfers and working out with weights
• Resources for left-handed golfers
• Golf lesson statistics, how many do and don't
• Lie angles & problem mid-long irons
• Lifting weights and golf
• Lowest to highest handicap
• How high can a golf ball go?
• What is a "green in regulation"?
• Going from the range to the course
• Ball does not go as far over low lying spots of the course
• The meaning of "mid" in Mid-amateur
• Playing both right and left-handed
• Dividing up practice time
• Who is a Pro? (qualifications, etc.)
• Taking skills to the course
• Golfers' scoring statistics
• How is a Skin Game played?
• Is golf a sport? Are golfers athletes?
• What is a stimp meter and how does it work?
• What type of vision correction to get