Instruction
Former LDA champ: How to “actually” hit it far
Being a former World Long Drive Champion, the first question golfers ask me is, “How do I hit the ball farther?”
Once you get past the non-swing issues like physical fitness, core strength and a well-fitted driver, there is really one answer.
Do nothing that causes parts of your body, especially the arms, to slow down. Even better, create a situation where they can speed up. And the best way to do that is to make room for things to speed up and try and keep everything in sync and rotating together.
That sounds simple enough — the only problem is the morass of power inducing clichés and catch phrases that get thrown around actually prevent my simple scenario from happening. Things like:
- Widen the arc.
- Complete your backswing to parallel.
- Restrict the hip turn for maximum coil (the X Factor).
- And my very favorite, hold the lag.
All of those things, one way or the other, disconnect the arms from the turn too much. Without getting too technical or too in-depth about all of the problems these actions cause, here are a few simple examples.
Let’s start with the most infamous of distance inducing pursuits, “hold the lag” and its even more evil twin brother, increase or maximize lag. The people who decided to promote this got poor verbal scores on the SAT. You remember those questions:
If Joe is a boy and wears a red hat, then all boys wear red hats.
Most people who read this would answer either false or not enough information. Why then do we all buy into, “All long hitters have lots of lag, so all people with lots of lag will be long hitters.” I hear the Family Feud buzzer.
Let’s put aside for a second that holding the lag is not physically possible as the club weighs more than 100 pounds at the point where people start to throw it away early, and throwing away lag is the body’s natural reaction to a backswing that is too long or too steep. But let’s assume you can hold the lag. Guess what you just did? You slowed the club down, but at least it looks pretty on slow-motion video, so you’ve got that, which is nice.
How about adding lag or creating maximum lag by float loading, or some variation of pulling the handle to the ball? Pulling the handle to the ball is using the hands (most often the case), arms or body turn to pull the club to the ball with way too much force and not allowing the body to link up and unwind in the proper sequence. Some call this an “over-active hit impulse” and is the definitive action when the phrase, “I (or you) got quick.”
Float loading is one popular example of pulling the handle. It’s when you delay the setting of the hands and wrists in order to give you the ability to really download the club in transition, and it creates lots of lag. Some really good players do this — Phil Mickelson and Lucas Glover to name two — but they do it naturally. This act is done and preached by hordes of golfers and instructors to create lag when not enough exists as part of a dynamic motion. Below is a dual-photo sequence where I purposely float loaded. It looks pretty, but what you don’t see is the 40 yards of distance I lost from a poor transition sequence, poor timing and awful feel. I have a snapshot of the sour look on my face, but the angle of the camera made me look fat.
This handle-pulling action and others like it almost always creates a steep shaft and steep angle of attack. The hands get isolated from the turn, which delays the rotation of the club and disconnects it from the turn and path. The path can also shift to the right (or left), and the upper body may have to move laterally toward the target so golfers have room to get the club to the ball. The hips have to stall and the hands have to flip, which throws all of the lag away and usually results in a snap hook. Either that, or you get another total disaster — the hips thrust at the ball to shallow the shaft and you dead shank your irons and lay the sod over all your short wedges, pitches and chips when the leading edge digs because you are downloading too much. But at least you have all sorts of lag and forward shaft lean, just like Ben Hogan and me.
The irony was when I was winning long drive titles (even when I compete now), I was doing my best to throw the lag away, as too much doesn’t allow me to hit the ball solid and online.
Here’s the truth: Each individual will have a requisite amount of lag they will produce with a well linked-up swing, and some will have more than others.
At best, lag has an indirect correlation with distance. At worst, having more than you can control and unwind properly will rob you of distance and accuracy for sure. Lag is not thrown away because you are not holding it or not doing some sort of contrived move like float loading to create it; it is the body’s reaction to something else going on. Things like the upper body moving laterally toward the target in the downswing (which steepens the angle of attack and the body throws the lag away to compensate), or too long of an arm swing (as a result of trying to complete the backswing to parallel), which often creates a situation where there isn’t enough rotational speed to get all the way through the ball.
I understand the fascination with lag because long hitters seem to have lots of it, but I am dumbfounded how many people think they must get their backswing to parallel. Other than some meaningless symmetrical connotation, I just ask: why?
John Daly goes way past parallel and long hitter J.B. Holmes is well short of it. So why is parallel so important? It doesn’t get any simpler than everyone has a different optimum backswing and the odds that parallel is the correct one is actually very small. Flexibility is the biggest factor, and if you go all the way to parallel or past it, you are most likely over running your turn with your arms. That gets them disconnected, and means a golfer will have to slow down their turn at some point for them to link up.
Widening the arc has very much the same effect as trying to randomly get to parallel. It will most often disconnect the arms from the turn and force a slow down at some point to link up. Another common residual problem is a change of posture that shifts the path and plane. Late wrist set often accompanies widening the arc, which leads to very narrow downswings and sometimes steep angles of attack. In other words, float loading by accident.
Some will say that a wide arc, float-loading no-handset backswing with a narrower downswing leads to lots of lag and power. I say, try and hit half shots, pitches and wedges that way. You may hit an occasional bomb off the tee, but the other 13 driving holes you are going to be playing from atop someone’s gazebo and you are going to have the short game of Spaulding Smails (you’ll get nothing and like it, too).
Another myth: If you want to have a really good time partying on all parts of the golf course in order to get your money’s worth, restrict the hip turn to maximize X-factor and coil. Let’s put risk of injury aside and just examine what this does to the swing. Now I realize that many of the young PGA Tour stars seem to have very short backswing hip turns and they do. Rory McIlroy, the No. 1 player in the world, is a big one. Let me put it this way: If you are barely out of your teen years and achieve No. 1 status, I won’t make fun of you. But until then, it again causes a disconnect of the arms — are you noticing a pattern with these clichés and arm disconnection? — among other things.
Almost always, it gets the right elbow too far behind the right hip for it to ever recover. The result is an over-the-top move, or a stall of the hips and flipping of the hands at impact. And I know GolfWRXers are not standing in line for either of those swing patterns.
I could go on and on about the catch phrases, how they are implemented poorly and all of the technical errors that result even when done correctly, but I can already hear the snide questions now, “OK genius, if we aren’t supposed to do those things you claim are nasty, what are we supposed to do?”
The short answer is make your swing better, more efficient, have everything match and get transition to work in the proper sequence.
“Well, thanks for that Monte. Using that logic, cold fusion is possible and my 9-year-old will be able to do it as his 4th grade science fair project.”
What I am about to suggest takes time, effort, dedication and often, the assistance of a good pair of eyes helping you. This is how you actually get better at golf and by default, hit the ball longer. I’ll assume proper “individual” setup, although, that might be a mistake on my part.
- Make a backswing where the arms, hands and club stay linked to, and match the turn of the hips and shoulders.
- Shift to the front side with the lower body while keeping the upper body back, giving your body time to transition to the downswing, unwind in a proper sequence and create tilt (yes, you are supposed to have tilt on irons too . . . even wedges).
- Swing as hard as you want, because of the tilt and proper sequence, you are linked up and have all the room in the world to speed your arms up and have them rotate around your body.
Obviously, Nos. 1 and 2 are some of the hardest things to do in golf. There are many ways to do both of them, and it’s what separates great ball strikers and long hitters, from the mere mortals hitting it 210 off the tee and shooting 90.
The point is if you are wasting time trying to accomplish things that can actually be detrimental to distance and excellence, how can you do the basic building block moves that all good players and long hitters have?
The LPGA Tour is kicking off its 2026 season this week at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, and the pros are dealing with something most Florida golfers rarely face: freezing temperatures.
“It’s colder here than in the UK at the minute, which is a first,” said England’s Charley Hull during Wednesday’s media day at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Even Lydia Ko, who lives at Lake Nona, seemed surprised by the cold snap. “We’re pretty much getting to below zero in celsius here, which maybe in other parts of the country they would be thankful, but when you’re in Florida it is a little bit of a surprise,” she said.
If the world’s best players are adjusting their games for cold weather, recreational golfers should, too. Here’s how to play smart when the mercury drops.
Understand What Cold Does to Your Game
Before you change anything, you need to know what you’re fighting against. Cold air is denser than warm air, which means your ball won’t fly as far. Period.
Hull noticed this immediately during practice rounds at Lake Nona. She mentioned hitting a gap wedge into the 18th hole during a previous win but needing a 4-iron during Tuesday’s practice round. That’s a difference of four or five clubs for the same shot.
Action item: Expect to lose 5-10 yards on every club in your bag when temperatures dip below 50 degrees. Plan accordingly and don’t be stubborn about club selection.
Layer Up Without Restricting Your Swing
Hull admitted she wore three pairs of pants during practice. While that might be extreme for most of us, staying warm is critical to playing well in cold conditions.
Your muscles need warmth to function properly. When you’re cold, your body tightens up and your swing gets shorter and faster. Neither of those things help you hit good golf shots.
Action item: Wear multiple thin layers instead of one bulky jacket. Look for golf-specific cold weather gear that stretches with your swing. Keep hand warmers in your pockets between shots. And don’t forget a good hat because you lose significant body heat through your head.
Take More Club Than You Think You Need
This is where ego gets in the way of good scores. When it’s cold, the ball doesn’t compress as well off the clubface. Combined with denser air, you’re looking at serious distance loss.
The pros at Lake Nona are dealing with a course that measures 6,642 yards but plays much longer this week. If they’re adjusting, you should too.
Action item: Take at least one extra club on every approach shot. In temperatures below 40 degrees, consider taking two extra clubs. It’s better to fly the ball to the back of the green than to come up short in a bunker.
Adjust Your Expectations on the Greens
Cold weather affects putting in ways most golfers don’t consider. The ball is harder and doesn’t roll as smoothly. Your hands are cold, making it harder to feel the putter. And if there’s any moisture on the greens, they’ll be slower than normal.
Ko mentioned that she still sometimes reads the greens wrong at Lake Nona despite being a member for years. Cold weather makes that challenge even tougher.
Action item: Hit putts more firmly than usual. The ball needs extra speed to hold its line on cold greens. Take a few extra practice strokes to get a feel for the speed before you putt.
Embrace the Mental Challenge
Hull said something interesting about cold weather golf: “I like the mental toughness of it.”
That’s the right attitude. Everyone on the course is dealing with the same conditions. The player who stays patient and doesn’t get frustrated by the extra difficulty will come out ahead.
Action item: Lower your expectations by a few strokes. If you normally shoot 85, accept that 90 might be a good score in 40-degree weather. Focus on solid contact and smart decisions rather than perfect shots.
Warm Up Longer and Smarter
This might be the most important tip of all. Cold muscles are tight muscles, and tight muscles get injured easily.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul revealed she’s been protecting a wrist injury that bothered her late last season. Cold weather makes those kinds of injuries more likely if you don’t prepare properly.
Action item: Spend at least 20 minutes warming up before your round. Start with stretching, then hit easy wedge shots before working up to your driver. Keep moving between shots on the course to maintain body heat and flexibility.
The pros at Lake Nona this week will adapt and compete at the highest level despite the cold. You can do the same at your local course by following these tips and keeping a positive attitude.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour, and whether you love him or hate him, the guy knows how to win when it matters. After his LIV Golf stint, the five-time major champion returns this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.
What makes Koepka fascinating? He doesn’t fit the mold. His swing isn’t textbook. He doesn’t obsess over mechanics. Yet he’s won three PGA Championships and two U.S. Opens, regularly making it look easier than guys with prettier swings.
So, what can average golfers learn from someone who treats the game so differently? Quite a bit.
Stop Overthinking Every Shot
Koepka describes his approach as “reactionary” rather than mechanical. While most tour pros grind over swing thoughts, Brooks sees the target and hits it. No mental checklist.
This might be the most valuable lesson for weekend golfers who’ve watched too many YouTube swing videos.
How to actually do this:
On the range, hit five balls where you stare at the target for three seconds prior to addressing the ball. Don’t think about grip or stance. Just burn that target into your brain. You’ll be shocked at how pure you hit it when your brain focuses on where the ball is going instead of how you’re swinging.
Next time you play, give yourself a rule: Once you pull the club, you’ve got 15 seconds to hit. Koepka is one of the fastest players on tour because he doesn’t give his brain time to sabotage him.
If you feel tension in your hands at address, you’re trying to control too much. Koepka’s grip pressure is famously light. Loosen up until the club almost feels like it might slip, then add just enough pressure to hold on. That’s your swing thought: soft hands, see the target.
This approach works better under pressure. When you’re standing over that shot with water left and OB right, the last thing you need is a mental checklist. See it, feel it, hit it.
Play to Your Strengths (Even If They’re Not Pretty)
Koepka uses a strong grip that wouldn’t pass muster in some teaching circles. But he’s built his game around what works for him, elite driving distance and recovery skills. He doesn’t try to be someone he’s not.
Here’s how to build your game like Brooks:
Look at your last five rounds and figure out where you’re actually gaining strokes. Bombing it off the tee, but can’t hit greens? Lean into it. Play courses where distance matters more than precision. On tight holes, grip down on your 3-wood instead of trying to thread a driver through a keyhole you’ll miss seven times out of ten.
Koepka knows he can scramble, so he’s not afraid to miss greens. If you’re deadly from 50 to 75 yards, start leaving yourself those distances on the par 5’s instead of going for them in two every time.
Know when to take your medicine. Koepka in the trees at the PGA? He’s punching out to 100 yards, not trying to bend a 6-iron around three oaks. You’re in the rough with a flyer lie and water short? Hit your 8-iron to the middle and move on. That’s not playing scared, that’s playing smart.
Save Your Best for When It Counts
Here’s a wild stat: Koepka’s putting average in majors is often more than a full stroke better per round than in regular events. He elevates when pressure is highest.
How does an amateur tap into that gear? It’s not about trying harder, it’s about caring differently.
Here’s what actually works:
Decide which rounds matter to you. Club championship? Member-guest? That annual trip with college buddies? Circle those dates and treat them differently. Koepka doesn’t care much about regular tour events, but majors? That’s when he locks in.
Two weeks before your big round, change your practice. Stop beating balls mindlessly. Play nine holes in which every shot has consequences. Miss the fairway? Hit from the rough on the next hole too. Three-putt? Twenty push-ups. Koepka’s practice intensity ramps up before majors because he’s rehearsing pressure, not just swings.
Develop a between-shot routine that resets your brain. Koepka is famous for his blank expression after bad shots. Try this: After any shot, take three deep breaths while walking, then find something specific to notice, a tree, a cloud, someone’s shirt. That’s your reset button. By the time you reach your ball, the last shot is gone.
The Bottom Line
Brooks Koepka’s return reminds us there’s no single path to success in golf. His “substance over style” approach proves that results matter more than looking good.
You don’t need a perfect swing; you need a reliable one that holds up under pressure. You don’t need to hit every shot in the book; you need the shots you can count on. And you don’t need to play great every time; you need to play great when it matters.
Welcome back, Brooks. Thanks for the reminder that golf is ultimately about getting the ball in the hole, not winning style points.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Blades Brown made a big impression last week in the California desert, and not just because he’s only 18. He put up numbers that would catch any weekend golfer’s attention. Most of us won’t hit 317-yard drives or find 86% of our greens in regulation, but there’s a lot to learn from how Brown managed his game at The American Express.
Here are three practical lessons from his performance that you can use on your own course this weekend.
Step 1: Give Priority to Accuracy Over Distance Off The Tee
Brown’s driving stats are impressive. He averaged almost 318 yards off the tee, ranking 12th in the field. More importantly, he hit 76.79% of his fairways, tying for fourth place in the tournament.
Think about that ratio for a second. Brown could have swung harder, chased more distance and tried to overpower the course. Instead, he played smart golf and kept his ball in play.
Your Action Item: Next time you’re on the tee box, ask yourself a simple question before pulling the driver. Do you need maximum distance here, or do you need to be in the fairway? If there’s trouble lurking or the hole doesn’t demand every yard you can muster, take something off your swing. Grip down an inch. Make a three-quarter swing. Do whatever it takes to find the short grass. Brown’s approach illustrates that fairways lead to greens, and greens lead to birdies. He made 22 of them last week, along with an eagle.
The math is simple. When you’re hitting three out of every four fairways like Brown did, you’re giving yourself legitimate looks at the green with your approach shots. That’s when scoring happens.
Step 2: Commit To Hitting More Greens
This is where Brown really separated himself. He hit 62 of 72 greens in regulation, an 86.11% clip that tied for first in the entire field. Read that again. An 18-year-old kid tied for the lead in one of the most important ball-striking statistics in professional golf.
How did he do it? By keeping his ball in the fairway (see Step 1) and giving himself clean looks with mid-irons and wedges.
Your Action Item: Start tracking your greens in regulation. You don’t need a fancy app or a statistics degree. Just mark down whether you hit the green in the regulation number of strokes. Par 3s in one shot. Par 4s in two shots. Par 5s in three shots.
Once you know your baseline, set a goal to improve it by 10%. If you’re currently hitting five greens per round, aim for six. The beauty of this approach is that it forces you to think strategically about club selection and shot shape. Brown’s strokes gained approach number was positive (0.179), meaning he was better than the field average. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be on the dance floor more often.
When you hit more greens, you eliminate the need for heroic short game shots. Brown only had to scramble 10 times all week, and he got up and down 70% of the time. That’s solid, but the real story is that he rarely put himself in scrambling situations to begin with.
Step 3: Minimize Mistakes And Stay Patient
Here’s the stat that jumps off the page: Brown made only three bogeys all week. Three. In four rounds of professional golf against the best players in the world.
He also made just one double bogey. That kind of clean card doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you play within yourself, avoid the big miss and trust that pars are never bad scores.
Your Action Item: Before your next round, decide that you’re going to play boring golf. No hero shots over water. No driver on tight holes just because you can. No aggressive pins when there’s a safe side of the green.
Brown’s performance shows us that consistency beats flash every single time. He didn’t lead the field in any single strokes gained category, but he was solid across the board. That’s how you post numbers and cash checks.
Give these three steps a try. Your scorecard will thank you.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
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Rick
Feb 8, 2015 at 2:08 pm
To confusing and incoherent. I just started this sport about a year ago and searching the web has done nothing more than slow my progress. These type of teaching tips can’t help anyone. My conclusion is that if you want to compete in longdrive go to the best in the world. They might help you but I can’t imagine why if you will be a threat to them. I had to learn this very complicated swing mostly on my own watching videos of the best. Now I’m one of the best in the world and all I can say is these wannabes can really stymie your progress with this nonsense.
Eli Yates
Feb 27, 2015 at 12:57 am
are you serious? this is a great article. this guy knows what he is talking about… I dont have a lot of lag but I am synced up pretty well and my… what “they” would call my “throw away” allows me to hit my 6 iron 195 yards on a smooth swing but the fact that I get pretty well synced up I can hit my 6 up to 210 yards in benign conditions. I wanted more lag forever… and then I realized that everyone only has so many and then if you watch certain long drive guys you can see some of them have what would be called the minimum amount of lag where the clubhead isnt too far behind the hands and when they hit the ball they let the club head just pass through so it looks like they are casting when in reality they are crushing the ball. it helps to be able to rotate fast and get out of your own way. I really think this guys article is on point.
Josh
Sep 27, 2013 at 8:52 pm
I love this article!! I have just recently discovered all this for myself. I am a very flexible young player that can easily turn shoulders past 90 degrees. I also have great hip turn speed and hand speed from years of baseball before golf. So for years I thought well turn shoulders as far as I can then take the hands as far back as I can and then unwind as fast as possible. When I could catch up yes it was a ridiculously long ball, sometimes well over 320. BUT, the normal shot was a high ballooning ball flight and only went about 270. I also never understood the proper way to drive my lower body and shift weight. I would just get left as quick as possible with out worrying about where my head position. Now that I have gained the understanding of keeping the head over the ball and keeping my hands connected with the body and letting the hand speed kick in once the body is out of the way, I can consistently hit a never ending boaring shot that is as consistent as the best in the game!!! Wish I had this article put in front of me when I first picked up the game!!!! Thanks for the great article Monte.
pinhigh18
Apr 23, 2013 at 6:34 pm
As others have said – great article Monte. I am always concerned about the one-liners and quick hits from the pic-heavy articles in the glossy magazines (but I love the glossy mags too). On top of having a great sense of humor, Monte hits on some of the swing killers that even better players are victim to.
John Short
Apr 2, 2013 at 12:39 am
Terrific article laced with Monte’s wicked sense of humor. I took an in person lesson with Monte a couple of weeks ago. He fixed a significant flaw in what I at least thought was a pretty good swing that I had developed on the years. I am striking it better than I have in a long time. He really knows what he’s doing. Watch for his articles. You will learn a lot.
rsockolich
Apr 1, 2013 at 1:46 pm
In my opinion, 100% percent accurate. In fact, the best article written in the past 20 years.
If average players would realize that although the cast and flipping motion of the club is not attractive, it is a FUNCTIONAL release pattern. If they would spend the time and learn how to shift their center of gravity and rotate it thru the ball dynamically they could build a manageable motion, have more fun, and ultimately play faster.
Pingback: An article I wrote for Golfwrx | Monte Scheinblum's Blog
Xander Walsh
Mar 26, 2013 at 10:18 pm
Great article!
Lee
Mar 26, 2013 at 6:38 am
The “x-factor” definitely causes the hips to stall…even Rory’s.
Great article.
Joe Golfer
Mar 26, 2013 at 2:28 am
Glad to hear you de-bunk that X-Factor thing about restricting the hip turn and having the big shoulder turn.
It seems very un-natural to try to restrict the hip turn, and it just throws all of my timing and tempo completely off kilter.
Steve Pratt
Mar 26, 2013 at 1:03 am
Great effort Monte! You are speaking truth to power my friend.
Stop trying to hold the lag people! It is an illusion!
Like Nicklaus used to say, “As long as I moved to my left side, I felt like I couldn’t release it too early.”
And collapsing the arc just to get your swing to parallel won’t give you any more power – will just take the clubhead off the original ‘track’ with the ball.
Great insightful points – looking forward to more.
Rob
Mar 25, 2013 at 10:29 pm
Monte, I love your matter of fact type instruction. You’re awesome. I’m excited for my lesson with you!
SunkTheBirdie
Mar 25, 2013 at 7:37 pm
Great article Monte.
However, you write 10 good ones a day in the Forums.
Thanks for your ongoing awesomeness @ the gWRX.
Sean
Mar 25, 2013 at 1:01 pm
Thank you for disabusing me of many of the myths I thought were true. 🙂
Matt Newby, PGA
Mar 25, 2013 at 12:43 pm
Monte,
Some great points in there. Especially a fan of #2. Once I get people to understand the proper tilt and extension of the spine through impact it is amazing how quickly they can add distance. Didn’t realize you were teaching over at Oak Creek now. Love your practice facility. Get a hold of me a day if you get some spare time to actually play some golf and discuss some instruction philosophy.
Matt Newby, PGA
chris
Mar 25, 2013 at 5:21 am
A very informative, funny and useful article. Thanks for taking the time to write your thoughts, and I will try and incorporate these swing thoughts into my next practice round!
yo!
Mar 25, 2013 at 4:00 am
Swing as hard as you can as slow as you can.
Ted
Mar 24, 2013 at 5:30 pm
Monte, great article. You’ve helped me understand some of the issues with my own swing and what I’ve been incorrectly attempting to do. I was slowly coming to some of the same conclusions but you’ve explained those issues and helped me reach those conclusions much more quickly than I could have on my own. I’m a slow learner. 😉 I can’t wait to get to the range and re-connect, lose the artificial lag, and stop trying to reach as close to parallel as this old body will allow. Thanks again Monte.