There is a nice little trick in MH3U that can be very helpful as well. After the triple pound (Golf-club hit), Tap the R button, and it prevents you from having to just wait around for your hammer to reset. You can also dodge much quicker after tapping the R button, getting you out of some pretty nasty situations. You can pretty much do infinite combo while doing this.
If you tap R while you are moving, you will do your move in that direction, repositioning yourself for some good hits... or just press it alone if you are in a perfect position (like when the monster is in a trap), and you just need to keep your combo going.