Golf Forum

When I first started playing again, I thought I wanted to take lessons. But I've decided not to. Let's face it, I'm never going to be a professional, so I've decided to teach myself by taking advice from fellow golfers and reading books like Dubious just suggested. Will I have a fundamentally sound swing? Probably not. I will however have taken some satisfaction in doing it my own way.

My personal best so far is a 96. Definitely not that good, but it's not that bad. I don't get too frustrated with it any more. It's all about being outdoors with friends, drinking some beers and having a good time.

Funny what a tee-shot between the legs can do to one's approach to the sport.

 

Hey Dubious...
I've been playing for a while and one of the things that I'd be really interested in trying would be to have a tutor play 18 holes with me and give me pointers every step of the way. How much does something like that usually cos?

(at Wildcat or Memorial, etc.... I live 1.4 miles away from Memorial)

 

Pros love to give playing lessons, cause it get's them off the range and on the course. The time is always a problem though. 2 hour nine, four hour round.

Won't be cheap.

What do you need to know? Strategery?

 

Actually, I think have pretty damn good strategy. My problem is execution. I get the feeling that I'm making the same mistake over and over again. If I could know what I was doing wrong, I could correct for it.

(swing plane? balance? backswing? hip rotation? downswing? follow through? left arm bent? raise/lower my head?)

What I'd like would be if someone could be there with me saying, "See - you did it again. Stop it. Fix it like this...."

Eh.... doesn't really matter. I can barely afford green fees, much less a playing lesson.

 

I would defintly reccomend ebay. Its a great place to buy used clubs as well as sell them. You can find a set of Callaway x-14's on there for around $200. Look for a set with regular flex steel shafts. Callaway irons are easy to hit for beginners and hold their resale value very well. Its more than you really need for someone just starting but it will give you something to grow into and you wont lose much on them if you sell them again on ebay.

Just pick up some cheap putter at the golf store to get started. As far as woods, hold off on buying a driver for a while and just get a 3 and 5 wood. You could probably get bye fine with just a 3-wood to use off the tee and pick up a 5-wood later.

Also second the book that Dubious reccomended.

 

Yeah those would work well. Looks like a nice deal too.

Pretty much any cheap putter will get you started. Just make sure that its a weighted better, not like the ones at the put-put places. An used older model ping would be really nice but you really dont need much to get started.

For a bag, if you plan to walk/carry while playing get one with pop out stand and a comforable strap. If you are going to ride every time, anything will do.

 

Here's another tip: videotape yourself on the range. You'll be surprised what you can learn by actually seeing your swing mistakes. I have problems with my swing plane and they are easily identified on tape.

 

I thought about doing this, but I would probably end up taking out the camera with my wicked slice.

No one. NO ONE has a slice like mine. Im actually quite proud of it. Took alot of hard work to hone it.

 

Go in the proshop and ask for a club box, they are 4" square and 4 feet long.
Lay it on the ground parallel to line to your target. Put a ball down next to the box and hit it without hitting the box....slice cured.

90% of all golfers swing over the top, letting the club go outside of the swing plane on their first move down, like they are chopping wood with an ax. The first move to change the club's direction should be to shift your weight on your feet from right to left and then rotating your hips. Let your lower body pull your lower back muscles then your shoulders like cracking the end of whip. When you do that it pulls your hands down a little bit (dropping into the slot) so you stay on or inside out of the plane. It also helps if you keep your wrist cocked 90' almost until you reach the point of contact. If you cast the club early in the swing the weight of the club pulls outside the plane (conservation of angular momentum!)

Take the club away straight back on the line to the target leaving it as close to the ground as you can till it has to start lifting. This get you body rotating instead of just lifting the club with your arms. Let the club rotate and **** your wrists, rotate from your lower body, hold the angle till the club has to release, and release the club down the line to your target.

If you visualize the ball sitting at the center point of a clock, take the club away over 7 o'clock and take it through the ball to 1 o'clock.

If I am on the golf course and I start slicing , I just try to focus on the inside back of the ball and try to hit it there. That forces an inside out swing. On the tee I mark my ball with a permanent marker and then place the mark on the inside back, I try to hit the spot and the ball goes straight or draws.

That'll be $50, we prefer cash.

 

I used to have a slice and I completely cured myself of it. Now I drop my left shoulder down on my downswing and hit most of my shots straight as an arrow into the woods on the left (ripping up a large divot in the process) .

If we ever play golf (or go to a driving range) I could probably show you some tips on how to cure your slice.

 

Whatever

You only have to be able to play well enough to beat your friends to enjoy the game. I'd be happy to have a Clutchfans clinic sometime but I only get out on weekdays and a lot of driving ranges frown on outside teaching.

Just read the Hogan book and practice with the box or the clock.
Two commercial aids I do recommend are the PVC and foam tube that makes you not swing over the top and Greg Norman's "Secret" that teaches you to keep your wrist **** through contact.

Off to Falcon Point...otherwise known as F**king Pointless!

 

dude, I don't want to fix my slice .....ive learned to live with it and have gone from a handicap of 50 to about 32.

Plus, my golfing buddy wouldn't have as good of a time without falling down laughing everytime I tee off.

Seriously though, I had two different pros look at my swing. One worked with me 3 different times, about 1 hour each time. 2nd one actually played several rounds with me over the years.

They said if my swing was a horse, they would have shot and killed it.

 

My drives are decent, and my chipping and putting are pretty good, but I can't hit irons worth a crap.

 

See, my irons are my game. Unless its a ridiculously long par 4, I tend to tee off with a 1 or 2 iron. I never got good distance out of them until I got some graphite shafted ones several years ago. Actually, my 1 iron is steel shafted (have had alot of problems finding a graphite shafted 1). My 2 iron is my favorite club. As bad as I am with my driver/slice, I am quite proficient with my 2 iron. I can hit it straight as an arrow, but have lots of problems controlling distance, even without alot of wind.

Nothing beats the good feel of a well hit shot using a graphite shafted long iron.

 

I get a nice, playable drive that isn't long enough, leading to a long approach shot. So I get out an iron and try to kill the ball (which I shouldn't do), dropping my left shoulder down in the process. The result is ugly. Two or three shots later, I've finally gotten to the green.

If I could get distance on my drives and control my iron play better, I'd shave a LOT of strokes off my game.

I just got a new driver (Titleist 975 D), so maybe I can get some distance out of it. Need to go to the range and practice with it.

 

Congratulations on your new purchase! Adams makes a good product.

We're gonna have to have a Clutchfans golf tournament some day.

 

i envy you guys, it's been to cold to play here in ny. i'm itching to get in a round.

 

One of the good things about Houston: year-round golf. (Oh, and by the way, we have about 150 courses in the Houston area). Also, golf here is pretty inexpensive, compared to the rest of the country (yet I still can't afford to play more than once every 3 or 4 months).