Taking up Golf

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Discussion

Yoof Full Chav

38,748 posts

186 months

Saturday 3rd September 2011
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Aizle said:
Bing o said:
Lessons and practice. That's what I'd spend my money on. Want to set a lap record at the Nurburgring - do you just jump in to an F1 car and mash the throttle, or do you spend years learning the nicities of throttle control, steering, apex lines etc?

My best advice as a single digit handicapper - short game short game short game. Learn to take no more than 3 to get down from 100 yards, and then turn the threes into twos and voila, all the pressure on your long game is gone!

Even the Pros who do this day in day out hit bad shots - big slices, hooks etc, but the number of times they scramble it in is amazing, and probably what sets a pro apart from a good amateur.

Next time you play, count the number of shots you have from within 100 yards and I'd reckon it will be about 70% of your score, yet most golfers blast away at the driver for hours on end at the range...
This, +1 etc etc.

I play off 11 and getting back into golf after a year or two off regular playIng.

My long game is all over the place but from 100 yards in I seem to be scraping pars or saving huge disasters.

Time on the putting green pays off too as even a bad shot on can then be holed or a simple tap in after a long putt.
The biggest problem is driving the ball off the tee. Once i'm away from the tee and using irons, i'm not too bad, i can hit them straight, and on a good day, i 3 putt max, usually 2 putt, but my drives are always sliced, so i spend half the time looking for a ball, which i can never find, and so end up having to drop a shot, and go from there. Lessons are something that i will be investing in, once i can replace my clubs with my late dad's clubs(his are better quality than my cheap dunlops), so as long as they can get me to hit the ball straight without thinking about it, or as near to straight as possible, then i can worry about adding distance later, but thanks anyway guys smile

JamesNotJim

755 posts

185 months

Saturday 3rd September 2011
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Yoof Full Chav said:
The biggest problem is driving the ball off the tee. Once i'm away from the tee and using irons, i'm not too bad, i can hit them straight, and on a good day, i 3 putt max, usually 2 putt, but my drives are always sliced, so i spend half the time looking for a ball, which i can never find, and so end up having to drop a shot, and go from there. Lessons are something that i will be investing in, once i can replace my clubs with my late dad's clubs(his are better quality than my cheap dunlops), so as long as they can get me to hit the ball straight without thinking about it, or as near to straight as possible, then i can worry about adding distance later, but thanks anyway guys smile
If you struggle with slicing have some one look at your swing path. You'll most probably be coming across the ball and if not it'll be your hands not turning over and leaving your club face open.

Yoof Full Chav

38,748 posts

186 months

Saturday 3rd September 2011
quotequote all
JamesNotJim said:
Yoof Full Chav said:
The biggest problem is driving the ball off the tee. Once i'm away from the tee and using irons, i'm not too bad, i can hit them straight, and on a good day, i 3 putt max, usually 2 putt, but my drives are always sliced, so i spend half the time looking for a ball, which i can never find, and so end up having to drop a shot, and go from there. Lessons are something that i will be investing in, once i can replace my clubs with my late dad's clubs(his are better quality than my cheap dunlops), so as long as they can get me to hit the ball straight without thinking about it, or as near to straight as possible, then i can worry about adding distance later, but thanks anyway guys smile
If you struggle with slicing have some one look at your swing path. You'll most probably be coming across the ball and if not it'll be your hands not turning over and leaving your club face open.
So, hands not turning over...as in, when you swing back, roll the hands over?? I thought that would increase the chances of a slice?? I think i know what the problem is, but it's being able to subconciously correct it. Also, it's strange how it only affect me when i use the driver, or 3 wood, not when i use an iron normally. The last visit was different, and i did slice two with an iron, but by that point i had had enough of the infernal game, and was about 5 minutes from killing someone, but usually, i can hit an iron straight ish, but a driver or wood, even if i stand facing the left, it still goes right. Oh well, come october time, i will have some different clubs, and then some lessons, and see how i go from there


andr3w

218 posts

174 months

Saturday 3rd September 2011
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The most common reason for a slice is coming over the top or 'casting' on the way down. We get to the top of your swing and then immediately think we have to smash the thing as hard as possible, the shoulders spin causing centrifugal force to be transmitted to the club and it comes outside the line and then down and inside on the way through causing the slice. Try and start the downswing with a weight shift onto your left heel. Feel like the first move is like you're trying to squash a bug under your left heel. This will get your weight onto your left side and the club should naturally come down rather than out.

andr3w

218 posts

174 months

Saturday 3rd September 2011
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Can I got against the grain slightly and recommend not blowing £100s on lessons necessarily. I believe there are cheaper ways of getting the fundamentals in place. Immediately going to a pro can often be a frustrating experience for both parties. Instead get on youtube, you can get 100s of free lessons there. Videotape your swing, some of the youtube pros will give you a free analysis, post your swing on forums (e.g. golf wrx) and good players will give you tips. Read Hogan's 5 lessons and other books. At least once you've done all this, you'll have a solid understanding of the fundamentals and swing mechanics and then any lessons you get will be more valuable.

bigbubba

1,005 posts

218 months

Saturday 3rd September 2011
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In my opinion, the best money you can spend on golf is on proper PGA pro lessons.

I would strongly avoid You Tube lessons, there are some good ones and there are some shocking ones. The problem for a novice is knowing how to differentiate.

A proper 'real' pro can correct your swing path in 30 minutes and £15.

If I said to you give me £15 and I can cure your slice I bet you would snap my hand off? A good pro can achieve that if you are prepared to listen!

BB

Yoof Full Chav

38,748 posts

186 months

Saturday 3rd September 2011
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Well the club we play at, does 4x1hr lessons for £50, on the course not the range, and you can take someone along for free, so that isnt too bad

andr3w

218 posts

174 months

Saturday 3rd September 2011
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Yoof Full Chav said:
Well the club we play at, does 4x1hr lessons for £50, on the course not the range, and you can take someone along for free, so that isnt too bad
That's fantastic value. Don't get me wrong I'm not against getting lessons, but I think it's useful to supplement them by doing the other things as well. Take the things the pro talks about and research them online, you'll find a ton of people with the same issues talking about methods/drills etc to help resolve them.

Fats25

6,260 posts

228 months

Saturday 3rd September 2011
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I play golf. Not very well, but I do play (18 handicap).

I do other stuff as well, like driving, riding motorbikes, used to play football to a fairly decent level etc etc, and have been taught how to do all of them through training and lessons. I have also had a few golf lessons, probably around 10, but I cannot do what I am told to do!

Really weird, as I listen, I tell my body to do what it want it should do, but I still revert to how I hit a ball naturally. I will probably never get below a 15 handicap, despite playing every week because of this, but lessons do not seem to work for me.

I end up reading what I should be doing and how to improve, and then teach myself.

Some good advice in this thread though, especially around routines, and improving short game.

andr3w

218 posts

174 months

Saturday 3rd September 2011
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Fats25 said:
I play golf. Not very well, but I do play (18 handicap).

I do other stuff as well, like driving, riding motorbikes, used to play football to a fairly decent level etc etc, and have been taught how to do all of them through training and lessons. I have also had a few golf lessons, probably around 10, but I cannot do what I am told to do!

Really weird, as I listen, I tell my body to do what it want it should do, but I still revert to how I hit a ball naturally. I will probably never get below a 15 handicap, despite playing every week because of this, but lessons do not seem to work for me.

I end up reading what I should be doing and how to improve, and then teach myself.

Some good advice in this thread though, especially around routines, and improving short game.
It's very difficult to re-program your brain to learn new movement patterns. You gotta get the repetitions in at the range and do drills. It can take 100s if not 1000s of reps to ingrain a single change. Patience is the key in this game smile

Fats25

6,260 posts

228 months

Saturday 3rd September 2011
quotequote all
andr3w said:
It's very difficult to re-program your brain to learn new movement patterns. You gotta get the repetitions in at the range and do drills. It can take 100s if not 1000s of reps to ingrain a single change. Patience is the key in this game smile
It's not the repetition piece that is the problem, it is actually doing it!

My golf club has a very good pro, and all the latest video technology etc, but I cannot do what I am being told! I know what the guy is telling me, I see it, and yet my body will not do it. Don't get me wrong my grip has been changed, and my starting position etc, which is easy, it is getting the arc of the swing, pace, and finishing position that no matter how much I am told, I just cannot do it. If I could do it I could then practice it smile

I don't mind being an 18 handicapper as I can give anyone a game, and if I have a good day I can play to 11/12 which means I often win the swindle money! Also I play it for fun, I find the better people are the less fun they seem to get from it!

Yoof Full Chav

38,748 posts

186 months

Saturday 3rd September 2011
quotequote all
andr3w said:
Yoof Full Chav said:
Well the club we play at, does 4x1hr lessons for £50, on the course not the range, and you can take someone along for free, so that isnt too bad
That's fantastic value. Don't get me wrong I'm not against getting lessons, but I think it's useful to supplement them by doing the other things as well. Take the things the pro talks about and research them online, you'll find a ton of people with the same issues talking about methods/drills etc to help resolve them.
As long as he can identify the problem, then i can work at it on the range, and the course to cure it, or at least lessen it's impact on my game. Knowing my luck, he'll tell me where i'm going wrong, and i'll correct it so well, that the one time i want it to fade to the right, it wont, and i'll be just as ticked as i was the last time i played. It's true what the last pro i had lessons with was saying, "when it's going well, golf is a fantastic game, but when it's going badly, you'll hate the game with a passion"

andr3w

218 posts

174 months

Saturday 3rd September 2011
quotequote all
For those confused about how to achieve a good swing plane I like to think of the analogy of a ferris wheel and a merry-go-round. You don't want a backswing that looks like either of these but something in the middle. The horizontal motion should be achieved by shoulder rotation while the vertical motion should be achieved by lifting the arms and hinging the wrists. A swing that is too much rotation will look like a merry-go-round and one that has too much vertical lifting will look like the ferris wheel. You want it to be in between.

Getting the correct blend of these motions will get you dead on plane smile

Yoof Full Chav

38,748 posts

186 months

Sunday 4th September 2011
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Just googling stuff on t'interweb, like you do, and one page i came across on how to fix a slice, had some good suggestions. Apart form set up, stance etc, the main tip was

Try to imagine a golf ball a couple of inches ahead of yours, as you swing at the ball, try to swing as if you would follow on and hit this imaginary ball. Obviously if your posture, set up and swing is not right, then this will never work, but it's something i shall try and see if this helps.

taaffy

1,120 posts

238 months

Sunday 4th September 2011
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As an ex golf pro i would advise seeking out some lessons ....it will make the difference providing you also practice what has been taught.

Some basics which should be adhered to depending on your physical capabilities though are these...

grip ...if this is wrong then you will never return the clubface square to the ball consistantly.

stance..... feet.. knees....hips... shoulders should all point in the direction of the desired ball direction.

Knees....should be flexed comfortably.

Spine angle when viewed from the rear..... this should be angled from the hips pointing away from the hole.

Assuming you are able bodied then there is no reason not to be able to set yourself up in a textbook manner.
from there it is a simple matter of turning the shoulders back and through to complete the swing.

Most problems even from a good set up arise from poor flexibility causing body movement and a huge urge to smash the st out of the ball.

You would be surprised at how little effort is required to send the ball away a reasonable distance ...

Lessons and practice .....you will improve and in turn will understand why you hit poor shots which will make you a better golfer who can then self correct on the golf course....




Yoof Full Chav

38,748 posts

186 months

Sunday 4th September 2011
quotequote all
taaffy said:
As an ex golf pro i would advise seeking out some lessons ....it will make the difference providing you also practice what has been taught.

Some basics which should be adhered to depending on your physical capabilities though are these...

grip ...if this is wrong then you will never return the clubface square to the ball consistantly.

stance..... feet.. knees....hips... shoulders should all point in the direction of the desired ball direction.

Knees....should be flexed comfortably.

Spine angle when viewed from the rear..... this should be angled from the hips pointing away from the hole.

Assuming you are able bodied then there is no reason not to be able to set yourself up in a textbook manner.
from there it is a simple matter of turning the shoulders back and through to complete the swing.

Most problems even from a good set up arise from poor flexibility causing body movement and a huge urge to smash the st out of the ball.

You would be surprised at how little effort is required to send the ball away a reasonable distance ...

Lessons and practice .....you will improve and in turn will understand why you hit poor shots which will make you a better golfer who can then self correct on the golf course....
I will be getting some more lessons at some point, but about 3 weeks ago, i could hit the ball straight ish, and now, it's all gone to hell. I think i know some of the causes, the urge to smash the ball miles being one of them, but also a poor set up. I think my grip is reasonably good, and the swing itself is okay, i think half of my problem is wanting to be able to do it all NOW, and getting really ticked off when i can't. I probably should remember that i only started to play the game regularly about 4 months ago, and am no doubt trying to be lee westwood, when i should be trying to just hit the ball properly, and worry about distance at a later date

Yoof Full Chav

38,748 posts

186 months

Sunday 4th September 2011
quotequote all
Gaz. said:
Yoof Full Chav said:
I think i know some of the causes
You're a step ahead of me then. According to this http://www.tydaniels.com/images/hook-slice-chart.j... I slice my Driver & 3 wood, and fade my 5 wood and hybrids. As you said earlier it's pointless looking for a long lost ball after using a driver and dropping a ball so I've been using my 5i to tee off with, although again as you say this is thoroughly demoralising when faced with an uphill 486 yard par 5 (it looked like a sodding airfield from the tee) with just iron play.

I'm booking a lesson tomorow and will working very hard to sort this (my shortgame is just stupid mistakes and a lack of practice, but I just don't know where to start with my long game)

Where do you play btw?
Looking at that, they are not all slices, some are fades, and i tend to draw my long irons slightly. Yeah it is demoralising when you hit a long iron off the tee, and have to take it to the ball again just to get close to the green, and like you, my short game is shocking. The thing i found though, the more i get ticked off with my wayward tee shots, by the time i get to the green and putting, i have no chance of a decent score, as i am so wound up i miss them from feet away.

We play ay kingswood golf cenre, it's between doncaster and thorne. The course could be in better nick, but it's cheap and cheerfull, there is no booking a tee time, no dress code within reason, and two people can have 4 hour long lessons on the course for £25 each. oh, and it's £6 for 9 holes during the week, and £10 for 18


Edited by Yoof Full Chav on Sunday 4th September 20:11

Aizle

12,429 posts

174 months

Sunday 4th September 2011
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Gaz. said:
That is wrong in my eyes and I'm happy to be corrected.

In my eyes a draw and a fade would have the same shot shape but the draw would start right and then draw back onto the correct line.

Where a fade would start left and move right back to the centre line.

ETA - Like this.



Edited by Aizle on Sunday 4th September 20:13

bigbubba

1,005 posts

218 months

Sunday 4th September 2011
quotequote all
Aizle said:
That is wrong in my eyes and I'm happy to be corrected.

In my eyes a draw and a fade would have the same shot shape but the draw would start right and then draw back onto the correct line.

Where a fade would start left and move right back to the centre line.

ETA - Like this.



Edited by Aizle on Sunday 4th September 20:13
The shot shape is correct on both diagrams.

Whether or not it ends up on the correct line (for the green) depends on whether you have aimed right of target to allow the draw to come back on line (or left for the fade).



Yoof Full Chav

38,748 posts

186 months

Sunday 4th September 2011
quotequote all
By the way Gaz, how do you get on with the hybrids?? I have nearly all irons, only a 3 metal/wood is the odd one out. I find the irons are very unforgiving of a bad strike, but immensely satisfying when you hit it just right, the three iron soaring, what seems like, miles when you hit it just right. I know a couple of guys who have hybrids and they swear by them , whereas i struggle to hit my wood(and the driver before the 'accident')but can hit my irons fairly easily