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Fool

Fool

The Thing cannot be described
Sep 10, 2001
2,886
1,631
Brooklyn
Got a bit more time on my hands, so why not fill it with another expensive, cliquey, time sucking, frustrating, exclusionary sport. Used to play more in my 20s, never very well. Right now I am just trying to get any kind of swing back and watching way too many youtube tutorials. The multiple shoulder injuries and surgeries are not helping. Got a range and a couple of not-terrible public courses not too far from me. One night a week after work on the range right now. We'll see if this lasts. Anyone else playing and if so, HOW DO YOU MAKE THE STUPID BALL GO STRAIGHT

Starting a thread here because I assume it's about as well received as the other g-word. That's right, gonorrhea.
 
6thElement

6thElement

Schrodinger's Immigrant
Jul 29, 2008
16,837
14,318
It might be worth looking into seeing if there's some simple lessons you can get some real coaching from. It's easy to get your stance closed for a draw/hook or open for a slice/fade if you haven't played for a while and your alignment is off.

I spent all my time as a kid playing golf, now haven't played again for a few years as COVID interrupted me right as I was getting back into it. I see more in my non-mountain living future though, so I've been tempted to head to the range...
 
Fool

Fool

The Thing cannot be described
Sep 10, 2001
2,886
1,631
Brooklyn
One thing I picked up is I am all arms/wrists, so working on that. Agree getting a lesson or two. Youtube dudes all say to do the same thing but in 17 different ways. I think I need some asshole yelling in my face.
 
Fool

Fool

The Thing cannot be described
Sep 10, 2001
2,886
1,631
Brooklyn
Last night put my 9 iron with relative consistency at the 125 yard target for around 20 swings. Great. Fine. Couldn't do anything with the 7 or 5 after that. Lesson time.
 
Adventurous

Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,733
9,683
Crawlorado
Fool said:
Got a bit more time on my hands, so why not fill it with another expensive, cliquey, time sucking, frustrating, exclusionary sport. Used to play more in my 20s, never very well. Right now I am just trying to get any kind of swing back and watching way too many youtube tutorials. The multiple shoulder injuries and surgeries are not helping. Got a range and a couple of not-terrible public courses not too far from me. One night a week after work on the range right now. We'll see if this lasts. Anyone else playing and if so, HOW DO YOU MAKE THE STUPID BALL GO STRAIGHT

Starting a thread here because I assume it's about as well received as the other g-word. That's right, gonorrhea.
Click to expand...
I've been playing for 30 years now. Played competitively in high school and college and got down to a 0 handicap. Im still maintaining a single digit these days, despite not playing much. Not bragging, but more to say that I've seen a lot during those years.

Couple of things to dispel:
1. A STRAIGHT SHOT SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED THE IDEAL.

Practically no competitive golfers play a straight shot. Neither should amateurs, but for different reasons. Most people will naturally hit a certain shot shape and it's a hell of a lot easier to get consistent if you embrace it rather than try to play a shot that doesn't fit. It'll literally double the amount of fairway/green surface you have at your disposal.

2. Fundamentals establish a consistent, repeatable golf swing, but they should be considered guidelines, not rules. There are plenty of high level golfers (Scotty Scheffler, for one) that have fundamentally flawed swings. Literally the only part that matters is the point of impact. Do whatever the hell you want before and after that, so long as your point of impact is solid you'll be good.

That said, some fundamentals are more important than others. Definitely learn a proper grip and how to align yourself.

3. 50%+ of shots take place with wedges and the putter. Piping a drive is awesome, but doesn't mean shit if you can't get up and down. Get good playing partial wedges, chips, pitches, and putts. Learn how to hit low wedges and high wedges. Recognize that it's easier to put the ball on the ground and let it run up to the flag than fly it all the way there. Learn how to get creative by putting from the fringe with a fairway wood rather than trying to use a sand wedge.

Lots of bad golfers invest gobs of time hitting full shots while neglecting the area of the game that can elevate your game the most.

Lessons are a good start, but are by no means an end. I've never had a formal lesson, instead opting to develop my swing by filming and using Youtube to compare to PGA tour players who are similar. I can film myself at home and not lose focus banging out balls at a range.
 
Fool

Fool

The Thing cannot be described
Sep 10, 2001
2,886
1,631
Brooklyn
Appreciate the input. I have a few friends who are just naturally good. I think CBJ is no slouch himself even though he hates the game. When I was playing more, my short game was always pretty ok. I was always much more comfortable with lower irons and wedges, than off the tee or the fairway. Or should I say in the woods or tall grass or lakeside drop zones on either side of the fairway.

I am just trying to get to a comfortable swing. Not looking for miracles. I can see what I am doing wrong watching a few swings I've recorded. Weighted on my back foot and all arms and wrist and fake/zero follow through. As I said, youtube dudes all say the same thing with a million ways to address it, but it's a lot different trying to make the mechanics work on my own. Nothing feels right.
 
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Adventurous

Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,733
9,683
Crawlorado
Fool said:
Appreciate the input. I have a few friends who are just naturally good. I think CBJ is no slouch himself even though he hates the game. When I was playing more, my short game was always pretty ok. I was always much more comfortable with lower irons and wedges, than off the tee or the fairway. Or should I say in the woods or tall grass or lakeside drop zones on either side of the fairway.

I am just trying to get to a comfortable swing. Not looking for miracles. I can see what I am doing wrong watching a few swings I've recorded. Weighted on my back foot and all arms and wrist and fake/zero follow through. As I said, youtube dudes all say the same thing with a million ways to address it, but it's a lot different trying to make the mechanics work on my own. Nothing feels right.
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I can understand that. Death by information overload.

Don't try to fix everything all at once. You'll find a billion different drills to fix a billion different ailments. Grip, alignment, and tempo should all at the top of your list to work on. Develop good habits for each of those, regardless of the rest of your swing, and they'll carry over to whatever swing you end up with.

It's easy to get armsy when you don't engage your core properly. Try to remember, you are rotating around your waist and should swing through the ball. You shouldn't think of it as hitting the ball so much as it gets in the pathway of your swing.

Post up your swing if you want. I'm happy to critique/give feedback. Down the line and head on are the most helpful views.
 
boostindoubles

boostindoubles

Nacho Libre
Mar 16, 2004
8,212
6,618
Yakistan
I played golf in high school but would shank the ball into the weeds on the first hole so I could go into the bush and smoke weed. Best sport ever!
 
Fool

Fool

The Thing cannot be described
Sep 10, 2001
2,886
1,631
Brooklyn
Adventurous said:
I can understand that. Death by information overload.

Don't try to fix everything all at once. You'll find a billion different drills to fix a billion different ailments. Grip, alignment, and tempo should all at the top of your list to work on. Develop good habits for each of those, regardless of the rest of your swing, and they'll carry over to whatever swing you end up with.

It's easy to get armsy when you don't engage your core properly. Try to remember, you are rotating around your waist and should swing through the ball. You shouldn't think of it as hitting the ball so much as it gets in the pathway of your swing.

Post up your swing if you want. I'm happy to critique/give feedback. Down the line and head on are the most helpful views.
Click to expand...
I think I can be patient with making progress here. Once I get a gorilla suit to wear, I'd be happy to post a few swings.
 
eric strt6

eric strt6

Resident Curmudgeon
Sep 8, 2001
24,156
14,763
directly above the center of the earth
Haven't played since I tore and has the distal head of my biceps tendon reattached but before that I was a 10 handicap. Short game gets you the score. I carried Pitching wedge, Sand wedge, Intermediate wedge lob wedge and a putter 9iron, 8 iron 7 iron 6 iron 5iron. 5 wood 3 wood , Driver. I only pulled out the driver on wide open fairways on par 5s. Better to keep it in play and take shorter clubs that you can manage that try an kill it with the big clubs and lose the ball. My best scores were when I played conservatively. An old guy fixed my swing. He had me pause at the top of my backswing for a microsecond. he said you have to finish the back swing before starting the downswing otherwise I would never catch up and square the clubface at impact. In my case he was right
 
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