Finally.............

After months of doing drills, and lessons from Mike, and Dana, and advice from y'all, last night at the range it all came together after about 20 mins. of hitting balls. My short irons were o.k. not great but doable, mid to long irons were very iffy, very inconsistent to say the least. My 3H, 3 wood, and driver were...shall we say, a joke. But I never gave up, and kept at it, even though it was very Frustrating at times.

So anyway, one of my main problem was set up, I would hit some shots o.k...then some fat, and some thin. I stopped hitting balls for  a couple of mins..but made a few practice swings and noticed my arms were a tad to relaxed, so I then set up, to make a few practice swings with my arms fully extended, I found that I could hit my low spot much more consistently, so I hit a few balls with my 7i, and low and behold, all 3 went farther and straighter than 99.99% of my previous shots.

So being that my 6i to my 3i and 3H 3 wood, and driver were my hardest to hit clubs, I began with my 5i, hit the first a tad thin, then hit a nice high baby fade, after a 4 or 5 hits, I went to my 4i, then 3i, 3H, 3 wood, and finally my driver. Keeping in mind that my bad back plays a role in how my shots are, I was pleased that I could get my 3H higher, and our to about 190 yds on the fly, I then hit my 3 wood off the mat, and it too went higher than ever with a carry of about 200+ yds and the final test, hit my driver with a nice baby fade to about 240 yds carry.

So since Oct of last year, until now is how long it took me to Finally get to where I now have some confidence in my swing, and all the time I'm implementing the 5 keys as best I could, and hopefully this carries over to the course. So while it may have taken me longer than some to finally get to where I can hit some decent shots, it was well worth the time, $$, and some back pain.

For those questioning the 5 simple keys, and the advice that Erik, Mike, Dave give to you, think again, it does work, IF you do the work and keep your Priorities in place, and practice with a purpose.

I know this isn't that big of a deal to some of you, well, most likely most of you..lol, but I just had to share.

Thanks to Erik, Mike, Dave, and to everyone that helped me..

Thanks guys. I honestly didn't expect anyone to reply to this..lol

Can you explain what you mean by back pain? The reason I ask is because I did evolvr for about 4 months but decided to stop for now, because I live in Nebraska and I know what I need to work on, but I experienced some back pain while working on my swing changes. How does your back feel now? And congrats on the hard work!

I have a twisted, and curved spine. I also have arthritis in my lower back, which creates most of the pain. Pain is is like a burning sharp pain, not fun. As for how my back feels now..? The pain can come and go. The last couple of nights at the range have been pretty good, a little pain but bearable. MY PT tech gave me stretching exercises to do to help relieve some of the pain. I've had this problem since I was 18, 66 now, so I deal with it. You on the other hand should find out why your back is hurting, could be just a minor thing, but it's best to get it checked out.

Thanks, last night's range session was by far the best. Hit my longest driver, and 3 wood and only had 2 shanks..with my PW...LOL

Great work!  One suggestion I would make is to consider adding more hybrids.  I am 62 and have a cranky back (I haven't played in several weeks because of it) which is aggravated by striking down on a golf ball as you would with a 5i or 6i.   In addition, I just could not get the distance that I used to.  Last year I replaced my 2i - 6i with hybrids and got back to the distances I had 10 years ago with fewer injuries to my back (I can occasionally swing a 6h too steeply).  My back is injured now because of foolish heavy lifting on my part and not a golf swing.

It doesn't work for everyone but hybrids have improved my game and taken some of the load off my back.  Good luck!

First off, hope you feel better soon, and can get back to playing golf.

I think what aggravates my back most is my wedges, account of I have to bend over more. Hitting my 6i o.k. for now, 5 down to my 3i are a wee bit iffy..lol. Whats weird is, my driver has the least effect on my back, and now that I've slowed my tempo down, and am getting the most of my club head speed at the bottom of my swing, I feel pretty comfy with the driver, which is 46" long.

I know I'll be getting a 4H, not sure if I'll go beyond that, we'll see. Thanks for the advice.