A Novice Journey to Building a Bag. (Help Appreciated)

[EnterSandTrap]

It’s to get a feel for the sensation of hitting the ball on the center of the club face and for hitting the ball straight.  Golf is, my opinion, about hitting the center of the club face.  A ball struck in the center of the face with a squared to the target club face is, again my opinion, the most important aspect of golf.  It provides a feel like nothing else in golf.  Swinging hard and striking the ball off the toe or heel of the club when you’re new to the game results in bad feeling shots that erode your confidence.  Hitting fifty half-swing shots and nothing else at the range lets you get back in the car and sleep on a satisfying session.  Remember, in order to play well, you must be confident.  In order to be confident, you must play well 😎.  Good luck.  

[retoid]

  On 5/14/2024 at 7:36 PM, EnterSandTrap said:

It’s to get a feel for the sensation of hitting the ball on the center of the club face and for hitting the ball straight.  Golf is, my opinion, about hitting the center of the club face.  A ball struck in the center of the face with a squared to the target club face is, again my opinion, the most important aspect of golf.  It provides a feel like nothing else in golf.  Swinging hard and striking the ball off the toe or heel of the club when you’re new to the game results in bad feeling shots that erode your confidence.  Hitting fifty half-swing shots and nothing else at the range lets you get back in the car and sleep on a satisfying session.  Remember, in order to play well, you must be confident.  In order to be confident, you must play well 😎.  Good luck.  

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Awesome, thank you very much for chiming in and for explaining. I will give it a try today.
I was chipping in my back yard with my new irons and had a huge smile on my face from just how well they were performing, feeling and sounding compared to the old 70's blades I was playing. I look forward to giving your drill a shot!

[retoid]

  On 5/14/2024 at 7:28 PM, snapfade said:

If you got fit for them, just go hit them. Better yet, do the drills your instructor showed you.

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Reporting back after returning from the range. Ended up hitting a large bucket of balls. First off, I love the irons, definitely hitting them better than the blades I was playing.
I ran the drill above a bit and that was helping me out with my swing and staying a bit more consistent. And I easily veered off and tried to put some distance on the balls and quickly started doing everything wrong, chunking the ball, blading the ball, lifting my head etc. I don't yet have any real muscle memory built up yet so I really have to concentrate on so many things before swinging at the ball. Are my arms in the right position, is my grip right, is my stance proper, don't life your head, don't lift your head, don't lift your HEAD! Rotate inward a bit when I swing, etc. etc. etc. Fact of the matter is, I suck and need a lot of practice. What was great today though was it was the first time I've been at this range where they were allowing us to hit off the grass instead of the mats. I feel like hitting off the grass is much better practice than the mats. 

When I went and got fitted recently, I came home and about a couple hours after getting home my lower back started hurting. I attributed it to not stretching before the fitting. Next day I could hardly walk. So today at the range, not 100% recovered from before, I did some stretching but now I can feel the pain in my lower back again and it's really bumming me out cause I have a tee time on Thursday which I am very excited about. I also let my poor performance at the range get to me a bit, bumming me out. Didn't really leave the range very happy for these reasons.

I'm not sure what the common range balls most places use, I noticed these were some Srixons but I didn't check the model. They just feel and sound terrible, maybe it's just me but I feel like they were a lot more difficult to get feedback from because of the feel and sound. Short chipping in my backyard with better balls, they felt and sounded amazing off the club.
I kept checking the marks on my irons where I was hitting the balls and 9 out of 10 were on the toe end. Not drastic, but enough to where I am not hitting the sweet spot. Definitely something I need to work on. I tried multiple things, choking up on the club, holding back farther, standing closer, positioning my club further forward etc. Anything I seemed to try ended the same, hitting toward the toe. Below is a pic of the 7 iron which I had never hit with before today at the range. So all marks on it are from today.

Also the distance difference between my 7, 8, 9 and PW was not very drastic.

[snapfade]

Hitting toward the toe and on the toe are two different things. Clubs are more forgiving and since manufactures track data they build game improvement clubs to help golfers when they hits towards the toe. I think its Wilson Staff that actually put that wording in their product details for one of their irons. As for your back, all I can say is stretch, I'm no doctor so cant offer much. Here's a drill for you if you are interested.(Buy some spray foot powder and spray your club face when you hit some shots. ) At the range, out in front of you, place a ball directly in front of your position a few yards out, then one off to the left and right. Take turns hitting shots to the center then outside the left ball and outside the right ball or between two of them. Dont adjust your body position or alignment. Set up like you were going to hit the ball straight out in front of you then just use your hands to open/ close the club face to make the ball go to the left or right. My instructor had me doing that last year for club face control and I finally got the hang of it and could manipulate the club face and I was hitting in the center of the club face. it worked for me. Just an idea. 

[retoid]

  On 5/15/2024 at 1:09 AM, snapfade said:

Hitting toward the toe and on the toe are two different things. Clubs are more forgiving and since manufactures track data they build game improvement clubs to help golfers when they hits towards the toe. I think its Wilson Staff that actually put that wording in their product details for one of their irons. As for your back, all I can say is stretch, I'm no doctor so cant offer much. Here's a drill for you if you are interested.(Buy some spray foot powder and spray your club face when you hit some shots. ) At the range, out in front of you, place a ball directly in front of your position a few yards out, then one off to the left and right. Take turns hitting shots to the center then outside the left ball and outside the right ball or between two of them. Dont adjust your body position or alignment. Set up like you were going to hit the ball straight out in front of you then just use your hands to open/ close the club face to make the ball go to the left or right. My instructor had me doing that last year for club face control and I finally got the hang of it and could manipulate the club face and I was hitting in the center of the club face. it worked for me. Just an idea. 

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The irons I have now are cavity back game improvement irons and I can definitely see how they're correcting my mistakes compared to the old blades I was playing before. But there's only so much a club can correct on a poor golf swing :D I'll give your drill a try and see how that works out, thanks for sharing that info. I am also considering taking some lessons as I really want to improve.

Stretching definitely helps but I think not letting myself fully recover was a bad idea. Also years of skateboarding and downhill mountain biking has put a toll on my body, as I get older I can really feel that catching up to me.

[billchao]

And the great game of golf has claimed another soul. Welcome to the Hotel California, @retoid.

[snapfade]

  On 5/15/2024 at 1:31 AM, retoid said:

The irons I have now are cavity back game improvement irons and I can definitely see how they're correcting my mistakes compared to the old blades I was playing before. But there's only so much a club can correct on a poor golf swing 😄 I'll give your drill a try and see how that works out, thanks for sharing that info. I am also considering taking some lessons as I really want to improve.

Stretching definitely helps but I think not letting myself fully recover was a bad idea. Also years of skateboarding and downhill mountain biking has put a toll on my body, as I get older I can really feel that catching up to me.

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I' left lots of skin in many a pools back in the day.

[retoid]

  On 5/15/2024 at 2:28 AM, snapfade said:

I' left lots of skin in many a pools back in the day.

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Haha awesome! Vert is a whole other beast too! I never got too confident on vert ramps or pools. I think all the twisting and turning from flatland tricks took a toll on my lower back. And then I ended up breaking my T6 while mountain biking hehe.
I don't regret it though, hours and hours of fun was enjoyed. Kept me away from doing a lot of other stupid stuff as a kid that I know I would have regretted.

[klineka]

  On 5/14/2024 at 7:36 PM, EnterSandTrap said:

Remember, in order to play well, you must be confident.  

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Nonsense. I played the best ball-striking tournament round of my life yesterday and on at least half of the tee/approach shots as I stood over the ball the main things going through my head were "don't shank this" or "don't top this". I didn't do either one a single time and had no lost balls or penalties. 

[EnterSandTrap]

  On 5/15/2024 at 3:55 AM, klineka said:

Nonsense. I played the best ball-striking tournament round of my life yesterday and on at least half of the tee/approach shots as I stood over the ball the main things going through my head were "don't shank this" or "don't top this". I didn't do either one a single time and had no lost balls or penalties. 

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That’s fantastic 

[retoid]

Ahh man what a relief to finally get a decent round of golf in. Played 18 today at a local public course, they only have 9 holes. First 9 went really bad, and I was 17 over at this point.
Decided to just take it easy with my swings, not trying to kill the ball and not even trying to get good distance, just focusing on a consistent tempo swing. Back nine went so much better and it felt great. Par, bogey, par, bogey, bogey, par, triple, double, par. Wind was blowing a good 15-20mph+ today as well.
Hole 18 is a par 3 at about ~180 yards, direct strong headwind. Tee'd off with a 3h and somehow managed to land the ball 5' from the pin. Choked on the birdie putt of course hah, but was very happy with a par. 
Ended with 93. Which I am happy with as I've never been able to break 100 before today.

New irons felt great! Definitely a huge improvement from the old blades I was playing.

Edited May 16, 2024 by retoid