Advice for beginner

[TheNatural]

I just started playing, 16 months ago with my dad. I am hooked. I am 6-4 230lbs and from the start was able to drive 280yds with a slice that would frighten.I learned to aim left and found a few fairways, with a $30 Ram and $20 Daly Driver. After 2 months I tried an interlocking grip and my dad gave me his TaylMade drvier, what a diff. 300yds on half my drives,BUT technique lack of lessons, caused mishits and drives of100 yd range some even 50 yds. Hence20+hc. I practiced for hours and days with my 60loft and got it to the point where I could comfortbly hit it from 5yds-110 yds, I have had rounds with 30 putts and many with fewer than 40. Par3 were my greatest challeng so I focused on iron play from the tee, improved that. My best scores were 9 months ago had a 96. 97 on 2 courses in 2 days, 139 slope 73 rating/130slope 70 rating from blues.Even won a long drive in a tourn. with 120 golfers half of which had 9hc or better(290 drive won it, 2 holes later hit one 340)

The curse is not havng the time to play, family work etc. I now am a worm burner, I drive 300 but 1 out 8 hits, 7 go into ground/once i hit the ladies tee and bounced for another 230yds. I need lessons, grip is too strong, BUT I want to go to a Xtra stif shaft with maybe a 15loft driver. I am at 9.5 and normal flex with 2inch ext. tm-x5 driver. I have played about 50 rounds so far and my pairings say they have never witnessed a more powerful swing by anyone they have played with. I am going to golfsmith to time my swing in a day or two to help solve my problem. The ss and my shaft flex are causing so much lag that the club face is still pointing down at impact and skipping over the ball causing ubelievable top spin and dive. I now drive around 100yds due to problem but still score 103 102 due to improved short game. (counting in the penalty strokes)if I can get to consistent driving i would be -20 hc. I have hit balls over 350 yds when they have good launch angle, but only a few.

It is possible but uncommon, I am one who knows, but if I can sort it out, I wont be a 20hc. My buds say I am perfect for a bestball tourn, b/c I have talent just not refined so I contribute about 30 strokes in a 4 some scoring 65-70.(long irons,loft and drives)

When I hit long I use a loft club (PW also) on par 4 to hit green. Par 5 (5 iron & no more to hit green or approach) I lost the talent to hit a 3 wood, but may get a x shaft 7 wood for tests. My pop hits 250 down middle 99% of time, I can only wish for such consistency.

I will score 3 pars, 2 birds, 6 boges, 5 db, 2 blow up hole almost every round.
At times I seem like a sandbagger others like a complete hack.

Cant wait to see my SS. I would score under 20hc if I didnt blow up 2 holes a round, the blow ups always start with a wormburner drive. When I have a good drive the ball spin still goes forward it seems, ball seems to roll forever. I no longer go right or left at all/straight. The most carry I remember is a cold morning I let my anger get the better of me on a drive,,i dropped my shoulder on recoil and the reflex was so great that i felt the ball compress and carry was over 300 yds(same hole I won that long drive on). ill never know what dist could have been b/c i plugged 3 inch deep on impact with fairway, it was a towering drive that went slightly right to left. I am reading that anyone hitting a ball w 300 yd carry should go x shaft, should I go x shaft and 15 loft? or will x shaft help solve club face problems?

thanks for reading to the end... this was initially posted on another thread, but I would really dig some advice on this shaft / loft issue loft.

[grantc79]

I'm guessing this is a joke because there are only a few people in the world who can carry a driver 300 yards.

Then to add to that you said that the ball came down and plugged which means you had to hit it very high with a ton of backspin.

Now if all that was true, if you didn't hit it so high with a ton of backspin you would probably have hit a 380 yard or more drive with roll.

There are only about 5 guys on tour that can do that so basically you are completely crazy if you think we will believe any of that.


I'm a big guy too, bigger than you even and the hardest thing for me to master so far has been tempo. You can be the biggest, strongest guy in the world but if you can't hit the ball consistently straight then it doesn't much matter how fast you can swing.


I can already tell by the words you are using that you haven't figured that out yet.



I go see one of the best golf coaches in the United States and have been playing since May. I have state of the art equipment, tour issue drivers, high dollar shafts, and a swing speed approaching 110 and I have hit a grand total of 2 drives over 300 and those just barely scraped by.

[grantc79]

Why don't you put up a youtube video of your swing?

[Bump-n-MI]

When I was 12 I was impressed with long drives…now that I'm 36 consistency and low scores impress me. A "powerful" swing (if you cannot control it) means nothing except the occasional 300 yd drive (and a lot of lost balls). All you are doing by swinging that hard is instilling bad habits that may be very difficult to break. My suggestion would be to see a pro and work on tempo. If you are as powerful and athletic as you say lessons can do wonders for your game.

[TheNatural]

Why don't you put up a youtube video of your swing?

I will try

I saw your post on the 20 HC thread, and yes your bigger person. I just tell you what I have done, no joke. I use Distance MAster Irons and have put 6 irons out 230yds, the problem I have is I close down on the ball so the irons get dropped by a couple clubs, sometimes. I cant even use a 4 iron off the fairway, because my bad swing, but if I fix my drive I wont really need a 4.. I understand tempo and that explains why a woman can hit 280 on the tour. Its a whip crack effect that I sometimes feel and sometimes not. When the ball compresses at impact I feel it compress. then my tempo is fine, but I think my ss has increased since those drives and it has more sheer swing speed as of late WHEN IT HIT IT CLEAN. The prob is my shaft is like a wet noodle at this speed. Example. I tee of at 1st hole(w/o warm up) and always hit 280 or more, by the time I hit my 4th drive I am wormburning b/c I think I have "warmed up" and am starting to swing faster, thus club face is pointing straight down. ... I dont know how else to state the facts, I got a $50 dinner coupon for my long drive! I gave it to my pop, my wife cant eat seafood. I also recorded the moment I was announced LD winner at the dinner tent of our tourney. I was stoked. One of my clients saw my drive and he knows I suck. BTW I was a decent baseball player. Just trust me and see if you can give a pointer.

[TheNatural]

Yea i heard it from pairings I have been placed with, I will probably see a pro in a week or so at golfgalaxy its so dam cold here i havent pikkd up a club in 3 weeks. the most frustrating is when my long game starts to gel, i think i get cocky and lose focus on the mid and short. gel... meaning i hit all 14 drives over 230 yds and some at 300+

pro to me means "time" a good friend who hits the ball as far if not further has never taken lessons and has a 6 hc. but he stated he took 5 summers of nothing but practice on ranges and course.

[grantc79]

If you hit a 6 iron 230 then you hit the longest 6 iron in the world.

I'm routinely the longest guy in any group that I run with and I hit my 6 iron 200 if I completely pure it with a soft draw on a good day.


Look, I don't want to get into semantics as to how far you hit or how hard you can swing. But if you attempt to hit a 6 iron past 200 yards you aren't really doing yourself any favors.

I already hit the ball further than most of the guys on tour but I would trade my distance for their accuracy any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

In order to hit the ball as far as you do your technique has to be flawless and yet you come here and tell us that your swing is horrible and you spray the ball all over the place.


Tiger, JB Holmes, Adam Scott, and Bubba Watson are the only players that I know of that can hit a 6 iron near as far as you claim you do. Stop and think about that for a second......

Furthermore, its impossible to give advice without actually seeing your swing.

[TheNatural]

sorry didnt see that part of yer post. the ball plugged about 30 yds past my longdrve marker which was 25yds past the 150marker so i had a decent reference point. I hit the plug ball 3 mnths before the tourn which was 4-26-08 so it was in Jan on a 50degree day it plugged think because the ground was mushy from the thaw, but not too mushy where it should have skipped a little. its a long par 4. for what its worth when i play with some people and hit well, the ball nearly disappears at impact, but my trajectory is so low(plug was an exception) that my yardage suffers. My dad says he cant track it until its 100yds out, when they are bhind me. at tee. Once I worm burned over a pond w/topspin hit the water about 50 times jumped on the bank oonto a fairway and rooster tailed the morning dew for 75 yds. im not lying i am a freak.

[flopdarock]

2 very short phrases that will be worth a billion bucks...

1.get lessons... as many as possible in the beginning
2.get fitted by a competent pro

[TheNatural]

listen the 6 iron was a recovery from a worm burn drive, it may get 30 feet in the air or 40. I close the club down when I hit, someone once told me from watching me play so ...6 = a 3 or 4 7 = a 4 or 5. Understand? i know it seems crazy but picture closing a club and hitting in back of stance it comes out on a lower trajectory. I hit this particular shot onto a green where a 4some was and felt so bad I pretended to look for my ball at the 150 marker.

[flopdarock]

videotaping yourself is a good idea... but only if you know what you are looking at an how to correct what is wrong with you swing

[TheNatural]

the spraying is up and down. not left to right.

grip sucks, clubs suck, i play used balls, but when I hit well at %20 of time they go. FYI lately I have not been hitting well at all, but most of that is due to not playing. I chip in my byard from 75 yds and in and am learning to turn club face out etc. I am still learning, if you hit a 50-100yd drive you might swing overly hard too on recovry, but I want to get out of the bad drive so I can swing that %80 with my irons. Not a %110.

You hit it long what is shaft stiffness?

[ks8829]

my 3 simple advise to you:

1) take some lesson
2) watch this video below
3) practice your short game to improve your overall swing

[TheNatural]

I just wanted some advice on shaft ...i play an S with 2inch extensions probably makes it a senior flex. I know my green game is ok as is chipping for a newbie, somedays awesome, but when you turn a par 4 into a 10 it drives you batty. Always due to the wormburns or goose torpedoes... I dont even slice like i sued to. maybe a push once or twice. Bulle Rock in Maryland I have driven the green on the 16th hole w a 4some from whites. was pin high on 2nd hole with 2nd stroke from blues a 570 par5. took 3 strokes to get on green from sand so doesnt say much.

[TheNatural]

A Pro did get to witness my driving ability at the driving range before a round and made one recomendation, he said before I even tee, I should sprint up and down the fairway, because he said I am way too juiced when I start.

Im not here to get an ego boost or brag, I know lessons could help, but I also know one day I will get it down on my own. My pop shoots 15 and has only played 2.5 years from blues. Once I get it down then I need to start walking. Also, I had a 3rd kid in 7-08 since then alot has come undone, but the ss is still there. also, use a strong baseball grip.

[TheNatural]

Teeing off with a 6 iron on a par 4 / 5 is not acceptable either, one person advised this to me...

[golfdad]

hello, sounds like you are having a blast. re the distances off your clubs, i am not that concerned. i think everyone goes through a phase of distance first and control second. only time and experience will guide you to your next comfortable spot.

i would like to raise the issue of short game, since your long game is not that predictable yet. often, without changing much the long game, if you focus more on your short game, simple stuff, putting, chipping, pitching, recovery shots from rough and bunker, things are not that bad.

often, better players also land the ball in bad spots but the difference is that they can put the ball onto the green from the bad spots, instead of "blowing up" couple holes each time. one can learn so much more from bad holes.

think about it and good luck.

[TheNatural]

How about the shaft rating, im already sold on moving to an x with whatever loft i can find, and yes when the boss lets me play I have a blast! even when I drive into the ground.

My best friend is a 15hc and has played for 25 years and claims only one person he hs played with hits with this velocity in his 25 years. I just want to harness the drive and all should fall into place.