FUNdementals

[schapman]

So i picked up and have gone through Jack Nicklaus' Golf my way and now Ben Hogans 5 lessons.

Trying out their stuff has made an amazing difference on my swing. I was at the range last night and hitting like I never have before. I can even feel/tell now what I did wrong when i hit a slice or hook or topped the ball. Just focusing on straight left arm + head down + hip turn to start the shot. All those extra swing thoughts I was having before are just gone now.


Love this game :)

[PiKapp23]

Those 2 books are great books for new golfers especially because they keep the fundamentals very simple and basic, and thus, very easy to learn. My father is a PGA Professional for 20+ years now and almost always recommends these books to new golfers and still uses a lot of their fundamentals and approach in his teaching. Don't be tempted to check out other approaches for a little while so you can ensure a strong understanding of the fundamentals that are so critical to playing this game well.

Good luck and keep having fun.

[DeanS]

I played Saturday and Sunday this week after spending two weeks on the range working thru my swing flu issues. Well, I was reluctant to play Saturday. My swing/ball flight hadn't improved much and I didn't want finish the day angry with my performance. Something had to change.

A little history is needed here. I play Carlton Oaks here in San Diego. It has a slope of 146 from the tips and 139 from the blues. It’s a river valley course and a Dye design. There is not an easy shot anywhere the course. For the last year plus some I've have consistently shot a 92. It didn't matter if I played the blues or the tips, always a 92. The source of my frustration.

Saturday I shot a 95 but I had two extraordinary shots. The first a 300 yard 3-wood with the wind at my back, then over and down a small hill. And the second a 325-340 drive complete with a draw, down a small hill into a hard fairway and into the water.

What was remarkable about these shots is not the distance, it was the degree of confidence I had when making the shot. At the end of the day I was complaining to one of the pros about my scoring. As it turns out he had been discussing putting on a mental health clinic with a local psychologist. That conversation was all about relaxing the hands, feet and calming rapid eye movement.

I was reluctant to play Saturday and didn't start out well. But at the end of the first hole I had an epiphany. I realized that I had been tensing my chest muscles when my confidence was low. If what the pro had said was true then what I needed to do was quiet these muscles and not be afraid of making an aggressive swing. It worked. I stretched and tensed my muscles just before setting up and let my muscle memory do the rest. I shot an 88 from the blues. Maybe now I will be able to beat back that 13 index.