Adult Beginners

[Travtex]

Anyone else pick up the game after 30-something? At 35 years old, I'm two months in.

Plenty of factors come into play with regard to learning and development, but how did they affect your game? Some things off the top of my head; Learning new skills and brain plasticity. Flexibility/injury recovery time. Plain old stubbornness (Has been both a vice and a virtue for me in golf as well as in most things in life, hah).

Come in from other athletic backgrounds? Did it help or hinder?

Any low cappers start the game later in life? How long did it take you to get there?

(My golf bud and I joke that we're in early training for the Hoveround Senior Open in 2025.)

[chilly]

I'm 33 and just started playing serious golf. I think the biggest issue is that I'd played before, albeit infrequently, and have some ingrained swing faults.

I think one other issue is that I do feel a bit "rushed" to improve. At this advanced age, I don't feel like I have 10yrs to "learn" the game.

[meenman]

I started when I was 38 (am 2 years in now).

The biggest problem is time constraints with real life. Its at the point that even us sales weasels have to work all week to make a living.

As far as starting out - the biggest thing to set me back was taking advice from every stranger out there.

I have downsized my goals at this point and will just be happy to shoot in the low 90s most of the time. Once I reach that I will worry about my next goal.

[Dr_Fu_Manchu]

I am 33 and started 3 years ago this month. Other than borrowing my dad's clubs when I was a kid or looking to drink somewhere else besides a bar with buddies in college, I never played golf. As Meenman said, the biggest obstacle at this age is time. With a wife, kids, career, etc. finding time to play or practice is difficult.

While I have a very athletic background, I never played sports like baseball or tennis. So the golf movement was very foreign to me and I struggled tremendously the first 2 years. Finally, I got a few lessons and learned to utilize my lower body which drastically improved my ball striking.

If I could do it all over again, I would:
- get lessons first before I even went out and played 18
- learn not to think about the swing on the course (I used to sit over the ball for a few minutes and try to remember and then incorporate every thing I ever read about the swing)
- learn to enjoy myself instead of being so competitive and beating myself up over bad shots. I wasn't (and still not) good enough to get upset over them
- learn the game from the hole back or focus on 100 yards and in. It was easier and more fun for me to go to the range and hit balls until my hands blistered. However, I think that was my biggest mistake. I was satisfied with my game if I could strike the ball well, my putting and chipping suffered and cost me strokes. Yet somehow I would walk off the course confused how I could swing so well and score so high. Now, that what I really have to focus on. Once I can get those down, I think I can drop another 5-6 strokes off my game. 3 putts and flubbed chips still haunt my game.

The first year was terrible shooting in the 100's. Last year I started to break 90 and this year I have been doing it consistently with moments that make me realize I have great potential and moments where I would like to sell off all my equipment and quit. Good luck

[tsajjad]

my dad started playing golf at 42 and its been about a year and ahalf and on good days he can play in the 80s . otherwise about 91 92
he sways a lot and doesnt complete his follow through to protect his back !!
oh and he plays with a rawlings golf set.. have u heard that before

[jlund]

I am 25 now. Started playing last July. Already a single handicap..

[Howie]

I started 4 years ago when I was 31. I took 2 small groups of lessons from a local pro, which was good enough to get me going. For those first couple of years, I'd average about a 57 over 9 holes, with a high of 45 or 47...can't remember. This year, at 35, I went to Golf-Tec and used their video analyzers to the full advantage. I got custom fitted and worked through several months of lessons and practice. I average about a 52 now over 9, which I think is a decent improvement. I don't think age matters too much, as long as you put your time in.

I don't think athletic backgrounds matter much, as it really depends on the fluidity of your swing. You could swing at half strength and drive the ball a mile. I am in pretty good shape, but can't hit the distance yet because I haven't learned lag power and my swing isn't right yet.

Just make sure you know your limits and don't get hurt, and you'll enjoy this game quite a bit.

[Travtex]

  Howie said:

Just make sure you know your limits and don't get hurt, and you'll enjoy this game quite a bit.

QFT. I've had a few nagging injury problems likely exacerbated via poor injury maintenance. Part of getting into golf was the fact that I was getting injured more often than I could train (Realized most of my MMA sparring partners were about fifteen years my junior, hah).

I'm too obstinate about ignoring pain... it's a work in progress. (Current list: Pulled lat, recently recovered torn intercostal, longstanding torn knee ligament, longstanding jacked up rotator cuff, old sacroiliac injury, blah blah blah... )

[rjfan91]

I started at age 32. The first year was basically learning the game. I started drastically improving the second and 3rd years. I have taken 3 lessons in the fall and spring of each of these years.

Time is the biggest issue between work, family and such. I have learned to work practice into some common stuff. I have a Jack Russell terrier that needs to be walked/played with and have taught it to fetch golf balls. I will practice chipping off a golf mat in the back yard. I can get an hour or so in before the dog tires out. I will putt on the living room carpet before tournaments or important outings.

I play about 6 times a month with no time for practice other than before rounds. I was once down to a 14 handicap once. Then went back up to a 21 after trying to fix some stuff. I'm back down to a 14ish and am looking forward to the rest of this season.

I don't have the time to put in to dramatically decrease my index anymore. I think I can get down to about an 11 or 12 without increasing my practicing. I think I can, I think I can....

[Tone-NY]

I started at 49 five years ago.

You'll get better, life gets in the way. I wish I had a nickel for every time I said I was going to pratice my swing or go for a lesson. Time management is your biggest foe. Most times I go play at the spur of the moment and it shows.

So yes, you can improve. It all depends on the effort and time you put into it.

[pxc]

I'm 25 and started a few months ago, so I don't fit the "over 30" bill, but on the other hand I am married, have a daughter, I've graduated college and have a full-time career, so I already have a lot of the things others have in life that tend to make golf practice and playing difficult.

I can definitely see how if I'd started in high school or even my earlier 20s before I got married it would've been a lot easier to improve quickly. I could've gone to the range every day, played several times a week, taken lessons, etc. Now my time and money is used on other things, and I have to work to squeeze golf in here and there.

It does help to have the internet, where I can at least read and learn more about the game and take the edge off. Without it I'd probably have spent more $ than I should have by now.

[Crow]

First time poster. I am 45 and recently started playing with my son in law who is 26. I am a smoker, drinker, and overweight and out of shape. This game is killing me faster than the smokes. lol

After a night of a few drinks I was talked into playing a scramble fund raiser. So I started practicing with a driver, soon after I had golfer and tennis elbow if that is possible. The inside and outside of my elbow hurt. As the scramble got closer I tried to back out of it but was unable. So the day of the scramble I was paired with my son in law and his friends and we were off. After some whiffs and pounding the club into the ground my elbow was really hurting, but I made it through and after recovery I realized I enjoyed it and went back for more.

Now I have lower back pain for the past month. I have been trying to play through it but that’s not working. Just going to take a few weeks off and see if that helps. Then maybe I can work on improving.

[wernerd46]

This is my first serious year of playing, and I will be 24 in October. My game is on some days, and very bad others. My biggest problem is, I tend to go with my brother and Dad mostly, and we usually wont count our penalty strokes, as my brother hits a ton in the woods and water, and I used to be that way. With that said, I have a 22 handicap, but plan on trying to count penalty strokes to get a real score, probably starting next year. I plan to get some lessons either late this year, or early next year, money being my limiting factor right now with school starting up.

[hostage46]

Just starting myself at age 47. Prior to that it was one a year or so either on a guys weekend or a company golf event. I was never the worst, but it was not fun.

On the most recent guys weekend in June something clicked, I enjoyed myself, and one of my buddies offered a few pointers.

When I got home I signed the wife and myself up for a "beginners series" of lessons at Hank Haney here in Dallas. Best investment I could have ever made.

When I began I was a 120 to 140,:.. why are we even keeping score?" range. The other day a shot a real 40 at the Haney course in Lewisville, it's a nasty little bugger with narrow fairways and lots of overhanging trees.

My initial goal was to be able to play in a business scenerio and not embarras myself, I think that's complete.

By 12/31/09 I want to be able to consistently shoot below 90, feels in reach

By June of '10, the next guys weekend, my goal is to show up and quietly break 80... gotta have goals!


Now the wife and I play at least one per week. I'm really getting into the game, just picked up Pelz short game and putting bibles.... I'm hooked!

[sacm3bill]

I was 44 when I first picked up a club 2 years ago and became instantly addicted. Improvement has been steady but slow. I'm sure I could've improved faster with lessons but I enjoy the challenge of figuring it out myself. I plan on taking lessons once I plateau.

I strength train, cycle, and play basketball and have always been athletic so figured that would be a benefit in learning golf. But golf is the only sport I've struggled to become even halfway decent at. Don't know if that's because of my age (I was in my 20s when I started all the other sports I've done) or if it's just a lack of natural aptitude.

[hkmp5]

On my 40th birthday I went to my local pro shop and bought everything ping from putter to driver with all the goodies in between spent 3 k and never once played a round of golf.

Nine years later i'm playing two to four over on most average coarses with a one under this year and an eagle. it's never too late imo your young just put in the time and in a few years you will be holding your own.

One of the best feeling in the world is beating everyone who is a good player in your group.

go for it and never look back.

[squaddie]

I started golf last summer at 40 yrs old, right after I found an old 10* Warrior driver that someone left in the trash bin. I wanted to take up an outdoor hobby and found there were two golf courses and a driving range within 5 minutes of my apartment. I was already decent with Tiger Woods 2008 on the Wii, so with the club I rescued I decided to hit the range...

I took a lesson or two, bought a new starter set of TopFlite XL clubs, and then immediately found out how frustrating the game can be, after slicing with my new driver over a dozen times, with no clue why it was happening. Even after lessons with 3 or 4 instructors the slice would not go away. This year I've finally beat it with better technique, but I still need some work on getting the club face less open.

Recently I found out my upper body flexibility needs a lot of improvement in order to get into the ideal backswing position. I've been doing weight-training for a number of years, but wasn't stretching enough, so I'm not able to get enough turn and separation with my shoulder, neck, back and chest muscles.

It was disappointing the four instructors I had in the past didn't notice my flexibility was contributing to my swing faults. But I'm not a heavy-set guy so they probably figured I was limber enough. Even the GolfTec guys didn't realize I needed flexibility work. I realized the problem after I had a real tough time trying to get my shoulders to turn past 80* while keeping my hips under 55*.

My advice to the new middle-aged golfer is to have your flexibility checked. I bought some DVD's for a flexibility program by Roger Frederick recently, and the programs offered seem well put together. I just started the programs this week. Here's a link to Frederick's website: http://www.fredericksgolf.com/

Down lower on the website Frederick also offers a "free flex text", from which I believe he will send you a link to a few videos of stretching exercises to try to see if you have anything to work on.

[walk18]

First of all, 30's is not old. I'm 31, been playing 4 years, working very hard on my game. I'm in the best shape of my life. Some of you guys are really banged up, LOL! You must either have worked construction for many years or played a ton of football.