First Lesson

[Travtex]

After yet another scheduled lesson turning into a rain-out, I finally managed to get some time in with the GG Pro.

I'm somewhere in between encouraged and disappointed.

Was hoping there would be some ugly flaw that I could look at on video and figure out the source of my inconsistencies. "Unfortunately", this was not the case.

First time i was on video, there were obvious issues. Breakdown on the backswing, no release leading to bizarrely contortionist chicken wings on the follow-through, etc.

This time, everything was... well, basically perfect. At least close enough that the pro said not to change anything in my swing. I still balk a bit at that. Probably seeing that in my response, he gave me some minor adjustments that were more in the pre-shot routine/giving me something to think about category to keep my mind OFF changing anything in my swing.

Video doesn't lie, I guess. Every position was strangely solid. Address, Takeaway, top of the backswing (Even my clubface at parallel to the ground was exactly on line with my arm angle), transition, impact, follow-through.

So, the swing isn't broken. However, I tend to hit off the toe, or top it, or hit fat, etc...

Put some tape on the club, and I hit three balls with the seven iron on the 7i. Toward the toe, but all three hit the same spot. Made an adjustment I can't explain how I made... next three balls hit the exact same spot in the middle of the club.

So, basically, Pro told me I just had to pay my dues like everybody else and hit about a million range balls. Said I had a great foundation, and didn't need to make any swing, address, or grip changes whatsoever.

Kind of frustrating/encouraging. I've got a good swing, just lousy contact that I need to find the feel for. Any ideas? My first thought is that the tape helped me associate the feel for a swing with evidence of where I was hitting it.

(Aside: My parallel at the top full swing -feels- like about a 50%. I was -really- overswinging before.)

[kafka01]

Well i guess if i show up with a pro and tell him i´m a +2 and what should we change at my swing he would find a bunch of stuff to work on. If i show up with my swing at some other pro and tell him i´m a 20hcp he probably wouldnt change too much.

Maybe the same goes for you - as a 36hcper you cant expect to have a very solid swing, but the first step to it is getting the fundamentals down, and with the correct fundamentals go out and practice a lot, optimizing timing&rythm;, getting your lower body going - stuff like that.

  None said:

So, the swing isn't broken. However, I tend to hit off the toe, or top it, or hit fat,

When i started i complained about consistency and stuff like hitting it all kinds of ways but not clean. I still complain about consistency but the errors got less and are less damaging in general - in between that is a lot of practice...

  None said:

I've got a good swing, just lousy contact that I need to find the feel for. Any ideas? My first thought is that the tape helped me associate the feel for a swing with evidence of where I was hitting it.

When i hit the toe, i usually come outside in -> over the top, or i´m to active with my hands or i overswing. Impact tape might help you get the feel for it but you also should see it from your divots/flight pattern and general feedback through your club where you struck the ball. Since you mentioned overswinging, just make sure, you dont, that already can help a lot for better contact.

[2bGood]

Also you want to find the right pro. I have had about 20 lessons in 7 years from 5 pro's I I found it took trying a few pro's out to find what I liked and didn't. My last pro went off to play on the Asain tour so this year I been looking for a new pro. I had widely diffrent lessons from the last two pro's I visited. One wanted to change my swing and make it more mechanical - the other wanted me to go the other way, get looser and more focused on tempo. The second pro was truly a weird experience, he showed up for our hour lesson with about 30 balls. He then took one look at my swing and said "that is not YOUR swing is it?" Over the next 45 minutes he made several changes to my swing until I was back to a swing that had lost a few years ago - I swing I loved but I could not find. Weird. Then he was done - the hours wasn't be we were and he said come back in 10 days and we'll finifh the hour - we have done enough for today.

[squaddie]

  Travtex said:

...So, the swing isn't broken. However, I tend to hit off the toe, or top it, or hit fat, etc...

That's great findings after just a lesson or two! I would consider yourself fortunate, and now go out and play a few rounds. Make notes if anything goes wrong that you can't fix during the round and you'll be ready for your next lesson. My thoughts are if you are topping or hitting fat are two possible issues, as I recently had similar problems. You said you were overswinging before so these issues might be left-over from swinging around too far. 1) You might be getting too far right in the backswing, so your swingplane is shifting right on the downswing, too far behind the ball. Ensure in the backswing your weight is not getting too far outside your inner right heel. 2) No weight transfer left on the downswing. You might be activating your downswing too early from the shoulders rather than letting the weight go back left and posting on your left leg. There are a couple of recent big threads in this forum on hip movement you can check out to see the concept of the hip slide or bump from the top of the backswing.

[Dub]

You are in luck.


He could have told you to take two weeks off......then quit forever.

[Travtex]

  None said:

When i hit the toe, i usually come outside in -> over the top, or i´m to active with my hands or i overswing. Impact tape might help you get the feel for it but you also should see it from your divots/flight pattern and general feedback through your club where you struck the ball. Since you mentioned overswinging, just make sure, you dont, that already can help a lot for better contact.

Outside to In is one of my more common errors. Between the offset, slightly upright clubs, and occasional over-the-top swing, it's a perfect storm of Pull Hook City at times.

I've been just trusting the swing the last couple trips to the range and my irons have improved considerably compared to before my shoulder injury. Practiced aiming at flags, today, could put three in a row within about 20 feet at 120 yards (Obviously no tour pro, but it's a big deal for me *hah*)... at that point, I'd usually get excited about the progress and chunk a few.

  None said:

Also you want to find the right pro.

That's probably a lot of it. This pro was more of the soft touch nurturing type. I can appreciate that teaching style, but it doesn't do a great deal FOR me. I grew up learning martial arts from old-school beat your head in instructors and I could trade Dad stories with Christopher Titus... I appreciate the type of instructor who'll say, "Well, that was utter crap." And then possibly smack me over the head with something to punctuate the point.

  None said:

That's great findings after just a lesson or two! I would consider yourself fortunate, and now go out and play a few rounds.

Thanks, and good advice for my personality type. I already know I won't be satisfied until I shoot a 59 or so... I'm just a perfectionist obsessive type. *laugh* (Doesn't mean I don't 'have fun'. I'm just naturally hard on myself and competitive.) At the moment, I'm just irritated by all of the rain -- Can't practice!

  None said:

He could have told you to take two weeks off......then quit forever.

*lol* Very true. 'Everything looks perfect' is probably a good deal healthier for my ego than, 'Hold on a moment, I have to go vomit', or 'Please, whatever you do, don't let other people see this'.

[Supermanwoot]

Looks like you have a good swing as a foundation. Now you just have to hone it in through experience, feeling out what works and what shanks/pulls and then going for more serious lessons (possibly with a more serious pro) in the future.

A friend of mine just had his first lessons at golf galaxy and he had a 3 day session and he is still working on it. His swing was downright horrible and if he hit the ball over 20yds it was a miracle. Now he is putting up some respectable shots that I believe will get him in the 90s once his lessons are done.

Just go out there and get some on course experience. Think about what shots you made and what shots you didnt. Then try to groove a swing that works for you.

[I <3 Titleist]

What was your purpose for going out to get a lesson? From reading your post, it seems like you have a good swing, but don't strike the ball well? Is it a distance issue?

[Travtex]

  I <3 Titleist said:

What was your purpose for going out to get a lesson? From reading your post, it seems like you have a good swing, but don't strike the ball well? Is it a distance issue?

Distance, accuracy, consistency, etc.

[Dub]

  Travtex said:

Distance, accuracy, consistency, etc.

Ah....the game's trifecta.......the ellusive pure ballstriking.

I'm in the same boat.

[Travtex]

Yep.

Actually gotten a bit confident in my short irons. My 4h is starting to come around once in a while, as well. Driver and 3w are laughably bad. (That was a bit frustrating, too, having a pro watch me spray random shots hither and yonder with my driver, telling me my swing looked good. *hah* Okay, then, maybe an ugly swing will make me hit the stupid ball?)

Probably need to suck it up and do a few one club practice sessions. In the meantime, I could probably shave down to a mid-range handicap with my generally trustworthy 120 yard range, heh. Two nine irons instead of a 3w into the forest.