I assume it's common for beginners to...

[Norm66]

become obsessed with the game? Since my first experience golfing two weeks and a day ago I've been to the driving range 5 times, the last time I hit two large buckets of balls, have had one informal lesson, played 3- 9 hole games (poorly), bought clubs (cheap ones), joined this forum and have started watching golf on TV.

Now today I'm agitated because today is supposed to be my 2nd lesson with my buddy (not a pro, but a long-time avid golfer) and it's been raining the past two days. Not sure if we'll be able to go to the range with it so wet out.

On the upside, Thursday through Sunday looks to be sunny so I'll be able to play 9 with my wife Friday night and 9 with a work buddy Saturday or Sunday. But I'd sure like to have one more trip to the range with my helpful friend before playing again. My irons are OK, but I'm really spotty with the fairway woods & hybrids (the driver still stays in the bag).

Tell me I'm not alone.
Norm

[MdGolfer1982]

yeah- sorry.

It sounds like you are hooked. Good luck managing your life around your golfing habit. It's expensive, time consuming, and the best fun you can have with your day.

Good luck!

[cdriver]

Welcome to the "crack house".... I started 6 years ago and I have pretty much let go everything else in my life except work and a little family life (very little my wife would say).

Outside of my ex-wives, golf is the most frustrating thing I ever loved.

[LarryK]

Tell me I'm not alone.

Not only are you not alone.......it only gets worse.

I think one of the toughest things is to be a new golfer and have all that enthusiasm and not have your skills developed yet. Hopefully your friend/instructor will emphasize a smooth, fluid swing with soft grip pressure. I believe that getting the feel of the smoothness, fluidity and even tempo of the swing is far more important to a beginner than getting specific body parts into specific positions. The latter seems to introduce too much tension for newbies, and that's the last thing you want. Good move on laying off the driver for awhile. It's easier to learn a good swing with the shorter clubs.

[Norm66]

Not only are you not alone.......it only gets worse.

--Well, good I'm not alone. I had suspected that it'll get worse. With every little success I'm that much more eager to get to the range the next time.

I think one of the toughest things is to be a new golfer and have all that enthusiasm and not have your skills developed yet.

- Yes and no. Yes because obviously I'd like to play better, but no because the progress is so much fun to see.

Hopefully your friend/instructor will emphasize a smooth, fluid swing with soft grip pressure. I believe that getting the feel of the smoothness, fluidity and even tempo of the swing is far more important to a beginner than getting specific body parts into specific positions. The latter seems to introduce too much tension for newbies, and that's the last thing you want.

- Yea, he took me from swinging primarily with my arms & shoulder to using a (much closer to) proper golf swing in one lesson and I was able to let up on the swing effort by half or more while maintaining the same distance and greatly improving my accuracy. The smoothness factor really makes a difference and it's the first thing to go out the window when I get flustered or hurried.

Good move on laying off the driver for awhile. It's easier to learn a good swing with the shorter clubs.

-- he told me to leave it in the closet, but I still take it with me just to make it look like I can use all the clubs in the bag.

I'm much better teeing off with my 3 or 5 woods.

[elivate]

You are certainly not alone..

What I find the most frustrating is when you finally start to improve (and you will) but you can't manage the time to get out an play...

Ideally I would like to play 3 rounds per week, I think that 3 rounds plus a trip or two to the range is a good amount of time to play and start to improve, twice a week is still pretty good, once a week seems to be ok, but improvement definitely slows down. What I really hate is when I miss a weekend and then can't get out through the week and it is two weeks between rounds, that is just frustrating...

Then when I do manage to get back out I feel that I have to play well because I don't want to "waste" the round and the pressure causes the flaws to come out and usually the round is crap... This is where the mental game comes into play, relax, have fun and try to enjoy the round, take pleasure from the good shots, don't sweat the bad ones, etc...

But it can be awful hard to do when you got a monkey on your back...

[NM Golf]

Good luck, now that you have the golf bug your time and money are a thing of the past. Just have the golf course take the money right out of your paycheck to make it easier on everyone! JK I know how you feel, I'm not a beginner anymore but I still have the bug. One bit of advice since you are so new to the game is make sure the information your getting at your lessons is fundamentally sound. The best way to improve quickly and to continue to improve is by starting out correctly with things like grip, stance, and setup. You said your buddy is helping you, and thats great, but I know avid golfers that have little or no idea what correct fundamentals are. You might still want to consider looking up a PGA professional for a lesson just to make sure your on the right track. Anyway, good luck and welcome to the game!

[Norm66]

NM Golf- I was a little concerned about him not teaching me properly at first, but everything he's told me coincides with everything I've seen and read. He claims to have spent "thousands and thousands" of dollars on lessons so I do feel confident he's not leading me astray.

All that said, I do plan on getting some lessons in the very near future. I've been asking around and talking to a couple local instructors. My wife is also in need of lessons. My friend told me that "as a guy with three marriages and three divorces under my belt: Stop teaching your wife to play golf!!!". LOL

[cdriver]

My friend told me that "as a guy with three marriages and three divorces under my belt: Stop teaching your wife to play golf!!!". LOL

I can testify!!!! Ouch!!!

[RickRevue]

Lessons are a good idea, especially in the beginning. It's easy to start learning bad habits.

On the other hand, don't take the details too seriously. Everyone has their own swing based around certain fundamentals. Grip, setup, alignment are things to concentrate on in terms of "technique" type stuff. After that it's mostly the mental stuff like target visualization, tempo, course management, and attitude.

Learn about how clubhead path and position makes the ball go in various directions and you can start to figure out a lot on your own. You'll never master it, so learning how to "fix it when it goes bad" is the name of the game.

You didn't say how old you were, but if you're young you'll have your whole life to "figure it out."

Good luck and hit 'em straight.

[rembrandt]

I've played most of my life and it is one game that you CAN play all your life if you stick with it. To improve and get down in the 70s you must play at the least, 3 times a week along with bucket after bucket of range balls. Its imperative that you hit those buckets to build the muscles and create muscle memory. Whats really bad tho is to get down to scratch and then stay away from golf for a time and then take it up again and shoot in the 80s and struggle. I hate to go out and hack around a course after playing consistantly in the low 70s.

[prutkows]

become obsessed with the game? Since my first experience golfing two weeks and a day ago I've been to the driving range 5 times, the last time I hit two large buckets of balls, have had one informal lesson, played 3- 9 hole games (poorly), bought clubs (cheap ones), joined this forum and have started watching golf on TV.

it definitely doesnt ware off. before i left home to come to college, i either went to the range or got on the course 6 days a week. each range visit i would hit about 500 balls. a large bucket is about 90 balls.

[Steven McFarlane]

Im addicted :D

[Jeepthrills]

It's an addiction that I don't ever want to cure. My wife started playing about 9 years ago and it actually has made it even better for me. She is my partner in our couples league so I get an extra 9 in each week. Granted, it does make it tougher to play other rounds on occasion because I get the "why do you get to play while I stay home?" The best part is, I play with her dad and two of her uncles on Sundays. She can't take that away because they would give her too much greif over it.

[Norm66]

Well, today is the first time I'll be taking off work early to play golf. At least since the group's outing in August that got me started that is. My wife works until 8:00pm tonight, it's only 60 outside and supposed to be sunny and I can't stand to be inside any longer than necessary today. I can see myself golfing much more often in the Spring and Fall than high summer.

[slicer69183]

Relax and go for it. I'm new too... but I'm a bit more reserved then most of the beginners. I'm actually researching most of the aspects of the game. But I do love it... Mostly centering in on the mental side; it really helps my learning the physical side!

Slicer69183

[gulfsidebo]

I'm right there with you. I've come back to the game for the third and last time and all I can think about is my next outing. The Golf Channel is on all the time, I'm constantly reading about golf and I got a subscription to a golf magazine. I wonder at times if this might be an unhealthy obsession.

[Twan013]

I've also recently been bitten by the bug... I've had an interest for a good long while, but haven't been able to afford a set of clubs, and no one would ever invite me to go play... i guess I had a secret fixation to it... but last saturday, i finally got invited, cussed a few times, almost made the club head dig into the ground by wanting to bang it against something... watched all the balls that were given to me (probably 6 total) go into the water, and almost hit a guy from a pitch in the rough.... all in all though, it was a good game, and guess what! i'm going back tomorrow! first time out, i used a set of borrowed clubs, and tomorrow i'll have my own personal set waiting for me at the course! i'm buying them from a guy that's going with us... for a whole week now all i've been able to thnk about is golf... pretty crazy huh? or is this normal??