Youngman's Golf Journey

[MSUGolfer]

Hey guys,

So a little bit about myself to first start a few things off. I have always been very competitive. I've played sports all throughout my life. In High School, it was basketball, football, baseball, little soccer, and even volleyball. I never got to reach a pinnacle at any of these sports. When I went off to college at Michigan State University, I was always trying to quench a thirst for competitive sports. I was actually a scout team player for both the Women's and Men's basketball programs here at MSU for my first two years. That was a fantastic opportunity, but the lack of an ultimate goal and lack of really pushing towards anything drove me crazy. My schedule kept me from playing on the scout team for the last two years of my undergraduate collegiate days. Being a Biochemistry / Molecular Biology major - the lab times were extreme and prevented me from partaking in the scout team. I kept trying to find something that would let me have goals, push towards something I could never perfect.

Last summer, my best friend offered me to take me golfing. Boy, was that a mistake. I fell in love with the game. I was immediately hooked and absolutely obsessed with playing. I scoured books, notes, videos. I watched the Golf Channel relentlessly and watched every major from start to finish. I loved the game. I would ride my bike nearly 8 miles to go to the driving range only because I didn't have a car to get me there. That's right, 8 mile bike ride with golf clubs on my back.

I found the game to be incredible. I played as much as I could, I practiced even more. I was able to shoot mid 90s right away even with all my swing faults. My game would come and go, but that's what happens when your swing is all timing. Being a tall guy ~ 6'5" and athletic I seemed to pick up the game quickly.

So let's fast forward to this Spring and Summer. After a Winter in which the only useful golf technique I learned was sand wedge juggling (which I'm a pro at now with nearly every iron), I was determined to take this game head on. Determined to get down to a single HCP, become a great ballstriker. Well the Spring and beginning of Summer came and went and I was stuck. I was stuck in the 90s, stuck hitting some terrible shots, stuck with fats and thins, stuck with OB rights and OB lefts. Enough was enough and I went to go get lessons. I felt like lessons would be the only way to help me, help myself. That what I was feeling was not what I needed to be doing and boy was I right.

The very first lesson I was placed on camera and after getting over how ugly I am, I saw so many bad things. Way too inside coming up, backswing that looked like I was going after a long drive competition with a 6iron, no rotation in my body and a downswing that would shatter any pane of Ben Hogan's glass. Wow, was this going to be difficult to fix and it has been.

I've decided that a blog dedicated to my journey here on this website will help me track my progression. Help me track the feelings in my swing I need to remember. Help me take mental notes in what I am doing. I hope that anyone that reads this enjoys because it's going to be quite a Golf Journey.

Bio

Age: 22
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 210
HCP: ~15

Clubs and Distance

Driver: Taylormade R9 10.5* - 280
3 Wood: Nike Dymo 15* - 250
3 Hybrid: Nike Sumo 21* - 230

Irons: Nike Pro Combo Forged Irons 4-PW

4 Iron- 210
5 Iron- 200
6 Iron- 190
7 Iron- 180
8 Iron- 170
9 Iron- 160
PW- 150

Wedges

Vokey Gap Wedge 52* - 130
Ping iWedge 56* - 110-120
Mizuno MX-950 - 90-100

Putter
Odyssey White Hot XG #9 35"

Last night I had my 3rd lesson in six weeks and it was really the first lesson I had become ultimately frustrated with my golf swing. My path has been so incredibly steep all my golfing life. This leads me to lash at the ball taking massive divots usually resulting in either a beautiful shot or an ugly fat. Not very consistent. My swing coach has to get me on a shallower plane before I can move onto other things in the golf swing and that is not going to be easy. Boy was I duffing the shit out of balls yesterday trying all the whacked up positions he was trying to get me into. After the lesson, I spent a lot of time on the range and I was really focused on sliding my hips forward and getting my right arm to "drop into the slot" before rotating the hips and getting after the ball. Everytime I got the sensation of this I produced a very lengthy nice draw. It was a beautiful sight. Now I just have to get this into my muscle memory. My path was so steep to begin with that I basically need to force myself to feel stuck every time to get used to this connection so to speak with my arms and body.

Along with that I've found out that I really need to let myself complete my backswing before uncoiling to the downswing. I found every time I didn't let myself complete a full turn with a "slight pause" at the top before I uncoiled that my arms flew out in front of me and I became disconnected and produced a nasty slice. I know the improvement looked like shit on the range yesterday, but the feelings I have now are some very distinct. I think golf is one of those things that if you don't know which feeling produces which shot then you can't fix it. I'm not starting to get the feelings and placing them into the back of my mind after I hit a shot. I know exactly where my ball is going before I even look up for the ball based on the swing and that is enough of improvement for me thus far.

I suppose after work I'll head over to the range and work on a few things and update later on. Thanks for reading guys, much appreciated.