Starting golf with old sports injuries?

[matthewskyle]

First off, I am new to this forum and new to golf. I have been playing "seriously" for about a 3 weeks. Now that I'm out of college I wanted something to get me out of the house and basically get some exercise and relax. I played lax in high school and club lax at my university where I was also heavily involved in powerlifting. This combination lead to some back injuries that still haunt me at times, multiple broken bones in my right hand which has arthritis in it now, and an arthroscopic shoulder surgery which took away a good chunk of my collar bone and 75% of the cartilage in my right shoulder with my left shoulder needing surgery if any future pain or injuries come about.

With that said, I am a self taught golf player who is willing to spend the money to take a few lessons. I go to the driving range 3-4 times a week to hit a bucket or two and my fiance will come along and watch my swings to tell me what I am doing different from swing to swing. My typical drives will go about 280-300, but I would say if I hit 10 balls, then 3 or 4 would be slices and I never hit draws. I can't get the 3 and 4 irons down solid yet but my 5i & 6i will typically carry 180-200 with my 7i carrying 150-160.

My main problem is that when I approach a ball, I either can't get comfortable with my grip, I end up readjusting my stance after I addressed the ball (which I know spells disaster), or I simply think about my swing and the mechanics to much instead of "just doing". I have been to a course a 2 or 3 times now and that seems to be helping me more than the range due to the simple fact that I'm not hitting off a flat turf surface every time so I am kinda learning from hole-to-hole. If needed, I can post a few videos of my ugly swing in a day or two.

Are there certain clubs/grips or anything that would help take some of the vibration out of the swing (especially on irons)?

Do any of you guys have similar or worse injuries and still play comfortably without pain?

For a beginner, is it even worth the money to play on a course, or should I stick with lessons + range?

Is there a "correct swing"? From what I see at the range/course and on tv shows like golf academy, everyone has their own natural swing and lessons are more about making your natural swing work for you and not about teaching everyone the exact same swing.

Thank you,

Kyle

[Travtex]

I got into golf because my wife was tired of me injuring myself regularly with MMA and Kali stuff.  I think she regrets it, now, because I have a bit of an obsessive personality.  Amusingly, I injured my shoulder within a week of quitting martial arts and taking up daily golf practice.

Anyway, yeah -- I've screwed up my left knee, left shoulder, both elbows, broken my right hand, separated some ribs, torn my sacroiliac joint, broken both radius and ulna left wrist (at the same time)... I could probably use a surgery or two, but so long as it's still workin'...

The worst is instability in my left (trailing) knee, and it can be a bit tough to work with at times.

I don't play pain-free, but I don't really do ANYthing pain-free.

Lessons + Range are the way to go to start, IMO.  I don't have a great deal of opportunity to get lessons (My locale limits options, as does my schedule, AND my budget), and I've got some pretty nasty bad habits to work on.  If you have a pitch and putt/par 3 course nearby that's a fun way to crash course your short game.  I remember playing a few par 3 rounds before I had ANY idea what I was doing.  Horrible, haha.  Chipping back and forth over the green two or three times before three-putting, etc.