If you had to do it all over again, what would you do?

[theyknownothing]

This is my first post but I’ve been lurking on the site for a few months.

I’m new to the game, seeking wisdom and experiences from the men who’ve come before me. I would ask for your full candor in hope that I may learn something from it. I would elaborate but I don’t want to “steer” responses in one direction or the other, I’m looking for every aspect (from shaft fitting to ex wives leaving due to golf). Whatever you think is relevant. Write a sentence or write 10 pages; all responses will be greatly appreciated. Please don’t feel embarrassed if you want to share your story.

My question is as self explanatory as it sounds:

“If you had to do it all over again, what would you do?”

[Grumpter]

I would have joined my high school golf team and not had a car accident a few years ago. Otherwise I wouldn't change much.

[Precis1on]

I would have played more golf over the past 10 years. I got lazy during boarding school and college. I would have also gotten lessons besides the couple clinics when I first started playing at the age of 7. Been self taught after that summer and I should have bugged my parents more :).

Otherwise my game has come really far this past summer, so no complaints other than that.

[GJBenn85]

During and after 7th grade, which is about the time I first became interested in golf, I was living between Arizona and South Carolina.  Because of that, I could not go to a regular school and instead had to do a remote program through the University of Nebraska.  If I had to do it over, I would have gone back to a regular school in 2001 after finally moving permanently to SC and attempted to join the golf team.  Either way, I would definitely try to start golf much earlier.

While I certainly get frustrated with other things, I cannot really think of anything else I would change.

[GaijinGolfer]

If I had it to do all over again Id take lessons right from the start.  Id likely be a much better player if I had instead of stubbornly refusing to take lessons.

[rustyredcab]

I wish I had caddied at the local club and played with the caddies on Mondays when I was a kid. Almost everyone my age (52) who caddied is a good golfer today.

I wish I had found a swing model and took lessons to teach me that model early. The lesson I took until a few years ago were teaks and band aids. I had no real plan and neither did my teachers. Just fixes that could be taught in a hour. I never really knew what I was trying to do in the long run. I did not find a model until a few years ago. I have spent a lot of time UN-learning bad habits that should never have become habits in the first place.

[sacm3bill]

I would've started playing as soon as I was old enough to hold a club, instead of waiting till I was 44.

Originally Posted by TitleistWI

If I had it to do all over again Id take lessons right from the start.  Id likely be a much better player if I had instead of stubbornly refusing to take lessons.

Don't beat yourself up too much - I've tried 5 or 6 instructors over the years and I don't feel any of them have helped. Not saying it's the instructors' fault - maybe I'm just a bad student... just saying lessons won't always necessarily make you better.

[CJ Haws]

One Plane swing, that's what I'll be teaching my kids.

[newtogolf]

This.  The first time I played I was in my lates 30's but it was a one time long weekend in Myrtle Beach.  I didn't get serious until I was 45 and now regret waiting so long.

Originally Posted by sacm3bill

I would've started playing as soon as I was old enough to hold a club, instead of waiting till I was 44.

Don't beat yourself up too much - I've tried 5 or 6 instructors over the years and I don't feel any of them have helped. Not saying it's the instructors' fault - maybe I'm just a bad student... just saying lessons won't always necessarily make you better.

[RPMPIRE]

I wish I had started playing when I was in my teens or earlier (now 27). At the time, my parents didn't want me or my siblings to be doing anything "extracurricular" besides school. I won't be teaching that to my kids.

[Up & Down]

I would hit left-handed since I am a right hander

[visiondr]

Originally Posted by Up & Down

I would hit left-handed since I am a right hander

Help me understand this. Is there some advantage to being a right-handed individual playing golf left-handed? I happen to be this way. I sense no distinct advantages regarding swing mechanics.

[mdl]

Quote:

I would hit left-handed since I am a right hander

I've always wondered if I would've been better off this way too.  Visiondr, the idea is that your top lever (the club being the bottom one) is your lead arm, at least until impact.  Some people say, and it's always made sense to me, that it's actually easier to learn a proper swing when that front arm is your dominant one.

To the OP, two things:

1) Lessons

2) Camera with high FPS video and a tripod

Find an excellent coach and take MANY, REGULAR lessons from the very start.  I couldn't afford it when I started, and I've been slowly learning and unlearning things by myself over the past 4 years.  When I can afford it I'm going to find an excellent teacher and take a lesson every week or every other week for two or three months, with lots of range time in between to work on things.

Also, if possible get a digital camera with high FPS and a tripod and take them with you to the range.  Any good coach these days has these tools for their lessons, but it's hard to know if you're actually doing the things your coach recommended you work on when you're by yourself at the range.  And what you feel you're doing and what you're actually doing are rarely the same.

[visiondr]

So, that's why I'm so damned good!

But, seriously, I would go back and start younger and continue to play (and learn) through adversity instead of quitting the game.

Originally Posted by mdl

Quote:

I've always wondered if I would've been better off this way too.  Visiondr, the idea is that your top lever (the club being the bottom one) is your lead arm, at least until impact.  Some people say, and it's always made sense to me, that it's actually easier to learn a proper swing when that front arm is your dominant one.

[Topper]

I would have started golfing in my twenties instead of mid/late 40's.

[nevets88]

I would have done more research on finding a good instructor, start out with Stack & Tilt or one of the TGM instructors like Lynn Blake or Manzella since when I started SnT wasn't known to the general public. I also wish someone outright from day one told me about crappy mats and the emphasis on hitting the ball first.

[ggolokin]

i wouldn't have quit in highschool cause it wasn't a 'cool' sport.

[The_Pharaoh]

I started playing golf back in 1988 when I was 14 years old. However, I had tried golf 4 years prior but given up because I couldn't get the ball off the ground (well, tee actually)!

If I could go back, I would have persevered the first time around and taken lessons right from the start. To this day, I am still struggling with poor habits I picked up on my own. Even when I did start playing seriously 4 years later, I spent far too much time playing and trying to figure it all out on my own. I would have been better off playing less and having lessons with a decent instructor.