"Homegrown Swing...."

[pidge rgj]

Just wanted to see how many people are in a similar situation to me...basically i started playing golf about a year ago, nobody actually taught me how to hold the club, how to swing, club selection etc, i just picked up a right handed golf club (im left handed) and started trying to hit balls! i loved the game instantly and if it wasnt for my job id be playing a hell of a lot more than i do. so i started watching the PGA tour on tv and reading magazines to show me how to play. A year on and my best round is +23 on quite a long, challenging course. The dilema i have now is do i get lessons and have somebody tell me my swing is fundamentally wrong and try to change it and start from scratch? or stick to my "homegrown swing?" It would be interesting to see how people learned to play!

[Mordan]

I wasn't quite in the same position as you, I'd played since quite young but I probably only averaged 8 rounds a year or so with a few multi year gaps between rounds. I'd never had any instruction or really paid too much attention to my swing until about 2 years ago when I decided I was going to play a lot more and that I wanted to improve.

My first thoughts were similar to you. I didn't want to have to "start again" or head to the course with 5 different swing thoughts that would make it hard to play. I quickly realised that if I wanted to improve then I did need to change my swing. Just practicing and honing the swing I had might help me improve a little but not much and so I started looking around for information and ended up here.

There's enough information on this site for you to be able to analyse your own swing and work out the changes that will be most beneficial. But you'll need to video your swing (believe me you have no idea what your swing looks like until you do it) and spend a lot of time sorting out the good advice from the bad.

Or you go looking for instruction. Finding a good instructor isn't necessarily easy, but if you do they should be able to start helping you quickly. A full swing rebuild is unlikely to be good advice for you.

But that said, if you want to improve you will almost certainly need to make changes. And any changes will feel unnatural at first, and on course you may suffer a little while your changes settle in. But with good instruction (provided you practice and stick with what you're working on) you should start to see results quickly, at least enough to give you the encouragement to keep going.

[chilipepper205]

I've never taken a lesson. I started out with my own swing and have taken bits and pieces here and there from tv, magazines, and trial and error.

If you do decide to take lessons, a good teacher should only tweak your swing to get better, rather than completely change it.

[carrx]

I think it's very important to learn some of the basic fundamentals, like the grip.  I see so many of my friends who are decent players who continuously struggle to play marginally well because (my opinion) of the way they grip the club.

If you're on this board, you'll probably notice there are lots of competing theories about how to swing the club correctly, but there are still some basic fundamentals that people generally agree on.

I was like you, more or less picked the game up and had some natural ability.  I played for two or three years without lessons, and got to the point where I could shoot in the +10 to +20 range before I had my first lesson.  It was a struggle at first, I went immediately backwards, but in the long run made significant progress as a result of getting a lesson or two.

Good luck!

[mdl]

I learned pretty much on my own, though "on my own" includes plenty of reading (books and on line), watching youtube videos, and getting tons of tips through this site.  But I'm an advocate of lessons.  I took a couple lessons about a year in, and those helped me significantly.  Then I played on my own for 3-4 years, practicing pretty hard and getting down to about a 10 HC.  But I plateaued there for a long time.  I recently went back to the well and took another lesson.  I'll be going back for sure, since what the pro gave me to work on has already let me take a big step, even though it hasn't all sunk in yet, especially with the longer clubs.  I've only broken 80 twice in the last 2 years, and not at all in the last 9 months or so (I'm in SoCal, so 12 month season).  Since my lesson I've shot 79, 84, 39 (9 holes, par 36), and 78.  I actually feel worse with the driver, and go back and forth with 5i-3W between feeling like I'm taking the next step and hitting it much worse than I did 1-2 months ago, but even with that inconsistency you can see the results!

I wish I'd had the money (or the knowledge that I should suck it up and save for lessons and play a little less) to get lessons from a good pro years ago.

[Precis1on]

I will be home grown until tomorrow, when I'm going to take my first golf lesson. I had my Edel fitting with him last year, enjoyed his putting tips and fixes, and am going back to work on the full swing.

[iacas]

I got down to a 1.8 index before I took my first lesson.

But then I hit a ceiling (or a floor) and sought help, but I made damn sure it was with a good instructor. Turns out I can pick 'em pretty well.

BTW, if Bubba (or Jim Furyk, etc.) came to me for a lesson, well, it's the wrong assumption to think I'd make sweeping changes or make them look like something they're not. A tweak here or there to help them eliminate their miss or their bad shot and tighten their pattern a bit and that's it.

[pidge rgj]

You all bring out some good points, and perhaps it is just a little tweaking that i need. If i were to video my swing can it be uploaded here for people to look at?

[pidge rgj]

ojus found he member swings thread :-)

[bobsuruncle]

i'm self taught too, and have played to as low as an 18 hcp.  don't play enough after the birth of my daughter, so am shooting mid-90's now.  i play to enjoy myself and am not a total embarrassment when playing with new flight mates, so won't be getting hung up on swing mechanics, etc.  just enjoy the game.

[dak4n6]

I'm self taught and got down to a 7 at one time.

Actually, I did take one group lesson. I remember it vividly. I was hitting and he came behind me and mentioned something about my club face being shut at the top (I had a very Duval-like position at the time). So I asked, "should I hang the toe more?". He actually stopped everyone else on the range, and said, "this guy asked me if he should hang the toe at the top. Let me ask you (turning to me), if you were going to pound a nail into a wall, would you hold the hammmer like this (knuckles toward the wall), or like this (palm facing the wall)? Huh?.....OK then."

And he walked away down the line while I was still thinking of how to aswer. I looked at some of the other golfers and we gave each other the WTF??? look. I vowed right there to eschew any more instruction and go it alone..

[logman]

Originally Posted by iacas

I got down to a 1.8 index before I took my first lesson.

But then I hit a ceiling (or a floor) and sought help, but I made damn sure it was with a good instructor. Turns out I can pick 'em pretty well.

BTW, if Bubba (or Jim Furyk, etc.) came to me for a lesson, well, it's the wrong assumption to think I'd make sweeping changes or make them look like something they're not. A tweak here or there to help them eliminate their miss or their bad shot and tighten their pattern a bit and that's it.

Mate, if Bubba or Furyk came to ME for a lesson I'd probably tell them that they're incredibly gifted players and I wouldn't have the experience or the temerity to offer anything valuable to such greats of the game.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by logman

Mate, if Bubba or Furyk came to ME for a lesson I'd probably tell them that they're incredibly gifted players and I wouldn't have the experience or the temerity to offer anything valuable to such greats of the game.

Okay, but you're not an instructor, right?

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by iacas

Quote:

Originally Posted by logman

Mate, if Bubba or Furyk came to ME for a lesson I'd probably tell them that they're incredibly gifted players and I wouldn't have the experience or the temerity to offer anything valuable to such greats of the game.

Okay, but you're not an instructor, right?

How could he not take the opportunity to get them fitted for a set of Cleveland Niblicks?

[logman]

Trying to point out that Iacas was talking about giving instruction to a US Masters winner and one of the greats of the game (furyk) . UM!, really. I'm saying that Iacas runs this site and is an apprentice pro and has been a teacher for 18 months. That's great and good luck Iacas for your career but do you not think it's a wee bit presumptuous to think that the US masters champ might want a little swing tinkering. Anyhow I'm off to show Mario Andretti how to reverse park.....I've had my license for a couple of years.

[pidge rgj]

Originally Posted by logman

Trying to point out that Iacas was talking about giving instruction to a US Masters winner and one of the greats of the game (furyk) . UM!, really. I'm saying that Iacas runs this site and is an apprentice pro and has been a teacher for 18 months. That's great and good luck Iacas for your career but do you not think it's a wee bit presumptuous to think that the US masters champ might want a little swing tinkering. Anyhow I'm off to show Mario Andretti how to reverse park.....I've had my license for a couple of years.

maybe, just maybe he was speaking hypothetically and isnt actually expecting a call from Mr Furyk......

[iacas]

Originally Posted by logman

Trying to point out that Iacas was talking about giving instruction to a US Masters winner and one of the greats of the game (furyk) . UM!, really. I'm saying that Iacas runs this site and is an apprentice pro and has been a teacher for 18 months. That's great and good luck Iacas for your career but do you not think it's a wee bit presumptuous to think that the US masters champ might want a little swing tinkering. Anyhow I'm off to show Mario Andretti how to reverse park.....I've had my license for a couple of years.

Fair number of inaccuracies in there, but to be clear no, I'm not "expecting a call," but I have worked with a few Tour players and I'm confident in the information I've gained over the past four+ years. PGA apprentice status has no bearing on instruction, really. Now if you'll excuse me I've got to get back to reading about "golf cart fleet management."

[logman]

Yes Lyn Blake may also be an "apprentice" and be trying to become a PGF pro, but he's a legend of coaching with how many years of experience teaching pros and more importantly learning under some highly respected thinkers of the game. And he's coached tour winners. I understand you think might think you could help a US MASTERS winner with a few tweaks and good onya for the self confidence. But come on .........reality check