Jump to content
Check out the Spin Axis Podcast! ×
Note: This thread is 5026 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Recommended Posts

Posted

So I've been on a vacation with my family to the Hammock Beach Golf Resort in St. Augustine, FL. I have been playing golf for about 2 and a half months, and about a week ago I got my first real set of irons, a 6-PW Cleveland Mashie set with 4 and 5 hybrids. While I am at the range, I usually hit my iron shots DECENTLY, though they are always fat or thing, and my 6 iron always slices about 30 yards off target. I can hit it about 130-150 yds. I played the Ocean course Thursday and Friday, I had a bit of fun, but I shot a 122. I had to take 2-3 shots off the tees for half of the holes, as I kept slicing into oblivion or hitting the ball like 50 yards. On the off occasion that I hit a 220yd drive or a 200 yd hybrid shot, I would immediately chunk the ball about 20 yards with my irons. I had about 5 good iron shots throughout my whole round. My pitches would either fly over the green and into a bunker, or go about 10 yards from the spot I pitched it. My chips are ALWAYS shots that barely even get off the ground, and would roll to the end of the fringe. It was VERY frustrating. Today I played the conservatory course, planning to play all 18 holes in one morning. I was shooting 50 through 7 holes, and I couldn't even get ANY of my iron shots off of the ground. Well, on the eighth hole (a par 3) I hit 2 balls into the water, and gave up. I hit about 10 shots on the final par 4 of the back 9, and I gave up and went home, utterly disappointed and even considering giving up golf.

My swing sequence seems to be pretty decent, but I almost always end up hitting the ground about an inch behind the ball whenever I play on the course. I focus on rolling my left forearm back during the back swing, and rolling my wrists and arm forward during my downswing (if I don't do this, my shots go nowhere). I try to follow through well, but my club digs into the ground and I am unable to follow through. NOTHING irritates me more than when I chunk the ball 10-20 yards. I just drop the club and beat myself up on the inside.

If anyone has any tips to help a beginner golf like myself, I would really appreciate it. I have gotten 4 lessons since I started, and I watch how-to videos on youtube all the time. Any reading or video series that could help my problems with my irons would be a life saver for me.


Posted

You have only been playing 2 1/2 months, I have been doing this for over 25 years and your ranting on a golf site? I see you have already made the investment in new equipment why don't you make the investment in learning how to use them....lessons. Sorry if I sound a little insensitive but 2 1/2 months????? Welcome to golf hope you enjoy it.


Posted
Originally Posted by onesome

You have only been playing 2 1/2 months, I have been doing this for over 25 years and your ranting on a golf site? I see you have already made the investment in new equipment why don't you make the investment in learning how to use them....lessons. Sorry if I sound a little insensitive but 2 1/2 months????? Welcome to golf hope you enjoy it.

I guess the thing that just frustrates me the most is that I can acceptably hit the ball on the range, but once I get on the course I choke on almost every single shot. I'm not sure what happens to me...


Posted

Oops when I got to the part where you said I have only been playing 2 1/2 months I stopped reading. Just keep working on what your instructor is teaching you or try someone different, it takes time and lots of practice but eventually it will come around for those willing to persevere


Posted
Sounds like you just learned that hitting on the range and hitting on the course aren't exactly the same thing...

Posted
Originally Posted by Pakoh

Sounds like you just learned that hitting on the range and hitting on the course aren't exactly the same thing...

Is it a mental thing?


Posted
Are you hitting off mats on the range?

-Matt-

"does it still count as a hit fairway if it is the next one over"

DRIVER-Callaway FTiz__3 WOOD-Nike SQ Dymo 15__HYBRIDS-3,4,5 Adams__IRONS-6-PW Adams__WEDGES-50,55,60 Wilson Harmonized__PUTTER-Odyssey Dual Force Rossie II

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted
Originally Posted by 14ledo81

Are you hitting off mats on the range?

No it's a grass range. I've never been to a range with mats


Posted

Keep working and playing.  At east you are playing golf.  I've played for 40 years, but now I live on an island with no golf available.  Recovery from heroin addiction can't be much worse than golf withdrawals.

Rick

"He who has the fastest cart will never have a bad lie."

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted
Originally Posted by zmwendland

I guess the thing that just frustrates me the most is that I can acceptably hit the ball on the range, but once I get on the course I choke on almost every single shot. I'm not sure what happens to me...

This is very common.

EVERY new golfers says this.

The driving range and the golf course are 2 different planets.

Range = Playing off a perfect lie, perfectly flat, and hitting the same club 25 times in a row has nothing to do with real golf.

Anyone can hit perfectly at the range, you will soon understand.

Then you will proceed to top the ball, slice, and shank the ball in real golf.

Welcome to golf.   You have now experienced the mind**** that is driving range vs. golf.

Do not fool yourself.  They are 2 different sports!

Good luck!


  • Administrator
Posted

Switch clubs and targets on every ball and roll your ball on the range and hit from whatever lie you get.

Odds are you won't do so hot on the range if you do that, either.

The point was made by others, but that's another way of looking at it. You can get in a bit of a groove hitting to the same target with the same club and propping your ball up.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted
Originally Posted by zmwendland

Is it a mental thing?

could be a mental thing, u may have charles barkley syndrome.

do you have a pre-swing routine? a pre-swing thought?

I'm new and these help me out a lot. I just don't have enough time in yet for my swing to be instinctive so I need to be conscientious of certain important things regarding my swing that will wreak havoc for me on the course if i forget to do them. for instance, I have a tendency to release my irons late which causes a push/slice so I have to remind myself to practice swing and emphasize the feel of an early release. I also have to remind myself not to move my head at all... especially off the tee. I try to carry no more than 3 pre-swing thoughts with me otherwise I start seizing up.

IN MY BAG
Driver: Taylormade SLDR Mini Driver
3 Wood: Calloway RAZR Hawk
Hybrid: Ping 19*
Irons: Mizuno JPX 825
Wedges: 52, 56 Cleveland
Putter: Odyssey White Ice

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted
Originally Posted by zmwendland

My pitches would either fly over the green and into a bunker, or go about 10 yards from the spot I pitched it. My chips are ALWAYS shots that barely even get off the ground, and would roll to the end of the fringe. It was VERY frustrating.

http://thesandtrap.com/t/39411/quickie-pitching-video

http://thesandtrap.com/t/60526/erik-hitting-a-few-chips-and-pitches

These two videos were by far the best tips I have received to date (that showed almost immediate results) for me. Thanks Erik.


  • Administrator
Posted
Originally Posted by BWChuck

http://thesandtrap.com/t/39411/quickie-pitching-video

http://thesandtrap.com/t/60526/erik-hitting-a-few-chips-and-pitches

These two videos were by far the best tips I have received to date (that showed almost immediate results) for me. Thanks Erik.

Thanks.

Those two threads are item 1A and 1B when I say the short game is relatively simple and people should spend more time practicing their full swing. :)

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Posted
Keep working and playing.  At east you are playing golf.  I've played for 40 years, but now I live on an island with no golf available.  Recovery from heroin addiction can't be much worse than golf withdrawals. :cry:

Have you thought about getting a simulator?

-Matt-

"does it still count as a hit fairway if it is the next one over"

DRIVER-Callaway FTiz__3 WOOD-Nike SQ Dymo 15__HYBRIDS-3,4,5 Adams__IRONS-6-PW Adams__WEDGES-50,55,60 Wilson Harmonized__PUTTER-Odyssey Dual Force Rossie II

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Note: This thread is 5026 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Want to join this community?

    We'd love to have you!

    Sign Up
  • TST Partners

    Carl's Place
    PlayBetter
    Golfer's Journal
    ShotScope
    The Stack System
    FitForGolf
    FlightScope Mevo

    Coupon Codes (save 10-20%): "IACAS" for Mevo/Stack/FitForGolf, "IACASPLUS" for Mevo+/Pro Package, and "THESANDTRAP" for ShotScope. 15% off TourStriker (no code).
  • Posts

    • I would think of it in terms of time. The time it takes to get the arm angle into a good position to deliver the club with proper shaft lean. Another component is rotation, but that is also a matter of timing. It relates to how the body stalls to give the golfer time to hit the ball. If you have to get 80+ degrees out of that right elbow in one third of a second versus 50 degrees in the same time then you have to steal time from somewhere. It is usually body rotation. That does not help with shaft lean.  I agree in that amateurs tend to make the swing more complicated than pro golfers. 
    • I haven't been able to practice like I wanted and won't for the next week.  1. The weather sucks in Ohio this year. I have been mostly inside hitting foam balls. Just kind of my basic stuff.  2. I woke up last Saturday with a left side rib muscle on fire. If I turned or leaned a certain way it would spasm that almost buckled my knees. I have been taking a break to let that settle. I don't want to get a long term injury. I think I pinched a nerve or just aggravated a muscles.   3. I am going on a mini-vacation to Florida (screw you Ohio weather) with a friend, and rolling that into a work conference I have next week. I will be with out my clubs for a week.  I will be back next in two Fridays to hit the ground running with some warmer temps and better weather in Ohio, hopefully. I would really like to get more out on the course and the range.     
    • Day 580 - 2026-05-04 Played eight holes. Sometimes golf kicks you in the nuts. 😉 
    • I work with a lot of golfers who want more shaft lean at impact, who currently have AoAs that range from +2° to -2°, and who love to see the handle lower and more "in front of their trail thigh" from face-on at P6. And a lot of these golfers try to solve the issue by working on the downswing. They do something to drag the handle forward. Or they just leave their right thigh farther back so the same handle location "looks" farther forward. Or they move the ball back in their stance. Or they push themselves down into the ground to get the handle lower and increase (decrease?) their AoA (to be more negative). The real fix is often to get wider in the backswing. To do LESS in the backswing. To hinge less, fold the trail arm less, abduct the trail arm less. I had a case of this over the weekend. Before, the player had 110° of trail elbow bend, "lifted" his trail humerus only a few degrees, etc. The club traveled quite a bit around him, and he tended to "pick" the ball from the fairways. In the "after" swings below (which are mild exaggerations — this golfer does not need to end up at < 70° of elbow bend. These were slower backswings with "hit it as hard as you normally would" intent downswings), you can see that he bent his elbow about 70° instead of 110° and lifted his right arm an extra ~15° or more. You can't see how much less this moved his hands across his chest (right arm abduction), but it was also decreased. His hands stayed more "in front of" his right shoulder rather than traveling "beside" them so much. The two swings look like this: The change at P6, without talking about the downswing one little bit (outside of him telling me that he tends to pick the ball), is remarkable: Without 110° of elbow bend to get out (which he gets to 80°, a loss of 30°), the golfer actually loses slightly less elbow bend (70 - 50 = 20), but delivers 30° less elbow bend, lowering the handle and letting the elbow get "in front of" the rib cage… because it never got "behind" or "beside" the rib cage. If you look at this video showing the before/afters of P6, you'll note the handle location (both vertically and horizontally) and the shoulders (the ball is in the same place in these frames). This golfer's path was largely unaffected (still pretty straight into the ball, < 3° path and often < 1.5°), but his AoA jumped to -5° ± 2°. I've always said, and in talking with other instructors they agree and feel similarly, that we spend a lot of time working on the backswing. This is another example of why.
    • We had a member of our senior club who developed a mental block on pulling the trigger. I played with him to see what the membership was talking about. I timed him a few times when he would get over the ball. 45 seconds. He knew he had a mental block and would chide himself, “Just hit it!” Once on the green he was okay and chipping was a bit better. It was painful to watch him struggle. Our “bandaid” was to put him in the last tournament  tee time with two understanding players. We should have suggested to him to take a break from our tournaments. I agree with the idea that when a player realizes they have a problem, the answer is to go fix it and not return until they are able to play at an acceptable pace.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to TST! Signing up is free, and you'll see fewer ads and can talk with fellow golf enthusiasts! By using TST, you agree to our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and our Guidelines.