Hi all, New member from Middlebrough (UK).

[ChrisWev]

Title describes it pretty well but I've browsed the forums quite a bit when looking for various answers to things over the last few months and it looks like a decent community to join.

A few things about me:

I'm 32, have been playing golf since the beginning of this May (previous to this I've probably played 20 rounds in 15 years) and have played about 60-70 rounds since then, about half of which have been 12 holes (12 is convenient on evenings for my home course "Middlesbrough Municipal").

I try to be pretty strict with myself as far as the rules go and my scores (drops and Mulligan's etc) and have went from shooting in the 100's to early 90's for full rounds (it was lighter then) to now scoring around 58(+12 for 12 holes now it's darker on evenings) pretty much every time I play. I've been working out my own handicap from the CONGU system and I'm 17.6 at the minute but I've counted every hole I've played to achieve this, so realistically I'm probably closer to 20.

I've had about four lessons with our local pro which has cut the driver slice down by about 80% and put up my driving distance to about 220-230 (total distance) over the last couple of weeks but there's still a long way to go there I think. I think I've a slow swing speed with my driver whilst I've been figuring out how to use it.

Putting needs work but I don't three putt too often (saying that I'm never even close to holing a one putt outside 10 feet)

I'm happy with my Chipping, been told it's very good for my HCP but also I'm mad for trying to chip like Mickleson

Less than full club pitch/ iron shots need a lot more work

Happy with my iron striking, just need to get a better idea how far my clubs carry and roll (I've bought GameGolf to aid this)

Started to hit fairways with the driver but need to up the swing speed to the rest of my clubs as bleeding distance

I've played field hockey for the last 16 years (not taking it so seriously this year, hence now I'm a golfer ) so had to go through some serious swing and grip changes over the last few months but I'm improving all the time. I've found the YouTube guys like Crossfield, Shiels and Meandmygolf to be very helpful.

My aim is to play off less than 10 within the next couple of years (I'll be playing around 4 times a week I reckon).

I look forward to trying to contribute to some threads and posts (sorry for the long first post)

[mvmac]

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[David in FL]

Hey Chris, welcome to the site! :beer:

[rebelrob]

Hi Chris,

Welcome, i'm a fairly new member also but have found a fair bit of useful info already.

There's a thread something along the lines of 'how to hit a draw, or how not to slice' which i have found helpful as i generally tend to hit a fade unless i hit it spot, so that might be worth a read.

[ChrisWev]

Thanks for the welcome fellas :)

I'll be sure to check out the threads you guys mentioned.

My stock "drive" is/ was also a fade too, Rob. I've read a bit about fades and draws and found this image helpful:

My two main shots off the tee are a pull "B" and a straight fade "F", which can turn into a big fade/ slice if I try to smash it. I think this is down to me hitting out to in/ coming over the top (which is a big problem for a hockey player) which I've countered by having my weight 50/50 when driving, My pro noticed I was more like 65/35 in favour of front foot and my shoulders were pointing way left to my feet/ target. I've not had much chance on the range to work on this as I much prefer playing but when I've been on the course my driving accuracy has gone from around 30% to around 60%, and that's even with me aiming central (rather than aiming left edge like before).

I've also been trying to swing around my body more and rotate my wrists through impact too, which has greatly helped my 3W, 5W and Hybrid (I only slice these very rarely now).

I'm on Gamegolf and Golfshot if anyone is interested:

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/Wev

http://golfshot.com/members/0026205460

[rebelrob]

generally my shot would be a straight fade F too, but because im aware of it i aim left and fade it to centre, so a bit of a pull fade C, even though ive started by aiming left.

The thing ive been trying is to get the weight forward and hands in front of the ball which tends to straighten the shop up, if not put a hint of draw in it. there's also a good few drills around that principle as well which ive been trying out which will probably help you as well.

[ChrisWev]

If you're aiming left and it's landing centre it's still a straight fade as it's starting on your bodies target line and fading right, that's what I do/ was doing. A push fade would be more problematic but I don't do that, doesn't sound like you do either. Sounds like we're very similar, and like most other guys at this level.

I've heard it can make the fade/ slice increase if you're aiming left (when your "real" target is straight) as your mind still want's you to swing and aim down the middle (massively opening face to path) and I've done that many a time, so I'm trying not to do that now, unless there's major danger down the right (I'd also get my 3/5W out then anyway).

Generally I now aim down the middle and just try and swing more in to out, whilst trying to ensure the face is closed or level to path. If it slices or fades it makes me miles more aware of what I'm doing wrong, so I'm not hiding anything from myself. I spend a lot longer getting set-up now too (and check club-face to see where the strike hit), so it's the same every time and I'm eliminating variables in set-up, the variables make it impossible to get better.

I rarely get the face that closed that I draw it but think I could get towards that if I pointed my feet and body to the right of target (although this would take some balls knowing what my bad shot is ), need to spend some time on the rage with this.

I've not moved onto trying to move my weight forward through the swing (I think I do this quite a bit naturally because of hockey), also I'm not sure about the hands forward thing as I think the lag would de-loft the club more and I do that enough already coming over the top. I need to hit it on the up more with the driver.

[bste]

Welcome @ChrisWev

I'm a fading fool and the teachings here are very good. The ball flight laws are taking some getting used to. Checked out your gamegolf latest round and must say, well done.

[rebelrob]

It just occurred to me that you're right, I was referring to the line of the pull fade but said I pull fade it, duh!

I've heard that too about the aiming to the side but subconsciously you'll try and hit it straight towards the target anyway. when I'm at the range I'll try and pick a few targets at the back of the range (far left 200 marker, centre 200 marker, right 200 marker etc...) and treat those as my reference point to work out my line of ball travel relative to where I'm standing regardless of the mat position, which when I first started i found as really off putting as i could only really line myself up to hit straight relative to the mat.

I've been playing golf for a little while but never really seriously until recently, so I've never had lessons and I'm self taught, which there's pros and cons to, but a few people who I don't know have commented on how well I can hit the ball (when I hit it well anyway ) and how fluid and effortless my swing is, so I guess I'm doing the right things but I'm now looking into the mechanics and physics of the game to better everything.

I cant really comment on if bringing the hands forward will de-loft the club, but you seem to have a reasonable knowledge of what you're doing, or not doing, so I guess its just a case of practice makes perfect.

But I've read also that its not just a closed face that creates a draw, as that (club face position) predominantly just indicates where the ball is heading at impact.

[ChrisWev]

Welcome @ChrisWev

I'm a fading fool and the teachings here are very good. The ball flight laws are taking some getting used to. Checked out your gamegolf latest round and must say, well done.

Yes I know what you mean, my pro disagrees with the "new" ball flight laws/ trackman etc. To be honest there isn't much difference compared to the "old" laws, the ball pretty much ends up in the same place. The way I see it is trackman is bloody good (not used it yet) and knows path/ face/ loft and all other info and I struggle to see how it can be wrong, you can't really argue with physics.

Didn't leave the course happy with my last round (+14 over 12), I wasn't great off the Tee which put me in more trouble than I'm used to. Recovery shots were good that day though. Thanks for having a look .

[bste]

Your welcome, it looks like a pretty tough course and yes your recovery shots were pretty good.

Physics is hard to argue with, clubface closed to path but open to target gets me everytime.

[ChrisWev]

It just occurred to me that you're right, I was referring to the line of the pull fade but said I pull fade it, duh!

I've heard that too about the aiming to the side but subconsciously you'll try and hit it straight towards the target anyway. when I'm at the range I'll try and pick a few targets at the back of the range (far left 200 marker, centre 200 marker, right 200 marker etc...) and treat those as my reference point to work out my line of ball travel relative to where I'm standing regardless of the mat position, which when I first started i found as really off putting as i could only really line myself up to hit straight relative to the mat.

I've been playing golf for a little while but never really seriously until recently, so I've never had lessons and I'm self taught, which there's pros and cons to, but a few people who I don't know have commented on how well I can hit the ball (when I hit it well anyway) and how fluid and effortless my swing is, so I guess I'm doing the right things but I'm now looking into the mechanics and physics of the game to better everything.

I cant really comment on if bringing the hands forward will de-loft the club, but you seem to have a reasonable knowledge of what you're doing, or not doing, so I guess its just a case of practice makes perfect.

But I've read also that its not just a closed face that creates a draw, as that (club face position) predominantly just indicates where the ball is heading at impact.

Totally know where you're at with the mat thing, I try and purposefully align myself away from those lines an ignore them as best as possible, it causes havoc!

I think I'm going to be playing this sport forever now, so ideally want to start with as neutral swing/ grip/ stance as I can be and get rid of the major flaws as early as possible, before it's too late for me to change. It's cool that you have a fluid swing, looking good counts too :) I'm messing with my swing all the time so end up in some ugly positions's swing, body and ball position (on landing) wise .

Yeah I've a bit of an idea, I'm an engineer so my mentality means I "just need to know" so have watched loads of on-line vids etc, a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous though .

Yeah I think with the "new" ball flight laws, 85% of where the direction of the ball goes is determined by the clubface position, the rest and the curvature is down to the path the club face takes.

[ChrisWev]

Your welcome, it looks like a pretty tough course and yes your recovery shots were pretty good.

Physics is hard to argue with, clubface closed to path but open to target gets me everytime.

It's not too bad now I'm used to it, but it can be brutal if it's windy (wind predominantly coming from the West, or always seems to anyway).

Played a course down south (not far from London) the other day, unbelievably hilly. Practically every shot was blind and some greens were 30m above/below tee tevel, really hard to get a rang on those!

[CarlSpackler]

Welcome to the site!