How to get better

[jshanks26]

Whats up guys, this is my second post on here, i'm an avid golfer and have been since i started in the summer of 2014, now i only just started keeping a rough handicap through usga from last October until the season was over, and it varies from 8-9. now i know this has nothing to do with handicaps, but every time i play, my general expectation is to shoot sub 80, good rounds would have me around 77. This upcoming season im working at a golf course which will give me free rounds whenever i want and half off driving range, what im posting is about, is how can i hone my game to get my handicap down to a 1 or  2, i dont really have money for lessons (Student Bills), so what can i do besides playing everyday and hitting the range, to get better?

Thanks!

[freshmanUTA]

Well lessons wise you can see if you can work out an employee deal or something. But other than that you can start a my swing thread for help with your swing.

[Golfingdad]

1 minute ago, freshmanUTA said:

But other than that you can start a my swing thread for help with your swing.

Yeah.  Practice won't do you any good until you know what to be practicing, and you can't really get that without some type of instruction.  a Myswing thread is free and could yield some good info and at least a place to start.

Besides that, I'd become friendly with any pros or really good players you see at your course and maybe you'll get lucky.

[natureboy]

33 minutes ago, jshanks26 said:

Whats up guys, this is my second post on here, i'm an avid golfer and have been since i started in the summer of 2014, now i only just started keeping a rough handicap through usga from last October until the season was over, and it varies from 8-9. now i know this has nothing to do with handicaps, but every time i play, my general expectation is to shoot sub 80, good rounds would have me around 77. This upcoming season im working at a golf course which will give me free rounds whenever i want and half off driving range, what im posting is about, is how can i hone my game to get my handicap down to a 1 or  2, i dont really have money for lessons (Student Bills), so what can i do besides playing everyday and hitting the range, to get better?

Thanks!

How old are you? How much time playing in your two short Canadian summers?

You seem to have some natural aptitude so I would feed that with some self-knowledge. This could also help you understand what the instructor is trying to tell you or if (hopefully not) the instructor is not that well-informed themselves.

The one thing that's true is that the flight of the golf ball doesn't lie. If you have a consistent ball flight, decent distance for your physique, can shape and flight the ball at will then you have an effective swing even if it looks unorthodox. I think a great place to start in basic golf knowledge is to understand ball flight. Try the Trackman University videos about the ball flight laws / face to path relationship.

http://blog.trackmangolf.com/hit-perfect-straight-shot/

http://blog.trackmangolf.com/face-path-explained-martin-chuck/

http://blog.trackmangolf.com/gear-effect-explained/

http://blog.trackmangolf.com/when-lining-up-square-is-wrong/

Books I'd personally recommend for some golf knowledge background are: Golf My Way (Nicklaus), 5 Lessons (Hogan), Short Way to Lower Scoring (Runyan), Power Golf (Hogan). Don't approach them as instruction manuals so much as general background on golf. Pick up a couple of ideas to play with yourself and then re-read them again in the off-season some time down the road and you will often find more of value you didn't 'get' the first time.

[jshanks26]

3 minutes ago, natureboy said:

How old are you? How much time playing in your two short Canadian summers?

You seem to have some natural aptitude so I would feed that with some self-knowledge. This could also help you understand what the instructor is trying to tell you or if (hopefully not) the instructor is not that well-informed themselves.

The one thing that's true is that the flight of the golf ball doesn't lie. If you have a consistent ball flight, decent distance for your physique, can shape and flight the ball at will then you have an effective swing even if it looks unorthodox. I think a great place to start in basic golf knowledge is to understand ball flight. Try the Trackman University videos about the ball flight laws / face to path relationship.

http://blog.trackmangolf.com/hit-perfect-straight-shot/

http://blog.trackmangolf.com/face-path-explained-martin-chuck/

http://blog.trackmangolf.com/gear-effect-explained/

http://blog.trackmangolf.com/when-lining-up-square-is-wrong/

Books I'd personally recommend for some golf knowledge background are: Golf My Way (Nicklaus), 5 Lessons (Hogan), Short Way to Lower Scoring (Runyan), Power Golf (Hogan). Don't approach them as instruction manuals so much as general background on golf. Pick up a couple of ideas to play with yourself and then re-read them again in the off-season some time down the road and you will often find more of value you didn't 'get' the first time.

Im 18 turning 19 in the fall, i can hit the shots i imagine, i.e, fades, draws, punches, knock downs, im 5'5 133 lbs, and carry it 250 in the simulators with a swing speed hovering around 100. 

[natureboy]

37 minutes ago, jshanks26 said:

Im 18 turning 19 in the fall, i can hit the shots i imagine, i.e, fades, draws, punches, knock downs, im 5'5 133 lbs, and carry it 250 in the simulators with a swing speed hovering around 100. 

Is the 250 carry on an 'all out' or a 'controlled' swing?

[Lihu]

6 minutes ago, natureboy said:

Is the 250 carry on an 'all out' or a 'controlled' swing?

100mph swing sounds reasonably controlled for an 18 year old. Guessing his SS is higher if he's using GC2. The carry is probably correct, but the GC2 SS numbers are assuming near perfect contact.

[jshanks26]

1 hour ago, natureboy said:

Is the 250 carry on an 'all out' or a 'controlled' swing?

pretty much all out, its about 245 if i control it, but if i went all out and got the sweet spot, probably around 260 carry

1 hour ago, Lihu said:

100mph swing sounds reasonably controlled for an 18 year old. Guessing his SS is higher if he's using GC2. The carry is probably correct, but the GC2 SS numbers are assuming near perfect contact.

its weird if i swing light and catch it in the sweet spot, it registers higher on the simulator, then if i swing all out and heel or toe it

[Buckeyebowman]

1 hour ago, jshanks26 said:

pretty much all out, its about 245 if i control it, but if i went all out and got the sweet spot, probably around 260 carry

its weird if i swing light and catch it in the sweet spot, it registers higher on the simulator, then if i swing all out and heel or toe it

There's one of your first clues! Swinging "light" and catching it on the sweet spot. Making solid contact is vital. All the clubhead speed in the world isn't worth anything if your striking the ball with a glancing blow. Many people claim there is no such thing as "effortless power". That may be, but we've all seen "powerless effort"! Those guys who jump out of their socks and don't go anywhere. And it's been demonstrated that those who swing within themselves and with solid technique generate greater clubhead speed than the jumpers and lungers.

I got to a scratch handicap and never took a lesson. I read instructional articles in Golf Digest and was just a year or two older than you are now. I'd been playing since I was 12-13 years old and decided to get serious about the game. I didn't try everything in the mag. Some things I read made no sense to me on their face. Others I'd try, but if they didn't work after a while I'd discard them and go back to basics. If it worked I'd incorporate the thought into my practice, and into my strategy on the course.

I found it interesting that you said that you can hit the shots you "imagine". This suggests to me that you may have an innate feel for the game, and I consider that to be the most exciting thing you wrote. And that is why I'd suggest going it on your own, at least for a while.

[jshanks26]

10 minutes ago, Buckeyebowman said:

There's one of your first clues! Swinging "light" and catching it on the sweet spot. Making solid contact is vital. All the clubhead speed in the world isn't worth anything if your striking the ball with a glancing blow. Many people claim there is no such thing as "effortless power". That may be, but we've all seen "powerless effort"! Those guys who jump out of their socks and don't go anywhere. And it's been demonstrated that those who swing within themselves and with solid technique generate greater clubhead speed than the jumpers and lungers.

I got to a scratch handicap and never took a lesson. I read instructional articles in Golf Digest and was just a year or two older than you are now. I'd been playing since I was 12-13 years old and decided to get serious about the game. I didn't try everything in the mag. Some things I read made no sense to me on their face. Others I'd try, but if they didn't work after a while I'd discard them and go back to basics. If it worked I'd incorporate the thought into my practice, and into my strategy on the course.

I found it interesting that you said that you can hit the shots you "imagine". This suggests to me that you may have an innate feel for the game, and I consider that to be the most exciting thing you wrote. And that is why I'd suggest going it on your own, at least for a while.

Thanks for your reply mate, ill do that, i understand what you mean about incorporated things you felt were working. I've done exactly that as well. Thanks bro, ill make sure i get to scratch

[Buckeyebowman]

21 minutes ago, jshanks26 said:

Thanks for your reply mate, ill do that, i understand what you mean about incorporated things you felt were working. I've done exactly that as well. Thanks bro, ill make sure i get to scratch

I sincerely hope that you do. I played every sport you can imagine growing up, and enjoyed them all, but I wound up enjoying golf the most! You can go out and compete against all that green land, and yourself. You are your own opponent! Well, you and the course you're playing. Keep us posted.

[jshanks26]

5 minutes ago, Buckeyebowman said:

I sincerely hope that you do. I played every sport you can imagine growing up, and enjoyed them all, but I wound up enjoying golf the most! You can go out and compete against all that green land, and yourself. You are your own opponent! Well, you and the course you're playing. Keep us posted.

Aha so did i! and i will!

[Lihu]

3 hours ago, jshanks26 said:

pretty much all out, its about 245 if i control it, but if i went all out and got the sweet spot, probably around 260 carry

its weird if i swing light and catch it in the sweet spot, it registers higher on the simulator, then if i swing all out and heel or toe it

That's because most simulators (notably GC2) measure ball speed and calculates swing speed.

[iacas]

11 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

I got to a scratch handicap and never took a lesson. I read instructional articles in Golf Digest and was just a year or two older than you are now.

I think you got to scratch in spite of getting your tips from the magazines, not in large part because of it.

If you truly understand golf (instruction), you'll find a lot of the stuff in the magazines to be utter crap. So my advice to anyone looking to improve: find a quality instructor (there are surprisingly few) and work on your priority piece at any given moment.

[natureboy]

14 hours ago, jshanks26 said:

pretty much all out, its about 245 if i control it, but if i went all out and got the sweet spot, probably around 260 carry

I kinda thought so. You're either don't have much muscle mass or aren't tall based on your weight. Still that's pretty efficient speed generation for your frame. A limited amount of range work with an 'all out' driver swing might be good for muscle development, but it's likely to lead to poor contact on the course. Inconsistent contact will actually hurt your average distance, even if it's nice to really 'catch one' from time to time.

Try to groove your '90% swing' while you build up your strength in other ways like walking the course with an extra heavy bag or other suggestions for leg, core, and shoulder (throwing) strength that can be found in other 'workout' threads here.

Where do you hail from? I see you use 'mate' a lot.

Quote

its weird if i swing light and catch it in the sweet spot, it registers higher on the simulator, then if i swing all out and heel or toe it

What @Lihu said, that launch monitor is 'calculating' your swing speed based on the ball rather than directly measuring the club head. On an off-center hit it doesn't factor in enough to get it as correct as when you catch it cleanly.

Edited March 30, 2016 by natureboy

[Lihu]

11 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

There's one of your first clues! Swinging "light" and catching it on the sweet spot. Making solid contact is vital. All the clubhead speed in the world isn't worth anything if your striking the ball with a glancing blow. Many people claim there is no such thing as "effortless power". That may be, but we've all seen "powerless effort"! Those guys who jump out of their socks and don't go anywhere. And it's been demonstrated that those who swing within themselves and with solid technique generate greater clubhead speed than the jumpers and lungers.

I got to a scratch handicap and never took a lesson. I read instructional articles in Golf Digest and was just a year or two older than you are now. I'd been playing since I was 12-13 years old and decided to get serious about the game. I didn't try everything in the mag. Some things I read made no sense to me on their face. Others I'd try, but if they didn't work after a while I'd discard them and go back to basics. If it worked I'd incorporate the thought into my practice, and into my strategy on the course.

I found it interesting that you said that you can hit the shots you "imagine". This suggests to me that you may have an innate feel for the game, and I consider that to be the most exciting thing you wrote. And that is why I'd suggest going it on your own, at least for a while.

The issue is that some things kind of work, but could still be wrong.

My son is in the same boat as you were when you were young (he started at 10 and is almost 17), but got swing instruction from this site and coaches associated with it. He knows what information to throw out right away. He's currently a 3-4 ish handicap, and does get instruction from good coaches and players on his team. Even so he needs to filter it.

One such case where he needed to filter information was with his first tee eagle coach who thought he had some swing issue or another before even watching his swing. At about the same time, I told him my son has a maximum 110 mph driver swing speed using a regular shaft and was thinking of moving him to a 72gm stiff. He, of course, looked at me like I was totally delusional. Rightly so, and the coach is actually reasonable and a former scratch player himself when he was 20 years younger. However, once the coach saw how far and straight my son hit he backed off his original advice given before seeing his swing. In any case, my son didn't listen to anything he said anyway. Most of the advice was just plain weird.

There is a lot of really bad information out there. The golf magazines, as you found out, contained a lot of crap.

There are even reasonable coaches who are also wrong, as in the case of my son's ex- first tee coach. He's kind of right, but only in a limited sense. Overall, his original advice could have done more bad than good.

Filtering out bad information is really difficult, until you have a deliberate and measurable*** swing. Before that, the advice could seem okay, but be really detrimental to your progress or even your health.

 

 

***I originally called this a "reasonable" swing, but meant one that is specifically created in steps by you and somewhat modular, changeable and measurable.

[paininthenuts]

17 hours ago, jshanks26 said:

Whats up guys, this is my second post on here, i'm an avid golfer and have been since i started in the summer of 2014, now i only just started keeping a rough handicap through usga from last October until the season was over, and it varies from 8-9. now i know this has nothing to do with handicaps, but every time i play, my general expectation is to shoot sub 80, good rounds would have me around 77. This upcoming season im working at a golf course which will give me free rounds whenever i want and half off driving range, what im posting is about, is how can i hone my game to get my handicap down to a 1 or  2, i dont really have money for lessons (Student Bills), so what can i do besides playing everyday and hitting the range, to get better?

Thanks!

Give the ball a good hard wack when on the tee or fairway. When on the green get your putter our and aim at the hole. This is what I do, and my handicap is 20 shots better than your (28)