When Am I Done with Major Swing Changes (and move on to short game/putting...or enjoy the game)?

[PabloMoorzio]

Just now, Marty2019 said:

I actually think Mr. Penick is wrong.   I'd always start with the full swing, because it is so much more important than the stuff around the green.   You can't lose a golf ball on the green.   Missing a putt or a bad chip is a minor annoyance compared to hitting the ball into the woods or into a lake.   I don't think a young person would have any fun at all playing golf if they can't hit a full shot decently.  

I'm with my boy Harvey on this one, for kiddies anyways, they will get far more out of hitting a ball then watching it disappear down a hole than just trying over and over again to whack a ball straight and high!

[Marty2019]

Just now, PabloMoorzio said:

I'm with my boy Harvey on this one, for kiddies anyways, they will get far more out of hitting a ball then watching it disappear down a hole than just trying over and over again to whack a ball straight and high!

If you're talking about a 5 year old kid, fine.  But if you're talking about a kid who is actually going to play the course, that's what I was talking about. 

[Golfingdad]

4 hours ago, Marty2019 said:

I don't think I'll ever reach the point where I am not working on my swing.  Partly because I'm just not that good, and secondly, because working on my swing is so interesting and fun. 

Generally agree.  Except I wouldn't call "working on my swing" specifically fun ... but seeing the resulting improvements IS the reason golf is so fun.  Staying in the same place or going backwards is not fun.

2 hours ago, Marty2019 said:

I actually think Mr. Penick is wrong.   I'd always start with the full swing, because it is so much more important than the stuff around the green.   You can't lose a golf ball on the green.   Missing a putt or a bad chip is a minor annoyance compared to hitting the ball into the woods or into a lake.   I don't think a young person would have any fun at all playing golf if they can't hit a full shot decently.  

Completely agree again - but I slightly revised your last sentence. ;)  In my experience, this is true of kids but also of beginning adults.

[Kalnoky]

5 minutes ago, Golfingdad said:

 

Completely agree again - but I slightly revised your last sentence. ;)  In my experience, this is true of kids but also of beginning adults.

I think Golf Digest ran a poll last year and the greatest number of people enjoyed ball striking more than any other aspect. 

[MRR]

22 hours ago, Marty2019 said:

 I'd always start with the full swing, because it is so much more important than the stuff around the green.   You can't lose a golf ball on the green.   Missing a putt or a bad chip is a minor annoyance compared to hitting the ball into the woods or into a lake.   I don't think a young person would have any fun at all playing golf if they can't hit a full shot decently.  

I agree with everything you say except for your conclusion.  As a longtime beginner golfer, I can state that (at least for me) learning a full swing first is just not an easy process.  More importantly, it is not something the novice can just go out and practice whenever he or she wants.

Learning proper putting and chipping technique can be a great stepping stone to learning more advanced full swings.  Being off a little bit on a chip or a putt might mean you have to walk an extra five feet to retrieve your ball, but being off a little bit on a full swing can lead to a very discouraging slice that ruins your whole day.

Granted, I wouldn't want to take to the course without knowing how to make a full swing unless I were in a scramble, but I think the easiest way to learn that full swing is learning shorter swings first.  If you found it easy to learn the full swing right away, then I have a feeling that you were already a rather athletic person who had the basics down through some other activity.

 

EDIT: I guess it's the difference between "having fun" and "playing golf".  I have a perfectionist personality (despite all evidence to the contrary) and get the greatest joy from hitting all shots well.  Building up from putting to driving seems to be the easiest way to learn it all .

Edited January 20, 2017 by MRR

[MRR]

I wonder which part was their least favorite;

1) Hitting a second shot from 30 into the rough

2) Going from a 20 foot chip to a 30 foot putt (and then a 15 foot putt after that).

[Blackjack Don]

Line me up on the side of Mr. Penick and Bobby Clampett. Putting stroke, lead to chipping, leading to pitching, then full swing. The fundamentals should be the same. Square face, smooth takeaway, wrist hinge--putting to pitching. If you're consistent with all of these, it's easier than making different swings with different clubs. I know it's been discussed to death, but I liken it to learning skiing from wedge to parallel. The moves are the same, just done at higher speeds, or in the case of golf, more turn. Practicing from 30 yards in is a lot more fun to me than practicing a full swing. Far less frustrating, but no less challenging. My short game is better, probably because I practice it as much. Whacking a driver is fun, but hearing the sound of the ball falling into the bottom of the cup is the best.

[JonMA1]

On 1/18/2017 at 4:53 PM, RH31 said:

You need to work on all parts of the game, especially when you're first starting out. 

Golf is enjoyable(to me) when I can strike it well enough to be near any green in regulation.

Giving myself a reasonable chance at up and downs really helps ease the pain of some poor strikes. Putting can save a lot of lousy play.

I'm sure others have had better success, but in 30 years of playing, I've only had what I would call good ball striking seasons 3-4 times. I'm not saying you can't learn and work your way to good ball striking, it just doesn't come together for everybody.

I'll say it again, if I had learned how to properly use my wedge around the greens the first few years, the game would've been much more enjoyable to me.

^^^^^This, and this vvvvv

On 1/18/2017 at 4:56 PM, Golfingdad said:

I have no idea because I haven't reached that point yet.  I suspect I never will.  But as far as practicing/learning other aspects of the game - yeah, you should be doing that too!

It's all important. The full swing just takes more time to learn and requires more maintenance once gains are made. It's easier to regress when there's more that can go wrong.

Still, you can't be good at ball striking only and not put work on the other stuff (or vice versa). Whether you work with the 65/20/15 ratio or something similar, I think you have to constantly pay attention to it all. 

When I learned my GIR percentage wasn't that horrible in 2016, it made me realize that neglecting the other parts of my game really contributed to my high scoring average.