learning on your own

[teal]

All,

Was wondering if anyone had any insights into a good book or video to learn the proper golf swing.

I have golfed maybe a total of 12 times. I own a set of Acuity clubs (Dick's Sporting Goods specials).

I am decent with decent irons (imo) but I can't swing a wood to save my life and can not help but feel my swing is really bad. I would appreciate any advice as to a video I should pick up to learn. Of course you see Ledbetter all over the place, is that where I should be looking?

ETA: I haven't been able to golf at all since last I posted. So this year I start 100% fresh but I bought my son a set of clubs and he is pretty excited to golf together. At 8 years old - I'll take it!

[MPS67]

I would highly recommend the following book:The Four Magic Moves by Joe Dante.

Amazon.com LINK

Ledbetter's books and videos are ok. But in my opinion, he doesn't go into too much detail as to why something works or not. Joe Dante (the author of the aforementioned book) discusses in detail the faults of the high handicapper, why it ruins the swing, and how and why to correctly execute the ideal swing. He dissects all of the different swing zones and moves in a very clear and concise manner. After viewing and reading many of the popular golf help videos and books from the popular teachers (Ledbetter, Haney, etc. ) this title finally turned on the light for me. I now swing using the correct fundamentals and have seen a great improvement in my game.

An abridged version of the book can be viewed on line HERE .

If you browse to this web site, you'll see links on the left that are categories of the swing. After clicking on any of these links, you'll see sub categories of Dante's writings. For example, under the BACKSWING link, you'll see the following backswing sub categories near the bottom:

Golf backswing part1: the problem
Golf backswing part2: the magic move
Golf backswing part3: the thumb press
Golf backswing part4: into the swing
Golf backswing part5: the effect on your swing

There's a lot of information from Dante's book here, but not all of it. And this website is hoping you'll spend the bucks for the rest of the information. I wouldn't recommend to do this considering Dante's entire book is available for less than the cost of the web site's abridged offering.

[andre112]

search for steve bishop on youtube
they are quite helpful and they are free

[BOOMSHANKA]

The internet is a great place to search for golf tips...also magazines, such as Golf Digest and Golf Magazine have excellent articles to learn from...there is alot out there.
Good Luck on your golf game.

[Bowker]

Yes there are numerous videos and articles online.

A good sight for videos is GolfLink.com which is free for a year then you must pay.

Then move on to Youtube. There are many instructional videos that pros post there for free.

Good luck.

[JonnyGolf]

Congrats on your son wanting to play golf with you at 8yo! My son is 15 and is finally starting to get interested.

Be really careful about learning on your own. Generally, the problem lies in that your perception of your golf swing is not developed enough for you to judge it effectively. And, attempts to help your son may just create similar issues for him. So, I would really recommend enlisting the help of a PGA Pro, or taking videos and getting lots of feedback from folks on this forum.

Have fun!
jg

[nickk]

zac dillon (ausgolf) and Craig Sigl .. both golfing gurus..
look into them a bit i guarantee they will help

[Norm66]

I tried to learn by myself for the first 8 months or so. Then I took 5 lessons over 6 weeks and made more progress in that time than I had in the previous 8 months combined. It seems like a lot of money, but it will pay dividends to put a few bucks into lessons early on just to get you started on the right foot. If you wait to take lessons later you'll have to undo a lot of what you learned on your own.

[teal]

Thanks for the help - right now the son just loves driving balls. My driver is shorter than my 7 iron. Thats where I need the help.

[tm22721]

I would take several initial lessons to learn the setup and basic swing concepts before you groove any bad habits on your own.

But make sure to get an instructor who understands a good bit about golf swing mechanics. I wouldn't get an instructor who teaches by feel alone. That is a waste of money, been there done that.