Returning to Golf

[Kalden1701]

Good evening all,

I recently separated from the Navy after ten years of service, and I am finally getting back into golf.  I grew up with the game and I am quite excited to get back on the course.  Despite my excitement, my golf skills are a bit, shall we say, rusty.  That said, I would appreciate some advice on how to properly get back into the swing of things.

I recently pulled my old set of clubs out of storage and spent about two hours at the driving range yesterday to get a feel for the game.  My time at the range went as well as one might expect – I topped a few balls, created a few excessively deep divots, yet I managed to nail a few shots.  Towards the end, I was consistently hitting my 9-iron straight with plenty of loft about 125 yards and my 7-iron just shy of 150 yards.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t seem to get rid of the severe slice my driver exhibited.  I am going back to the range tomorrow with my old man to hit a few more balls.  I’m hoping to also record a few shots tomorrow so I can personally observe my swing. 

That said, I have an appointment next week at a local Austad’s for a fitting session to narrow down a bag full of clubs.  As I said, the clubs I currently own are the Pings my father passed down to me as a teenager and they are probably 15+ years old.  Are they any major considerations I should keep in mind when selecting a brand of irons and driver besides feel and results? 

I have no idea what any of the pros use, but after spending quite a bit of time online I think I prefer the Taylormade M1/M2 clubs.  If I am not mistaken, the M2 are more of a game improvement set while the M1 provide more control and finesse.   Are the differences between these two sets significant enough to influence a purchasing decision?  I will say as a teenager I could never seem to consistently hit a Callaway Great Big Bertha, so I’d probably shy away from Callaway clubs. 

Besides club selection, would any of you have any recommendations for drills addressing body movement during swing, and grip? 

Thanks in advance for reading.

[boogielicious]

5 hours ago, Kalden1701 said:

Good evening all,

 

I recently separated from the Navy after ten years of service, and I am finally getting back into golf.  I grew up with the game and I am quite excited to get back on the course.  Despite my excitement, my golf skills are a bit, shall we say, rusty.  That said, I would appreciate some advice on how to properly get back into the swing of things.

 

I recently pulled my old set of clubs out of storage and spent about two hours at the driving range yesterday to get a feel for the game.  My time at the range went as well as one might expect – I topped a few balls, created a few excessively deep divots, yet I managed to nail a few shots.  Towards the end, I was consistently hitting my 9-iron straight with plenty of loft about 125 yards and my 7-iron just shy of 150 yards.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t seem to get rid of the severe slice my driver exhibited.  I am going back to the range tomorrow with my old man to hit a few more balls.  I’m hoping to also record a few shots tomorrow so I can personally observe my swing. 

 

That said, I have an appointment next week at a local Austad’s for a fitting session to narrow down a bag full of clubs.  As I said, the clubs I currently own are the Pings my father passed down to me as a teenager and they are probably 15+ years old.  Are they any major considerations I should keep in mind when selecting a brand of irons and driver besides feel and results? 

 

I have no idea what any of the pros use, but after spending quite a bit of time online I think I prefer the Taylormade M1/M2 clubs.  If I am not mistaken, the M2 are more of a game improvement set while the M1 provide more control and finesse.   Are the differences between these two sets significant enough to influence a purchasing decision?  I will say as a teenager I could never seem to consistently hit a Callaway Great Big Bertha, so I’d probably shy away from Callaway clubs. 

 

Besides club selection, would any of you have any recommendations for drills addressing body movement during swing, and grip? 

 

Thanks in advance for reading.

 

Welcome to The Sand Trap. We have a section called Member Swings. Many of us post video of our swings there and work with other members on improvement, including drills. Comments can come from instructors on our site or other members who are working on the same issues. I highly recommend it. A lot of us have made significant improvement using Member Swings.

In addition, we have the thread below with tons of good golf swing advice. You may want to hit the range or course a few times and get an understanding of your misses, hooks, slices, fat shots, etc. This helps determine what needs to be the priority item to work on.

 

[dennyjones]

Welcome from Michigan.   Great advice from @boogielicious.   You'll find a lot of valuable information, read, ask and participate.   

[cipher]

Welcome to the site, thank you for your service and yes, great stuff from @boogielicious.

[RandallT]

Welcome back to civilian life! I did a stint in the Navy, so I'm familiar with how different life becomes when you don't need to stand the midwatch anymore.

And welcome back to golf! TST is a great place so you should feel welcome to join in on any threads that interest you.  If you see an old thread, it's ok to "bump" it with some new thoughts, but also good for new members to dive in with new threads when they're stuck on something.

As @boogielicious said above, a My Swing thread is a great way to start interacting. I have a link to mine in my signature below so browse around to see an example.

Lastly, I wouldn't be biased for or against a vendor if you go into a fitting. My style is to let a good fitter fit me with choices, and I try to strictly get a feel for what he puts in my hands- not letting past models sway me. My dad had a set of Ping Zings way back when and I couldn't hit any of it. Now I have a Ping G30 driver and love it.

[JonMA1]

Welcome back to the game and to the forum @Kalden1701. 

[chilepepper]

You may want to consider holding off on a fitting and get some lessons first. Maybe put some new grips on your present clubs practice, play for awhile then get fit