All Activity

My two cents? Don't. As a beginner that's interested in learning about the golf swing, you'll find yourself consuming a lot of information, most of which isn't even relevant to your own swing. You need to learn you can't think your way to a good golf swing. Focus on the one thing that you're working on and doing that on every swing, come what may. And remember, mishits happen.

Day 6 (7 May 24) - More work in the backyard focused on tempo in addition to setup. Worked with 6 and 7 irons hitting hard foam balls - used the old MacGregor irons to mix it up a little.

No! lol. But they have to be in the right sequence to play mid-handicap golf or little better. Mostly. And even in that there is range/margin for error in the motions and positions that most normal humans can handle. It helps if you have a decent idea of how a golf club moves around the body like you would any other equipment sports (baseball and hockey might be the closest) After all, fairways are 40 yards wide. Don't overthink it. Be diligent in getting basics right. I will concede that it is harder than it sounds but it certainly is not exact angle/exact position/exact degree of bend/exact speed/exact facial expression, etc, every.... single.... time or the result is horrible death.

Looking to play in the Severna Park Golf league and it got rained out the first three weeks. I know the course is being renovated so it is not in great shape but the location is easy for me and I would love to meet some other golfers in my area. Anyone here in Maryland Annapolis area?

I like to look at the positives. Overall you are fairly consistent down the center with most shots 20 yards or less off center. On most fairways that should be in play. Sure, you had some very short duds, but also if you look there is a good cluster in the 110-125 yard range. Sure, we would all like to be longer, but knowing your typical shot is more important than trying to hit the 7-Iron 175 Yards. Just take more club for longer shots and do not worry about it. Your distances may increase as you improve over time so do not get caught up on that now.

Day 552, May 7, 2024 Played nine holes with @NatalieB with irons only from her tees. Didn't really finish out any holes, just hit the irons and approaches and some chips.

What has gone downhill? Have you been practicing properly, filming your swing, working on exactly what he suggested without straying? My thoughts are that your results/outcomes from a lesson a year ago probably aren't all that relevant anymore. And carry distance is far more important than total distance. Total distance is going to vary significantly based on course conditions.

One thing that has helped me tremendously is to spray the club face with foot powder when I am on the range. Seeing ball impact can be quite helpful if you are hitting shots all over the place. It's not the cure all, but a good little thing to do on the range. The other thing, and I will forget to do it, is the pre-shot routine. Find me a spot a foot or so from the ball in-line with my target, take my stance, take the swing. Sometimes you take a BS practice swing with no thought. Make it deliberate. As far as swing thoughts. I have 3 check-points. First is set-up, Second is my take away, Third is my downswing. I cant explain what I think I just know in my mind. Its a feeling that I have that feels right and experience has shown that if I follow those 3 thoughts more than likely the outcome will be what I was looking for. Now, thinking about the feeling and executing it properly is a whole different thing, that;s why I practice, I used to be over a 20 handicap, I am down to a 15.1 in about a year. I feel like its good progress. the goal is a 10 by the end of the year. If I make it great, if not, hey at least Im not in Gaza. LOL

I usually shy away from giving advice on a golf swing since so many here are more qualified than I am. You might try the following: Create a "MySwing" page on this site and you will get a lot of good advice Filter all of the advice and try to only focus on one or two things at a time. Unfortunately it is very hard, if not impossible, to constantly change different things at the same time. Figure out what is the most important thing to work on at this moment in your golf swing and focus on that until you have it engrained, then move on the the next change. Remember, we all have both good & bad shots. The difference between the pros and us hackers is the ratio of good to bad shots. Understand that a bad swing can occasionally look like a great result and a good swing can occasionally have a bad result. The key is to focus on one thing and work to get that as consistent as possible. Ideally that will gradually increase the number of good shots vs bad shots. Do not forget to have fun.

So close, that is frustrating.

You need to stick with one instructor as long as they’re not terrible. There’s no blueprint to improving a golf swing and different instructors may see different things as being more important and try to fix them. The end result is you get a hodge podge of things to work in that may not be cohesive or necessarily help you. If you stick to one instructor and communicate to them as such, they’ll also be able to work out a roadmap to your improvement which is more beneficial in the long run. If a guy assumes you’re just coming in for one lesson you might end up with a band aid.

Blew my 193 day streak today. Wordle 1,053 X/6 🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨 🟨⬜⬜🟩🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩

Many thanks. I read a lot of those posts. Man, that is really deep. As an old beginner, during a lesson or on the driving range, I have hit a good shot, you know pretty straight and it goes say 130 yards (7 iron). The very next swing, I dig a ditch behind the ball. I know I didn't do the same things on both swings. Even this last lesson I had, I would hit a pretty good shot, not so on the next shot. The instructor would quickly point out, "Hey you stayed on your back foot" or "Guess what happened there. You got all armsy or handsy". Sort of feels like I need a checklist when I prepare to swing each time. I can see it now before every swing, "Hey can you guys give me 10 minutes while I run through my checklist". In all seriousness, I see what you all are saying. I wouldn't be overthinking it so much if just I could make decent contact most of the time. Next lesson is about two weeks away. Can't wait.

Wordle 1,053 3/6 ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I was going to link in the same think @snapfade did. Your swing is already consistent, repeatable, except for nearly "microscopic" differences. The more mechanically-sound your swing becomes, the smaller and less frequent those "microscopic" deviations become.

Wordle 1,053 4/6 ⬛⬛🟨🟩⬛ ⬛🟩⬛🟩🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

The fact that he has a building that has one opening that hits out into a driving range, and the opposite wall has a golf simulator. The fact that weather will not play a part in my lessons. Every shot you take using either one is recorded and sent to you by email. I saw him just over a year ago for the first time, and it has gone downhill ever since. These weren't great results then, but it was my first lesson. Hitting a 7 iron then and this is total distance. Thoughts?

I was pondering a repeatable golf swing beings I am a beginner, and a lot of things have presented themselves in bad ways. I am mainly speaking irons here. The thing about golf is the ball is still, but the golfer is also standing over the ball. Are we saying that each time I hit the ball, my spine angle, lead arm, trail arm, wrists, etc. have to be just about exact to have a repeatable golf swing? This is already a "funky" position to be in, and a "funky" move to make. The golf swing is more of a body swing (in my mind). The ball is small and the sweet spot is small. I just feel defeated in the fact that I need to bend over the ball the same way every time, same knee bend, same swing arc, and hit a small ball with a small sweet spot. When I watch club fittings on YouTube, these guys are swinging about the same speed within 1 mph or so. Their Trackman numbers are pretty identical even in 10-20 swings. I am just trying to make sure that this is the main summary of what needs to be done. As a beginner, how did you all think through the process to make the swing repeatable? Much appreciated.

I kind of figured that might be part of the problem. I’m still guilty of it myself at times and you’re a better ballstriker than I am. I imagine the temptation to go for the flag grows as you get more control over your wedges. Might want to think about shot selection, too. I don’t know how you typically play short game shots but I see a lot of people default to hitting high pitch shots from basically everywhere, to every hole location, without regard for how the green is contoured and how the ball might release depending on where it lands. I know my short game has been steadily improving from expanding my shot selection, overall. Though to be honest, part of that is from necessity because I was really struggling with pitch shots so I started hitting more chips from everywhere, but it taught me a lot more about how to play short game shots in general. NP man. We’re all learning and improving together. It is a really good tool.

2 rounds this weekend, one at my home course and another course that I know well. Played well for 3 of the 4 nines. Ended up with an 80 and an 88. Breaking it down by 9, it was 38, 42, 41, and a tough 47 where I somehow ended up with chipping/pitching shanks where I dropped at least 6 strokes on the last 6 holes.

Yikes, how time flies. Here we are, almost ten years later. After prioritizing family life and other things for a long time, I'm finally ready to play more golf. Grip: I came across some topics on grip and think my grip has been a bit too palmy, especially the left hand. I'm trying to get it more in the fingers and less diagonal. Setup: After a few weeks of playing, this realization came today after watching one of Erik's Covid videos. I've been standing too far from the ball, and that messes up so much. Moved closer on a short practice session and six holes today, and it felt great. It also felt familiar, so I've been there before. I went from chunking the bejesus out the wedges to much better contact. I love changes that involves no moving parts. Just a small correction on the setup and I'm hitting it better and is better suited for working on changes. I'm a few years late, but the Covid series has been very useful to get small details sorted. I've also had to revise ball position. The goal now is back of ball in the middle of the stance as the farthest back with wedges, and progressively moving forward the longer the clubs get. Haven't hit the driver yet, but inside left foot or at the toe I suppose. Full swing: It's not terrible. I noticed my hands were too low, so got that to work on. Weight forward. More of the same stuff from earlier days. Swing path is now out-in and I want the push-draw back. When I get some videos it'll be easier to tell. I've also had this idea that my tempo or flow/rhythm could improve. It's always felt rushed around the end of the backswing into the transition, where things don't line up as they should. A short pause as things settle before starting the downswing. Some lessons might be in order. Chipping and pitching: A 12-hole round this week demonstrated a severe need to practice, but also to figure out what the heck I’m trying to do. I stood over the ball with no idea of what I wanted to achieve. On a four meter chip! I was trying the locked wrists technique, which did not work at all. As usual when I need information, I look for something Erik has posted. I’ve seen the Quickie Pitching Video before, but if I got it back then, I’ve forgotten. After reviewing that topic, some other topic about chipping and most importantly, the videos on chip/pitch from his Covid series, I felt like I understood the concept. I love the idea of separating those two by what you are trying to achieve, not by distance or ball flight. With one method you use the leading edge to hit the ball first. With the other, you use the sole to slide it under the ball. I was surprised he said that he went for the pitch 90% of the time while playing. I’ve always been scared of that shot and been thinking I have to hit the ball first. Trying to slide the club under usually ended with a chunked or skulled shot. After practicing in the yard the last days I get it, and see why the pitching motion is more forgiving. It’s astounding how easy the concept and motion is. Kudos to Erik, David and anyone else involved for being an excellent students of the game and teachers. With those two videos, my short game improved leaps and bounds, without even practicing. Just getting the setup right and knowing what motions you are trying to do is a big part of improving. Soft hands and floaty swings feels so much better than a rigid “hinge and hold”, trying to fight gravity and momentum by squeezing the life out of the grip. At least how I took to understand the “hold” part. I also think the chipping motion will help in the full swing. Keeping pressure on the trigger finger to ensure the hands are leading the clubhead and not throwing it at the ball. I've also tried looking in front of the ball at times when chipping, which helps. That's something I've been doing on full swings for a long time, and can make a big difference on the ball flight. Question @iacas: You say in the videos that you want the ball somewhere near the middle of your stance, and that for pitching it's the same. On the videos you got a fairly narrow stance, where inside of the left foot is almost middle of the stance, but the ball looks more inside the left foot than middle of the stance. Is that caused by the filming angle or is the ball more towards the inside of the foot? I often hit chips and pitches from uphill and downhill lies, where a narrow stance would have me fall over. What is your thought process and setup for those shots? The lowpoint follows the upper body, around left armpit IIRC, so a ball position relative to the feet may not be in the same spot relative to the upper body with a wider stance. Practice: I've set up my nets at an indoors location where I can practice at home. I did a quick search on launch monitors (LM), but haven't decided on anything yet. We're probably buying a house in this area in the near future, so I may hold off a purchase until I see what I can get going there. At some point I'd love to get a proper setup with a LM that can be used as a simulator. Outdoors golf is not an option 4-6 months a year here, so having an indoors option would be great. That would also be a place to use the longer clubs. My nearest course is a shorter six hole course where I don't use anything longer than a 21º utility iron. To play longer 18 hole courses I have to drive 1-1.5 hours each way, which I will do now and then, but not regularly. The LM market has changed a lot since Trackman arrived, and more people are buying them for personal use, but it's still need to spend a lot of money for a decent one that can fi. track club path. The Mevo at £305 could perhaps be something to consider. Maybe they have lowered the price to get out units before a new model is launched? It is almost six years old, though perhaps modified since then. It's got limited data and obviously isn't an option as a simulator, but could provide some data when hitting into a net. I'd have to read more about it first. It has to be good enough to be useful for indoors practice. As long as I frequently hit balls on the range or course, I'll get feedback on any changes there.

I'm pretty good at picking targets with mid/long irons in hand, but yes lately I have been getting more aggressive than I should be, especially from 100-150. The 50-100 deficiency is mainly distance control, working on that mechanically with Evolvr, but the 100-150 is definitely a result of poor targets. 6,7,8 iron in my hand I have no problem aiming away from trouble/the flag, hitting a very committed shot to my target, but give me PW, GW, and some reason I think I need to go right at it (even though I know I shouldn't). Like here from my last round. 175 left on a short par 5 to a back right flag. Water short right and bunker long. Perfectly fine lie in sparse rough, between the jumper and downwind playing for about 10yds of help. I knew to not aim at the flag here, aimed 40 feet left of it, hit my 165 shot exactly where I was looking, easy 2 putt birdie. But then there's this one. I had 120 left from the fairway to a semi-tucked front left flag. Not a ton of trouble around the green but the left and back rough does fall off steeper than short/right rough. For some reason I aimed right at this flag with my 120yd shot, hit it the exact proper distance but pulled it 5yds left and had a tough short sided chip. Did all I could to chip it to 8 feet and missed the putt for a bad bogey. Had I aimed directly at the middle of the green maybe 5yds right of the flag, a perfectly straight shot leaves me 20 feet tops for birdie and that same pulled shot that I hit would have left me very close to the hole. So yeah I think the 50-100 is distance control and the 100-150 is absolutely picking better targets. I have good feels and am strong with distance control on those I just need to allow for a bigger dispersion. This view is helpful. For the Under 25yds my proximity is almost double from the rough vs the fairway which reinforces that biggest weakness right now being inside 25yds from the rough. But then interestingly enough in the 25-50yds I'm almost equal proximity from fairway and rough, so it looks like I need to work on under 25yds from the rough and then 25-50 from the fairway. The bunker categories are only 1 attempt each so not worried about those. Thanks as always for the insight, it's been helpful. I'm really liking ShotScope so far.

Wordle 1,053 4/6 🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜ 🟨⬜🟩⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yea it is. A gave my brother a set of cobra irons at least a decade old and he walked away with 29 dollars worth of skin money the other day.