GoCobbers95

Excellent response!

Combining birthday and christmas present to get a driver fitting, and new driver. We are agreed that what ever the fitting process tells me, I can purchase. Thank you wife. Now to find a fitter. Golf Galaxy may be my only choice. Not sure if that is a good thing or not....

I re-grip clubs at a pro shop and have never been offered a tip. It wouldn't hurt my feelings if I got one though...

I did this two weeks ago and it was definitely a "night and day" difference. I was poised to buy new grips before I found this solution.

Loved the post. Thanks for sharing.

If that is what your course has to offer, I would recommend doing it yourself or going into a Dicks, Golf Galaxy, Austads, etc... and getting a dynamic fitting session.

I was playing a local muni 9 hole course close to my home on Wednesday. It was a beautiful late morning and I decided to try to run out and play a quick 9 by myself. As I am new to the game and still have days were golf is a BIG struggle, I tend to ALWAYS lean on the side of accommodations to slowdowns on the course. But anyways, I am playing the round of my life (first birdie eva!) and playing quite fast, about a 1:15 pace. On the 6 hole I caught up to a group of 10 people. Not sure of what was going on, I just observed. Turns out there was a five-some ahead of us (I didn't notice them because they were tucked in some trees way right of the fairway looking for a ball). This was annoying to me but as I stated I am new to golf and did not want to make a stink about it. When I finally saw the group I realized what was making the group on the tee box so angry. 1 grandpa and 4 YOUNG grand-kids. All playing their own ball, all watching each others shot. Talking to a group ahead of me I found out that they had asked twice to play through to no avail. No questions asked I joined their group, skipped the hole and finished the round. So my best round ever is an 8 hole round.

The trade in plus program only applies to iron sets over $400 and loose woods over $150. Still a great deal imo.

Excellent. Thanks for the replies. I had never really thought much about what my head position (and therefore upper body) was doing during my swing. Recently I had been working so hard quieting down my lower body that I have forgotten to even monitor what I was doing up there. Using my cursor to mark head position was very eye opening... I am very mindful of ball position in relation to my stance. Currently my set up has me hitting SW-8 iron, 1 ball behind the midline of my stance. Middle irons at midline, longer irons 1 ball in front. I will take a look at a more "forward" ball relation and see how that effects my shots. You nailed it with my grip! And believe it or not, it has been weakened some already. I was having such issues with my driver grip, that at contact the club head was so closed that a normal ball flight was absolutely impossible. I will work hard trying to weaken it. The videos have been wonderful. Thanks for the responses, I will hopefully be able to upload a new video soon!

This is what I have accomplished. I have worked hard fixing a myriad of swing problems through numerous range sessions AND taking lessons. Currently my mishits with my irons are a draw/hook type shot or an extremely fat mishit that removes a divot 6inches behind my ball. Thankfully these mishits are getting fewer and fewer but still require fixing! A 6 iron was used in the video. There will be 3 shots from each view... I have received so much help just reading on the site. I am excited to get even more advice through the use of this video! Thank you!

I realize now that I put a video of an iron shot when I origonally was complaining of poor driver performance. I have no issue with the ball flight on a "perfect" contact. My problem stems from EXTREMELY inconsistent ball striking.

Well... This is my swing video. It was recorded using a cell phone @ 30fps. I have slowed it down using imovie but there is still much to be desired (much like the golf swing). I have included 2 swings from each view. A 9 iron was used... Let me know if any other information is needed. I do appreciate any help you have to offer.

Had my first golf lesson today. The golf pro is just taking on his first students this spring, so I am receiving a heckuva discount. 1hr sessions for $30. I know some might say, "you get what you pay for". But I believe the alternative (me hacking the ball mindlessly), is far more negative. I would say my experience today was very positive though. We started with basics of the short game. After explaining the chain of movement needed for a golf swing, I began to really understand the importance of club head lag. He believed the principals we were going over in regards to the short game, would translate wonderfully to the full swing with obvious and un-obvious modification. After hitting a half bucket of balls towards a few flags on the chipping/putting green, we went over to the driving range. Here we widened my stance, but used same fundamentals from chipping/pitching and did half swings with the sand wedge. Here I recognized the fundamentals of how and why a divot needs to be taken. When I finally looked at my watch, I noticed that he had stayed with me for a full 2 hours (only 1 hour paid for). Very impressed with the guy... Only thing I wish I would have came away with, was "homework" for my own range work, and the video that I thought was included. Not having gone over full swing mechanics, he definitely left me hungry for more sessions. I am signing up for those immediately... Anyways, I am off to practice some short game tomorrow. If I get chased off the course because I didn't pay for a round I will be coming back here furious!!

Again, thank you all for the insight. Tomorrow morning I have my first golf lesson. In the days following I will be using a combination of driving range and putting/chipping green to hopefully instill skills learned at lesson. I will then wait until Monday afternoon to play round of golf when the course is much slower. I think the anxiety I have about golf situations stems from the "unapproachable" feel of golf courses I frequent (Although I am sure this is only blown out of proportion in my mind). Golf is portrayed as such a private game for the elite. Breaking into it has been tough. BUT, when you are a teacher and have 3 months to kill, it sure beats sitting around the house. Any tips for getting the most out of my lesson? The instructor is video taping it for my review at home...

Thank you all for the replies. Hopefully if I am following all other rules/etiquette, I shouldn't be noticed nor cared about. The practice greens that I want to use are at the course that I frequently use for its driving range. So I guess I am not totally mooching off them... Onto another question... What are typical slow times of the week/day for golf courses. I want to play as often as possible this summer but hate when I show up during a busy time and end up feeling like I am slowing others down. Again, thank you for all the insight!!

I am attempting to advance my game past the "Hacker" stage and know that focused practice is what will get me the furthest, the fastest. I have my first golf lesson scheduled for later this week with range times penciled in each day after until I play again on Saturday. This pattern of lesson, 2 range visits, followed by round of golf will be repeated throughout the summer. I am hoping through focused practice in this manner, I will find some sort of success . This brings me to my question: What is the etiquette for using a courses putting or chipping greens. Is it a must that you play a round of golf? Or should the course at least be one that you frequently play? My dilemma is, I am playing less than "full service" facilities (Read: Cheap) while I advance my game above the embarrassing level which it currently resides. These courses do not offer driving ranges or even a putting green. The course that I frequent for its driving range, offers a small chipping/putting area near the clubhouse/1st tee. I would love to use it, but wanted to make sure I wasn't making a horrible faux pas. Thank you for your insight!

In hindsight, it is ridiculous to think anything could be diagnosed from a general description of problem. I will hopefully update later tonight with (poor quality) swing video. Thanks for your reply

Ufdah do I have issues! I CANNOT consistently hit my driver. And when I say consistently hit, I mean I cannot make decent contact even. A typical ball pattern looks like a slight hook running on top of the ground or a sky-high pop up off to the right. Sometimes I feel as if I am swinging the driver like it is iron. The club head lags behind my hands on the downswing. I even have had the situation where I ground the driver L . At the driving range, I try every different swing imaginable (besides the correct one obviously) and I cannot make anything work consistently. What is so infuriating about the situation is I may have a couple rounds straight, where I hit my driver straight and 240. I know I would benefit greatly from lessons, but currently am strapped for cash. My goals in golf are nothing to ambitious. I would love to be able to show up at a course, play a round with co-workers, not slow down the pace, and hit in the 90-100 range. It seems like a lot to ask right now though… I humbly ask for any sort of help you all could offer… Thank you

Hello! Very new to golf. Working on all areas of my game intently as of right now. Currently I am a player that could score anywhere from 45 to 60 on a given 9. Its a sad situation really (as I was telling my fiance last night), I am a former college athlete, extremely motivated person, I tend to go head first into anything I have ever done, yet I still cannot grasp the game of golf after 13 months of playing. I know I would benefit from lessons, but until my fiance finishes grad school, I suppose spending money we don't have, wouldn't be smart. Anyways, thank you to all that make this such an interesting website with a plethora of helpful information. GoCobbers95