dru925

Great advice, folks -- thank you!

My daughter is wrapping up 6th grade and is interested in getting good enough to play golf in high school. What specifically can she do now to achieve that goal? She is a beginner and has taken a few small group lessons and played par 3 a couple of times. That's it. I just signed her up for a youth club at a local course (a challenging regulation course) where she can play $5 rounds so hopefully she can get a lot of golf under her belt in the next few years. Would folks recommend some private lessons, small group lessons, focus on playing rounds, driving range, etc?

Wondering what everyone is doing for sunglasses. Normally I don't play with anything because I've found for sports/activity I can sometimes get a little bit of pressure headache at my temples from glasses. (I'm a tennis player and can't comfortably wear them for tennis.) But I played yesterday morning and it was SO bright out there. I really was wishing I had a good pair. What is everyone else wearing? Do folks have special pair just for golf or do they just wear their regular everyday shades?

Yup. This time last year I had not even swung a club (except for mini golf.) Sometimes it's useful as a beginner to remind myself of this from time to time. I am naturally pretty athletic so I assumed (LOL!!!!!) I'd pick up golf really quickly. What a learning experience I have had! It has been humbling to say the least. But in a good way...I am having fun and realize that golf is about so much more than just hitting a ball with a stick. I love how cerebral the game is. I am developing a lot of new skills and plan to play for years to come.

Been playing 6 mos. I am working on increasing my distance and for now would like a ball that gets me farther. I'm a small (under 100#) woman, early 40s. I can go to a store e.g. Golfsmith or just regular sporting goods store. I've been playing with Precept Ladies IQ on the recommendation of a friend. They seem okay but I don't have anything for comparison.

Ditto. One of the things I love about golf is that I consider it a total cell-phone free zone.

Funny you should mention grip. I was at my weekly lesson on Tuesday and saw that my grip is all crazy. I tend to grip with my entire hands rather than just fingers. I am sure like most beginners I have the club in a death grip as I try to get more distance. I play tennis too and one of the women in my regular game has been off for 2 mos with tennis elbow and also bursitis in her shoulder. She's having a hell of a time plus what I've googled seems to be very dire about "once you have it, it'll dog you forever" so I am a little paranoid that I am developing it! I guess the good thing about being a beginner is I can head off bad form and bad habits now before they become too ingrained.

My course is the beautiful Temecula Creek Inn in Temecula, CA. 27 holes, some very challenging. I take a weekly lesson at Redhawk, which is also in Temecula.

Thanks for the input. I am new (been playing for about 6 mos) and I've stepped it up a lot recently. I think I have a little bit of the Weekend Warrior thing going on now. I saw my chiropractor this week (for an unrelated shoulder issue that is now under control) and he unofficially said he doesn't think it's tendonitis because of where it is -- pretty much right in the "meatiest/ropiest" part of the muscle. He thinks tendons would involve more toward the elbow. He said that sometimes amateur athletes can be really unbalanced on left/right side and since I'm left handed, maybe I'm doing some compensating etc on the right side. I don't want to stop playing golf though:-( I am just starting to improve. I've been icing a lot and think it might be helping...

So true. As a beginner I tend to get stressed if I feel like the people behind us are breathing down my neck, but then I have to remind myself that the people I need to be watching to maintain good pace of play are the group directly in front.

I am a lefty and my right forearm is sore. Based on Dr Google it doesn't sound quite like tennis or golf elbow based on where I am feeling it. It's sore on the outside of my forearm, about halfway between my elbow and wrist. When I flex my forearm, I feel it at the most muscular part. Is there a way to easily tell whether this is simple muscle soreness from developing muscles that I haven't used much before (I've only been playing golf for about 6 mos and have been playing a lot more lately), or a sign of something more ominous to come? All I've done so far is stretching (stand with arms straight out in front of me and flex wrists up, then down) and icing on and off.

I had a rough pregnancy and went through a time of stress and now am a little underweight. Just joined Gold's after several years off. I used to hate lifting and had to force myself to do it but funnily enough, this time around I am loving it. Realistically I get to the gym 2-3x/week but the ideal would be 3-4x/week. Don't do any gym cardio (just 10 min treadmill walking to warm up and 5 min to cool down; then do 20-30 min very focused strength training.) I have a high energy dog and get cardio from him:-) Goal is to gain 10# muscle and doing it by lifting + eating.

Your wife's story is really inspiring, Bullworker. All the best to her! I think strength training is great for her to build back up.

Lawyer -- hub & I have a small firm in Riverside/Temecula/San Diego. Mostly able to work from home now while we have little kids (youngest just finished kindergarten.)