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Effington
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About Effington
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Pace of Play Question Hey all, I'm a novice golfer that took 5 years off. I just brushed the dust off my clubs, took a lesson and am swinging better than ever on the range, which has encouraged me to get on the course. After reading so many messages here on pace of play, as well as a quick search on the topic, I'm a little surprised at what I've read and wanted some clarification The first website that popped on my search (http://www.popeofslope.com/paceofplay/), notes that pace of play is too slow for 18-20 handicappers who are very deliberate in their approach (taking practice swings, slowly line up their shots, watch shots completely before moving on, etc.) With that as my baseline, I will surely be a lag on the course as I'd be ecstatic to break 100 and also do those things as previously mentioned. The above website also cites dealing with this slow pace as a reason so many quit the game. Golf is as much, or more about etiquette than any other sport, and I'd like to follow protocol (and be welcomed back). What types of things should I do to make sure I'm staying in line with expectations on pace? I see that I should probably schedule a later tee-time as opposed to morning, and probably get a cart (this is disappointing, honestly), but what else? As a novice I have a built in 30+ shots in my round that an expert would have; does this mean I shouldn't be playing all of those shots and pick up if I'm not on pace? Honestly, this topic gives me a little anxiety and surely this will also impact my game. (On a side note, taking no practice swings, not deliberately lining up shots or watching shots completely sounds like a speed round that is not fun!)
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Thanks for the articulate reply. Here's another (similar) episode that I'm having trouble understanding: Went to the driving range, with the goal of getting solid contact on shortened swings, and working on making sure I am not leaning backwards at the end of my swing. After a couple warm-up swings that aren't terrible, the next 5-10 shots get progressively worse until I'm topping them again. I continue to top/shank shots for the better part of an hour. All I'm trying to do is chip the ball ten feet...still no success. I take a break, try to relax...no help. Then for an unknown reason, it just stops. All of the sudden, my contact is fine and shots are going very straight, with excellent trajectory. I get as many swings in like this as I can, and just try to remember the feel. At the end of the day, I have no idea what I did differently. At work, it's quite dangerous to fix a problem without knowing the cause, because you aren't able to prevent it from happening again. This is the feeling I get with golf.
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Hey guys, I'm in my second year of playing the game now, and am looking for some insight from anyone who has played the game longer than me, no matter at what level. I seem to have experienced some fairly dramatic changes in my ability in a very short period of time. Most recently, I went out on an executive par 62 course, and shot roughly in the high 80's, which would be probably my best round of golf so far. Consistently solid contact in the middle of my club, no OB shots, a lot in the fairway. Most of my holes were bogeys, and even a couple pars. However, a few days later I'm out at the driving range, when all of the sudden I'm shanking and topping balls. This was not unusual for me when I first started playing, but it hadn't happened in a while for me. My instructor had told me that this is fairly common, and the best way to fix this is to take a few minutes break, and then come back with quarter length swings just to get good contact, which is what it did. However, it took three driving range sessions until I was able to get consistently solid contact (over an hour of consistently shanked/topped shots). This period was quite demoralizing, and made me question why I spend so much time, effort, and money on the sport. I know there will be ups and downs in the game, but I didn't expect my game to get that down, after I've practiced so much. I spend a lot of time at the range and I had thought I had progressed past this point; in fact my last 4-5 times at the range were excellent. (In case it's helpful, I had a lesson with my teacher and he said that my horrible mis-hits were caused by a very big inside-to-out [swooping] swing, coupled with overactive wrists, which projected the ball to the right and with a hard slice) My general question is, is this common, and how do you resolve this issue? If it's not common, do you have any idea what I could be doing that causes this?
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To answer the OP's question, it depends on what population you're considering. I often go to the local driving range and no one can hit the ball over 150 yards...over half of them can barely get the ball in the air. I've played a par-3 course where I shot +20 on 9 holes and it looked like I was the best player on the course. Overall, I'd say a very small percentage of players legitimately break 100.
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In your situation, I'd probably remind your friend that he didn't really have a better round than you. However, it's not really important and nothing to lose friends over. Golf is a hard game, and every body lies about their score. If you are betting on the winner, though, you both need to be scored in the same manner.
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In response to the original question, the player in front did not do anything wrong as long as he is keeping pace with the group in front of him. In fact, he did the right thing by offering to play with you. He even joined the group ahead to keep the pace fast. As someone else mentioned, if someone I didn't know (who earlier declined an invite to join me) asked me to play faster when I wasn't slowing down the pace of play, and also told me which tees to play off of, I would not be pleased.
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The score cards for the former professional athletes are very entertaining to read. There are a lot of very good golfers out there, apparently.
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If I'm over swinging, I'll get tired in about 100 swings. If I'm swinging light and easy, I can swing away for hours without an issue. As a frame of reference, I'm 30 years old and in excellent shape. The hardest part is when I'm swinging poorly, and can't seem to fix the problem, it's very hard to walk away. The other day, I had a perfectly good session at the range but had a few bad swings at the end, and then spent 20 minutes trying to fix it when I should have just left. At the end, it just got worse and I left the range in a terrible mood.
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Take my words with a grain of salt as I'm not a very experienced player, but... Wrist hinge is basically the angle created between the club you are holding and your forearm. Maintaining a higher angle during the downswing and releasing it at the right time will help to optimize your club speed. It's hard to describe in words without showing you exactly when that time is, but a quick youtube search will give you plenty of results. I like to think of a trebuchet. It gets much more power compared to a catapult because it has additional level which generates snap and thus, more speed. However, maintaining that angle is the hard part. From my experience, and I may be wrong, maintaining this angle is very much a result of proper swing mechanics and not something that is done consciously. I hope that helps!
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In my area, the local golf stores often have free introductory group lessons that teach the basics of grip, stance, & swing. This is a good start and at little cost. Books or online videos are also good references for the basics. Once you have a general idea of what you're doing, though, if you are looking to improve you'd be best suited to have someone knowledgeable give you specific advice about your swing. Good luck and hope you stick with it!
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Hey guys, I'm reviving an old thread instead of creating my own. I recently came into this, actually on my own. I noticed my brother did this, and he is a pretty good ball striker. What are your thoughts on this? I believe I am having consistency issues due to my wrists breaking at different points during the backswing, effecting how the club is at impact. This is likely due to small variations in my swing speed. I found that an early wrist hinge gave me more consistency when striking the ball. However, I also felt as though my arms were much more engaged and active. Not sure if I am releasing early or not, but I don't think it's been a noticeable difference. I figure instead of trying to perfectly slow down my speed to the lowest common denominator, if I use this method, I can get good strikes constantly.
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I actually live in Schaumburg. I'll keep an eye on this thread and hopefully I'll be able to meet up with you guys.
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This is definitely an interesting question--how do you make someone like something? It's less of a golf question than a psychology question, in my opinion. I like Hacker101's suggestion. However, be prepared for it to do nothing. When I was a kid, there wasn't anything you could do to convince me that my parents were cool. So if they had fun doing something, it was not a cool thing. You could try to associate golf with something he likes somehow.
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I'll see if I can some sort of video up later. But when I mean performance drops, it's a lower trajectory and harder hook. I know I overuse my right thumb which causes a hook, but I can feel that everything is an effect of swinging too hard. In my virtual game with a green that is about 30 yards wide, with the short irons I'm always on target, meaning on the main part of the green. With the longer irons I'm usually hitting about 10 yards left of the green.
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Hey guys, As I continue to practice daily going on about 7-8 months now, I feel I have developed an excellent short game. I would even call myself very proficient with my Attack/Approach wedge, which I can hit consistently to within 15 feet from 100 yards...at least in my indoor practice facility in perfect weather & lie. I'm playing with Taylormade Burner Plus irons, where the AW is a 50 degree wedge. With a light, easy swing I'm hitting it with a 33 degree launch angle and a swing speed in the low 70's. However, as I move up to other clubs, my performance drops. I would say I am pretty good with my nine (125), and OK with my eight (135-140), but after that it's very sketchy. What essentially happens is that the longer the club gets, the more backswing I get, which also leads to less wrist hinge, coil, power, & accuracy. With this long back swing I also seem to use more arms with my down swing. I can always find my swing by grabbing my AW, but it just seems so difficult not to over swing with the other clubs. My teacher keeps telling me that I should have the same swing for each club, which would be great because I think my swing is great with my AW, but it doesn't seem to work out that way. This seems to be a mental thing, since I clearly know what I'm doing wrong and I can correct it simply by switching clubs. But yet I still continue to struggle with longer shots. Any tips?