Effington

Reminds me of Bill Murray in Caddy Shack. 250 yards out? Gimme my 6 iron...

Thanks, just looked up those places and they have great price structures compared to my local spots. It's a bit of hike for me, unfortunately!

Hi guys, I'm trying to find an instructor in the Chicago NW burbs that has an indoor facility for the winter, but having difficulties. Can someone point me in the right direction?

I can't give you any advice on your swing but in general it looks like you're generating a lot of power. Where do you lose most of your strokes?

Hey guys, thought I'd give an update since it's been a couple weeks but don't have a video. In the last couple weeks, I've: Got a custom fitting on my clubs; they were too long. Bought an indoor range pass for the year; practiced 30-60 minutes almost daily. Found a new instructor & starting lessons next month As you can see with the first and then second video I posted, I am working on taking a really flat back swing and getting it more on plane (more upright) by making sure my arms travel up after takeaway and not around. If I get comfortable with that, I also practice a better pivoted shoulder turn. It's still not natural to me so I am going to keep at it before moving on to something else. I have all winter before the weather turns, so there's no downside to patience.

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback, it definitely gives me a lot to think about and work on! I know my swing is poor, but I’m very motivated to improve. I’m also going to re-start lessons in January. I’m aiming for an update here every couple weeks so you guys can keep me on track—and I appreciate brutal honesty!!

I haven't--do you have any favorites that you could suggest?

Hey guys, was really hoping to get some feedback. I know I'm a novice with the camera but was able to turn the previous video right side up here. Any thoughts?

Hi guys, Thought I’d give an update as I obviously haven’t given any since the initial post, but have been working on my game continuously. I’m including here slow-motion video of my 8 iron swing, as I’m confined to the indoors now that it’s winter and the 8 iron is the longest club I can swing in my home. I had my best round in memory right before the weather turned freezing. I carded 110, which is better than average for me, and also had the best ball-striking day in memory that made the day really enjoyable. Essentially, I lost two shots tee to green, all in similar fashion. Driver was very short; typically 180-200. A low hook, usually in play, though! Approach shots were the highlight of the day going 140-160, but beautiful looking shots with a high arc and solid or sometimes flushed contact. This alone made the day very enjoyable for me. I had longer clubs to try and go for the green, but have not been hitting that well so did not think that was my best chance. I hit one par-3 green from 175 with a 30 degree hybrid, which was one of the most memorable moments. I’d typically have somewhere between 10-60 yards to pitch on. I skulled a couple short ones or bunkers, and longer ones I'd hit square but usually misjudged distance. Made a handful of bogeys (mostly par-3’s), but had a couple penalty strokes or duffers to even it out to average +2 per hole. Based on reading my summary, it’s easy to say work on the driver and short game and I’d be golden, but that’s ignoring the fact that it was my best day with the irons in memory, so I’m not expecting to drop a dozen strokes overnight—although it’d be nice! Swing Practice The biggest change in my swing from my initial post was working very hard to get my backswing more upright. It’s been very difficult—as you can see, I actually stop or get close to stopping my club when it’s parallel to ground—this is where I used to get really flat, so have been working to pull it up. If I get in a nice groove with #1 where I’m feeling comfortable, the next thing I’ll try to focus on is keeping the tempo smooth / slower. This promotes a fuller backswing for me. Usually I am rushed with the backswing so it shortens it / starts my downswing early, which I believe also leads to inconsistent face angle at contact. One thing I sometimes notice is that I don’t keep my weight back enough on the backswing. I feel the cause is from an improper shoulder pivot, so I sometimes work on this. The problem with this is that now I’m into three things to think about, which is too much. I only focus on this if the other two are working well. This one seems to have the biggest impact on accuracy, whereas the first two deal with striking the ball solid—the bigger priority for me. I do notice that I’m “across the line” at the top of the backswing, but based on the results I’m getting, I feel that this is a lower priority and having these to work on is more than enough right now. Any insight is appreciated--if you guys notice something else I should prioritize, I'm all ears!

Hey guys, just thought I'd share this recent experience on the course. I didn't break 100, but was hitting my irons & hybrids really solid & flush. On top of that, I drained five 10+ feet puts, including a couple that were well over 10. On the downside, my drives were very short (but in play, at least), my short pitches were hit solidly but extremely inaccurately, and had a lot of 3 putts. It was one of or possibly the most enjoyable rounds I ever had--that flush feeling of an iron or draining a long putt is just magic.

I have no science to back this up, but my experience has been that general stress levels play a huge part. It's harder to stay calm and composed when something bad happens (in any sport, or life in general) when you're stressed in general. Spousal relationships are obviously huge points of stress if they're not in good shape.

I think that's precisely why they're so popular. I am a fan of Me and My Golf because the presenters have good communication skills and the videos are well produced. They have an element of professionalism that many others don't. There are a lot of videos out there that have similar information, but don't do the other things as well. That being said, to the point of the thread, I feel that I've learned some characteristics of common good golf swings from the variety of videos I've seen as well as pick up on some golf jargon. While it obviously doesn't point out my specific swing flaws and priorities I need to work on, I am able to see a video of my swing and point out a variety of problems. That doesn't necessarily help with my golf swing today, but I would hope down the line the information will be useful.

If it makes you feel better, I'm in the same boat as you. I've played for a while and can't score, but I believe the people who say they can score in the 80's after taking up the game recently. The way I see it, life's not fair and everyone's progression is different. There's always going to be someone better than you or learned faster, so try not to dwell on it. Just strive for your own improvement. It's true that some/many people probably exaggerate their abilities; weather, course length, green speed on a given day can all dramatically effect your scores. Many people use their best/ideal conditions as their typical ability. Again, I try not to think too hard about it.

Out of curiosity, is the normal speed video the reason why there's little feedback? Proper feedback is only possible with slow-motion?

Thanks, I appreciate the advice! Another question--I've had a couple people mention to me that they thought my clubs were too long for me. I went to a PGA Superstore and asked them about it. They had me swing it a few times, I hit it straight, and they said it was fine. Thoughts?