TheArtfulDodger

Agreed. As I mentioned the first guy I sought a lesson from was not very helpful at all. I could just tell it wasn't going to work from the get go. On the other hand, my instructor currently was just the opposite. I could tell right away that we would work well together. :)

Hi all, Just wanted to share my experience with golf lessons. I know a lot of my friends feel like they are too expensive or maybe they feel a bit defeated having to admit they need someone else's help but I cannot recommend it enough. Yes, they can be pricey, especially a good teacher, but usually if they know you are not a 'one and done' person you can get a deal. Because it really takes more than one lesson to really get some work done. I mean I spend at least $100 on a normal day on the course in the summer with friends, and I can get a 45min lesson for $50 right now. My main point is that it is worth it. My teacher as been invaluable to my game. What makes golf so frustrating often is that many times what we think are problems are not problems at all and what we are not thinking about at all are the issues. Case and point, at my lesson today, I was thinking there was something in my back-swing and path that was off and letting the blocked right shots sneak back in. However, after seeing a few swings, he says "No, your back-swing is fine, great even, you just need to get your release earlier". He then went on in detail about getting that 'whip' sound a lot earlier in my swing and showing me good drills. I never thought of this before and would't you know it, I started hitting the ball a lot purer and much much straighter. So for all those still on the fence about getting lessons, do yourself a favor and get a few, you will be surprised at how much better your game will be. I would caution though that not ever tour pro is compatible with everyone. The first guy I got a lesson from was pretty awful and didn't help me at all. 2nd time was the charm :)

Wow, thanks for the great thoughts guys. Yes, my instructor does use video and we have reviewed clips of my swing in each of my first 2 lessons. He has helped me immensely. I will mention this trust issue next lesson and see what he recommends. I never feel like I want to quit though, I feel as though I am almost over the hill and that just beyond is a great golf swing because I can and do hit many great shots but every now and then those bad ones sneak back in and when they do, it's much to high of a bad to good ratio to have and enjoyable round of golf. I will get there! Also, to clarify when I said in my first post I feel like I am bring the club straight back I meant back to inside, not back from the target line.

Hello, Just wanted to get some other peoples opinions on the matter of trusting a certain feeling within your swing. To explain, I like many, suffer from a slight over the top swing which causes my club face to be open and cut across the ball resulting in many shots straight right or topped/thinned to the left. After picking up the game around this time last year I have finally started seeing my local PGA pro and after a few lessons my grip and posture are good to go but my back swing still needs some work. It is a funny thing because the correct swing feel for me feels so out of place it is hard to trust this. For my situation I feel like I am bring the club straight back compared to where I usually am and since shots to the right are a big issue it is beyond difficult for me to 'trust' that this more rounded from the inside swing will not push to the right. Even though this is NEVER really the case for me as my straight right shots are actually a result of me cutting across and leaving the face open. Just wondering if anyone else has ever had trouble with this feeling that the correct swing plane is WAY inside and have had a difficult time adjusting to this. Thanks!

That's what I figured. Thanks guys!

So watching the Dell Tech tournament this afternoon, M. Leishman has a funky shot in a hazard on the 18th. The shot practically shanked dead right and the cameraman actually made quite an athletic move to avoid being struck. My question is how would the rules have played out had it struck him? Would it be treated as a ball hitting a spectator would be? Seems like it should be handled different for some reason as he was standing like 8 feet away and not part of the gallery.

The reality is that pro golfers, like any other celebrity, are all human. Sometimes stress can overcome someone and they lash out. I know I do all the time so I try to not judge people based on outlier situations like this. That being said, there are certain tour pros known for being nicer and more likable than others. As far as Lee Trevino is concerned, he was always considered to be somewhat of an 'oddball'.

For me I really only have two. PGA Tour app and Hole 19 GPS app. The former is pretty obvious, but I love Hole 19 for a golf gps as you can use it with your phones location services set to off as having that on will drain your battery by the 5th hole. You can download a map and just find a tree or bunker you are close to and set your position based on that and it gives you yardage. I would kind of like an app that keeps track of my yardages with different clubs and or more practice stats.

I have recently acquired the problem of not being able to hit a hybrid to save my life even though they are suppose to be the easiest club in the bag to get airborne. Every single shot is either completely fat or gets topped along the grass about 40 yards. Pretty much had the worst round of golf in my life on Saturday when this started. Best thing for me is to just take a break from swinging a club for a few weeks, then come back and start from scratch with small swings and fundamentals. In other words, shit happens, lol.

Yes, it was on driver. When I put it on 7i it will tell me my swing speed it about 50mph. Now I wasn't expecting PGA tour numbers here but if I can hit a 7i about 140-150y with a nice easy swing something isn't right I would think.

So I just bought a Zepp 2.0 and it's telling me my swing speed is like 65-70mph for a driver! I can hit driver well over 250y consistently. I don't think physics agree here, lol.

I will be sure and check my head movement next time my shots start to go south. Sometimes it can be hard to notice in the middle of a round. As far as weight, yes I am aware of the issue, however, I am not sure what I can do. I actively try and get my weight to my left side but still end up chunking a lot. The real problem is once I get too many things going in my head it becomes very difficult to have a good swing. With my short irons I have to think about having more of a out to in swing or at least to feel that way as I have a tendency to push shots. Add to that "keep head still", "move left on downswing" and it's getting iffy. I know it doesn't look like a lot to think about but as a fellow golfer I am sure you would agree that the swing happens pretty quick and it can get hairy with too many swing thoughts. Funny, it seems like the more I actively TRY and have a great shot the worse it comes out. When I am free/relaxed and don't really give a damn what happens with the shot, like at the range, I have a pretty decent one. I will say my range session today was quite a bit better. I really tried to shorten my backswing and it seemed to help a lot. I was getting distances I never got before. One 56 degree wedge went about 130 easy, which was not necessarily a good thing, lol.

I feel most people think to themselves "Hey, I am going X amount over the limit so people behind me can kiss my ass". Well, it doesn't really matter if you are doing the speed limit or 90mph. If people behind you want to pass by, MOVE OVER. I know in Wisconsin where I am from this was apparently never taught, along with using an actual turn signal.

Now I can understand what you are saying here, but what about bringing it out to just get a measure of your game on the course. In essence not really looking at it until after the round? I know there is a course mode, and that practice swings are marked with a P or something. I am HIGHLY considering getting one.

Not sure if it would be considered a con, but I think one if my biggest issues, at least when it comes to practice, is that I lack patience. I will try a drill or swing thought and if it doesn't give my results very quickly, I do away with it and look for something else.

I am from Hartford, but golf all over SE Wisconsin.

Agreed, being fit is a lot more beneficial I would imagine. Although Daly is still hacking around, lol.

Yes, I believe it's more that fact that some of these guys swing so hard you would think they are coming out of their shoes! Not sure extra 20 yards is worth it when you are in woods all the time and your back gives out at 40.

Thanks for the info guys. Interestingly enough, went to range today after work and tried to mess with getting the left shoulder a little lower but you wanna talk about fat shots, LOL. Anyway, right off the bat I started blocking the short irons right. I looked on the club-face and they were fairly square so I started feeling like have a bit more of an out-to-in swing path and then they were fine. As a matter of fact I started hitting my wedges really good. Weird game, but I am sure the fat/thin curse will return! :) Off topic but I tried a new 3 wood i purchased, a Taylormade Aeroburner 15 degree, and my last ball landed BEYOND the 250 marker. I about crapped my pants, lol. I bought because I love my Aeroburner hybrid. Everyone says they are loud hitting, but I don't hear it.

I would agree 100% with that Dave, and will try to get my swing videos up there soon. I guess I was thinking if anyone else had this same problem they could not seem to shake and what helped them when they finally did get the problem solved. And thanks happy to be here!

Hi, I was wondering if anyone who has had a similar experience to myself could offer any help, tips, swing thoughts, etc. on the issue with my golf game. Like most amateurs I have lots of issues but one that remains a a constant is the fat/thin shots with short irons. Of my bad strikes about 75/80% are fat and 20/25% are thins. Direction is generally straight, sometimes pushed 10-15 yards to the right, almost never left. This is a problem only really with my full wedge shots. From about 9iron down I seem to hit pretty decent shots. 7iron is 140-150 average and straight as an arrow. That's a pretty straight forward and common probably I realize, however, I have read many articles and watched many youtube vidoes on this issue and nothing seems to cure my ailment. My first issue is that it is VERY hard for me to think/concentrate about more than one thing at a time during a swing. I have tried actively getting my weight on the left side and I finish in a good balanced position almost every time. I have tried different ball positions, middle and back further. I have tried leaning the shaft forward. I have tried drills where you put tees/business cards behind the ball. I have tried to feel like my hands are ahead of the ball as to hit be flipping my wrists. Nothing seems to cure this subsoncsious need to hit "at" the ball. If I pratice on getting the bottom of my swing arc in front of wear I am aiming I can do it almost everytime, but put a golf ball down and it all goes to hell. Yes, I have tried focsuing my eyes in front of the ball a few inches and while that seemed to help at first in the long run it did not. My next experiment will be in regards to shoulder tilt. I am thinking that my left shoulder is way too high. This could explain why I get awawy with 9iron and down because I do not need as much tilt as with short irons. We will see what happens. https://www.golfdigest.com/story/fitness-friday-a-fix-for-those My thinking here is that I know I am capable if hitting great wedge shots because when I first started they were the only clubs I could hit decent and now wedges are the only thing I simply CANNOT hit whatsoever and when I did actually hit it halfway decent it goes about 200ft in the air 15 yards short. When I was struggling with the slice on the tee shots I watched a video simply stating to move the back leg back a few inches like you want to draw it and wouldn't you know it, it straightened me right out. Has anyone had this problem with short irons where it seemed like no matter what you did you couldn't break the habit of the fat/thin shots? Thanks!

Hi, I just got back into the game this spring and was/am completely smitten with it. An absolutely addiction. When I am not playing with friends, I am at the range, or chipping down my hallway. I read/think about it in bed, at work, on dates. I used to mess around a bit in high school but nothing serious, certainly not anything like now. I love everything about the game. The insane amount of difficulty, the freshly mowed grass, the crazy amount of detailed rules(satisfies my OCD), and fact that when I am playing I seem forget about EVERYTHING else in my life and only worry about playing well and having a good time. Anyway, my goal is to just play a round of golf and reduce the amount of embarrassment. Right now just to break 100. I will be making a post in the Instruction or Swing Thoughts forum soon regarding this as it seems no matter what I try nothing seems to cure a certain issue I have. Very excited to be around folks as obsessed with the game as me and look forward to contributing. Thanks!