ALong17

Looking for some opinions on what a good drive should look like. I've gone from hitting it high and to the right, to low (maybe 50 feet off the ground) and left to center. Getting good distance, anywhere between 230-270 with a couple pushing the 300 mark (pretty rare). But feel like I'm losing distance based on the low ball flight. Everything else from my hybrid down to my wedges seems to be beautiful, at least in the ball flight regards. Should I focus on trying to get the ball up in the air more, or be happy with what I'm getting now?

Couldn't get a picture, but caught a possum taking a bath in a puddle off the 14th tee box today. Felt a bit bad for interrupting him.

Thank you! I would have never noticed the head movement. Since this was posted I have had a lesson, but it was rained out after 15 minutes. Still waiting on the pro to reschedule, weather hasn't been very cooperative. I will work on those tips and plan on posting a new video with better quality in the next couple weeks. Can you clarify the flying right elbow? Don't know exactly what you mean?

Appreciate it! Now to try and repeat it!

Played my first 18 today with the new driver (TS2) and hit an even 100! Shot 52 on the front and 48 on the back. On the 5th hole everything seemed to fall in sync and was crushing it on the tee straight as I ever have! Been striving for this moment and honestly thought it wouldn't come till next season.

Here are the slowmo and range videos

Will be posting slowmo here later today.

I've been Playing Golf for: 3 Months My current handicap index or average score is: Average Score 120 My typical ball flight is: High Right, trouble squaring club face at impact The shot I hate or the "miss" I'm trying to reduce/eliminate is: High far right, usually end up on the opposite fairway Videos: I'm having an extremely hard time squaring the club face at impact. I had a fitting with a trackman and my club speed seems solid. On full shots was averaging between 109 and 111. The problem doesn't seem to be as prevalent in my iron shots and I'd say about 75% of the time I can get them to go where I'm aiming, same with my hybrid. But for the life of me I can't hit straight with the driver or 3 wood more than 5% of the time. I've had one lesson where we focused on grip, set up, and iron shots, but we only spent about a minute with the driver before the lesson ended. The fitter gave me some pointers as well and did have me hitting some solid shots so we could get the proper data but it wasn't in depth. If it helps on the trackman I was getting between 240-260 carry and averaging about 290 total. Club speed was between 109-111. Ball speed was 156 and spin rate was between 1400-2500. I'm working on opening my stance up but haven't become consistent in it yet.

Wow, thank you everyone for the advice! I've stepped back and taken the best look I can at my game and tried to identify my problem areas. 1) I open the club during my downswing causing me to hit off the toe, which is extremely evident during drives. I did a fitting last night and the fitter showed me how to correct it so I have a general idea of what to work on there. 2) My short game is atrocious! I can bump and run fairly well, but beyond that I have no clue what I'm doing. I've scheduled a lesson to focus on that and plan on taking what I learn and implementing it into a practice routine. 3) Ball placement. I'm not exactly confident in where to place the ball in my stance in relation to the club I'm using. Again I've scheduled a lesson for this as well on the range, also hoping to use this lesson for more clarification on #1. 4) My distance gaps. I am picking up Shot Scope to help with this and club selection. Also to help expose the holes in my game that aren't as obvious to help further a practice routine. 5) As mentioned before, putting! After a lot of thought I do plan on doing away with 2 of the 9 hole rounds and using the 2 hours I would have spent walking between the range and the putting green. I talked to the Pro and he recommended getting a bucket and going to the green/chipping area first and then finishing on the range. On this note I have fallen into what I assume is a common problem amongst new player and have been putting a ton of emphasis on how far I can hit instead of how well I can hit. So for the time being I'm gonna slow down my swing to work on more controlled shots. Over the next couple weeks I plan on having a pretty detailed plan for each session in place! Once again I really appreciate all the advice!

Right now I keep track of my putting stats, but haven't done any of the others. I've been looking into Shot Scope and the reviews and stats it offers look amazing. I'm not fimilar with GameGolf though.

@DaveP043 I've taken one lesson so far, but currently I can only afford about one a month 😔. My next one is coming up in two weeks though. I did the Titleist Thursday tonight and the guy gave me a couple things to work on though until my next lesson! Really opened my eyes! I'm trying to be as much as a sponge as I can to soak up more knowledge. @Patch after reading everyone's feedback I'm definitely gonna do that! One of the courses I found out has a practice green with bunkers and all so I'm going to try and hit that at least once a week before I hit the range.

@iacas appreciate it! I will give both a through read and start working on those drills!

I totally get what your saying, but how does one practice? I play with with my brother, he's just as new as I am. Other than that none of my friends play and my dad maybe plays 5 times a year for fun. So no one I know practices so I have nothing to base it off. Thank you for the clarification!

@iacas can you have a practice round vs an actual round? 9 hole days I'm usually by myself, take note time with each shot (unless there's anyone behind me), and put more focus on certain things each round, where as the 18 hole day I'm with someone and we're playing for score. I've only been golfing a couple months so I'm not trying to argue, it's just the way I've seen it up until now. How would you recomend one would practice? I'm 100% open for suggestions! I dont know if I understand what you mean? The shots I am getting on the green I'm usually pretty happy with but that could be me being naive as well.

Within 3 foot it's speed, usually leave it just short. Longer than that it's a little of both.

Day 11 Played 9 today. Focused more on grip, setup, and putting than anything, but still ended up 3 putting every hole but the first which was a 4 putt. Trying to get into a 3 ft circle with my first putt, which I'm pretty consistent at, but getting the second one to drop isnt clicking. Either came up an inch short or lipped out. Everything is improving, I had a legitimate chance at par or birdie on all but the last hole which I found the water. But seeing improvement either way.

What constitutes practice? I work from home and am in charge of my own schedule which leaves me plenty of time throughout the day for "activities". The city offered a membership to 4 of the local courses for $65 a month, unlimited play so I picked it up. Right now I'm playing 9 four days a week and 18 once a week. While I'm definitely seeing improvement, especially when it comes to club selection and judging distance, there are areas where I'm still struggling. I tend the view the 9 hole days as practice rounds, but should I be doing other things as well? I'm pretty consistent at being on or within about 5 to 10 yards off the green for my 3rd shot on a par 4. But 95% of the time I'm 3 putting and ending up double bogey by inches. I work on putting around the house, but it's a totally different beast on the course. And I've seen huge improvements from when I started till now so I do feel that playing everyday during the week is helping, but instead should I go spend an hour or so on a practice green? Thanks in advance!

He was pretty adamant that my swing is pretty good. We focused on grip as it was non existent and setup. He watched me swing though and said after that the shaft I was using was to weak for my speed. I assume he was able to tell that from what he was seeing.

Day 10 Worked on grip and ball placement today while playing the back 9. After the second hole seemed to top all my drives but hitting solider iron shots.

Day 9 Played 9 alone this morning. Wasn't my greatest showing, but only lost 2 balls so guess that's an improvement. Worked on grip and set up tonight.

Day 8 Played a practice round of 9 today. Everything seemed off. Wasn't until the last couple holes that things seemed to click. Going back to work on grip and setup tomorrow.

Day 7 Worked with my 58° on getting the ball to stop as soon as it hits the ground. Starting to understand how to open up the face. Spent about 15 minutes on this.

Day 6 Spent time putting at a cigarette pack from 15 feet out. Was trying to get within 3 feet and work on distance control to bring down my 3 putts.

I just started playing a couple months ago and at first my swing was so horrendous that I'd fall on my butt more often than not and the only divots I'd take were with my feet. My family got a good chuckle and as frustrating as it was then it is something I can look back and laugh at now. As the others said lessons are a great way to improve and learn the basics, also I've found playing alone when the course isn't busy takes a lot of pressure off yourself while your still learning. I've even played with complete strangers who've been extremely patient and encouraging while I whiffed the ball. It's a fun game and sooner, rather than later the results will come! Happy golfing and welcome to the forum!

Day 5 Played 18, really tried to focus on the pre-shot routine and my short game. Got fitted last night and learned some truths about my current clubs, which was on my mind a lot during the round. Played horribly, but it was me not being as focused as I should have been and I made excuse for that the whole round. Taking a few days off from the course to work on things at home. Did watch the Phil Mickelson short game video so plan on working on putting and chipping over the next couple days.