Its In the Deep Stuff

Thanks man, that is reassuring. I just have to get back out there and get past this step, and I will probably end up being much better for it. BTW, who is in your avatar?

Well I have kind of been discouraged lately. I took a lesson and the pro made me go all the way to the beginning and just work on how to shift my stance and not use my arms a lot. He wants me to practice just moving with the hips and letting the arms follow, and with twisting the hip and how to shift the weight. It requires too much thinking, and it has taken all the fun out of golf for me. Now I feel paralyzed because I just want to have fun and swing and hit nice shots like I was before, but I do not want to ingrain bad habits. So instead, I haven't bothered going to play :(.

Well I've taken a couple of lessons, and they helped. But how many lessons should I take before doing it on my own? I'm also reading Ben Hogan's Five Lessons right now, which has helped a great deal. But of course it is not a substitute for someone studying your swing and telling you which changes you need to make.

Any suggestions for a good driver for a beginner? I don't know how much good drivers go for but I'd be willing to shell out $300 or so.

Andrew, Thanks for the tips. I wonder how decent I have to be before stepping onto a nice course like Bethpage. I would hate to have groups behind me pissed off because every hole is taking me 9 shots to play.

Hey. I'm a 22 year old that just started playing a few months ago, on and off on the driving range. After a few lessons, I can hit the ball pretty straight much of the time (with the 7, 8, 9 irons and the pitching wedge). It's so much fun! But of course I am in Manhattan which makes it very difficult to play often. I travel to Boston for work during the week quite a lot, and Boston is even worse with places to play in the city, since I do not have a car when I am staying at a hotel. But I'm making time on the weekends to improve. Hopefully by the time Spring rolls around I will have some solid skills to work with. Great board you folks have here and I'm excited to be a part of it!

Hey guys. I'm just starting out golf and its great so far. I'm pretty obsessed already, even though I have only been on the range. My irons are progressing, and even though I have cautiously not even touched the driver yet, I am wondering how I should go about learning to hit the woods. I mean, should I use my current crappy driver and get good with that? I imagine if I can hit it well I can hit a good driver better. Or should I get a nice driver that is very "forgiving" to get the stroke down and then work to the less forgiving drivers from there. On one hand, I can hit straighter shots sooner with a nice driver, and on the other, I learn how to hit a tough driver and then later move on the the forgiving ones. Any tips on this? Thanks.