Golf Thread

[TheCSSDoctor]

@SKILL if the instructor has given you some drills to work on, spend some time at the range working on them, it will definitely be worth it

Using alignment sticks (or clubs laid down if you feel brave) can really help to give you the visual cues that you need whilst building up your swing, even the pros use them in practice, so if it is good enough for them, why don't we do it as well - saw a video recently of Tommy Fleetwood hitting shots with a box almost touching the toe of the club at address, yet he never touched it once...I know fine well if I tried that I would be needing new clubs or a lot of boxes after I damaged them

I had another physio session yesterday and progress is slow (and painful) but I am still seeing progress from the start to the end of each session, so that is keeping my mind positive - never had this go on for as long as it has this time since I initially slipped a disc

 

[SKILL]

@SKILL if the instructor has given you some drills to work on, spend some time at the range working on them, it will definitely be worth it

Using alignment sticks (or clubs laid down if you feel brave) can really help to give you the visual cues that you need whilst building up your swing, even the pros use them in practice, so if it is good enough for them, why don't we do it as well - saw a video recently of Tommy Fleetwood hitting shots with a box almost touching the toe of the club at address, yet he never touched it once...I know fine well if I tried that I would be needing new clubs or a lot of boxes after I damaged them

I had another physio session yesterday and progress is slow (and painful) but I am still seeing progress from the start to the end of each session, so that is keeping my mind positive - never had this go on for as long as it has this time since I initially slipped a disc

No drills as such but I will definitely be going to the range to practice before I play next. He did mention using a club which I'll probably do, but also kinda curious to see how I do without any reference point if that makes sense, but can do all that whilst going through 100 balls, also try to do the 'same thing' with the different clubs, especially driver and hybrid...

The box was really interesting, it got the point across but I started off bringing the club way further in towards my body avoiding both the box and the ball, then even when I started hitting it I was toeing it massively and the ball was hitting the box and leaving scuff marks. So definitely got the point across

Shame it's slow but progress is always good, and like you said in the other post at least the weather is awful for golf whilst you're injured

 

[magicroundabout]

Well my new 5 wood has arrived.

I have a feeling I can easily draw this club looking at the angle of the shaft

Pleased to report new shaft has arrived today direct from Cobra. Playing tomorrow so will see how the new 5 wood feels

 

[TheCSSDoctor]

Pleased to report new shaft has arrived today direct from Cobra. Playing tomorrow so will see how the new 5 wood feels

Hopefully better than the first one that you got

 

[SKILL]

Went to the range today, trying to practice what I went through in the lesson on a range of clubs, it went ok but really missing the numbers

Any reason why I shouldn't buy a Garmin Approach R10 launch monitor?

 

[magicroundabout]

Hopefully better than the first one that you got

it's straight so all good so far
If I miss hit any shots at least I can blame DPD for bending my shaft

 

[TheCSSDoctor]

Went to the range today, trying to practice what I went through in the lesson on a range of clubs, it went ok but really missing the numbers

Any reason why I shouldn't buy a Garmin Approach R10 launch monitor?

The only reason I would not look to buy something like that is so that I don't get caught up in chasing specific numbers - nobody hits a perfect straight shot every time, so don't go chasing that elusive 0° path and face angle. As long as your shot shape is consistent, that is more than enough to get you to a decent level of ability

You might need to work on things every so often when something goes really wrong - even as a mid single figure handicap, my swing at the moment gives me a little fade with every club, but I still want to have a couple lessons to tighten up my dispersion a bit as it has got a bit wider than I would like. Often it is my longterm back problem that causes my swing to change and I just need a tune up to get it back to where it was once I am back to full fitness, as when I am swinging more freely I see a little draw with every club, but as my back tightens up the flight moves from the draw to a fade, so I just play the shot shape for the day. Now if you have a 2 way miss, then you might need a bit more help, but a consistent shape really helps to eliminate one side of the course and you can plan your shot accordingly

Biggest tip I give to anyone is to learn what your swing does and play your own game, regardless of what anyone else in your group does - just because you have to hit a 5i when they hit a 7i doesn't mean anything. If you know your strengths and your yardages, the scorecard doesn't care what clubs you hit

it's straight so all good so far
If I miss hit any shots at least I can blame DPD for bending my shaft

I used to have a Taylormade RBZ 5W and at the time it was one of the most consistent clubs in my bag, either from the tee or off the deck - loved it, but moved on due to the changes in my swing and went from reg flex to x-stiff flex in my irons so got a full new bag fitted over a period of a few months

 

[SKILL]

The only reason I would not look to buy something like that is so that I don't get caught up in chasing specific numbers - nobody hits a perfect straight shot every time, so don't go chasing that elusive 0° path and face angle. As long as your shot shape is consistent, that is more than enough to get you to a decent level of ability

You might need to work on things every so often when something goes really wrong - even as a mid single figure handicap, my swing at the moment gives me a little fade with every club, but I still want to have a couple lessons to tighten up my dispersion a bit as it has got a bit wider than I would like. Often it is my longterm back problem that causes my swing to change and I just need a tune up to get it back to where it was once I am back to full fitness, as when I am swinging more freely I see a little draw with every club, but as my back tightens up the flight moves from the draw to a fade, so I just play the shot shape for the day. Now if you have a 2 way miss, then you might need a bit more help, but a consistent shape really helps to eliminate one side of the course and you can plan your shot accordingly

Biggest tip I give to anyone is to learn what your swing does and play your own game, regardless of what anyone else in your group does - just because you have to hit a 5i when they hit a 7i doesn't mean anything. If you know your strengths and your yardages, the scorecard doesn't care what clubs you hit


I used to have a Taylormade RBZ 5W and at the time it was one of the most consistent clubs in my bag, either from the tee or off the deck - loved it, but moved on due to the changes in my swing and went from reg flex to x-stiff flex in my irons so got a full new bag fitted over a period of a few months

I guess, and it's not really that I'm chasing perfection, well, yet

But today I hit 60 balls, most were actually pretty good, felt good, straight enough to be reasonable but a mix of flights and the biggest thing is when I hit a shape, or probably more important when I mishit, I often have no idea why... I've really liked seeing the numbers (as in club head path mostly, not really focussing on distance/speed) on the simulator and felt like I missed them today...

Just seen that shop does a simulator rental, £30 for an hour, upto 2 people, kinda tempted, cheaper than the R10

 

[TheCSSDoctor]

I guess, and it's not really that I'm chasing perfection, well, yet

But today I hit 60 balls, most were actually pretty good, felt good, straight enough to be reasonable but a mix of flights and the biggest thing is when I hit a shape, or probably more important when I mishit, I often have no idea why... I've really liked seeing the numbers (as in club head path mostly, not really focussing on distance/speed) on the simulator and felt like I missed them today...

Just seen that shop does a simulator rental, £30 for an hour, upto 2 people, kinda tempted, cheaper than the R10

Numbers can obviously tell you what the club was doing at impact, but the biggest question is why did you get those numbers - were you stood too far away/close to the ball, was the ball position too far forward/back, did you sway laterally or stand up too early. All those sorts of things can have a big impact on the result of the strike and the numbers can't necessarily tell you

I appreciate you want to know why something happens, but it will take time, especially in the early days of playing, and hopefully your instructor can help when you hit a bad shot and explain why it happened and not just tell you what to work on - you can make a perfect swing but if the ball position is slightly off you can hit it thin/fat and it is those sorts of things that you need an instructor to help you with. Sometimes a very subtle difference can make a big difference in the result, but eventually experience will help you to recognise the problem and allow you to (hopefully) correct it on the next shot

 

[magicroundabout]

I used to have a Taylormade RBZ 5W and at the time it was one of the most consistent clubs in my bag, either from the tee or off the deck - loved it, but moved on due to the changes in my swing and went from reg flex to x-stiff flex in my irons so got a full new bag fitted over a period of a few months

I had an original RBZ Driver and 3 Wood. Taylormade really got it right with these.

It's only been the last 12 months I've replaced 99% on my bag (Kept my putter). Moved from a Mini Driver to a full driver. Now fitted into a Cobra LTDX-LS with AV Raw X-Flex. I've got stiff for 5W through to my Irons.
With all the hype of the new drivers I'm tempted to go and try the new Aerojet for a comparison to my current driver. Having a completely new face design and seeing the reviews has given me an itch

 

[TheCSSDoctor]

I had an original RBZ Driver and 3 Wood. Taylormade really got it right with these.

It's only been the last 12 months I've replaced 99% on my bag (Kept my putter). Moved from a Mini Driver to a full driver. Now fitted into a Cobra LTDX-LS with AV Raw X-Flex. I've got stiff for 5W through to my Irons.
With all the hype of the new drivers I'm tempted to go and try the new Aerojet for a comparison to my current driver. Having a completely new face design and seeing the reviews has given me an itch

I had the 3W and 5W in my bag and I agree, they were good, and I almost ended up with the original M2 when it was first released but it was just beaten by a Callaway one. I did try the subsequent versions of the M1 and M2 but nothing performed as well as the original, but they were again beaten by Callaway for me, so I am currently playing the Epic Flash Sub Zero driver and 3W, then a Srixon utility 2i and a combo set of the Z785 (4-6i) and Z Forged blades (7-PW)

I am tempted by the new ranges, but the prices have me holding back as I am not sure I will see enough gains to warrant the money

Wedges are the only thing that could really do with being replaced, and having the Cleveland RTX4 currently, I am very interested in the new RTX6 Zipcores that have just been released - waiting for my club to get them in so I can have a good look

 

[booyaka]

Went to the range today, trying to practice what I went through in the lesson on a range of clubs, it went ok but really missing the numbers

Any reason why I shouldn't buy a Garmin Approach R10 launch monitor?

R10 is very good, I have one. However, I would suggest, and don't take this the wrong way, anyone learning/still working on the early stages of their game/understanding their swing, spend the money on some lessons.

R10 is excellent, great numbers, good "fun" to work on stuff, but in most cases, people don't understand their swing enough to then translate the data provided by the R10 into solid improvements.

Take yesterday for instance - Looks amazing on R10- I was hitting 8 iron 200 yards on the fly.... However, wind was howling behind me, I struck the ball very low on the face, spin was none existent. I know that, but some people might just see it as "I can hit 8 iron 200 yards" - not really understanding the data etc.

Good tool to add into your practice the R10, but certainly not for everyone.

 

[SKILL]

That's a fair point, I wasn't really looking at it as instead of lessons but to aid my practice between lessons. I'm currently doing weekly lessons but at £25 that's not really sustainable/justifiable long term I don't think, so probably go to fortnightly/monthly for a bit, I'm definitely seeing the value of them but yeah...

Currently my practice day would be to go to the local range, it's nice and close as well as being cheap (£4 for 60 balls) but it's about as basic a range as you could get, so whilst the practice is I think worthwhile it's hard sometimes to really feel like you're getting that much from it if that makes sense?

Anyway, played 9 holes today, ground was somewhat solid which led to some interesting bounces Completely messed up a couple of holes but still scored 55 which isn't too bad, my best there is 54, and it was interesting seeing the real world 'new swing' results, especially with the Irons... Best was probably a 7 Iron at 153 yards, obviously I hit an 8 Iron 162 in the simulator but that was also after 30 minutes of just using one club off the tee in perfect conditions, I did hit an 8 Iron today and best was 129 Yards, which is still an improvement for me. The main bit was the flight was just much better and largely where I aimed

 

[TheCSSDoctor]

@SKILL how often do you practice? Just curious as personally I would never go for weekly lessons as it can either be total information overload if you work on something different every week, or the instructor ends up going over the same stuff week after week, which seems a bit pointless

Admittedly I have been playing for a lot of years, but when I went through a major swing change, I had lessons once every 4-6 weeks and went to the range once a week, twice if I was lucky, to work on the changes, so weekly lessons wouldn't give me time to work on something before the instructor built on it

One thing I would mention - when you are hitting balls on a simulator etc, are you looking at total distance or just the carry distance? Carry distance is king when it comes to learning yardages of your clubs

 

[SKILL]

@SKILL how often do you practice? Just curious as personally I would never go for weekly lessons as it can either be total information overload if you work on something different every week, or the instructor ends up going over the same stuff week after week, which seems a bit pointless

Admittedly I have been playing for a lot of years, but when I went through a major swing change, I had lessons once every 4-6 weeks and went to the range once a week, twice if I was lucky, to work on the changes, so weekly lessons wouldn't give me time to work on something before the instructor built on it

One thing I would mention - when you are hitting balls on a simulator etc, are you looking at total distance or just the carry distance? Carry distance is king when it comes to learning yardages of your clubs

It varies, pure practice maybe once a week, I could/have done more but right now that seems to work. I also try to play twice as week (Friday and Sunday) and my aim is to increase this depending on weather/work as I can add in the 9 holes at my local as an extended lunch break. I definitely prefer to play than practice really...

Overall I've only been playing since mid-August, I went to a few group lessons that in hindsight feels like a mistake as I feel like they headed me down the wrong path a bit, then obviously the most recent simulator 1-on-1 lessons. I agree weekly is 'too much' but certainly that second one really helped a huge amount, could feel that today frankly. I've got another booked next week but probably gonna then go to maybe fortnightly for a couple more and then maybe stretch it out further, I think that feels like it'd make sense. I have made a point of going out and doing a practice session between lesson and playing a round.

Agreed with the carry vs total, the numbers in my previous post are total for everything, from the simulator I wasn't really looking at distance too much really but more focussing on the path above all else right now as that was what was very wrong and I'm improving. The 162 was really just a 'wow' moment, didn't expect that from an 8 Iron at all, I think the carry was maybe ~145 yards on that one, but again that was 'perfect', I'm a long way from being on the course and thinking my 8 Iron will carry 145

Also I forgot to mention, there's the option of renting out the simulator, seems like it costs £30 for an hour and can be shared between 2, kinda tempted to do that tomorrow to get those all important numbers whilst getting some more practice in.

 

[booyaka]

@SKILL how often do you practice? Just curious as personally I would never go for weekly lessons as it can either be total information overload if you work on something different every week, or the instructor ends up going over the same stuff week after week, which seems a bit pointless

Admittedly I have been playing for a lot of years, but when I went through a major swing change, I had lessons once every 4-6 weeks and went to the range once a week, twice if I was lucky, to work on the changes, so weekly lessons wouldn't give me time to work on something before the instructor built on it

One thing I would mention - when you are hitting balls on a simulator etc, are you looking at total distance or just the carry distance? Carry distance is king when it comes to learning yardages of your clubs

@SKILL

totally agree with this above- forget weekly lessons, monthly/4 weekly will give you time to practice what you are being taught/working on.

Whoever is teaching you should really NOT be offering weekly lessons - that smacks of someone taking the **** a bit to me.

 

[jaybee]

Trying to get into golf this year with my son who seems well into it. He's 13 and very small for his age. He can drive 200 yards and seems to have a nice swing. Is that decent? Also what's average drive for an adult male? I feel like I hit it well but seem to stall at about 250 currently. I think if I got some lessons I might be able to improve but do you ever feel like with driving you sometimes just can't fathom how you could hit it any sweeter, yet still only 250 yards. Any tips?

 

[Superpatsy]

Trying to get into golf this year with my son who seems well into it. He's 13 and very small for his age. He can drive 200 yards and seems to have a nice swing. Is that decent? Also what's average drive for an adult male? I feel like I hit it well but seem to stall at about 250 currently. I think if I got some lessons I might be able to improve but do you ever feel like with driving you sometimes just can't fathom how you could hit it any sweeter, yet still only 250 yards. Any tips?

'Decent' is different to every person. A lot of people would kill to be able to crank it 250 yards.

I also wouldn't really take an average and compare yours to that - you'd need to factor in your age, height, etc and even then there's a lot of other factors to consider. I normally hit it in the 270-280 range but I wouldn't be unhappy if it landed around 250.

How long have you played for? Lessons are always helpful if you do the right research and find someone good. I was paying about £25 per session with a guy who turned out to be a total cowboy and actually made me worse when I had only been playing for a couple of months less than two years ago. Got signed up with a local pro who flipped my game upside down in 2 lessons with the some minor changes to my posture.

 

[booyaka]

Trying to get into golf this year with my son who seems well into it. He's 13 and very small for his age. He can drive 200 yards and seems to have a nice swing. Is that decent? Also what's average drive for an adult male? I feel like I hit it well but seem to stall at about 250 currently. I think if I got some lessons I might be able to improve but do you ever feel like with driving you sometimes just can't fathom how you could hit it any sweeter, yet still only 250 yards. Any tips?

Forget about distance for yourself.... hitting it 300 yards but taking 7 shots to get it into the hole is pointless.

Don't judge distance as a means to play great golf.... I know many older guys who struggle to hit the ball 200 yards but the play off single figure handicaps easy.

Distance will always be a "willy waving" contest..... I play off 8 and my average drives over a season last year was 265. I've hit plenty of 300 yarders, but then I've also hit some 220 yarders...

Distance is an advantage for sure - but it's not the be all and end all of golf. 80% of your shots are from 100 yards and in.....

 

[SKILL]

@SKILL

totally agree with this above- forget weekly lessons, monthly/4 weekly will give you time to practice what you are being taught/working on.

Whoever is teaching you should really NOT be offering weekly lessons - that smacks of someone taking the **** a bit to me.

FWIW I was the one booking for the next week, not being offered/pushed towards weekly. Personally having that second so close to the first kinda worked for me, but as mentioned already going to be pushing it out from now, I agree lessons that frequent aren't worth doing for even medium term...

Trying to get into golf this year with my son who seems well into it. He's 13 and very small for his age. He can drive 200 yards and seems to have a nice swing. Is that decent? Also what's average drive for an adult male? I feel like I hit it well but seem to stall at about 250 currently. I think if I got some lessons I might be able to improve but do you ever feel like with driving you sometimes just can't fathom how you could hit it any sweeter, yet still only 250 yards. Any tips?

I'd be more than happy with 250 yards, less happy being matched by a 12 year old when I hit a 200 yard drive But as mentioned Driver, whilst one of the more enjoyable shots, isn't the be all and end all. With a <200 yard drive I can par a par 5 and get birdie looks on par 4's, *if* I get the 2nd/3rd shots right.

Kinda wasn't planning to but ended up playing today, on the 'harder' course at Woodlands in Bristol. Started off quite cold and foggy but the fog cleared the sun came out and it was a pleasant enough day, the golf was interesting, frozen ground again so some fun bounces, aiming for the green tended to not end well/get punished a bit, managed to bounce a short shot off a frozen lake.

Downside being felt like I've lost confidence in my driver/hybrid, irons were working nicely though. Got a semi-competitive Stableford game tomorrow, so yeah, that'll be interesting

Golf balls hitting ice make some weird noises...