Golf Thread

I had a lesson the other day and I don't know if this is common but....it kind of made me want to quit golf rather than motivate me!

There are so many things wrong with my swing that in order to change it all, I now basically don't really have anything other than a half swing so I can't really play golf, if I trust the process and stick to what I've been told. It's broken any form of a swing I had. I won't be able to get round a course really. I think Im going to have to focus on just range sessions for weeks until I've got used to the new process. It feels awful, probably looks awful too. Main issues:

- Need to stand MUCH further away from the ball. To the point it feels uncomfortable now like I will miss the ball and my back feels it!

- Changed grip to the point where it feels Uber weak and weird. I had it too much in the right palm and rolled under. Now it's more in the fingers of the right hand. I can sort of deal with this in time.

- keeping my arms locked straight. I was way too wristy. But he's given me a swing where it feels so wooden now like I don't get enough back swing or follow through.

- moving the right hip more through the shot and not rolling the wrists.

- Starting position includes leaning the shaft forwards on iron shots.

I feel like I'd look like a tard playing now lol.

One good thing, he said my irons at half inch longer currently are generally fine for my swing and physique/height, and I shouldn't stress about getting longer ones. So I don't need to focus on that. I'm fact when a pro analyses your swing it makes you realise how little clubs matter when your swing is 99% the factor.

That sounds like a lot!

I was quite pleased in my more recent lessons that he just gave me one thing to concentrate on, not that there was only one thing to change but just gave the one thing for me to focus on before going back.
 
Out for the society game today and the September game is a bit of a special one as there's a cup to be won, I believe in memory of a previous member who died, been up for grabs for 20 years now and I only went and won it!

Played very well really, best score on that course of 87 gross, previous best was last month with 90. Front 9 was the better 9 though, 22 points, +6 gross :)

Kinda amusingly if you go purely by the stats my putting was on fire, 31 putts total, but really that was a lack of GIR (4/18) and some very nice chipping leading to easy (ish) 1-putts.
 
That sounds like a lot!

I was quite pleased in my more recent lessons that he just gave me one thing to concentrate on, not that there was only one thing to change but just gave the one thing for me to focus on before going back.

I agree - That's WAY too much information to process in one lesson....

You need to start with one/maybe two things - nothing else.
 
Took my clubs on holiday to France as we were staying on a golf course. I’ve played my whole life but keen to try and build consistency/improve for the first time. I’ve been making the effort to go to the range every week and played a few twilight rounds.

Started well shooting 40 on the 9 hole course (+9), followed by 103 on the 18 hole (+31). The +9 was easily the best I’ve played. Unfortunately I got worse after that shooting +13 and +16 on the 9 hole and +36 on the 18 hole. I had high hopes of a sub 100 round for the first time ever but it wasn’t to be. I’m going to try and get some lessons over the winter as I can see some positive signs in my game, it’s just bringing it all together. The couple of holes where I hit a good drive, an iron close into the flag and two putted were such a good feeling.
 
No pro should be asking a student to make that many changes…a good pro will also take the time to look at and understand an individual’s natural bio mechanics and help cater the swing to fit within their physical capabilities. There’s a difference between fundamentals and trying to turn you into something you’re not.
 
Game is going backwards at quite an alarming rate now. Went from mid-80's to mid-90's in the space of about 5 weeks. Really disheartened because my consistency stopped me from breaking 80 which was totally achievable - main goal for this year was to break 80 which I can't see happening now that we're coming in to winter.

Booked a lesson for Friday afternoon to try and sort stuff out because I have no idea wtf is going on - swing feels all over the place and so disjointed, and even when it does feel right I'm still losing distance, thinning it, slicing it, shanking it, etc. Driver, 3 wood, and 3 hybrid aren't even getting a look-in just now until I sort my irons out.

Only parts I'm somewhat happy with are the 130 yards and in shots and putting.

Such a stupid game...
 
Got to the clubhouse on Saturday morning to check in for the weekly roll up and ran into Aaron, the general manager, who informed me my new clubs had just arrived :D Didn't have time to put the irons in the bag but decided to grab the 7w and give it a spin during the round. Diving in at the deep end I thought why not give it a crack off the 1st tee, I normally take a mid iron, and flushed it over the trees down the right into the middle of the 18th fairway :p It got better after that. Shot of the day was my tee shot on ten, a dog leg left with two trees I normally have to thread the needle with off the tee. Flushed one straight this time and it soared over the trees landing in the perfect spot for my approach, not used to seeing that sort of ball flight! It also proved it's worth on the 17th, a tight par 4 with water left, OB right and a tree left side of the fairway. Only a short hole but again one where I often run into trouble. Not the greatest strike but the forgiveness meant I still landed in the fairway and past that pesky tree :)

Went to the range later that day to give the irons their first run out and check my yardages. I must have got confused at the fitting because these are around a club shorter than my old irons, which makes sense given the lofts are around four degrees weaker club for club. E.G old 7i 28.5 new 32.5, old PW 43.5 new 47. You could say I should have just renumbered my existing irons were it not for the shaft and lie angle changes. In reality this has worked out nicely to eliminate the gapping issue I had at the bottom end of the bag. My old PW was 115-120 carry and the next club down I had was my 52 which was 90-95. The new PW is 110 max so I no longer have a quandary over those 100-105 yard approaches. The 7w replaces the old 5i and is much easier to hit and can be used from a variety of lies, I only ever really used the 5i off the tee. And did I mention how the good the 7w looks with its infinity crown and gloss finish, where's the drool emoji when you need it!

The irons got their debut outing yesterday afternoon. A solo round on the easier course to bed them in. The difference at address is night and day, zero bulk visible behind the top line, so clean, so sexy :o They performed great, certainly didn't hit everything out of the middle but enough forgiveness there when I didn't. The satin finish does pick up the grass stains quickly but a quick wipe down after the round had them looking good as new. All in all, happy days :)


Full spec breakdown (all TaylorMade)
Qi 10 7w 21 degrees with Fujikura Ventus TR Blue FW 6R
P790 5-PW weakened two degrees across the set | KBS Max Lite Tour R +0.75"
Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 Lite, one extra wrap.

Rest of the bag:
M4 Driver set at 11.5 degrees
M4 3w 15 degrees
Milled Grind 3 52 degree 8 bounce
Milled Grind 3 56 degree 12 bounce
Spider GT small slant neck 35"
 
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Practicing really well on the range but my game is abandoning me on the course. Off the tee especially is a horror show. I have been trying all sorts of alternatives to driver but none are consistent at all. Frustrating!
 
Practicing really well on the range but my game is abandoning me on the course. Off the tee especially is a horror show. I have been trying all sorts of alternatives to driver but none are consistent at all. Frustrating!
I've kinda got the opposite, can't hit my driver to save my life on course but it's fine on the range...
 
I've kinda got the opposite, can't hit my driver to save my life on course but it's fine on the range...
That is odd hah.

Irons and wedges on range are good and then good to bad on the range but off the tee is just not there, anywhere.

Ive tried driver,3w, 4w, 7w, 3i and none are helping me.
 
That is odd hah.

Irons and wedges on range are good and then good to bad on the range but off the tee is just not there, anywhere.

Ive tried driver,3w, 4w, 7w, 3i and none are helping me.

My round I gave away 15-20 shots on the tee box, I suppose I could have just hit a nice and safe 6/7i instead of my driver but where's the fun in that? :cry: :p
 
Shot out for 9 after work last night after an interesting lunchtime range session. Worked on setup with my longer irons and hybrid - turns out that a relaxed swing with my hybrid (TSR2 3HY) works best - I've struggled with it in the past, hooking left. I can now play it almost exactly where I want it to. Used it on our 18th, 605 yard par 5 - reasonably downhill and downwind, it rolled out to 326 yards :eek:
 
Got out for a morning 9 today, out first too which was nice :)

As usual I used the morning/solo round for a bit of experimentation :p Nothing particularly special just used 3w off the tee on the first and 4th, as well as using my 60 degree for everthing <70 yards.

The first is a tricky par 5, there's a tree in the middle of the fairway/at the dogleg left about ~230 yards off the tee so my normal approach is to hit a shorter club anything between 160-180 and then depending on line/position taking something like an 8 or 9 Iron to get over the tree, still leaves a long way in. Theory with 3w is to get it out to ~220-230 around level with the tree giving me a shot down the fairway with another long club and making it much more makeable. I've only par'd the hole twice, once from ~35 yards out and more recently with a 1-putt. Didn't really work today as I hit a low-heel shot about 190, also then pull-hooked my second into the range/OB.

The 4th hole is another tricky one, again with trees in the middle of the fairway :p This time off the blue tees (it's 9-hole so blue is 'front 9', yellow is 'back 9') I've had success hitting an 80-100 yard layup off the tee with a 9 iron, maybe 8, to get close to the green. The reason for avoiding a long club is there's OB right, with 3w aim is to get way clear of the trees and actually it's quite a short hole so could theoretically get to within ~50 yards. Another mediocre strike but stayed in bounds, 190 yards out leaving me with 80 to the green. Not sure on the risk/reward though. More likely to par but also more likely to get a big score!

The 60 degree was mixed today, some very good ones, especially chips, but some distance issues.

Putting was solid too, 15 total, one 3-putt which was leaving myself a long putt to start and wanting to make sure I got it there/past and left myself ~6 foot past the hole, makeable and the pace was great but ran just ~1 inch right of the hole for a tap-in 3rd.

Also picked up my winnings from the friday roll-up \o/ £12, makes my total weekend golf earnings to £27, or £20 profit given the entrys.
 
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On a side topic have/do any of you regularly use a similator, specifically like a hire place, and is that a golf shop based one or more recreational (e.g. cafe type stuff) and have any thoughts on what was good/bad?
 
On a side topic have/do any of you regularly use a similator, specifically like a hire place, and is that a golf shop based one or more recreational (e.g. cafe type stuff) and have any thoughts on what was good/bad?

A high sim with reflective dots is great for spin, impact position, AoA and club details but mainly need a GC3/4 or trackman for that level of accuracy.

The mlm, garmin and others are great for speed data, smash factor and such.
 
I've started watching a few videos of this guy: https://www.youtube.com/@ChrisRyanGolf

In particular this video yesterday seemed to make a lot of sense.

I realised with my grip I'm not really setting my wrists so did some practice swings at home yesterday and went out for 9 last night. It's slightly strengthened my left hand and the backswing felt so much more controlled and the ball was going a lot straighter off the tee. It was a minor tweak but the difference in feel during the backswing was significant and felt like it was helping to stop me coming over the top.
 
A high sim with reflective dots is great for spin, impact position, AoA and club details but mainly need a GC3/4 or trackman for that level of accuracy.

The mlm, garmin and others are great for speed data, smash factor and such.

Yeah, so when I was thinking sim hire I was assuming a GCQuad/Trackman style setup place.

I've used one at my local golf shop, it's ok but it's a shop so lots of noise/comings and goings generally. Was curious really if anyone had visited a cafe type one somewhere and had any thoughts...
 
My round I gave away 15-20 shots on the tee box, I suppose I could have just hit a nice and safe 6/7i instead of my driver but where's the fun in that? :cry: :p
Hah. Yeah that's exactly what's happening to me.

Here's a couple holes where the 6i was working really nice.

One of them off the tee and one was when I sliced a wood into the trees so had to take a drop and another where I lost it off the tee again so just reloaded from the tee box.


 
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