Mr Hip
Medal Winner
Stick with the piano!
Advice you wish you had when you first started?
- Thread starter Fabia999
- Start date
D
Deleted member 1147
Guest
Get lessons early on, before your bad habits become too ingrained into your game.
20 years on from starting I still have certain bad habits from my junior swing, which I'm desperate to get rid of, but really struggle as I don't have the time to spend the time on the range.
20 years on from starting I still have certain bad habits from my junior swing, which I'm desperate to get rid of, but really struggle as I don't have the time to spend the time on the range.
Neeko1988
Newbie
I can see where the discussion is coming from ref lessons. Ive had lots of lessons and firmly believe in having them when you start out. but they aren't necessarily a must. i got to an ok standard where i could enjoy myself without having any lessons...
IanM
Journeyman Pro
- Joined
- May 18, 2009
- Messages
- 13,034
- Location
- Monmouthshire, UK via Guildford!
...because there isnt a NEW PLAYER in the world that wouldnt benefit AT THE START from being given some good fundamentals and coaching.
that's why!
Or is your game exactly the same now, as it was the day you started?
Last edited:
D
Deleted member 1147
Guest
Depends partly on what you want to get out of golf.
Just play & enjoy, or, get as good as you possibly can?
I'm in the 2nd camp, but would have benefitted from learning properly from the very beginning
bobmac
Major Champion
From a teaching perspective, it's a lot easier teaching a beginner than someone with years of bad habits
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
In my view I suggested it as the OP clearly said he had medical restrictions and so working with a good teaching pro who understands these and can teach a swing within those constraints gives the OP a better chance of learning something he can use without any addition pain/issues and can be taught to be repeatable and functional
Robster59
Tour Rookie
- Get yourself some lessons. You can start getting a decent swing from the start without the pro having to try and get out the bad habits. It will be tough at first but worth it in the end. I didn't have lessons till my mid 40's but boy I wish I'd had them earlier.
- Don't try to buy yourself a game. Everybody craves the shiniest new clubs but find the ones that suit you best and work with them rather than trying to keep going for a better model.
- Work on your short game. You can recover so many holes with a decent chipping and putting game.
- Enjoy yourself. Golf can be extremely frustrating but you will get those occasional magic shots, holes, rounds that make it all worthwhile.
- Try to be glass half-full. Remember the holes where you managed to save a shot or two rather than dwell on the ones where you missed a putt.
Curls
Journeyman Pro
Great point Homer.
There are good pros, great pros, and poor ones. There are also people who you will get on with and those you won't. It's a tricky thing to find a great pro you gel with but it's worth seeing a few if you're not convinced by your first choice.
Aside from that, one thing I wished I knew when I started it is how to make contact with the ball properly. It really does seperate the men from the boys.
Curls
Journeyman Pro
All great except for this one
"Don't try to buy yourself a game"
Shiney things are shiney and they look lovely in the bag and they shine cos they're so shiney. Buy them all.
chrisd
Major Champion
I had a club Captain say that to me once, my reply was "I can tell"
With you though, i reckon from your posts here you wouldn't listen to any advice anyway
HamiltonGuy
Active member
I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t recommend lessons to begin with. I had some lessons after a couple of years to correct all the issues I’d developed with being a mixture of self taught and taught by my playing partners. You don’t need to drown in lessons but a few to keep you on the correct path with benefit any new golfer
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
Was me also until the swing I had developed and had grooved over 40yrs of playing fell out of that groove - only for me to discover to my horror that I had not been in a groove - I had been walking a tightrope. But because I had become so adept at walking that tightrope I had had basically no issues - until I did - and then boy were they bad issues and boy did they hurt! And of course no matter how hard I tried and no matter what I did I couldn't get back onto that tightrope without almost immediately falling off.
And so over the least couple of years I have had a couple of lessons (will need another couple) to find out what the problem was (and it was eeeugh!!!) and get some guidance on how to not have to be walking a tightrope when playing - but how to walk on the ground where the pain of falling is so much less. Today my swing might stray and due to having such ingrained habits I still sometimes try and get onto that tightrope - but I know when I try that because I always fall off and it hurts again.
And so I am basically being taught and practicing how to walk on the ground. Safe in the knowledge that even when I stray it's not going to hurt too much. If I had had maybe a couple of lessons early on as soon as I came to play more regularly - but not necessarily from the word go - maybe I wouldn't have found myself walking that darned tightrope.
User 105
Journeyman Pro
Quit now while you can.
Golf is as much a mental game as it is a physical one. Try and build a resilient temperament because this game can be brutal at times.
Remember the good shots and forget the bad. If you manage to work out how to do this tell me how.
You will improve rapidly in the beginning and think you have it cracked. Be prepared to hit the wall at some point, usually after about a year to 18 months, where it will start to require significant more time invested to move past it.
Oh and don't ask for advice on golf forums. Most people are clueless. Except Bob of course
Golf is as much a mental game as it is a physical one. Try and build a resilient temperament because this game can be brutal at times.
Remember the good shots and forget the bad. If you manage to work out how to do this tell me how.
You will improve rapidly in the beginning and think you have it cracked. Be prepared to hit the wall at some point, usually after about a year to 18 months, where it will start to require significant more time invested to move past it.
Oh and don't ask for advice on golf forums. Most people are clueless. Except Bob of course
chrisd
Major Champion
Lessons when you're new to the game should ingrain the fundamentals, grip, stance, posture etc which if you dont learn early can take a lot of changing when and if you're swing needs sorting
I'm not at any time suggesting he shouldn't have lessons, they may help, they may not but to suggest you "must" is absurd, a bit like saying you "must" use a proV or you "must" use driver off the tee.
garyinderry
Ryder Cup Winner
Look after your back. You will need it.
jim8flog
Journeyman Pro
Do not take Rules advice form players who have only just or recently started to play the game themselves.
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
Totally agree. I think it's well known I've had my fair share of teaching pros over the years. One was young and enthusiastic (until he ended having multiple knee ops and stopped), another was hugely technical which was good for a while but ultimately I never really connected on a pupil/teacher level. He helped my game but there was just a spark missing. There was a guy at my local range (who tried to get me using one plane) and we got it going originally and he got me as close to single figures as I've been (10). I stopped for a while and when we went back he suddenly wanted me to get into some strange positions and I didn't get it. The guy I see now I've been with for three years or more. I've one some big comps at my club in that time and while the handicap has plateaued he never tries to reinvent the wheel each time. Fixes are small, easy to absorb and most importantly I get what he's trying to do and where he wants my game and swing to go
As I said its frustrating the handicap hasn't moved forwarded but I feel that the swing itself is more robust, more reliable and in a good place. We've a few things to work on this winter, my short game needs a lot more work (but again has improved in 2018) and we'll see if 2019 is the year I get much lower where I/we think I should be. It's great to have someone I get on with, trust and I'm also lucky that if I'm at the range he'll always give me a five/ten minute look over between lessons or a quick tweak
GasMan
Assistant Pro
I’m the 1st person to disagree with Homer on pretty much anything normally. On this occasion he’s 100% right.
In addition to his points the game is completely counter intuitive. Seeing what you do from a 3rd person perspective and giving/receiving feedback enables progress and change.
The 0.0000001% who wouldn’t benefit from coaching are infinitely lucky. The approximate 30% who are too arrogant to listen in a belief that they are better equipped to teach themselves are normally the most vocal in deriding coaching. These people generally also believe they should fix the broken air liner rather than the skilled engineer who’s trained for years.
Does the poster who so strongly believes coaching isn’t necessary also believe they should sack all those mower riding simpletons at their course as they could do a better job with some Wilkos manicure scissors and a 2nd hand flymo?
