garyinderry
Ryder Cup Winner
My back is in bits reading this. Lol
I applaud your dedication
have you got a video of your swing?
I had a lesson today and...
- Thread starter RangeMonkey
- Start date
My back is in bits reading this. Lol
I applaud your dedication
have you got a video of your swing?
Ye Olde Boomer
Well-known member
Always engage an elderly instructor.
Young ones don't understand reduced flexibility.
Young ones don't understand reduced flexibility.
RangeMonkey
Active member
I think they can understand it, but can’t have a real appreciation of what it’s really like.
My instructor is three years older than me (which makes me worry he may retire soon!), and I think he really gets where I’m at.
Having said that, he’s still fit as a fiddle and playing off scratch!
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
Had a lesson on Tuesday despite the strong winds. No major changes aside from working on a better takeaway as I'd lapsed into an old fault of picking the club up quickly on the way back. Worked on a wider takeaway (imaging brushing a leaf away or pushing a ball backwards). Also worked on better arm rotation (and so a lower exit) and hip clearance. All good and really a case of tidying up rather than really changing. Some shots were funny, having felt as though I'd crush it and as per the pros instructions only to see it hit by a 30+ mph gust and drop or get blown way off line.
Had a range session last night and starting to find some consistency especially off the tee with driver and so feel as though progress made and glad it was a tweak rather than big change again.
Had a range session last night and starting to find some consistency especially off the tee with driver and so feel as though progress made and glad it was a tweak rather than big change again.
sussexhacker
Active member
Had an assessment of my swing first time I’ve ever been to a pro for advice and it turns out i don’t do anything right.
My grip was completely wrong
My swing is aggressively steep
I don’t turn at all
This is why I should never have tried to teach myself how to swing, if I didn’t even have something as basic as the grip right it was never going to work
My grip was completely wrong
My swing is aggressively steep
I don’t turn at all
This is why I should never have tried to teach myself how to swing, if I didn’t even have something as basic as the grip right it was never going to work
albie999
Newbie
I have booked a lesson for Wednesday next week, an hour session .... so hopefully I find out all the stuff I am doing right ...... although, I am thinking the list of what I am doing wrong will be larger ;-)
AdamW
Active member
Do you guys think a lesson every two weeks for 20 minutes is too much ?
i would go to the range 3-4 times and out the course 1-2 times to practice changes inbetween
i would go to the range 3-4 times and out the course 1-2 times to practice changes inbetween
Parsaregood
Head Pro
I'm getting a lesson every 10 days for an hour at the moment as I'm significantly changing my swing. I do practice an average of 2 hours a day though, at weekends spending 4/5 hours hitting balls in order to make the changes i need to before April
pendodave
Tour Rookie
20 minutes seems very short, I normally talk for at least that long about how s**** my game is...
I think it depends a lot on how experienced a player you are. If you have been playing for a while and are familiar with drills and how to practice, a month between would be plenty. If you're a beginner, it might need to be sooner to make sure you're proceeding correctly.
A long time ago I had some lessons with a guy who did a tuesday night clinic at the range where anyone who had a lesson with him could pay a fiver for some range balls and he would wander asking and check that everything was ok. A good system.
** Edit** parsaregood is a good and experienced player and his advice just goes too show how each case should be treated on is merits!
FAB90
Member
Had my first lesson on Monday changed a few things in my swing but felt good and was hitting the ball well! Then yesterday went for 9 holes and could hardly hit the ball hopefully a range session will help a bit as I have a golf outing on Sunday.
inc0gnito
Assistant Pro
Has anyone ever had a lesson and the pro says let’s not change anything? ?
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
No but what I really love about the guy I've been using for the last few years is the changes are usually very small and about working with what I have already and making small changes, usually to posture or tempo. I never come away thinking I've no idea how I'll implement a change and usually after a bucket or two at the range it blends in and I'm confident to take it to the course. Of course once I get there it doesn't always translate immediately and there is usually some bad scores before forward progress. I've also reduced the amount of lessons I've had. I had 6 (for price of 5) and as I spent 2 (an hours duration) in one hit on the short game it took me all year to use the other 4. I've waited for when I really needed a check up to get me on track. I think not having too many changes too often to worry about on the course has helped me play far more consistently.
Parsaregood
Head Pro
To be honest I've been to a couple of guys in the past and it was almost like I was paying them to watch me hit balls
D
Deleted member 1147
Guest
Yes, when I was a kid.
Problem was however that there was plenty that could have been changed. In the end I just developed a lot of errors which have plagued my game ever since.
There wasn’t nearly so much junior coaching back then, unfortunately
ScienceBoy
Money List Winner
Went in shanking through a warmup so not looking forward to it.
Was such a simple fix
1. Was to take the club away more on the inside, I was going outside and loop onto plane at the start of the lesson.
2. Keep hands and arms connected to body so I didn't push them out to the ball once takeaway was on plane.
Those two things took me from a good place where I hit the ball a bit high, straight and short with tendencies to lose my timing, to a good place with a simpler swing and a bucket of confidence.
Parting comment was "you can be much better than just a bogey golfer", will take that one to heart as I try to recapture the magic that got me to breaking 80 6 years ago (OMG that long ago? Flipping eck!!).
Was such a simple fix
1. Was to take the club away more on the inside, I was going outside and loop onto plane at the start of the lesson.
2. Keep hands and arms connected to body so I didn't push them out to the ball once takeaway was on plane.
Those two things took me from a good place where I hit the ball a bit high, straight and short with tendencies to lose my timing, to a good place with a simpler swing and a bucket of confidence.
Parting comment was "you can be much better than just a bogey golfer", will take that one to heart as I try to recapture the magic that got me to breaking 80 6 years ago (OMG that long ago? Flipping eck!!).
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HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
Recommended the guy I use to a PP the other week. He went and saw him for a lesson and I played with the guy last week. What a revelation and only a few tweaks to grip and posture. He had been in the real golfing doldrums and was talking about jacking it in (at least for a while) but he was like a different guy on the course at the weekend. Proof (to me at least) that lessons do work and even small changes can make a massive difference
RangeMonkey
Active member
Since my last post on here I’ve had a couple of lessons. You may remember that I was so frustrated that I was giving up. Well, after hitting nearly 900 balls over a 5 week period, and making good contact with less than 2 dozen of them, I did give up... for about 3 weeks.
Then I decided I couldn’t let it beat me. I went back for another lesson to find out what the issue was (or issues were). The pro pointed out two things: my ball position had crept backwards at address, and I had started to sway away from the target on the backswing.
After a couple more range sessions, I was unable to remove the sway. At the range, mirrors are behind the stalls. I would turn to face the mirror, practice the backswing with my head and hips not moving back, then turn to address the ball...and immediately sway into the backswing, resulting in poor (if any!) contact again.
The pro had suggested I video the swing from face on, so I could see what I was doing it. But once I saw it on video, it was too late, I’d already done it.
So, what finally cured me was a trip to Clubhouse golf to pickup a convex mirror with a thick red line down the centre. You place this just a few inches beyond the ball, and you can see your entire body, head to toe whilst at address. Because it’s so close to the ball, you can see your reflection whilst looking at the ball in the backswing, and it’s just a tiny glance up to look in detail.
I took a day off work, went to the range at 8AM and bought 120 balls. I spent 6 hours working through those balls (with a couple of breaks). Starting really, really slowly, with half swings, I took half a dozen practice swings before each strike, making sure the red line stayed right down my midline on the backswing, and not hitting a ball until I’d managed at least 6 repetitions without a ball, where I was happy.
With lots of breaks, and returning to half speed, half swings a few times, by the end of six hours, I was able to hit the last 10 balls really sweet, with just a single practice swing before each.
Two days later I went back and did the same thing in 3 hours with 80 balls.
Two more days later I went back and bought 40 balls. I spent half an hour using 10 to warm up, and an hour hitting the last 30. I mishit 2 balls out of the 40, and they would have both been “ok” for me at this stage on a course (thinned to about 80 yards with a 7 iron).
Since then, I’ve transformed my practice routine at the range. I always put the mirror down now, so that I can do random checks on myself from face-on, as well as with the down the line mirror the range provides. Instead of hitting 120 balls in 90 minutes, I now hit 80 balls in 90-120 minutes.
I’ve had another lesson last week, and the pro and I were both happy enough with my irons that we started work with my 3 wood. Touch wood (pun intended), it’s going ok.
To be honest, I wasn’t prepared for this kind of occurrence. I know people here said it was normal, and that it can happen to anyone, and I accept that now. At the time, it looked like there was no way out of shanking, topping, toeing and fatting every single swing, and I just couldn’t get a handle on it at all.
At least now, if (when) it happens again, I know the level of effort, physical and mental, required to put things back together.
Two months after this whole episode started, I’m finally hitting my irons about as well as I was three months ago, but only with continued levels of focus way beyond what I seemed to require in my first few months of playing. I still have a long way to go before my swing will feel as natural as it used to, if ever?
But at least I can finally hit the darned ball!
Then I decided I couldn’t let it beat me. I went back for another lesson to find out what the issue was (or issues were). The pro pointed out two things: my ball position had crept backwards at address, and I had started to sway away from the target on the backswing.
After a couple more range sessions, I was unable to remove the sway. At the range, mirrors are behind the stalls. I would turn to face the mirror, practice the backswing with my head and hips not moving back, then turn to address the ball...and immediately sway into the backswing, resulting in poor (if any!) contact again.
The pro had suggested I video the swing from face on, so I could see what I was doing it. But once I saw it on video, it was too late, I’d already done it.
So, what finally cured me was a trip to Clubhouse golf to pickup a convex mirror with a thick red line down the centre. You place this just a few inches beyond the ball, and you can see your entire body, head to toe whilst at address. Because it’s so close to the ball, you can see your reflection whilst looking at the ball in the backswing, and it’s just a tiny glance up to look in detail.
I took a day off work, went to the range at 8AM and bought 120 balls. I spent 6 hours working through those balls (with a couple of breaks). Starting really, really slowly, with half swings, I took half a dozen practice swings before each strike, making sure the red line stayed right down my midline on the backswing, and not hitting a ball until I’d managed at least 6 repetitions without a ball, where I was happy.
With lots of breaks, and returning to half speed, half swings a few times, by the end of six hours, I was able to hit the last 10 balls really sweet, with just a single practice swing before each.
Two days later I went back and did the same thing in 3 hours with 80 balls.
Two more days later I went back and bought 40 balls. I spent half an hour using 10 to warm up, and an hour hitting the last 30. I mishit 2 balls out of the 40, and they would have both been “ok” for me at this stage on a course (thinned to about 80 yards with a 7 iron).
Since then, I’ve transformed my practice routine at the range. I always put the mirror down now, so that I can do random checks on myself from face-on, as well as with the down the line mirror the range provides. Instead of hitting 120 balls in 90 minutes, I now hit 80 balls in 90-120 minutes.
I’ve had another lesson last week, and the pro and I were both happy enough with my irons that we started work with my 3 wood. Touch wood (pun intended), it’s going ok.
To be honest, I wasn’t prepared for this kind of occurrence. I know people here said it was normal, and that it can happen to anyone, and I accept that now. At the time, it looked like there was no way out of shanking, topping, toeing and fatting every single swing, and I just couldn’t get a handle on it at all.
At least now, if (when) it happens again, I know the level of effort, physical and mental, required to put things back together.
Two months after this whole episode started, I’m finally hitting my irons about as well as I was three months ago, but only with continued levels of focus way beyond what I seemed to require in my first few months of playing. I still have a long way to go before my swing will feel as natural as it used to, if ever?
But at least I can finally hit the darned ball!
Imurg
The Grinder Of Pars (Semi Crocked)
GIVING UP IS NOT AN OPTION!
larmen
Head Pro
You might not have the talent of a tour pro, but you certainly have the dedication!
inc0gnito
Assistant Pro
You can’t leave. She won’t let you. She’ll never let you.
