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mattfl
Aug 27, 2004

And go to someone who is actually a trained professional, not your buddy down the street who knows how to golf.

Look, I'm a single digit handicap player but I would never in a million years try to give lessons to someone. I know what works for me, how my swing should work and I've been swinging a club since I was in elementary school. In no way would I ever try and teach someone how to swing a golf club. It's just one of those things that I know "how to do" but I doubt I could explain to someone without wanting to kill myself how to swing a club.

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Summit
Mar 6, 2004

David wanted you to have this.
Hard part about lessons is there’s such a wide range in ability amongst instructors. Are you going to get that super technical guy who’s concerned your arm is 10* too flat or that guy who uses no technology whatsoever? Ideal is probably someone who uses the technology to inform their tailored advice to the player but you don’t know who’s working the particular club you’re taking lessons from. It’s a problem I haven’t found a good answer to.

daslog
Dec 10, 2008

#essereFerrari
While I agree that lessons are the way to go, and I go to lessons all the time, I'm finding they don't actually help my score that much. I know my ball striking is better, but my scores haven't really improved much. I'm still a 20 handicap (I don't take mulligans or drops without taking a 2 stroke penalty).

Shrapnig
Jan 21, 2005

daslog posted:

While I agree that lessons are the way to go, and I go to lessons all the time, I'm finding they don't actually help my score that much. I know my ball striking is better, but my scores haven't really improved much. I'm still a 20 handicap (I don't take mulligans or drops without taking a 2 stroke penalty).

How often do you practice?

I know beating balls on the range doesn’t really help much in real on course situations other than developing habits but I think if I could go back in time I would start with lessons and slowly move to being on an actual course.

My personal golf journey was an hour at the range dicking around with my buddy, a burger and a couple beers after and then “hey let’s go play a round.” I made a par on 1. It was the worst possible outcome. Been chasing that E since.

Shrapnig fucked around with this message at 15:02 on Jun 8, 2020

ElGroucho
Nov 1, 2005

We already - What about sticking our middle fingers up... That was insane
Fun Shoe
I would say buy a cheap set of irons + wedges from ebay that are < 5-10 years old. Go see an instructor. Most places have some sort of "Learn to play golf in 6 weeks!" program for fairly cheap. Get good with what you've got. Add a 5 wood. Get good with that. Add a 3 wood. Get good. Add a driver.

And don't be afraid to play from the ABSOLUTE front pin. One of the biggest problems with this game is people trying to play way farther back than they should. Not just beginners, but people who have been playing for 30 years and think they still have 110 mph club head speed (they don't)

If i could go back in time, I would tell myself to play from the front pin until I can break 90. Then move back one until you break 90 again. Then move back again until you reach a point where approach shots are challenging, but possible. No point moving to the tips to shoot a frustrating 98 if you could play the regular tees and shoot a very satisfying 80s.

ElGroucho fucked around with this message at 15:08 on Jun 8, 2020

SixPabst
Oct 24, 2006

Nthing lessons. I started playing a lot more in the last 5 years or so because what else is there to do in your mid-thirties. I had this wicked slice / push that was making the game really not fun at all. Bought 3 lessons at a nice course and I took all of 3 swings with the driver at my first lesson and the instructor goes "ah, I see the problem." Completely changed my game and the amount of fun I have. I think I paid less for those three lessons than I did for my driver and were by far the best golf purchase I've ever made.

e: I should probably go take some more because now I can stripe it right down the middle of the fairway but my 60-120yd game is like 70% decent shots, 30% chunks of flying turf

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


SixPabst posted:

e: I should probably go take some more because now I can stripe it right down the middle of the fairway but my 60-120yd game is like 70% decent shots, 30% chunks of flying turf

Oh man, yeah these are ultra worth it. Once you have your stance and tempo down right to get that "pop" for pitch and chip shots, you can become absolutely deadly at that range. My 9 iron at 120-125 yards will basically land like a lawn dart and it is the best drat feeling.

Shrapnig
Jan 21, 2005

DJExile posted:

Oh man, yeah these are ultra worth it. Once you have your stance and tempo down right to get that "pop" for pitch and chip shots, you can become absolutely deadly at that range. My 9 iron at 120-125 yards will basically land like a lawn dart and it is the best drat feeling.

This but also those shots right around the green where, yes, you can actually hit your wedge 80% and it’s going to go 20 yards at most. The mental gymnastics to take a nearly full swing on a ball you want to be in the air for 14 yards and stop in 20 is really tough

daslog
Dec 10, 2008

#essereFerrari

Shrapnig posted:

How often do you practice?

I know beating balls on the range doesn’t really help much in real on course situations other than developing habits but I think if I could go back in time I would start with lessons and slowly move to being on an actual course.

My personal golf journey was an hour at the range dicking around with my buddy, a burger and a couple beers after and then “hey let’s go play a round.” I made a par on 1. It was the worst possible outcome. Been chasing that E since.

I practice 2 or 3 times a week and do "deliberate" practice where I work on the one or two things given to me bt the instructor. (he's really good btw). I can really see the improvement in my swing too. My short game has been just terrible this year, which is what we are doing at the next lesson.

I'm also terrible inconsistent. I played 9 holes at Merrimack valley on Friday and shot a 43. Never played their before, and I hit the ball straight. I didn't putt that well but ball stayed in play. Yesterday, I played at Pembroke pines in Concord NH area and shot a 108. This is the course where I shot my career best 88 2 years ago. Topped the Tee shot on the first hole for an 8, 38 putts in total with 5 3 putts , and hit 6 balls OB. I'm a long hitter, and when my Drives don't go straight they tend hook a bit and get lost.

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Shrapnig posted:

This but also those shots right around the green where, yes, you can actually hit your wedge 80% and it’s going to go 20 yards at most. The mental gymnastics to take a nearly full swing on a ball you want to be in the air for 14 yards and stop in 20 is really tough

Yeah this hosed with me in my lob wedge game for YEARS. "Sure! Take a full swing! It's gonna go like 50 yards up and 5 yards forward!" :psyduck:

Theophany
Jul 22, 2014

SUCCHIAMI IL MIO CAZZO DA DIETRO, RANA RAGAZZO



2022 FIA Formula 1 WDC

daslog posted:

While I agree that lessons are the way to go, and I go to lessons all the time, I'm finding they don't actually help my score that much. I know my ball striking is better, but my scores haven't really improved much. I'm still a 20 handicap (I don't take mulligans or drops without taking a 2 stroke penalty).

I view lessons more as game maintenance, making sure you're not letting bad habits creep in and correcting the little things that are costing you when you play. I got down to around 14 by the end of last season after starting at 20 and I'd say about 80-90% of that was three-putting a lot less.

torgeaux
Dec 31, 2004
I serve...

daslog posted:

I practice 2 or 3 times a week and do "deliberate" practice where I work on the one or two things given to me bt the instructor. (he's really good btw). I can really see the improvement in my swing too. My short game has been just terrible this year, which is what we are doing at the next lesson.

I'm also terrible inconsistent. I played 9 holes at Merrimack valley on Friday and shot a 43. Never played their before, and I hit the ball straight. I didn't putt that well but ball stayed in play. Yesterday, I played at Pembroke pines in Concord NH area and shot a 108. This is the course where I shot my career best 88 2 years ago. Topped the Tee shot on the first hole for an 8, 38 putts in total with 5 3 putts , and hit 6 balls OB. I'm a long hitter, and when my Drives don't go straight they tend hook a bit and get lost.

Have you watched the Golfsidekick videos? That thinking adjustment he champions is a good way to reduce scores fast for someone like you.

John Romero
Jul 6, 2003

John Romero got made a bitch
thank you this rules.

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Theophany posted:

I view lessons more as game maintenance, making sure you're not letting bad habits creep in and correcting the little things that are costing you when you play. I got down to around 14 by the end of last season after starting at 20 and I'd say about 80-90% of that was three-putting a lot less.

Yeah once you've got things mostly down, lessons are perfect for finding little flaws you don't even realize you're doing.

Shrapnig
Jan 21, 2005

Honestly it’s consistency that makes you a good golfer. I’m not a consistent or good golfer but playing with those kind of players actually looks boring. We all want to play boring golf. Fairway, green, two putt par puts you in the 1% of golfers.

I’m sure most of us have the friend who hits bombs and then struggles to make bogey or the friend who can’t hit a ball and one putts every green.

I’ll play with my dad’s group occasionally and they have one guy who shoots between 73-77 every round, he doesn’t make mistakes off the tee and he gets up and down from everywhere. Fucker also pipes the ball and he’s in his 70s but what can we do about that.

daslog
Dec 10, 2008

#essereFerrari

torgeaux posted:

Have you watched the Golfsidekick videos? That thinking adjustment he champions is a good way to reduce scores fast for someone like you.

Yes his videos are great. Mentally, I'm a lot better on the course because of those. Each shot is an individual thing and I'm having a lot more fun than I have in prior years.

Theophany
Jul 22, 2014

SUCCHIAMI IL MIO CAZZO DA DIETRO, RANA RAGAZZO



2022 FIA Formula 1 WDC

Shrapnig posted:

Honestly it’s consistency that makes you a good golfer. I’m not a consistent or good golfer but playing with those kind of players actually looks boring. We all want to play boring golf. Fairway, green, two putt par puts you in the 1% of golfers.

I’m sure most of us have the friend who hits bombs and then struggles to make bogey or the friend who can’t hit a ball and one putts every green.

I’ll play with my dad’s group occasionally and they have one guy who shoots between 73-77 every round, he doesn’t make mistakes off the tee and he gets up and down from everywhere. Fucker also pipes the ball and he’s in his 70s but what can we do about that.

Two putt pars are bomb as gently caress. I had like 7 on the bounce on Sunday around the turn and it transformed my card. It's not exciting golf, but goddamn if it doesn't feel amazing to walk on a green and know you can go for the birdie and if it doesn't sink, knock in the par.

SixPabst
Oct 24, 2006

DJExile posted:

Oh man, yeah these are ultra worth it. Once you have your stance and tempo down right to get that "pop" for pitch and chip shots, you can become absolutely deadly at that range. My 9 iron at 120-125 yards will basically land like a lawn dart and it is the best drat feeling.

Doing it for sure. Hopefully the same instructor is at that course.

I've gotten a lot better around the green (10-15 off) by keeping my grip light and pushing through the ball. I just need to translate that to that 60-120 range.

Kirios
Jan 26, 2010




I guess I'm playing devil's advocate on this one but I found lessons to be way too much to take in when I was first starting. He was talking about like 8 different things and it was nigh impossible to keep them in my head. I ended up doing a lot of trial and error myself and it was when I got a net and a mat in my backyard is where I really improved. There's nothing that beats consistent practice, even if it's 20-30 balls a day.

As I posted earlier in the thread, my swing is a mess, so lessons would probably be a lot better for me now since I'd actually understand what they're saying, but when first starting out it was kind of a waste of money. You may just want to learn how to reliably hit a golf ball first and foremost, even if it doesn't go anywhere, before you take lessons. Maybe take a few group ones first (~20-25 dollars a person) and get the absolute basics down before committing to a PGA pro lesson (~75-100 dollars a hour).

mattfl
Aug 27, 2004

Kirios posted:

You may just want to learn how to reliably hit a golf ball first and foremost, even if it doesn't go anywhere, before you take lessons.

My intention of suggesting to take lessons was to do exactly this. I'm not sure how, knowing nothing about golf, you learn how to hit a golf ball without taking lessons.

Like I'm talking, beginning golf 101 lessons. Not, teach me how to hit that power fade stinger lessons.

Kirios
Jan 26, 2010




Well some folks here are recommending high end PGA pro lessons for that, and I just think that'd be a waste of money. Isn't that the point of group lessons? Spend a lot less and get some Golf-101 information before diving into 1:1 stuff? That makes a lot more sense to me.

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


Yeah some very simple beginner "just get contact on the ball" class will give you a good start

BCRock
Dec 13, 2005
I'm huge in Japan

mattfl posted:

My intention of suggesting to take lessons was to do exactly this. I'm not sure how, knowing nothing about golf, you learn how to hit a golf ball without taking lessons.

Like I'm talking, beginning golf 101 lessons. Not, teach me how to hit that power fade stinger lessons.

I'm a huge advocate for taking golf lessons in general, but it's certainly possible to learn to hit a golf ball properly without taking lessons. There are endless resources available on YouTube for free and in books that will teach you how to do it. The problem really is in filtering out the good stuff from all of the crap because there's a ton of crap.

I went from never having touched a golf club in my life to a 12 handicap in a little under a year by reading Ben Hogan's Five Lessons and watching YouTube videos. And going to the range 4-5 times per week to practice.

After that I needed lessons to get me from a 12 down to a 1 handicap because I'd basically capped out on what I could figure out on my own.

Were I to do it all over again, I'd have started out with lessons (either a "beginner" level instructor, or those cheap group lessons) because I think I'd have progressed more quickly that way, but it's definitely not impossible to learn the golf swing without paying someone to teach it to you.

Suprfli6
Jul 9, 2008

:shepface:God I fucking love Diablo 3 gold, it even paid for this shitty title:shepface:

I didn’t get a lesson until 4-5 years after I started playing, but I also went from having played only a few times in my life to playing 5-7 days a week from April to November and spent a lot of time on YouTube and GolfWRX. I think getting lessons sooner would have helped some parts of my game, but I also wouldn’t rate any of the three pros I’ve gone to as excellent.

I played a links course yesterday with some decent wind and had three birdies, four bogeys, a ton of pars, and a nine on a par four where I pumped three balls in the water. Ugh.

nerox
May 20, 2001

Shrapnig posted:

Honestly it’s consistency that makes you a good golfer. I’m not a consistent or good golfer but playing with those kind of players actually looks boring. We all want to play boring golf. Fairway, green, two putt par puts you in the 1% of golfers.

I’m sure most of us have the friend who hits bombs and then struggles to make bogey or the friend who can’t hit a ball and one putts every green.

I’ll play with my dad’s group occasionally and they have one guy who shoots between 73-77 every round, he doesn’t make mistakes off the tee and he gets up and down from everywhere. Fucker also pipes the ball and he’s in his 70s but what can we do about that.

Yeah it is kind of crazy to think about, but I have birdied every hole at my local course at this point. That means theoretically I can shoot a 54 on that course. However, I am so inconsistent I usually shoot high 80's low 90's :v:

Dr. Capco
May 21, 2007


Pillbug
I'm probably in the minority but I absolutely love going to the range and hitting 80-120 yard approaches for most of the bucket. I usually take my 7 through 50 degree wedge and just go down the group and see how I can control my arm speed and trajectory for whatever random number my phone's random generator spits out. After doing this I have a huge variety of shots from approach length I feel confident with, unfortunately it's probably come at the expense of my tee shots.

ElGroucho
Nov 1, 2005

We already - What about sticking our middle fingers up... That was insane
Fun Shoe
I played Sunday with this dude who took his golf seriously. I got a kick out of watching his shots, because he had this real nice compact swing, and his shots took such a different path to the green. My shots always go so high, and his were almost at the same trajectory as a dude throwing a football, but they would bounce once or twice and just stop.

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


ElGroucho posted:

I played Sunday with this dude who took his golf seriously. I got a kick out of watching his shots, because he had this real nice compact swing, and his shots took such a different path to the green. My shots always go so high, and his were almost at the same trajectory as a dude throwing a football, but they would bounce once or twice and just stop.
Flighting irons and wedges is something scratch players work on to keep things interesting, but even bogey golfers can try to incorporate elements of the technique into their games.

Suprfli6
Jul 9, 2008

:shepface:God I fucking love Diablo 3 gold, it even paid for this shitty title:shepface:

Putting the ball back in my stance and flattening my swing is how I hit low irons and wedges when I need to, but it really hurts my left/right dispersion. I would much rather just hit a different club with my usual swing if I’m dealing with wind or something, so I only hit super low shots if there’s tree branches to deal with.

ElGroucho
Nov 1, 2005

We already - What about sticking our middle fingers up... That was insane
Fun Shoe
I need to work on my lag more anything. The golf shaft is almost perpendicular to the ground at impact for me, so I'm robbing myself of lots of yardage.

daslog
Dec 10, 2008

#essereFerrari

ElGroucho posted:

I need to work on my lag more anything. The golf shaft is almost perpendicular to the ground at impact for me, so I'm robbing myself of lots of yardage.

In my last lesson, my instructor showed me that i'm slightly casting with a slight chicken wing. Always something to work on.

DJExile
Jun 28, 2007


ElGroucho posted:

I need to work on my lag more anything. The golf shaft is almost perpendicular to the ground at impact for me, so I'm robbing myself of lots of yardage.

Work on taking your hands back first before the club head, that'll help.

Payne Stewart was a god tier iron hitter and put a shitload of lag in his swing. If you swing right handed, think about taking the club back with your left shoulder/arm, that'll help get your hands ahead. Here's another good breakdown of it. What feels weird to remind yourself about irons is you want to hit down on the ball, putting that divot ahead of where you hit it. That'll create the 'pop' you want to get a good high iron flight.

AndrewP
Apr 21, 2010

Got out for my first round since COVID. This video really helped me a lot today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTCpkYqF8Ig

Admittedly I never actually paced the green to find out the exact number, but it got me thinking about how I wanted to chip it and what club I should be using (i.e. stop pulling out the wedge for any shot around the green). Really made a big difference getting some to more reasonable putts.

Driver sucked and torpedoed any chance I had of getting a decent score, but overall I'm hopeful about this season.

Dr. Capco
May 21, 2007


Pillbug
Went out for a round today and had a pretty solid ballstriking round overall minus a couple thinned slices. Irons were crisp and hit well, chipping was solid, putting was atrocious. I had 1 putt hit the center of the flagstick and bounce out because the pool noodle in the cup only had less than half an inch of depth, I 4 putted a hole, and i technically chunked 2 putts. Still ended up with an 81 somehow and hit 50% greens in reg.

torgeaux
Dec 31, 2004
I serve...
Had another good driving round. Scored ok, hurt by the double bogey 18th. We are a two ball, we both it to the left rough on this short par 5, but both have to lay up. He goes to his ball, while I can't initially find mine (down lie in deep rough). He hits, sees I'm looking, walks to his cart and drives to the layup location he just hit to. I finally get his attention after shouting and waving my arms, and instead of moving he just waves me to hit. I loving hate that. Of course I hit away from him, comes out hot, into the water.

Took a phone call on one of my tee shots, went to his ball without regard for where I was, hit into the grounds crew. Maddening.

RCarr
Dec 24, 2007

Dr. Capco posted:

I had 1 putt hit the center of the flagstick and bounce out because the pool noodle in the cup only had less than half an inch of depth

There’s no reason not to count that putt. Why would you do that to yourself.

AndrewP
Apr 21, 2010

If I'm a bad golfer, will I be helped in any way by more expensive balls? Should I just get the cheapest I can find?

mattfl
Aug 27, 2004

AndrewP posted:

If I'm a bad golfer, will I be helped in any way by more expensive balls? Should I just get the cheapest I can find?

Cheapest you can find or lostgolfballs.com and cheapest on there.

nerox
May 20, 2001

AndrewP posted:

If I'm a bad golfer, will I be helped in any way by more expensive balls? Should I just get the cheapest I can find?

I haven’t used them, but planning to order some Srixon Soft Feel. They are $20 a dozen, but buy one get one free right now at Srixon.con, which puts you under $1/ball.

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Kirios
Jan 26, 2010




AndrewP posted:

If I'm a bad golfer, will I be helped in any way by more expensive balls? Should I just get the cheapest I can find?

As a fellow bad golfer I'd say if you can stick to 4-6 balls a round then get some cheap new balls. The Top Flite D2 are on sale for 7 bucks for 15 and I've found them to be good enough feeling off the club and have OK compression and distance. Sure you won't be able to stop a wedge on a dime but if you're like me you can't really do it consistent any ways. I don't like using used balls - too inconsistent from one ball to another.

The Maxfli Soft Fli are a little more expensive (10 for 12) but feel even better. They aren't too far off from a Chrome Soft. It's currently what I use.

Edit: Next step up from that, if you are a Costco membership, they have a great sale for Hex Tour Soft golf balls - 30 dollars for 24. At this point you're drat closer to a Pro V for the fraction of the price

Kirios fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Jun 10, 2020

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