- Mar 9, 2017
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I started playing golf at 6 years old. I quit playing when I was 48 (another story). I was a single digit handicap for about 30 of those years. I was a sub 2 handicap (and even got to a negative handicap for about 3 weeks) the last 20 years. Here is my advice.
Don't be a driving range warrior. Get out on the course and have fun. Go to courses and play at times when you know there won't be a crowd. Take mulligans and do overs. Don't get caught up in the score yet. Right now its all about just building the experience in your subconscious about what you think the golf ball is going to do after deciding to hit it a certain way. Golf is nothing but a series of decisions that are really just best guesses based purely on your experiences in the current situation of each shot. It is picking the right club and swing along with actually executing the shot correctly. From every single shot you are building experience on how to decide on future shots, so you need to understand whether you guessed right or wrong and if you executed the shot right or wrong. You can guess right then hit a bad shot or you can guess wrong and hit a good shot. Both of those are very frustrating but whats important is understanding what went wrong. But when you guess right and execute the shot right it feels really good. Just understand you should be learning from all of it instead of that rare moment you do it all right.
Also, you are 71...just go play.
Yeah and you were one of those guys I hated. You had a rare talent for the game. I didn't. I had to beat my hands bloody on a driving range to get my handicap as low as I did.
About golf and cussing, the Father’s Day card my daughter got me had a caveman with a stick hitting a rock. The caption read “And it was then that profanity was born!”No...you learn to cuss at the first golf courses you start playing at not ANY golf course. ;)
And there was something unique about ironwood...it had lights. I haven't seen that anywhere else other than vegas.
I didnt spend a whole lot of time on the driving range, especially if I was in a peak and making good consistent contact with the ball. My range work was very specific when I did. I got on there, worked on what I wanted with clear goals and then got off. I had a scripted range warm up that I followed religiously before rounds and any range work I did. It changed a little bit based on the different types of shots the course I was playing that round required.
I found that my game didn't directly improve based on the hours spent on the driving range. I spent more time around the putting green and chipping area. That is where I saw the most improvement. The other thing I did was to play by myself a lot during the week at off times and practice on the course. I picked something to work on each day. For example, on par 4s and 5s I would drop 10 balls every 10 yards towards the green starting at the 150 marker. I would use just my wedge so it was a drill about feel and swing speed. That same day on par 3s I would hit 10 shots out of a bunker around the green.
That type of practice kept me in the zone. If I tried to replicate that on the driving range I would just lose interest. I guess what I am trying to say, you hitting so many balls on the range to the point of getting blisters isn't going to do a whole lot to really make you better. Like I said previously, golf is nothing more than a trail of decisions you are making from the 1st tee to the 18th hole. The more experience your mind has absorbed to help feel your way around all the choices of each shot is what you are trying to get. Beating balls on a driving range really doesn't do that much and can actually make it worse for you to pick through your experience to get that right feeling about the shot.
EDIT: I do want to say though that beginners should spend a lot of time on the range at first to get to the point where they can make consistent contact. But there comes a time where one's gains on the range start to minimize versus the gains you get from the experience on the course. Confidence is a huge part of golf and that is initially gained on the range.
@Okeechobee Joe Im glad you’re getting into it. There really is a lot of pleasure to be found in the game. Like several others have said, get out on the course and play. As far as instructional videos go, there’s a guy I like named Danny Maude. He doesn’t get overly technical. You might give him a try.
Believe it or not, Phil Mickelson has some pretty good instructional videos on YouTube, especially for chipping and pitching. And unlike a lot of these dudes with youtube channels, he doesn’t prattle on and on, begging you to hit the subscribe button, etc. Just quick, easy to understand basics so you at least know the correct technique before you head to the range to practice.
Practice without some direction is a good time waster but not necessarily the path to better golf. Taking lessons from a pro that speaks your language sure beats just beating ball after ball downrange when all you’re doing is permanently ingraining all your natural flaws into your swing. That, and playing golf with decent players so you can watch how they do things out on the course.
Good advice. Your point is well taken that using the range at first can be beneficial, but only up to a point when the law of diminishing returns starts to take effect. I know you said you started playing at an early age, but did you take many golf lessons as an adult golfer?
They were a great find. We were at Mexico Beach 6 or 7 years ago and it was raining, so the missus and I went to this little junk shop just to kill some time. That set of 3-PW was in a corner with some other clubs, all marked $2 each. I scooped up the 845s and an old Callaway Tuttle putter and gave the lady a twenty. They really hit well and were very much worth what I paid for them! I remember when they first came out, Fred Couples played with them and hit them a mile. I hit them very straight :)@cover2, I was never a great or even good golfer, but the best stint was when I played with 845s. Loved those clubs.
They were a great find. We were at Mexico Beach 6 or 7 years ago and it was raining, so the missus and I went to this little junk shop just to kill some time. That set of 3-PW was in a corner with some other clubs, all marked $2 each. I scooped up the 845s and an old Callaway Tuttle putter and gave the lady a twenty. They really hit well and were very much worth what I paid for them! I remember when they first came out, Fred Couples played with them and hit them a mile. I hit them very straight :)
That should be the ultimate goal!But had loads of fun
Interesting take. Interesting outcome.I dont care what level you are at with your game, get your clubs fitted. It doesn't matter if you found the greatest deal in the world or spent thousands on the best set of clubs, if they don't fit your stance and swing then they are equally worthless. It really is worth the investment.