Most fun I've had in golf in 2 years

[ava08]

Screw the swing gurus

Went out for my first range session of the year. After weeks of looking at You-tubes of Pro swings and swing guru philosophies, reading article after article and literally driving my self nuts for 2+ years, trying to clear this and slot that and badabeep badaboop, I said [language] it, I'm gong to the range and swinging at it like I did as a kid. Holly crap did I have fun. I was actually hitting the ball again with consistancy, both of trajectory (high) and flushness (85% sweet spots and hope to keep that percentage growing). I went with just a 7 iron and the guy next to me actually complimented by session by asking/saying are you trying every shot with just that one club?...Very smart! I guess the long and short is I left like feeling like a million bucks.

Mer personally I am a handsy player, always have been and always will be except for those unfortunate years I tried to "perfect" the swing. Two thing screwed me up, and I bet they've screwed with you to.if your struggling right now: 1) Comments about your particular flight, 2) Your inner thoughts about how far you hit the ball, compared to the people you play with or even the pros and maybe even a 3rd: insecruity of how YOUR SWING looks. You then try everything under the sun to change your swing to something it's not and result in a black hole of disgusting golf. LISTEN TO ME, and I hope I can hold true to this, If you've grooved a swing that worked / works, and have tried to get away from it, go back...Yesterday!!!! I can't say it enough, unless your all over the lot, stick with what's working or go back to what used to work, because 99.9% of us up here aren't going on any tour.

[Medic]

When I got fitted the guy was amazed.

"Your grip is too tight, you are taking it back really low, and you aren't following through all the way."


I showed him my latest scorecard - a 78.

He laughed and asked me to hit a few. Then he said "I don't how you are doing it but you are making great contact each and every time."

I know my swing doesn't look pretty. I know I am making up for things that are not supposed to be done. But I also know that I made contact with the so-called sweet spot most of the time. I know my distances and can play to them. I can hit a stock draw all of the time and have (self taught) learned how to hit a fade off of the tee. I can hit it low when I need to and I can get out of any sand. If I have any real shortcoming it is my putting. But as long as I don't three putt I am even happy with that.

The pro who did my fitting watched me hit my new sticks and it was really funny. He made some comment about "feeding my habit" - meaning his fitting had made my results even better. "Jim, you have the worst swing with the best results I have seen in a long time."

When it comes down to it, three things count:[list=1][*]Make solid contact.[*]The end score no matter how ugly it might have been getting there.[*]Keeping it fun.[/list]That's just my take on it anyway. I gave up a long time ago trying to take lessons and allow some pro to try to change every bad habit I have learned (adapted) to work around. All you have to do is look at Furyk and the proof is there that so long as the club comes into impact with the ball consistently/correctly, the end results will be as planned and desired.

[dcmidnight]

This makes me smile, I love it. At one point a couple years ago I was going to write an article about how I thought that the "tips" in golf magazines were ruining the game of golf for people. I had 4 examples of magazines with conflicting advice (hit up on the driver....3 pages later...no, hit down on the driver) and wondered how people could ever enjoy the game if they tried any of this stuff without getting professional help.

Love to hear this kind of thing.

[xabia]

That's why they say Bubba wouldn't be Bubba and Jim Furyk wouldn't be Furyk if they let these swing coaches get their hands on them!

When the mind becomes overly cluttered with swing thoughts, you simply can't play good golf, sometimes you just have to let it go

[eric_b]

[quote name='dcmidnight' timestamp='1333019245' post='4604477']
This makes me smile, I love it. At one point a couple years ago I was going to write an article about how I thought that the "tips" in golf magazines were ruining the game of golf for people. I had 4 examples of magazines with conflicting advice (hit up on the driver....3 pages later...no, hit down on the driver) and wondered how people could ever enjoy the game if they tried any of this stuff without getting professional help.

Love to hear this kind of thing.
[/quote]


+1.....golf tips are written towards an ideal......and for people who have very low handicaps.....just useless.

This will be my 4th season.....i really threw my self into the game (read: obsessed....my wife calls herself a golf widow).....now, i'm consistently in the 90s with a self taught swing....sure, it's not pretty....maybe it's not "correct"....but i'm improving and having fun.....so who cares?

Hear hear on this topic!

[Charlie14]

I did the exact opposite yesterday. I don't know why but I started watching some videos on the fundamentals of golf. One of the from the Titleist Performance website. One of the tips said that all pros give so called "gas" to the grip with your left hand (Right hand for me). Turning down towards the ground as you swing.

I took too many thoughts to the range like the one above and literally was swinging like it was my first time playing ever. Hitting shanks dead left. After about half a bucket I stopped thinking about anything and starting hitting it flush again. Turns out I had my grip waaaaay to strong where my right palm was perpendicular with the ground, didn't notice this till almost the end of my bucket.

I have refused to look at any full swing advice in golf magazines or on TV. I will take the short game tips but listening to the other tips always seemed to make me worse the more I practiced. Don't know why I tried it again last night haha.

[inthefairway]

Had to see what all the fun was about and glad to see you had a great time. Your right about using one club and getting a constant swing that works for you. I do this with my wedge and hit balls about every day with it. All my iron shots are based on the constant swing that I've developed with this swing and I'm a six handicap and dropping. Keep up the great spirit and keep us informed!!!!!!

[tElihu]

Pretty swing doesn't win. Lowest score does.

[nmccarthy94]

Reminds me of a guy my Dad used to work with. His swing had about 25 different swing plains, but it went straight and the man had an exceptional short game. He was arguably the best adult golfer I've ever played with.
Reminds me of something my grandpa used to say: "It's not HOW, it's HOW MANY."

[brian575]

Just yesterday I had this experience. When I first started golfing I like to pick the club straight up like I was going to drive a spike in the ground then turn my shoulders and swing. A little like Furyk, even though I had never watched a golf tournament in my life. After many instructors telling me I could not do that I have changed. Some of the advice was good, but I still want to pick my club straight up. Well yesterday I was hacking it around like normal so I said screw it. And went back to my kid swing. It was so much fun. I hit 4 drives over 290 yards. Before that I had one 300 yard drive in my life and that was wind assisted. I used my android phone and measured my longest at 308 yards with a slight helping breeze. It was awesome. The best drive I hit all day was at a par 5 477 yards into the wind. I hit a draw that never got more than 15 feet off the ground. Ended up 181 to the pin, Drive measured 298 yards. I was 30 yards past my playing partners. I weigh all of 150 lbs soaking wet. It was probably an anomaly, but boy was it fun.

[Jericho]

Perfect example = Adam Scott.. GORGEOUS swing but ZERO majors

[Mulligan26]

But then you have Rory, who has a gorgeous swing and is a major champion.

[Jericho]

[quote name='Mulligan26' timestamp='1333030542' post='4605401']
But then you have Rory, who has a gorgeous swing and is a major champion.
[/quote]

Exactly. We have 2 guys with 2 of the most asthetically attractive swings and one is a 22 year old former #1 player with a major. The other is in his 30's and no majors.

[Another Steelers Fan]

This thread is probably the "closest to home" that I've read here. And I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!

I really went "all in" last year in a commitment to learning to play this damned game.
All year I tried all of the "tips" and everything else under the sun in an attempt to develop a "correct" swing. This lead to having about 10 different swing thoughts in my mind... and HORRIBLE shots.
Complete frustration and, at times, borderline furious anger.

Over the winter and early this spring I've developed a swing that... works. For me.

In only my second full year I've already shot an 88 and am consistently in the mid to low 90's.

Bottom-freaking-line.... It's whatever works FOR YOU.

[596]

I[b] don't[/b] watch golf instruction vidoes. Yea, I've tried to watch a few and came away thinking, wow, that's gonna mess me all up. I also do not read golf instruction articals, I read no golf magazines. No way. I work on my own game. I know what my ball does and why. I can change my swing in 5 minutes if needed. Just know the ball flight laws and why that shot did what it just did and hit the ball different next time if need be.

I tried just recently to change my setup and it's back to the old one after about 3 weeks. Done with it. I"m scoring low with the original setup. Shot 69,70 and 72 with new clubs recently so no reason to change. I'm a 4 index so these are really good scores for me. I hit about 800 practice balls each week. So I know what my swing is doing and why the ball goes where it goes.

[johnnymoose270]

Seems like the best marriage of all the advice above would be to find an instructor who can give you lessons based on your natural swing. I have seen guys have their swings completely broken down and started from scratch. One was a friend of mine....who no longer plays golf. So if you can find a PGA teaching pro who is willing to build off of what you are already doing lessons can be a valuable investment.

[ava08]

Great stories, keep them coming, and keep us all up to date with any progress. The most fun about yesterday was not just the solid contact, and feeling what MY swing is supposed to feel like, but that I was trying and figuing out again how to hit all types of shots and then executing them. Honestly I had the Bubba/ Furyk thoughts going through my head the entire time. Not that I would reach that level, or hit it a mile, but how natural their swings are and the results they produce.

[Ranger Rick]

[quote name='Jericho' timestamp='1333030684' post='4605423']
[quote name='Mulligan26' timestamp='1333030542' post='4605401']
But then you have Rory, who has a gorgeous swing and is a major champion.
[/quote]

Exactly. We have 2 guys with 2 of the most asthetically attractive swings and one is a 22 year old former #1 player with a major. The other is in his 30's and no majors.
[/quote]

And one of them uses his own natural swing and the other uses Tiger Woods swing from 2000 sort of.

[Medic]

But here is a follow-up question for everyone. [b]Have you ever seen your swing on a video?
[/b]
I did not realize how ugly my swing really was. Funny thing was on the video you could clearly see the point of contact and it was dead on. And the ball shot off of the face.

But it was ugly. I can only imagine the comments Johnny Miller might make it he saw it.

[Another Steelers Fan]

[quote name='Medic' timestamp='1333039758' post='4606479']
[b]Have you ever seen your swing on a video?
[/b][/quote]

No, but I will this weekend. [i]~ shudder ~[/i]

Laughed at "the comments Johnny Miller would make."

[Mich Nick]

All that matters is impact. The ball doesn't care how the club got there.

[CosmosMpower]

[quote name='Jericho' timestamp='1333029903' post='4605315']
Perfect example = Adam Scott.. GORGEOUS swing but ZERO majors
[/quote]

Adam Scott couldn't putt before the broomstick

[bepo]

This has been the last month for me. After trying to do everything by the book for the last year I just said f*** it. I narrowed it down to a few steps:
- Make a good setup (I have a mental checklist)
- Compact turn back
- Shift forward/turn through HARD. The harder the better and straighter it goes.

Contact has been amazing and every club is solid for the first time. Sometimes I'll go hit an entire bucket with just a 3 iron and have a blast.

[ava08]

You know who also has an ugly a** swing, but it works really well Tommy Gainy, Jim Thorp, Moe Norman and believe it or not Arnold Plamers was great, but violent, all good/ great ball strickers.

[Aithos]

What matters isn't looks, it isn't just contact, it's consistency. If you have a major flaw you should fix it with fundamentals but people shouldn't be so concerned with the "perfect" swing. On the other hand an awkward swing is only ok if it is truly repeatable and for *most* people that isn't the case. There is a balance and most people don't have the dedication or patience to implement real change to their game, which also leads to them plateauing and not getti g better.

[Freeride]

I think what the OP was doing was absolutely going to ruin his game, you are never going to improve using a different tip every every day or even week. I think correcting fundamentals and working on one at a time over the course of several weeks to months will you build changes that will stay with you and be useful. I started lessons 8 months ago at 90-100, sometimes 100+, I am now consistently 80s, shot an 83, my best score on Tuesday, and it easily could have been a 79 without 1 blowup hole! I'm going to be 70-80 by the end of the year, there is no doubt in my mind. Right now my goal is 81.

I do watch golf channel, but any fix on there I merely take as a note, only if it matches what I'm currently working on through my long term master plan do I pay attention. The only shows I watch are school of golf and the haney project, the haney project is only for entertainment. I also watch a few hours of tournament play a week, its good for your brain to know what a professional swing is, and I find it very useful for studying strategy and course management. As for golf mags I do get a few, but only because they are free, I usually skim through them and find many of their tips amusing, again ignoring almost all of them.

[BostonBob]

I still remember what one instructor told me: "If you keep reading golf magazines, I can't teach you. You have to choose."

[Charlie14]

[quote name='Freeride' timestamp='1333049097' post='4607501']
I think what the OP was doing was absolutely going to ruin his game, you are never going to improve using a different tip every every day or even week. I think correcting fundamentals and working on one at a time over the course of several weeks to months will you build changes that will stay with you and be useful. I started lessons 8 months ago at 90-100, sometimes 100+, I am now consistently 80s, shot an 83, my best score on Tuesday, and it easily could have been a 79 without 1 blowup hole! I'm going to be 70-80 by the end of the year, there is no doubt in my mind. Right now my goal is 81.

I do watch golf channel, but any fix on there I merely take as a note, only if it matches what I'm currently working on through my long term master plan do I pay attention. The only shows I watch are school of golf and the haney project, the haney project is only for entertainment. I also watch a few hours of tournament play a week, its good for your brain to know what a professional swing is, and I find it very useful for studying strategy and course management. As for golf mags I do get a few, but only because they are free, I usually skim through them and find many of their tips amusing, again ignoring almost all of them.
[/quote]

+1. Reading all those tips actually made me get worse in the past. Now I just go on feel and actual golf instructions.

[mandudebro]

Hold the phone folks. Am I reading this right? A bunch of hacks with admittedly ugly swings reinforcing a disdain for instruction by making fun of Adam Scott and his perfect move for not having won any majors!? I'll trade AS for his swing and Tour presence for my swing and weekend 76's anyday.

[MadGolfer76]

Idiosyncrasy = consistency.

Holds true in many endeavors beyond golf.