Golf Lessons

Let's keep his thread going. Keep the golf tips/lessons coming.

I go through periods of putting everything then chipping everything.
Where my game needs the most help is the approach shot. My accuracy is never consistent. My distance is a usually spot on but I will spray it left or right, NOT getting a GIR.
Its all about practice for sure but trying to get time for that is tough. If I get the time... I'm using it to play.
 
takeit said:
My next lesson is next Saturday. Is it normal to have lessons once a week? My gut says you need more time between to "master" what you learned, but maybe you don't want to "lose" what you learned.
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Just think if you had lessons for 8 hours a day for a month or 2. Like it was a job. I wonder what your game or any of ours would be like after 3 months of 8 hour days.
 
KJ - golfing now and am trying to think lead with my inside right arm rather than back of left hand. Do you this same strategy when putting?
 
I'm terrible with GIR which is why I get so much wedge work in, most everything 7-iron and longer (roughly 165 and more for me) goes left and of course it's all about the reps. I just don't play as much anymore, even when I was playing 3 times a week I was shooting low 80s. There is a significant difference with desert golf to what I was accustomed to before because scrambling under/through/over trees wasn't a big deal to me. Here it's a lost ball and a penalty on many courses.

Sometimes if I'm not hitting the short irons well and yanking them, I'll open up the stance a little and take a 3/4 punch swing to avoid the inside-out swing path that takes the ball to the left. It usually helps out.
 
ProV1Colt said:
Just think if you had lessons for 8 hours a day for a month or 2. Like it was a job. I wonder what your game or any of ours would be like after 3 months of 8 hour days.
Click to expand...
I would have to take a lot of CBD oil. I go about 3 times a week now
 
takeit said:
KJ - golfing now and am trying to think lead with my inside right arm rather than back of left hand. Do you this same strategy when putting?
Click to expand...

Yeah I guess so, I don't really think about it but that would be the result. I love my Scotty putter, it's weighted perfectly for me...that said I do try to roll the ball to the hole and not through it, putting and chipping are such feel things for me. And why I love fast greens and can't stand slow ones where everything is short...then when I try to adjust it can get a little chaotic.
 
And I've always noticed, the better the golf course the better I play.
Kinda like playing to the level of your opponent.
Its probably all mental though

Scotty putters are the way to go for sure. Love mine
 
Actually the more I think about it take, I feed putts with the back of the left forearm/hand...and will never putt cross handed or do anything silly with my stroke.
 
ProV1Colt said:
And I've always noticed, the better the golf course the better I play.
Kinda like playing to the level of your opponent.
Its probably all mental though

Scotty putters are the way to go for sure. Love mine
Click to expand...

More times than not for me as well...
 
I got a Bettinardi for my birthday last year and love it. I mostly 2 putt, but still need to work on my mindset. I'm solid from 10 feet in, but if I am much further out than that, my thought is to just get it close. I need to line up and have the mindset that I can make it. I'm hoping when I do my putting lessons he doesn't see the need to change everything up. My dad actually helped me quite a bit with my putting.
 
ProV1Colt said:
Let's keep his thread going. Keep the golf tips/lessons coming.

I go through periods of putting everything then chipping everything.
Where my game needs the most help is the approach shot. My accuracy is never consistent. My distance is a usually spot on but I will spray it left or right, NOT getting a GIR.
Its all about practice for sure but trying to get time for that is tough. If I get the time... I'm using it to play.
Click to expand...

How are your shots when you are on a par 5 and are laying up with your second shot?
 
takeit said:
I got a Bettinardi for my birthday last year and love it. I mostly 2 putt, but still need to work on my mindset. I'm solid from 10 feet in, but if I am much further out than that, my thought is to just get it close. I need to line up and have the mindset that I can make it. I'm hoping when I do my putting lessons he doesn't see the need to change everything up. My dad actually helped me quite a bit with my putting.
Click to expand...

Are you good with imagination/imagery? If so, one thing that helps me once I'm 20+ feet out is increasing the size of the hole in my mind...the farther out, the larger I make it. Aim to stop the ball in that and a lot of times it's amazing how close the putt comes to sniffing the cup. It doesn't work for everyone, I know some people who are pretty decent golfers and are just awful at putting, think they may try to be too perfect with a line or something when it's clearly not the right line. I mean a couple of them can routinely miss 3 footers.
 
B.A.R. said:
Ding ding ding.

That is me when it isn't going well.

Funny you say that about practicing at home. When I first started playing, I was a practice junkie(the anti-KJ). At 19,20 years old I would chip for a few hours in my 'rents basement which had some perfect shaggy carpet. I would use real balls though and I was much better then because I never broke anything. I'd literally land it on the couch that bordered the doorwall. Lucky me, that wouldn't have been a pretty site if I 'got a hold of one'.

(that reminds me of having a few places when I was younger that one should not practice hitting golf balls that we did)
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Friend of mine and I were waiting at a park for some other friends to play basketball when we were 16 or maybe 17

They were late and he had his clubs in his car so we started practicing chipping it back and forth maybe 20-40 yards

We were a little too close to the side of the road where some cars were parked.....

Right on the windshield
 
KJ said:
Are you good with imagination/imagery? If so, one thing that helps me once I'm 20+ feet out is increasing the size of the hole in my mind...the farther out, the larger I make it. Aim to stop the ball in that and a lot of times it's amazing how close the putt comes to sniffing the cup. It doesn't work for everyone, I know some people who are pretty decent golfers and are just awful at putting, think they may try to be too perfect with a line or something when it's clearly not the right line. I mean a couple of them can routinely miss 3 footers.
Click to expand...

I will try it tomorrow.

Math and angles come really easy to me so I can usually easily visualize the line the ball will take (I do get screwed up when there is a double break though). I visualize the line, pick a spot within 5 feet of my ball and line up the line on my ball to hit that spot. This is what my dad taught me... I step back and take my practice swings looking only at the hole - if you just concentrate on the hole, your brain will know how hard you need to hit the ball to get it there. It sounds weird, but it works for me. I then address my ball and line up the line on my putter with the line on my ball. As long as my putt is the same as my practice swings, I am usually close enough to tap it in. I have 2 issues with this... I don't believe my line and try to change it or I don't believe the speed/strength of practice swings. Many times when I am far away I will skip the lining up part because I don't feel I can make it. I need to change my mindset here because there is no reason I can't make it.

What do you guys do when setting up and putting?
 
guaranteeed said:
Friend of mine and I were waiting at a park for some other friends to play basketball when we were 16 or maybe 17

They were late and he had his clubs in his car so we started practicing chipping it back and forth maybe 20-40 yards

We were a little too close to the side of the road where some cars were parked.....

Right on the windshield
Click to expand...

We were hitting drives in parking lot behind work when I was 21 or so...Buddy of mine hit a nice towering fade..Anyways there was this apartment complex that backed up to our building...With a pool about 250-275 yards away...Well he was pretty accurate and landed in the pool a few times in a row...So we went hiding inside..And few nights later we see this guy at the bar who is talking about lounging in the pool and almost getting hit with multiple golf balls... Haha...We couldn't hold back the laughter...Straight up blind tee shot over a fence and treeline...SPLASH...
 
Story I have. There was a par 3 course near where I grew up. It was on the lake.
Between the Par 3course and the lake was a pretty busy road.
we just finished playing the par 3 and we were teeing it up and hitting over the road into the lake with our driver
you know after playing a par 3 you have to bring the lumber atleast once.
Sure enough, I went last and we were seeing who could put the longest splash out there.....
I get up and hit a rising worm burner and BAM right into the door of a passing car.
No way I could EVER hit a moving target like that again. I mean I smashed it.
We heard a BOOM when it hit, right in the door.
We stood there thinking shit, I gotta pay for a door but the car never stopped. Didn't even slow down.
 
When putting I read the break, pick the line, and am good at literally seeing a long line ahead and extending through the ball. I line up just focusing on that line, get my eyes over the ball and stroke square to square on that line imagining purely striking a nail sticking out the back of the ball
 
ProV1Colt said:
And I've always noticed, the better the golf course the better I play.
Kinda like playing to the level of your opponent.
Its probably all mental though

Scotty putters are the way to go for sure. Love mine
Click to expand...

On this note, do you guys find you play to the level of the people you play with? We played 27 today and for the first 18 we played with friends who were not good at all (and were SUPER slow) and the last 9 it was just mrtake and me. I shot 53, 53, 44. That is a huge difference, especially after already playing 18.
 
Yes, I get bored easily. Shitty course, bored. Poor players, bored.

The most fun I have is with someone near scratch and getting handicap even though I don't declare one, we come up with something fair on the fly...the focus is much more intense. Also, I tend not to drink on the course on the front 9 (unless the intent is to just get bombed) and depending how it's going will open that opportunity up about the 10th hole. In the summer, it's hit, get in the shade, drink water for the most part. But there are exceptions.
 
Can't remember which ball you said you use, I know it was a pink soccer ball...to me once you get comfortable chipping it's vital to use the same ball because the difference in how the ball reacts is incredible. I use ProV1 (not X) and only a couple others felt similar to me...Callaway Hex Chrome and Srixon Z star. And I don't think I'm really good enough to be a ball snob but the difference in chipping, when the wedge is the club I use almost as much as my putter, is so important. Need spin control. Of course there's a chance some of it is mental, but there's a reason some balls are a lot pricier than others.

Now if you could change the ball out mid-hole, that would make it more interesting.
 
KJ said:
Can't remember which ball you said you use, I know it was a pink soccer ball...to me once you get comfortable chipping it's vital to use the same ball because the difference in how the ball reacts is incredible. I use ProV1 (not X) and only a couple others felt similar to me...Callaway Hex Chrome and Srixon Z star. And I don't think I'm really good enough to be a ball snob but the difference in chipping, when the wedge is the club I use almost as much as my putter, is so important. Need spin control. Of course there's a chance some of it is mental, but there's a reason some balls are a lot pricier than others.

Now if you could change the ball out mid-hole, that would make it more interesting.
Click to expand...

I don't think I am not good enough for the ball to matter, and if it spins it is just dumb luck. I have tried a ton of balls and am currently using the ChromeSoft white/pink soccer ball. The thing I really like about the ball is that it has the design to give me something to focus on that is bigger that a little dimple. I'm sure this is not important to you as everything comes naturally, but I am still thinking about so many things in my swing, if I can take one thing out of it, it really helps. At the end of this summer I am going to get a custom fitting and will do a ball fitting as well.
 
Yep the brain is always 99% of the battle and you certainly don't want to be thinking about much during your swing but it took me a long time to find a focal point, for me it's the front of the ball now, where I want my divot to be. You can see how crazy it can make people, the different things pros draw on the ball for putting are funny, and some are superstition and others are just to mark their ball. Whatever helps I guess.
 
I was looking for golf tips today and found this - seems like a great tip.

Take about 10 practice putts on a flat portion of the practice green (if there is one) by bringing the putter back to your back foot and putting through. That way you know approx the speed with which a putt with that arc distance will go and can adjust accordingly when presented with varying distances, slopes, etc of putts.
 
ProV1Colt said:
Let's keep his thread going. Keep the golf tips/lessons coming.

I go through periods of putting everything then chipping everything.
Where my game needs the most help is the approach shot. My accuracy is never consistent. My distance is a usually spot on but I will spray it left or right, NOT getting a GIR.
Its all about practice for sure but trying to get time for that is tough. If I get the time... I'm using it to play.
Click to expand...

takeit said:
How are your shots when you are on a par 5 and are laying up with your second shot?
Click to expand...

How do you line up on your approach shots?
 
Line up right at the flag usually. I am consistent though....
Consistently missing the green
 
ProV1Colt said:
Line up right at the flag usually. I am consistent though....
Consistently missing the green
Click to expand...

I'm wondering if maybe you are thinking you're lined up at the flag but you're not. Try standing behind the ball and find your line, then pick a spot on that line about 5 feet in front of your ball. Line up to that instead. This helped me a ton.
 
ProV1Colt said:
Line up right at the flag usually. I am consistent though....
Consistently missing the green
Click to expand...

Your line should be parallel to the target by a small margin. If you are 150 yards away and lined up at the flag, you are off by a couple degrees and off a couple degrees over 150 yards could be the difference between missing the green and hitting the green.
 
mrtake said:
Your line should be parallel to the target by a small margin. If you are 150 yards away and lined up at the flag, you are off by a couple degrees and off a couple degrees over 150 yards could be the difference between missing the green and hitting the green.
Click to expand...
:shake2:
 
I line up by imagining a train track, on one rail are my feet, hips, shoulders and the other rail is the target line and the ball
 
takeit said:
I'm wondering if maybe you are thinking you're lined up at the flag but you're not. Try standing behind the ball and find your line, then pick a spot on that line about 5 feet in front of your ball. Line up to that instead. This helped me a ton.
Click to expand...
Great tip Take It, I have done that for years by finding something like a divot or something a few feet in front of the ball to line up with for the target line.
The best is on tee boxes when there are a couple busted tees in front of the ball to make an alley.
I play some nice courses but thankfully not like Augusta as I would have trouble without something a few feet in front to aid lining up lol
 
See little tips here and there that other people do, can help tremendously. I cant wait to get out and hit some balls.

I tend to keep a strong grip with my right hand when pitching or on approach. I feel i have more control when i do this..
kinda like a check swing in baseball. Chin on left shoulder then ending with chin on right shoulder.
i will try this visual approach when i can. The divots & tees visual sounds solid.
 
I should clarify that when I line up to a spot in front of the ball, I line up my club face to hit the spot, then line up my feet parallel to my club face. This results in the same line as what mrtake said about lining up parallel to the target.

I have taken 2 lessons and have played a shit ton (my 3rd lesson was supposed to be today, but it snowed). With my lessons, tips and practice, my last 3 rounds have been 88, 92 and 90 (from the reds). Our course is pretty easy, so I want to play other courses, but I am happy with my progression. Currently my index is 19.4.
 
When I look at that photo I see a par and a double bogey...guess we'll just have to trust ya ;)

And if teaching someone who's 2-putting how to 3-putt is deemed a success, that's a business I need to get into
 
Yea... I was thinking I didn't even need putting lessons but he said I need to work on my short game. I was hitting the ball and "pushing" the ball towards the hole - more controlling the distance with the strength of my putt along with how far back I went. I had my lines and distances pretty nailed. He wants me to strike the ball with a solid constant hit, and control my distance with how far back I go. This goes further so my lines and distances are all messed up. I'm sure once I figure them out I will be more accurate... Just sucks as I had 6 3-putts on the front 9 right after my lesson. I usually had maybe 2.
 
B.A.R. said:
Haha, he was just toying with you.

When I looked at that late at night last night I thought it was mini soccer balls in the hole.
Click to expand...

It was on hole 7: http://www.theclubatpradera.com/golf/course and he gave me the line to hit over and watched it go in... As I was jumping up and down for joy, he hit his in. I got over and took out my phone to take a pic... the guy we were playing with asked if I wanted him to take a pic. I said I know what look like, I'm getting a pic of the balls... haha

And those balls are made to look bigger than a regular ball. If you see someone playing with them ask to see it and put it on the ground next to a white ball. Make sure the balls are in your shadow and look down at them. The white/pink looks bigger than the white and the yellow/black looks bigger than either. It's crazy.
 
Look at hole number 16 for an elevation drop...it's fun playing from the black tees which is used for the ram tees that I use. I played in a men's scramble 2 weekends ago and hit my drive over 420 yards, that was fun!
 
Great looking course. Looks like there are a lot of options and having to think your way around.
 
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