21 replies to this topic

[596]

Little back ground first.  I'm 57, playing for 4 years, never had a lesson, 3 index.  I spoke with the local Pro a few weeks ago and discussed a lesson and got his thoughts on the swing, lessons, etc.  So Sunday afternoon I schedule a lesson for this morning.

First thing he did when the lesson started was ask me what I wanted.  I told him I was a 3 index and happy with my swing.  I told him when I play I think only about the setup and first 18" of the back swing, I think of nothing else and I have no idea what happens after that and just let it happen.  I wanted to know if there was something that was out of wack that would help me with consistency.  He smiles and agrees with me about lessons and the results of swing fixes and compensations.

I had already warmed up for 45 minutes at this point.  He asks me to take some swings as he videos front and down the line.  We step away and review the video.  He immediately says we are going to change your grip and shoulder setup to this.....from this....and this is what is happening and this is what will change with the new setup.  

We changed my grip by rotating it toward the target so I could no longer see any knuckles of my left hand at address.  I could see nearly 3 knuckles with my old grip.  We then set my right shoulder more over my right toe.  I had been setting up with my shoulders pointed to the left.  But doing the shoulder set moved me way behind the ball with spine tilt away from the target and as a result I had to move the ball back in stance.  

Dang this felt wierd but he said to....so I did....out of the next 30 balls, his were the bad ones and I took credit for the good ones   All I needed to do was swing exactly the same but from the new grip and sholder setup.  Bingo.....though I was scared to death of a hook.....and left a bunch out tot he right, as soon as I trusted what he told me.....bang.....on the money, a gain of 5-10 yards per club, dead fringin' where I aimed them!!  We hit mostly with the 7 and 5 iron.  He also demonstrated what would happen with this new setup with my driver.  Perfect.....all I need to do is trust what he says, I can do that.

SO I played 18 holes, the first 6 were only so so.....leaving shots to the right and short.  Then I trusted his setup and used MY swing and POW....done, started hitting bombs with my driver and nailing irons right at the pin.  It was so much fun!!!  I didn't even feel I was hitting the ball fast or hard, no compensations in my swing (btw- I didn't even know I was doing those), so smooth....It was great fun.

So, I tell him I'll probably need another check lesson in a month or so, so I'm not over doing it and he says..."no you won't, you'll be fine"!!!  I was scared to death to take this lesson after the war stories you hear on WRX.  I really didn't want to spend the next 6-8 weeks banging balls at the range ingraing a new swing or thinking about things I'd never needed before.  This guy was wonderful!!!  Did exactly what I wanted.  40 balls on the range and 7 holes later, I'm good to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Can't wait to play again.

Edited by 596, 22 May 2012 - 05:05 PM.

[HitEmTrue]

That's cool...was this a real-old-guy in Austin named Harvey by any chance?

Why did he have you weaken your grip?

[596]

We have a new Pro at our course.  Sadly the past Pro passed away about 2 months ago.  This is a nationally  known instructor in Cottonwood, AZ.

Without going into detail, as I really don't want or need to know, I had a reverse spine tilt at the top, thus making my hands too low at the top, thus needing awesome timing to get back to square at impact.  This lead to inconsistent ball striking on a day to day basis.   I've always had a super high ball flight.  With the new grip and shoulders aiming straight on line (really seems to me that the new position is way right) I can square the face with zero compensations.  With the new grip I can't hit a pull draw, which was one of my misses (the other was the toe strike).  This also leads me to a nice square, balanced impact position and follow through and I no longer flip as a compensation.

He also explained why my divots were facing a hair left of target - due to shoulders aiming left at address - lead to the flip - thus pulling all my wedges left of target - DANG this gets complicated!!!

Basically he squared everything to my target line.  He also explained that your left hand position is totally individual.  Some people will see 3 knuckles or more and some people, like me, need to see no knuckles at address.

[wmblake2000]

596, on 22 May 2012 - 05:01 PM, said:

Little back ground first.  I'm 57, playing for 4 years, never had a lesson, 3 index.  

How the hell anyone can pick this game up at 53 at get to a 3 in 4 years is simply outside of my imagination.  Must be a space alien is the most reasonable explanation I can find.

[596]

wmblake2000, on 22 May 2012 - 07:52 PM, said:

596, on 22 May 2012 - 05:01 PM, said:

Little back ground first.  I'm 57, playing for 4 years, never had a lesson, 3 index.  

How the hell anyone can pick this game up at 53 at get to a 3 in 4 years is simply outside of my imagination.  Must be a space alien is the most reasonable explanation I can find.

Really?.....I'm sure there are others on this forum that did that in alot less time then me.  Over the past year I play about 6 days a week.  I hit at least 600 balls per week from the range.  The game of golf is not as hard for some as it is for others.  I've played sports all my life.  I played high school soccer and tennis as well as college tennis.  I've played about every sport you can name in my life.  I also raced triathlons for the last 22 years so I'm in great physical condition.  I've always had great hand and eye coordination.  I don't find golf all that hard.  Just as others don't find bowling, or tennis, or baseball, or basketball, or whatever they play all that hard.

Where do you get off questioning my index because some poeple can't play as well as I do in 4 years.  If you search the forums for this topic you'll find that it is not all that uncommon.

[northgolf]

wmblake2000, on 22 May 2012 - 07:52 PM, said:

596, on 22 May 2012 - 05:01 PM, said:

Little back ground first.  I'm 57, playing for 4 years, never had a lesson, 3 index.  

How the hell anyone can pick this game up at 53 at get to a 3 in 4 years is simply outside of my imagination.  Must be a space alien is the most reasonable explanation I can find.

Yeah, I could do that, on a putt putt course maybe

[596]

northgolf, on 22 May 2012 - 08:06 PM, said:

wmblake2000, on 22 May 2012 - 07:52 PM, said:

596, on 22 May 2012 - 05:01 PM, said:

Little back ground first.  I'm 57, playing for 4 years, never had a lesson, 3 index.  

How the hell anyone can pick this game up at 53 at get to a 3 in 4 years is simply outside of my imagination.  Must be a space alien is the most reasonable explanation I can find.

Yeah, I could do that, on a putt putt course maybe

If it makes you feel better I could hit a few balls each round into the desert, take a few penalty strokes and raise my index for you.  I don't play a lot below my index.  I've only broken par twice.  Once at 2 under and once at 1 under.  I'd be willing to 3 jack a few greens to raise my index also, if it makes you feel better.

I have a bunch of friends that can't break 100 after playing for 20 years.  Should I do that, too?

[Ricco]

Happy for you man! Keep it up, I've gone from a ten to a five since I retired 18 months ago. Had one video lesson and bingo I knew what was wrong. I had a huge sway back and hit everything in a big curve right. I got sick of playing a slice and got it fixed. Occasionally I hit a push fade that does no harm. Good luck!

[northgolf]

596, on 22 May 2012 - 08:20 PM, said:

If it makes you feel better I could hit a few balls each round into the desert, take a few penalty strokes and raise my index for you.  I don't play a lot below my index.  I've only broken par twice.  Once at 2 under and once at 1 under.  I'd be willing to 3 jack a few greens to raise my index also, if it makes you feel better.

I have a bunch of friends that can't break 100 after playing for 20 years.  Should I do that, too?

You are being overly defensive and mistaking the tenor of my post.  I was implying you come to the game much more easily than I do; that is, you have accomplished in a short time what I still strive to do after a long time.

Keep reacting to my posts the same way and I will come to the opinion that "thou dost protest too much".

[596]

northgolf, on 22 May 2012 - 08:48 PM, said:

596, on 22 May 2012 - 08:20 PM, said:

If it makes you feel better I could hit a few balls each round into the desert, take a few penalty strokes and raise my index for you.  I don't play a lot below my index.  I've only broken par twice.  Once at 2 under and once at 1 under.  I'd be willing to 3 jack a few greens to raise my index also, if it makes you feel better.

I have a bunch of friends that can't break 100 after playing for 20 years.  Should I do that, too?

You are being overly defensive and mistaking the tenor of my post.  I was implying you come to the game much more easily than I do; that is, you have accomplished in a short time what I still strive to do after a long time.

Keep reacting to my posts the same way and I will come to the opinion that "thou dost protest too much".

OK, sorry about that.  I apologize for the above response.  Typing doesn't do wonders for the "intent" of a post.

[596]

Ricco, on 22 May 2012 - 08:41 PM, said:

Happy for you man! Keep it up, I've gone from a ten to a five since I retired 18 months ago. Had one video lesson and bingo I knew what was wrong. I had a huge sway back and hit everything in a big curve right. I got sick of playing a slice and got it fixed. Occasionally I hit a push fade that does no harm. Good luck!

Ya, the video did wonders.  Saw immediately the bad setup which led to a bad spine tilt at the top.  My video was actaully very ugly and i was imbarassed to see that swing : (  Hopefully I can keep the setup proper going forward and become more consistant day in day out.

[northgolf]

596, on 22 May 2012 - 08:56 PM, said:

northgolf, on 22 May 2012 - 08:48 PM, said:

596, on 22 May 2012 - 08:20 PM, said:

If it makes you feel better I could hit a few balls each round into the desert, take a few penalty strokes and raise my index for you.  I don't play a lot below my index.  I've only broken par twice.  Once at 2 under and once at 1 under.  I'd be willing to 3 jack a few greens to raise my index also, if it makes you feel better.

I have a bunch of friends that can't break 100 after playing for 20 years.  Should I do that, too?

You are being overly defensive and mistaking the tenor of my post.  I was implying you come to the game much more easily than I do; that is, you have accomplished in a short time what I still strive to do after a long time.

Keep reacting to my posts the same way and I will come to the opinion that "thou dost protest too much".

OK, sorry about that.  I apologize for the above response.  Typing doesn't do wonders for the "intent" of a post.

Understood.  The written word doesn't carry tone so well.  The stupid little smiley character in my post was supposed to be me and it had the responsibility for conveying tone.  I'll  beat up a few more smiley']s and we can call it even.   Here are more beaten ones

[wmblake2000]

596, on 22 May 2012 - 08:00 PM, said:

wmblake2000, on 22 May 2012 - 07:52 PM, said:

596, on 22 May 2012 - 05:01 PM, said:

Little back ground first.  I'm 57, playing for 4 years, never had a lesson, 3 index.  

How the hell anyone can pick this game up at 53 at get to a 3 in 4 years is simply outside of my imagination.  Must be a space alien is the most reasonable explanation I can find.

Where do you get off questioning my index because some poeple can't play as well as I do in 4 years.  If you search the forums for this topic you'll find that it is not all that uncommon.

I wasn't questioning your index. Just trying to have a little humor mixed in with my envy.  The fact is, your ability to play to this level starting at a late age is pretty remarkable.  But I have no reason to suspect your honesty.  I would bet that less than 1 in a 1000 achieve this level starting as late as you did.

[Swisstrader98]

[/quote]

I have a bunch of friends that can't break 100 after playing for 20 years.  Should I do that, too?
[/quote]

Hey, I resemble that comment! I've heard of guys going from never having held a club in their hands to low single digits, but have personally never seen it. I've played for 20 years and struggle to stay single digits. All the more power to you!

Not sure I understood the shoulder bit...so basically he had you more open with your shoulders at address?

[596]

No actually the opposite.  My right shoulder was in front of my right foot and the left shoulder was way back, causing my shoulders to be way open at address.  He had me align my shoulders parrallel to the target line.  This makes me feel as though I closing my shoulders but in reality they are straight to the target.  In golf the feeling you get most of the time is not what you are actually doing.  I was aimed striaght with my hips and feet but way open with my shoulders, thus knocking my spine angle all to heck.  With the new setup my spine angle is great at address and allows me to turn connected and swing connected all the way to the finish.

Just by changing grip and setup it has solved my spine angle, staying connected and staying in balance all the way through to finish.  No needing to change HOW I was swinging and this was exactly what I was looking for. I always had alot of people say my swing was great but that I moved me feet and balance all over the place.  This solved that.

[Swisstrader98]

Precisely my problem as well with the open shoulders, so will try aligning both shoulders more to the target line.

[596]

Swisstrader98, on 23 May 2012 - 11:39 AM, said:

Precisely my problem as well with the open shoulders, so will try aligning both shoulders more to the target line.

Be careful when you change the shoulder angle.  What will happen is you'll actually move the club face back from the ball at address.  You'll need to also move the ball back in your stance to match the new shoulder setup.  It felt wierd but made a huge difference.

[PingEye2]

wmblake2000, on 22 May 2012 - 07:52 PM, said:

596, on 22 May 2012 - 05:01 PM, said:

Little back ground first.  I'm 57, playing for 4 years, never had a lesson, 3 index.  

How the hell anyone can pick this game up at 53 at get to a 3 in 4 years is simply outside of my imagination.  Must be a space alien is the most reasonable explanation I can find.

Agreed!

[RacineBoxer]

PingEye2, on 23 May 2012 - 12:43 PM, said:

wmblake2000, on 22 May 2012 - 07:52 PM, said:

596, on 22 May 2012 - 05:01 PM, said:

Little back ground first.  I'm 57, playing for 4 years, never had a lesson, 3 index.  

How the hell anyone can pick this game up at 53 at get to a 3 in 4 years is simply outside of my imagination.  Must be a space alien is the most reasonable explanation I can find.

Agreed!

I thought that same thing immediately too.  Then I read below where he said he golfs 6 days a week and hits 600 balls a week at the range, now I don't doubt it one bit.

[PingEye2]

How the hell anyone can pick this game up at 53 at get to a 3 in 4 years is simply outside of my imagination.  Must be a space alien is the most reasonable explanation I can find.
[/quote]

Agreed!
[/quote]


I thought that same thing immediately too.  Then I read below where he said he golfs 6 days a week and hits 600 balls a week at the range, now I don't doubt it one bit.
[/quote]

I really wasn't doubting it, I just thought it was an amazing feat. Iwould bet that most men starting at the age, even with putting in that kind of work, couldn't get to that level! It's a friggin hard game!

Edited by PingEye2, 24 May 2012 - 03:39 PM.

[greens hit]

The book Talent Code says that you can.  You just have to quit your day job and ignore your wife.

[596]

greens hit, on 24 May 2012 - 03:08 PM, said:

The book Talent Code says that you can.  You just have to quit your day job and ignore your wife.

Na.......my wife golfs with me about 50% of the time   She's getting pretty darn good for having no athletic background.  She started playing last summer.

No need to quit my day job, I have my own business and have full staff that runs my Inn for me.  We just run the business side.  I only work about 1-2 hours each day and then I get to pick the hours.   I can golf before or after I do my daily stuff, then again I can procrastinate and do it all tomorrow.