Your greatest golf lesson.

I had my road to Damascus moment a long time ago.
I'd been playing for about 6 months with dreadful results.I had always been good at sports,but golf just seemed beyond me.
New clubs had been purchased and i realy was the guy with all the gear,and no idea.
So,to the lesson.
I had hit the ball just into the tree's to the left of the tee.My mates were off down the fairway after their ball and I'm cussing.
I had hit a 7 iron and still had it in my hand when i got to the ball.
I stood on the left side of the ball facing into the tree's and hit the ball out behind me with a bit of annoyance.
The ball just went like a bullet into the tree's on the other side of a wide fairway.It was the cleanest shot i had ever had.
I hadn't realy smashed it,yet it was so powerful.
Over the next few days,i just went through the proceedure again to understand what had happened.
When i tried it as a gold swing down the park,the very first shot soared.I tried it with other clubs with mixed results.
I had what i thought was the golf secret,that turned out others had been doing for hundreds of years.Pull down with irons hands ahead of ball at impact.
I'd been trying to scoop it up.
So,there it is,found it by accident.Either that,or there realy is a Golfing God.
You must have had moments like this,so, tell us about it.

wofrunna

I hate to be the barer of bad news but here goes. You are indeed correct when you say you never want to scoop the ball and that the hands should be just ahead of the ball at impact. In order to improve further however you may need to develop the feeling of quiet hands at the start of the downswing. Let the rotation of your body bring the club down to impact. It is then more down to a roll of the forearm rather than a flick of the wrists. You should however focus on the right elbow falling down into place as the weight starts to shift to the left side.

Totally agree with Mac on the quit hands allowing the body to takeover.

Few years back after a pro-longed break from the game (18months, joy of back to back tours of Afghanistan and Iraq) I got back into the game properly after leaving HM forces. I got my handicap back down to Cat 1 pretty quickly was shooting some low numbers but did not have the consistency I used to have prior to the break, I could hit it a mile and go very low, but then equally was capable of being very wayward and putting some high scores in so couldn't get anywhere back to the 1 handicap I had as a youngster.

A friend of mine (now a teaching pro at the London Golf club) held a charity day in which I was paired with him, I had one of my good rounds that day very low, but he said something which made me sit up and listen, it wasn't a lesson of what to do just a reminder from when we were juniors, he said "you used to have the quietest hands I'd ever seen in a junior golf swing and one of the simplest actions to, if you can remember that you will go lower than you were" that really stuck with me.

I went round to my parents place and got my dad to dig out some old video footage he had of us playing golf on holiday when I was 15 and watched it over about 5 or 6 times and my old pal was right my hands were indeed very quiet hardly any wrist hinge (cocking) anywhere in my swing. To which my dad said how I'd been obsessed with swinging like Steve Stricker as a teen. Quick bit of googling found something called the simplest swing in golf which brought up result of 1 man Stricker! (Amongst some other guff) found a drill he used where he had his hands bandaged to a 7 iron and used to swing without breaking the bandages.

I thought I'd try this out, took me about 6months to rebuild my old swing with very quiet hands again virtually no wrist hinge so my swing with driver is little over three quarter length. Scores initially suffered but I stuck with it, Now I've lost about 10 or so yards in distance but my Fairways hit average is over 75percent my scores went back to being low and stayed low no big numbers and am now off scratch.

Had a round with my old Pro mate this week and remembering our conversation he simply said, nice to see you've remembered your swing.

All it took was a reminder of what I used to do as a teenager

Mac&Mav,
I wasn't describing my swing,just the enlightenment of the fundamental of hitting down instead of scooping up.
I worked out later that the hands need to be ahead of the ball at impact after working on what i'd learned.

I'm not at all technical when it comes to golf.I don't have any component parts to it.Ilike it simple,without thaughts other than where i want to put the ball.
I've never realy liked to practice or batter balls on a range.I just like to play.
The only thought i have now is to have a strong grip,3 knuckles. I used to have a neutral grip,but that was 20 years ago.
What it feels like i do is,
Drop onto my right hip,which kicks off my backswing and my left shoulder down.
Drive with my legs off the back foot,which pulls the left shoulder up,and as a consequence the hands down.
All thats left is to pull the hands down hitting the ball which takes a shallow divot.
Non of this is thought about.
Just start it off with the dro onto the right hip and the rest of it takes care of itself.
Pitching and chipping is an abreviated version of the above.
When i played all those years ago,i played of 4.I didn't practice then.
It may not be a classical swing.I don't even think of it as a swing.Ihit the ball,not swing through it.
I've been playing again since November.I'm doing a 20 year old version of what i did back then.
I'm happy with it.Improve the course management andthe Putting, i'll be happier still.
What i do is consistant.There isn't realy anything to go wrong with it.
I still get good distance,and generaly streight.I'm happy with it.

Wolfie:

I was just describing my best ever lesson, which wasn't even a lesson, just a reminder by an old friend who knew how I used to swing to remember what I used to do and remember my swing.

As for your swing here's what I say about anyones swing

Does it work for you?
does it repeat?
do you feel comfortable with it?
does it help you get maximum enjoyment from this great game?

If it ticks all those boxes especially the last 1 then that's all that matters, a swing is personal doesn't matter what it looks like as long as it works and you enjoy the game with it.

Glad you found out what works for you and you know how it works and why that's all that matters

my greatest golf lesson was losing the club championship final. i lost to an opponent that i should have beaten. i didnt expect him to reach the final and before my semi final i had myself geared up for playing against "the other guy" if i played well enough in my semi. i expected to be the underdog in the final which i enjoy to be honest.

the lesson i learned is that sometimes in matchplay you have to play the course and not the man.

with any luck ill get another shot at it

liegerwoods wrote:
the lesson i learned is that sometimes in matchplay you have to play the course and not the man.

Lieger: I said exactly that on the old 606 "play the course, beat the course and you should find you beat the man"

Yet I was shot down in flames saying I was stupid as matchplay should be against the man! I find if you play it purely against the man you put pressure on yourself instead of playing your own game and maake mistakes

Best lesson? Old scratch amateur at my old club (in his 80s at the time) once told me to aim for the top of the flag when hitting pitch (100 yards in) shots. That, along with hooding the face on fried egg bunker shots, is the best bit of free advice I can remember.

Same as wolfrunna - not scooping the ball. I haven't figured out how to avoid doing it yet, but it's the fundamental flaw in my swing currently, so once I get it cracked I hope that everything'll come together.

navyblueshorts wrote:That, along with hooding the face on fried egg bunker shots, is the best bit of free advice I can remember.

Seriously? How does that work? I would've thought you'd do the opposite...shows how much I know

I have had quite a lot of lessons but there are two that stick in the mind. One was where I was on the verge of packing golf in. I had no idea where the ball was going, left, right, long, short, fat or thin. The pro pointed out that I was being really 'handsy'. So to time it properly I would have to have the best hand eye/timing in the world. Basically the total opposite if what people were saying above. After the half hour I was back to some sort of consistency and importantly enjoying playing again.

The second was a very simple strengthening of my grip and I went from a fade/slice to a draw. It added a club of distance and contributed to shots off my handicap. Very simple and required no significant other changes.

Silver wrote:Same as wolfrunna - not scooping the ball. I haven't figured out how to avoid doing it yet, but it's the fundamental flaw in my swing currently, so once I get it cracked I hope that everything'll come together.

navyblueshorts wrote:That, along with hooding the face on fried egg bunker shots, is the best bit of free advice I can remember.

Seriously? How does that work? I would've thought you'd do the opposite...shows how much I know

Yup. Works a treat but you get zero spin...not that you get any whatever you try anyway. Opening the face increases the club's bounce and hence tends to make it skip (i.e. bounce) into the ball without cutting into the sand. Close the face and you'll decrease the effective bounce angle on the club; hit down nicely and the club goes deep into the sand really easily and up pops the ball easy as pie . Give it a try next time you're practicing.

navyblueshorts wrote:

Silver wrote:Same as wolfrunna - not scooping the ball. I haven't figured out how to avoid doing it yet, but it's the fundamental flaw in my swing currently, so once I get it cracked I hope that everything'll come together.

navyblueshorts wrote:That, along with hooding the face on fried egg bunker shots, is the best bit of free advice I can remember.

Seriously? How does that work? I would've thought you'd do the opposite...shows how much I know

Yup. Works a treat but you get zero spin...not that you get any whatever you try anyway. Opening the face increases the club's bounce and hence tends to make it skip (i.e. bounce) into the ball without cutting into the sand. Close the face and you'll decrease the effective bounce angle on the club; hit down nicely and the club goes deep into the sand really easily and up pops the ball easy as pie . Give it a try next time you're practicing.

Funny that... I advocate the exact opposite. If the sand is soft enough to allow a ball to plug then you can open the face and force it under the ball. You open it very wide and smash the ball into the sand about an inch behind the ball. You need to break your wrists early and have a very descending blow... You should be hitting it hard enough to have the clubhead more or less stay in the sand or only just make it through.

The ball will come out very high and land fairly softly with little spin.

I find that a lot more reliable than the hooded face method.

Best lesson I had was the last of six lessons and to be honest the only one that helped. I was suffering from from raising my hip in the back swing which meant I was swing all with the arms basically. The lesson basically was stand with the weight on your left foot on the inside of the foot. This then insures your right leg takes all the weight and ensured good rotation. I have since found this has corrected my slice 9 out 10 and insured much more consistency through an entire round :friend:

LJ I find you can play a plugged shot either way hooded or opened face depending on situation, if I'm playing and have a lot of green to work with I'll turn the toe it and play with a hood face and hit down hard it pops it out nice and low and gets it running and releases nicely to the hole allowing the ball to cover a good distance, but if I'm tight for space, wide open face, pick it up steep lots of wrist hinge and hit down agrresively hard pop it up soft landing

Maverick wrote:LJ I find you can play a plugged shot either way hooded or opened face depending on situation, if I'm playing and have a lot of green to work with I'll turn the toe it and play with a hood face and hit down hard it pops it out nice and low and gets it running and releases nicely to the hole allowing the ball to cover a good distance, but if I'm tight for space, wide open face, pick it up steep lots of wrist hinge and hit down agrresively hard pop it up soft landing

Mave. Both do work... I've used them both in the past. I just have trouble with shots that I play to release rather than check-release. I can play them... but not with the same consistency. Hence... I advocate the open face approach to a plugged lie. Also I think it requires less adjustment to your technique. Which is better for consistency as well. I can get around 20 yards out of it with that approach which is usually more than enough.

LJ have to say since I'm now a parkland ranger! And no longer playing links week in week out, plugged shots and now opened face shots but when back on the links the hoody shot is ideal for the larger greens where you need it to roll out due them being so bloody long when your front right and pins back left. How I miss my links course. On the plus side playing RSG next month

Navy: I don't really understand what you're talking about when you discuss 'bouncing' the club, can't quite comprehend the physics behind that sort of shot. In my head, if I tried that, it'd go low and left (ie, staying in the bunker and trickling!). My instinct would be to go with open face, but then I've yet to actually encounter a plugged lie at any stage, so I'll certainly try out both and see what happens. Thanks for the advice (and LJ/Mav), even if I'm too stupid to actually get it. :606laugh:

LondonJonnyO wrote:

Maverick wrote:LJ I find you can play a plugged shot either way hooded or opened face depending on situation, if I'm playing and have a lot of green to work with I'll turn the toe it and play with a hood face and hit down hard it pops it out nice and low and gets it running and releases nicely to the hole allowing the ball to cover a good distance, but if I'm tight for space, wide open face, pick it up steep lots of wrist hinge and hit down agrresively hard pop it up soft landing

Mave. Both do work... I've used them both in the past. I just have trouble with shots that I play to release rather than check-release. I can play them... but not with the same consistency. Hence... I advocate the open face approach to a plugged lie. Also I think it requires less adjustment to your technique. Which is better for consistency as well. I can get around 20 yards out of it with that approach which is usually more than enough.

Personally don't recommend the open faced approach. It'll work but have to hit it too hard; with a hooded face it pops out with minimal effort and if you know it'll roll out a lot it's easy to allow for it. You won't get any spin anyway whatever method you go for.

silver wrote:Navy: I don't really understand what you're talking about when you discuss 'bouncing' the club, can't quite comprehend the physics behind that sort of shot. In my head, if I tried that, it'd go low and left (ie, staying in the bunker and trickling!). My instinct would be to go with open face, but then I've yet to actually encounter a plugged lie at any stage, so I'll certainly try out both and see what happens. Thanks for the advice (and LJ/Mav), even if I'm too stupid to actually get it. :606laugh:

You have a flange on a typical sand wedge. It acts like a wing/aerofoil going through the sand and prevents the blade from digging too much (thank old Gene Sarazen for the idea). If you open the blade a bit you increase this effect. The blade will effectively 'bounce' off the sand instead of digging in; if you're trying to play a plugged ball this is bad :crying:. If you hood the face, it won't go (that much anyway!) left and it pops rather than smothers; counter-intuitive maybe but it happens.

Mav

I am in no way saying not to chicken your wrists. By quiet hands I mean you do not start that start of your backswing by pulling your hands down. Although a flick at the end with the wrists is not that desirable, as I say there is a lot to be said for getting the feeling of your forearms rotating.