Golf Lessons? We talkin' bout practice?????!!!!!!

[HereBeforeCoachK]

I have been very close on three occasions, but never got one. When I was about 8 or 9, I wound up just an inch short on a ground ball that must have bounced 30 times. Twice in more recent years I have had a ball mark a few inches short, and the ball wound up an inch or two behind the hole, so it must have lipped out.

My mom had 3 holes in one, all within a few years' time, when she was in her 50's. My dad never got one, and was jealous.

I have 2, official, which for a pretty mediocre golfer is good. Carolina Country Club #4, 236 uphill at the time. Knocked in a 3 wood. River Ridge 15, 185 that day...also uphill hole...December, cold, managed to turn on a four iron with a baby draw. Due to undulations on the greens, I never saw either actually roll in, but had witnesses both times.

Bought a boat, spent family time instead of guy time, and hardly played in 15 years. I've had a ton of boats though!

[Reisen]

My FiL hit a hole in one years ago. Evidently I was there, witnessed it, and signed the scorecard. I have absolutely ZERO memory of it.

It came up a few months back, when we were playing the hole with 2 others, and he reminisced about it. I remarked that I didn't know what he was talking about. I think he thought I was gaslighting him on purpose or something. When we got home, he pulled out the framed scorecard, with my signature. I think he was actually legitimately pissed that I didn't remember it (this was like a decade ago).

Maybe I'm getting alzheimers. I'm late 30s, no other memory problems, but who knows?

[mkirsh]

The Good: I played this weekend and shot a personal best 86 after not playing for months(previous best was a 90). Left lots of easy strokes out there, but got lucky a few times too, so I guess that evens out. My chipping and putting are much improved because that's really the only thing I've been able to practice around the house. A few minutes here, a few minutes there. My driver is, 250-300 consistently only swinging about 3/4 power. I'm trying to work on getting that feeling of reaching back(hand shake) and the face opens up, and then closing that down at the same position on the other side of my body with the club face closed.

The Bad: While I'm driving consistently 250-300 yards every time, I've developed a massive slice that I can't control no matter what I try. I shot the 86 because I made the decision to give up trying to "fix" it during the round and just started playing it. There was a short 310 par 4, slight right bend, that has deep bunkers guarding the front.. I aimed right at the spot where the fairway begins to bend to the right, cleared the bunkers and it rolled 2 feet from the green.

The Ugly: Missed a couple of 2 foot putts that were straight in. Can't explain that one.


The score card was weird. I didn't have that many pars, it was birdie, bogie, or double bogey.

Most of my problems came on the front nine, when I refused to aim left and play the slice. I was hitting out of the trees or from another fairway on multiple occasions so I wasted a lot of shots with punch outs to get back in the fairway.

I hit my irons pretty good. Can't remember any major mis-hits. I did notice my divots were point way way left of my target line sometimes, and on those the ball was always landing right of the target. I assume whatever it is I'm doing to make my driver slice so bad is still happening with my irons, it's just less pronounced.

Either way, golf has bitten me again and I find myself wanting to get back out there again, especially since the weather is about to cool off. Still want to get into a routine, just gotta make the time.

Lots of good suggestions so far to fight a slice, but here are two more, just to give you even more things to think about (I know I always play better with more swing thoughts ):
- At address make sure you have axis tilt away from the target (for a right hand golfer this means right shoulder lower than left and spine tilted away from target). It's impossible to swing from the inside without some axis/spine tilt (but just a little, don't overdo it)
- You are probably too steep on the downswing, so try a drill like this to shallow out the club (beware of getting stuck in the instagram/youtube golf instruction black hole, but there is a lot of good stuff out there)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnMKo5CA...on_share_sheet

However, take all of this with a grain of salt as I'm most certainly not an instructor, only a 14 handicap, have not hit a hole in one in 25 years of golf, can't dunk a basketball, and did not stay in a holiday inn express last night.

[rsvman]

Of course it is arbitrary. Doesn't make it any less meaningful of a personal goal. It's more of a "bucket list" type of goal than a measure of progress. I'm not looking to make the tour or anything; just want to be able to say I did it.

To each his own, and you are free to set any kind of goal you want, but to me it doesn't make any sense to set as a goal something over which you have virtually no control. It's like setting a goal to win the lottery. It's not a goal, it's a wish.

I hope you get one. Maybe this is just a semantics problem. I have no problem at all with "I hope I hit a hole-in-one," it's just the idea of having a "goal" to hit a hole-in-one that I'm grappling with. So like I said, maybe it's just a semantic issue.

Probably the best way of achieving it is to set intermediate goals that increase the likelihood of the outcome. Maybe have a goal to "take dead aim" on all par 3s and to swing freely and in rhythm on all par 3 tee shots.

[Turk]

A buddy of mine claims "one with an asterisk". On a par 3 all carry over water, he plopped one in the drink. Reloaded from the tee and holed the next one. Double bittersweet because he didn't see it go in because of the contours of the green. "Nice par..."

[left_hook_lacey]

Counterintuitively, taking the club back INSIDE like you do actually commonly leads to the over-the-top move and cutting across the ball.

Pull up a YouTube video of Justin Thomas hitting an iron shot and watch the move he practices right before he hits each and every shot. Practice that move yourself. Just take a club back until your arms are parallel to the ground and make sure the clubhead is outside your hands.

This one simple change could make a big difference.

Update:

The other golf thread reminded of this one I started and wanted to update those that have offered advice. While I haven't played much at all, and have not taken lessons, I watch some of the more popular videos suggested by others before I go play and I had a break through this weekend which is in line with RSVMAN's suggestion from last fall. I had started playing worse and couldn't hit a straight drive to save my life. Huge banana slice drives that were going about 260 yards down the fairway before making a sharp right turn deep into the woods. I used to hit one or two per round like that from time to time, but I was doing it every shot, with every club.

I finally realized that I was taking the club too far inside which was causing me to swing too hard and cut across the ball coming outside in on the downswing. I watched a couple of Mike M's, and "Me & My Golf" you tube videos for drills to correct this.

Using clubs, I created a swing line diagonally across the target line to visually show me the direction the club should approach the target and follow-through after impact. It took me several swings for this to feel right. The first time I did it, I didn't think I would even make contact with the ball. And then, EUREKA!!

I hit one about 80% swing power, straight down the fairyway about 280 yards. I hit two more that were mirror shots of that one on the next two holes. Then, on a par 4 396, I hit a slight draw, that ended up about 60 yards off the front of the green on a tight fairway. I was in shock. I was so excited I could barely contain myself as I was trying to hold it in as some of my fellow golfers were struggling. I was trying to act like it was business as usual.

Then on a 505 yard par 5, I hit my drive well enough I had about 170 yards left. I hit a slight draw 7 iron within 15 feet of the pin on a small heavily guarded green. Sand and water all around. I got par, but we won' talk about that in this post.


Anyway, the point being, this little drill has solve a whole plethora of problems for me. I use the same mental vision of that inside out aim sticks even when hitting my irons, and at one point, I had actually started drawing them too much left and missing the green, something that I thought would never be possible for me. I actually had to start hitting down a club or two because I was making such great contact, I was flying my target because of the distance I was getting with each club and I wasn't used to it. I didn't shank a ball all day. Sure, there were times I missed my target, but I didn't hit it thin, fat, shanked left or right, nothing.

Beginners' luck? Maybe, but I have never felt more confident standing over the ball as I was by the end of this round.

I only ended up with an 87, one shot off my personal best. However, I got my self in trouble on some holes because of the distance control with the new found contact on irons. And I left many, many putts on the green. An embarassing amount. I missed two eagle putts and several birdie putts within 5 feet. Also, the course we were playing was much much more difficult than the one I shot the 87 on.

I need to play again soon so I don't lose that feeling and get it into my muscle memory.

[Tripping William]

Update:

The other golf thread reminded of this one I started and wanted to update those that have offered advice. While I haven't played much at all, and have not taken lessons, I watch some of the more popular videos suggested by others before I go play and I had a break through this weekend which is in line with RSVMAN's suggestion from last fall. I had started playing worse and couldn't hit a straight drive to save my life. Huge banana slice drives that were going about 260 yards down the fairway before making a sharp right turn deep into the woods. I used to hit one or two per round like that from time to time, but I was doing it every shot, with every club.

I finally realized that I was taking the club too far inside which was causing me to swing too hard and cut across the ball coming outside in on the downswing. I watched a couple of Mike M's, and "Me & My Golf" you tube videos for drills to correct this.

Using clubs, I created a swing line diagonally across the target line to visually show me the direction the club should approach the target and follow-through after impact. It took me several swings for this to feel right. The first time I did it, I didn't think I would even make contact with the ball. And then, EUREKA!!

I hit one about 80% swing power, straight down the fairyway about 280 yards. I hit two more that were mirror shots of that one on the next two holes. Then, on a par 4 396, I hit a slight draw, that ended up about 60 yards off the front of the green on a tight fairway. I was in shock. I was so excited I could barely contain myself as I was trying to hold it in as some of my fellow golfers were struggling. I was trying to act like it was business as usual.

Then on a 505 yard par 5, I hit my drive well enough I had about 170 yards left. I hit a slight draw 7 iron within 15 feet of the pin on a small heavily guarded green. Sand and water all around. I got par, but we won' talk about that in this post.


Anyway, the point being, this little drill has solve a whole plethora of problems for me. I use the same mental vision of that inside out aim sticks even when hitting my irons, and at one point, I had actually started drawing them too much left and missing the green, something that I thought would never be possible for me. I actually had to start hitting down a club or two because I was making such great contact, I was flying my target because of the distance I was getting with each club and I wasn't used to it. I didn't shank a ball all day. Sure, there were times I missed my target, but I didn't hit it thin, fat, shanked left or right, nothing.

Beginners' luck? Maybe, but I have never felt more confident standing over the ball as I was by the end of this round.

I only ended up with an 87, one shot off my personal best. However, I got my self in trouble on some holes because of the distance control with the new found contact on irons. And I left many, many putts on the green. An embarassing amount. I missed two eagle putts and several birdie putts within 5 feet. Also, the course we were playing was much much more difficult than the one I shot the 87 on.

I need to play again soon so I don't lose that feeling and get it into my muscle memory.

Congrats on the “find” (it’s a joy when it happens), and the near-best round (that brings joy, too)!

And , FWIW, I am a big fan of the Me & My Golf guys. Their online tips have been very helpful for me.

[Reilly]

... you are free to set any kind of goal you want, but to me it doesn't make any sense to set as a goal something over which you have virtually no control ...

I take it you were not among John Delaney's and Joe Sestak's advisors advising a presidential run?

I'd think there are some inputs that increase the odds of getting a hole-in-one: play golf 2x/day rather than 1x/week ... play courses with holes where it's doable ... study the timing of the windmill blade ...

[rsvman]

Thanks for the update.
I'm glad I was able to make a suggestion that actually helped! Woo-hoo!

[OZZIE4DUKE]

One lesson, a new set of irons and a new driver, and I had a very good weekend!

[rsvman]

One lesson, a new set of irons and a new driver, and I had a very good weekend!

Nice!!!

[left_hook_lacey]

Heading out to North Shore golf club this morning at North Topsail island. Here's to keeping up progress.

I'm a little sore from being on the beach, playing with the kids the last few days. And also a little sun burnt, so I have excuses at the ready if my magic swing decides to leave me. 😂

[devildeac]

Heading out to North Shore golf club this morning at North Topsail island. Here's to keeping up progress.

I'm a little sore from being on the beach, playing with the kids the last few days. And also a little sun burnt, so I have excuses at the ready if my magic swing decides to leave me. 😂

This might make a nice stop after playing 18 holes:

https://saltyturtlebeer.com/

[left_hook_lacey]

This might make a nice stop after playing 18 holes:

https://saltyturtlebeer.com/

Fun fact, I had a Salty Turtle blonde on the way in this weekend at Rick's just before the bridge. Had no idea there was a brewery in Surf City so we're gonna try to get down there before the week is over.

[devildeac]

Fun fact, I had a Salty Turtle blonde on the way in this weekend at Rick's just before the bridge. Had no idea there was a brewery in Surf City so we're gonna try to get down there before the week is over.

You must have missed these reports in March, 2018:

https://forums.dukebasketballreport...le#post1051786

[elvis14]

Fun fact, I had a Salty Turtle blonde on the way in this weekend at Rick's just before the bridge. Had no idea there was a brewery in Surf City so we're gonna try to get down there before the week is over.

Two thoughts: First, don't tell the wife about having a blonde at Ricks :-). Second, Ricks is great! When we take day trips to the beach we often go to North Topsail b/c of the ample parking and relatively sparse crowds. We always find ourselves eating at Ricks before we drive home.

[left_hook_lacey]

Two thoughts: First, don't tell the wife about having a blonde at Ricks :-). Second, Ricks is great! When we take day trips to the beach we often go to North Topsail b/c of the ample parking and relatively sparse crowds. We always find ourselves eating at Ricks before we drive home.

It is a great location to get a nice meal either on the way in or on the way home. I had the scallops and they were perfect.

As for my golf outing, still some work left to do. I had some things working against me right to start with....

• The course was tough
• I had never played there before
• It was extremely hot/humid
• I was slightly hungover
• We starting having beers again by the 6th hole

With all those excuses out of the way, I was still hitting drives consistently around 270-280 at about 75% power. I did get a couple over 300, but nothing like my last trip and I had a couple of slices that crept back in out of nowhere. Old habits are hard to break. Those shots usually appear after getting too comfortable with my new swing and not focusing on my swing path. It's still not in my muscle memory yet.

I hit mid irons pretty good. My biggest problem with irons now is the tendency to draw the ball too far left and miss the green, especially from par 3 tee boxes. That's a new problem. I think I need to weaken my grip a little when I go down to the shorter irons.

But my biggest downfall of all was putting and wedges. I just couldn't score well when I got up there in regulation.

Long story short, last three rounds were...

Personal Best 87 (Fairly Easy Course)
Personal Best 86 (Slightly Tougher Course)
Back to reality 98 (Much tougher Course)

[Tripping William]

It is a great location to get a nice meal either on the way in or on the way home. I had the scallops and they were perfect.

As for my golf outing, still some work left to do. I had some things working against me right to start with...

• The course was tough
• I had never played there before
• It was extremely hot/humid
• I was slightly hungover
• We starting having beers again by the 6th hole

With all those excuses out of the way, I was still hitting drives consistently around 270-280 at about 75% power. I did get a couple over 300, but nothing like my last trip and I had a couple of slices that crept back in out of nowhere. Old habits are hard to break. Those shots usually appear after getting too comfortable with my new swing and not focusing on my swing path. It's still not in my muscle memory yet.

I hit mid irons pretty good. My biggest problem with irons now is the tendency to draw the ball too far left and miss the green, especially from par 3 tee boxes. That's a new problem. I think I need to weaken my grip a little when I go down to the shorter irons.

But my biggest downfall of all was putting and wedges. I just couldn't score well when I got up there in regulation.

Long story short, last three rounds were...

Personal Best 87 (Fairly Easy Course)
Personal Best 86 (Slightly Tougher Course)
Back to reality 98 (Much tougher Course)

Don't get discouraged. Sounds like a little regression-to-the-mean going on; we (all of us) only play our best golf about 10% of the time, by definition. And usually not when hungover . . . . .

Plus, depending on the tees you played, North Shore can be difficult. I haven't played there in maybe 10 years, but it's not terribly forgiving (and the 135 or 140 Slope for the course reflects that).

[elvis14]

I've had an interesting year with golf. Most years, I play 4 rounds on my yearly golf trip to Myrtle Beach and maybe another 2 rounds all year. As my kids have gotten older, however, this year I've found myself playing much more often. Two guys at work have taken up the game and they have been a catalyst for me getting out more often. They are pretty awful so I don't feel any external pressure to score. Then I started playing in a weekly league for the first time in about a decade. So in the last 7 months I've played more than I have in a very long time.

There is good and bad to this. The good to this is that some days my game seems to coming back to me. The bad is that other days, like yesterday, I feel like I'm trying to figure out which end of the club to hold! The first 4 weeks of golf league: 53, 40, 54, 46. The 53 was just a struggle and the only reason I scored even that well is that I hit a few putts and the league allows a mulligan. The 40 was surreal. I only hit 1 putt but the game seemed easy that day. All my drives were in the fairway. The 54, I hit the driver in the fairway all day and literally couldn't hit any other club in my bag. The 46 was a day where I played better than I scored (took a snowman on a par 3 after being 100 yards out and sculling my second shot over the green, etc., I also double bogeyed the first 2 holes because I hit irons so well they went long..and long was bad on those holes). For 3 weeks, I didn't miss a fairway with my driver. Then yesterday, there wasn't a club in my bag I could hit, not even my driver.

My MO has usually been that I'm not that bad but I'll have just enough bad holes to kill my score (kind of like that 46).

When I don't play much, I have no expectations. As I've started to play more and have had some success, I've started to expect more of myself. Somedays that makes me my own worst enemy. I think my current goal is realistic since I'm playing 9 weekly and about 2 more rounds a month. That goal is to end the year playing bogey golf. Most days I don't think I'm that far off, just need to hit a few more putts (which often times means chipping better) and avoid at least one of the 3-4 big numbers.

Anyway, here's hoping that as I play more the clunkers come less often. I do try to hit a bucket when I play, generally picking one thing work on (other than just warming up). I am enjoying playing again and enjoy walking the 9 on Thursday nights (when I'm not just walking into the woods to find my ball all day).

[devildeac]

Two thoughts: First, don't tell the wife about having a blonde at Ricks :-). Second, Ricks is great! When we take day trips to the beach we often go to North Topsail b/c of the ample parking and relatively sparse crowds. We always find ourselves eating at Ricks before we drive home.

Going next weekend? You're invited to our place for a beverage. We'd both get in a lot of trouble having a blonde at Rick's.