I follow Ben Hogans Five Steps
I couln’t get it to open to more than cover page...... however as a hacker for more than 35 years now I can advise it’s all about minimizing the bad hits. And having a good sense of humor....
The really sad thing about golf is this - the ball went over there because thats where you hit it.
Some JD and Ativan will level out one’s golf game. No round wreckers...
John Madden wrote a hilarious article in Sports Illustrated in 1988 (pretty sure, but can’t find it) entitled, “You never GET Golf”. One of his best ever riotous pieces.
I have an incredible true story on how addicting golf is, which Tiger Woods recently admitted and stated. It’s more addicting than heroin, cocaine.
My dad was addicted and while he had me swinging a club the day I could walk (almost), and they said I was a natural, I deeply resented the game - because I never had a dad because of it.
Too tired to write true story on addiction to golf, may post it later....
But for five decades I played golf once, sometimes twice a week. I played on a variety of courses in the Phoenix area.
I was terrible for years. Never took any lessons. Went to the driving range and banged buckets of balls for practice. But I was still a mid-90's player. Bogey golf.
That was until I played a round with a college buddy who was a scratch golfer. He was a pro for a few years.
Watching him strike the ball effortlessly with a smooth, consistent swing, was game altering for my own game.
For years I thought the idea was to hit the ball with the club.
In playing with my friend that day, I realized the idea was not necessarily to hit the ball but to swing the club. The ball would just be there in the way.
Learning and executing that one difference from how I had played the game before was transformative.
With some pointers from my friend and a new-found enthusiasm for the game, my handicap dropped 12 strokes in a year and I made my first hole-in-one.
My swing thought was simple from then on. "Don't try to hit the ball. Just swing the club."
I'm reading this now. Hope it helps.
For sheer fun I would suggest getting a hold of P. G. Wodehouse's Oldest Member stories. Filled with wry wit, and in an uncanny way it seems as if Scotsmen golfing in the early 20th century had the exact same problems to deal with as golfers today.
Ive been playing golf for close to 50 years now and i hate the game. Ive always hated it. Its the camaraderie of playing with friends that enjoy.
It’s a simple game if you let it be. The swing is optional. Ever watch Jim Furyk with his outside/in draw back. Or maybe the habits of Jack and his clearing the way for the swing just prior to draw back. Lot of ways and approaches. And it seems the pros change their swing consistent with their successes. They will use one until they can’t win with it or they get hurt and have to change it.
But the real success to the game is knowing your limitations and strengths. Most players that play regularly spend time on the range and are confident with certain clubs. So they use them by trying to get to where they can use them for the ability they have with them. If you can consistently hit a 90 degree wedge 105 yards and land it within a 10 foot circle, why wouldn’t you want to hit that shot? So instead of driving the ball 320 yards, maybe in the fairway, and hitting an 80 yard punch shot from the rough or sand that you don’t practice or the clubs are not designed to hit, you hit the ball 295 to hit that wedge. Playing within your limitation and strengths. Makes that putt a lot easier in most situations and you will use a putter more than any other club in the bag in a round. Take advantage of it by creating easier putts with more controlled shots in the short grass more often. Takes the hazards, traps, and bad green spot out of the game.
Simple game. You don’t have to hit it a mile, hit with a smile. Stay within yourself and hit the clubs more consistently with what they are designed to do and you are confident with. When John Daly won his British open, the driver stayed in the bag. Sure he could hit it a mile, but not always in the short grass. He never used it in that tournament. He substituted a one iron and was successful. His only other major was the PGA in his rookie year. But his inconsistent play kept him off the Ryder Cup throughout his career.
But if you’re out there to watch the ball fly, then stay on the range. It’s cheaper and you won’t be holding people up behind and with you. Join them at the ninth crossover and/or the 19th. You will be a happier person. And just as exercised.
rwood
I find that swinging full but not over-powering it, and checking my stance and grip leads to less really bad shots...been hacking for decades and lowest score is a 79 with an average of “sub-90, but not by much”....
My 11 year-old granddaughter has it figured out.
https://www.facebook.com/dancerdon/videos/10155797104966365/