Golf - The Final Frontier

[[Jett]-OMEGA]

On my way to Oldfartdom I have renewed my love of golf. Problem is I'm an uneducated noob. There are so many aspects to the game that I just don't know. I figured many of you all know more than I do so why not just ask here.

Do you have any tips?
How to hit the ball?
Type of clubs and balls?
golf shoes?
golf balls?
situational swings?
Etiquette?

I'll take whatever I can get to improve my game.

[Stability]

All of your questions can be solved in about 1.5 hours....how you may ask? Just watch Happy Gilmore :D

-Stab

[[Jett]-Jartin]

Woot google ftw! http://www.chiff.com/a/golf101.htm

If you want to get lessons, just head down to your local club and speak to the courses professional and they will hook you up :D GL! :)

[[Jett]-RollingRock]

actually here in houston i'd recommend going to golfsmith initially. they have a standard way of doing things and they have launch monitors so you can actually see your progress. they are a good place to buy clubs too as you can demo them all right there int eh store.

until you get into the single digit handicap i wouldn't even worry about ball too much. in fact a harder / less spin ball is more what you need since you probably can't control spin. the harder ball will travel further too. but i certainly would not spend much money on the ball until you know your style of play.

i would defintely get some golf shoes as slipping can get frustrating. find some that are comfortable though.

as far as ettiquite goes read the rules of golf. things that are considered bad are stepping in someone's line on the green / standing in their field of view while they swing / not raking the bunker / not repairing your ball mark on the green / and certainly not waving the hot beer cart girl over when she swings by.
lots of other little things...best thing to do is to search the rules of golf and search etiquette.

and lastly about clubs. i would need to see you swing it judge what woudl be the best club to put in your hand. if you swing fast or slow has a huge effect on what you get. until you get good though i would not spend much money on clubs. but if you could i would certainly get them fitted to you at golfsmith.

[[Jett]-Jartin]

In addition to Rolling Rock's post, instead of, when you practice, going to the driving range and trying to send the balls into orbit, work on your short game. Its like 75%, or some crazy number, of the total game play. :)

[[Jett]-XgrinderX]

If you plan on this being something you want to do for a while and see improvement....don't fudge your score when you start out. Yeah it will be ugly, but you will be able to see the real progress you make as your game gets better.

I did fudge my scores when I started out and it kind of suck because now that I keep my score legitimately sometimes it feels like I haven't made any progress at all because my "scores" are pretty similar, but my REAL scores from when I started are likely 10-15 strokes higher than now because I didn't do my penalty strokes correctly and gave myself a ton of mulligans.

[[Jett]-Tracker]

Hey Omega....are there any online golf games that could be fun for Jett? Mrs. Tracker and I have been planning to try golfing also, so we'll be needing some coaching and practice too. I've been told to start with the driving range and work on the 'short game' also.

[[Jett-R]-MeDiuMRaRe]

If we get a wii for Christmas, I'll probably get tiger woods golf, does that count?

[[Jett]-OMEGA]

I'm going to rent Tiger Woods 08'. They say the swing mechanics are pretty spot on. Not sure if it will be a good training tool or not though. I got to play 2 rounds of golf this weekend and man was it fun. A few things I learned this weekend was that the 7 iron is king. I have hardly any real use for the pitching wedge any longer. I also learned to cross my lower thumb over to my opposite shoulder a bit more to increase club control and remove my slice. Problem is every time I have played golf I have always compensated for my slice and now I have no clue how to properly aim a straight line for driving. I think I'm slightly cross eyed. I also learned that 50yrds is not too far to use the putter. It's quite a sight to see too.

As far as getting down to the single digit handicaps, how in the hell am I supposed to do that? Currently I'm hitting 20-30 over par, if not more.

[[Jett]-RollingRock]

don't say that about your pitching wedge. if you want to get to single digit handicaps your wedges will be your most important clubs next to your putter.

to see the quickest improvement in handicap you start from the green and go backwards. generally speaking you take more putts than anyh other swing on the course so learn to putt first. you should be able to make 99% of 3 footers and 80% of 5 footers if you practice it enough. on longer putts just concentrate on the speed of it and get it close to the hole. as you get better you can push out your definition of "longer putt".

next learn to chip and pitch. when you get within 80 yards of the green you should be thinking about how you get the ball up and down from that spot. that's where your wedges come into play. what i recommend people learn to do is learn to hit a full wedge shot and a 3/4 wedge shot and learn how far each goes. in fact it's a good drill for all your irons because if you get consistent with it then you have 2 distance numbers for every iron in your bag.

i can go to the range with you sometime if you're interested and help you get your alignment correct and show you some swing drills. i'm not big on telling people how to swing the club for 2 reasons. 1 is everyone's swing and feel are different...just look at jim furyk on tour...so who am i to tell them what a swing "should" look like. and 2 building up a feel for a swing change takes time...for me i usually have to hit 600-800 balls with it over 3 or 4 range sessions to get it....so unless someone is willing to commit to it the best i can do is tell them what they are doing wrong and what they could do to fix it and leave it to them to try it out. otherwise you can end up screwing up your swing more (look at charles barkley for a great example of how you can mess up a swing)

anyway let me know.

[[Jett]-Dsru]

Go take 5 lessons from a girl professional(she will teach you center, not distance). Then play 18 holes 6 times (keeping score). Track how many times with driver, irons, and puter, then post. Then keep playing on a regular basis. With time you will find whats comfy for you and once your comfy with your swing, things will get better. DO NOT try for distance, try for the middle of the fairway. <----- this one thing will make you a 90's player.

Lessons first, then get out there and play, its a simple game if you keep it that way.

[[Jett]-Dsru]

-Tracker;2286']Hey Omega....are there any online golf games that could be fun for Jett? Mrs. Tracker and I have been planning to try golfing also, so we'll be needing some coaching and practice too. I've been told to start with the driving range and work on the 'short game' also.

yep, but only a few played ...............
http://shotonline.gamescampus.com/landing.asp

I still have my account.

[[Jett]-OMEGA]

How do I go about finding golf scrambles in my area? I have looked all over google and cant come up with anything solid. I want to have something to work towards and I figure a scramble is the best way to get started.

Can anyone give me any suggestions?

[[Jett]-Pauper]

-OMEGA;2405']How do I go about finding golf scrambles in my area? I have looked all over google and cant come up with anything solid. I want to have something to work towards and I figure a scramble is the best way to get started.

Can anyone give me any suggestions?
The short answer, and definitley not the cheap one is to join a club. Remember that we are in new era of golf where many public or semi-private courses have reduced memberships for people just interested in playing and not hob knobbing.

As you know I promote a Junior Golf Tour and I must say much of the info given is very good in the thread. Grinder is king with play by the rules, it is the fastest way to reducing your score.

Big D is also spot on with going for form over force. Accuracy dominates, never underestimate hitting the ball in the direction you want to. Big bad swings are much worse than small accurate ones. Fact is the club is designed to do the work.

Which leads me to my tips. Learn the dynamics of the swing. Go to a range with a pro that can teach, really teach. Once you begin hitting "consistently" figure your yardage for each club and then the game gets somewhat easy.

3rd to Last tip - the game is won or lost from 100 yards and in (props to Rock). Wedges, chipping and putting will always keep you in good shape. More strokes are bled 35 yards and in to the cup than anywhere else on the course hazards (water) included. Think of it this way, the major difference between a score of 100+ and a 90 is you didn't use one extra stroke to get it up and in on 10 or more of the holes.

2nd to Last tip - I know it sounds goofy, but watch the game. Live if possible but at least on TV. Watching the best do what they do is valuable in figuring the game out yourself. First thing I noticed and implemented is every pro has a pre-shot routine they go through. It helps set up the muscle memory needed to play the game well.

Last tip - Golf is a game best played against the course and not anyone else. I was amazed at how much better I became when I began playing against the course or old man par as some call it. This did not mean I stopped getting upset, but the game does teach you emotion management. Your failure one shot ago doesn't have any impact on what you are truly capable of on your next one. Learning to play one shot at a time is crucial and enjoying it every step of the way.

[[Jett]-RANGER]

Dang Omega you asking alot here.

Golfsmith is good for lessons, my friend goes there up here. Qualified instructors and they're professional.

Clubs: Go to Golf galaxy and try some of the intermediate clubs available. They have nice computerized practice booths. The salespeeps there are knowledgeable too and they'll help ya shop. Then go buy them some where cheaper or online if the shipping dosen't kill ya. LOL! I bought mine at Nevada Bobs and talked the guy down lower then everyone else in town. I ended up with the Cobra irons because they have more head weight and help me hit down thru the ball. Putters: Personal feel, try em and buy what you feel confident with. "Drive for show, putt for dough." Woods: Buy oversized intermediate and don't buy a long driver. I always buy stiff shaft woods and regular shaft irons because I have a pretty hard swing. But let them test you and they'll tell you the right ones for you.

Basic Tips: Don't listen to your friends, they'll have all sorts of bad habits going and they'll all tell you something different and confuse you. Fly down to the Leadbetter school and take lessons. LOL! Just kidding. First thing is make sure you have the proper grip. You'll golf like crap if you don't have the proper grip. Try to rent or buy a good basic golf video done by a pro. I took 10 strokes off my game years ago with the Bob Mann automatic golf video. Just work on your grip and stance and forget about hitting the ball well. After you form those good habits that will just happen when you put a ball in front of it all.

Shoes: I have the best dang golf shoes I've ever owned. I have these Footjoys that we kid around about and call them slippers because they're so dang comfortable. They gotta be comfortable so try a bunch on.

Don't forget to buy the longer tees with those oversized woods too or you won't be setting your ball high enough on the tee and you'll be toppin it all the time.

And very important, don't get pissed or you game will go to hell in a hurry. One of my friends is always whinning and his game always goes to hell on the back 9. It's a mental game and every shot is a new shot. Lock that right leg and see yourself making the shot.

Have fun, and keep your damn head down. Number one mistake in golf.

[[Jett]-RollingRock]

i recommend everyone gets fitted as a lot of bad habits amateurs get in comes from having a set of clubs that doesn't fit their natural feel. you can go with cheaper clubs but i still recommend getting fitted. people don't pay attention to things like the shaft or what kind of lie angle you get or how long of clubs you get and all of that can really screw you up if it's wrong. i know i've learned the hard way before.

don't go to a pro unless you will spend 5 lessons minimum with him. it's ok to go take a half lesson with one though to shop them around. lessons from a pro if you want to take it seriously are a long term committment. otherwise you'll get more benefit going to a range by yourself.

as far as tournaments I can get you plugged in to that. one thing to do yourself is like next time you're at sharpstown or bear creek you'll find a bulletin board somewhere that advertises tournament. if you want when you're ready I can probably find a tournament rather quick and put together a team...that way i can walk you through your first tournament heh.

[[Jett]-OMEGA]

I'm looking for a tournament at the end of summer I can work towards. Perhaps a solid goal that will test all of my skills.