bonvivantva

This is great advice, especially for someone in their late 30s who hasn't realized they're mortal yet

I don't disagree with you in general, but my point was that he is putting the ball 260 out from the tee on average according to his OP. Unless he is playing from the tips, his ability to score is not inhibited by his current distance off the tee. If he is currently finding tee shots 260 out and in play, I wouldn't mess with that if I was looking to improve my scoring. But again, I'm not sure of the OP's goals. Also, at 37 and given his stated distance I'd imagine he'd stand to gain more by addressing technique rather than strength training. As you stated yourself, getting to 100 at that age shouldn't be an issue unless there are some physical limitations which means the limitations that exist are likely technical.

I really think you need to consider the answer to this question first. You're already driving the ball far enough to dangerous from the white tees. If your goals are about enjoyment or consistency or something, then maybe chasing speed should be on the backburner for now. If you're playing normal tees and just playing with friends, short game or putting might be the best way to improve your score. Regardless of your goals I'd imagine this is what you wanted to hear. I also don't disagree with the statement at all. Again, I don't think chasing speed is the best way to lower your scores given what you've said about your game, but it probably won't hurt and you'll probably do it regardless.

#6 on that list is Golphin Kids. I bought my 6 year old daughter a set of US Kids Clubs a while back based on age and height, but they were too heavy for her. I bought her a set of the Golphin Kids clubs and she loves them. I take her out on a mid-length course and she'll ride in the cart with me, chip from about 10 yards out, and then putt out each hole on her own. Doesn't even get in my way. She hits driver and the 7i on the range and in our simulator, but she doesn't quite have the skill or interest to do so on the course yet. If you're looking for a first set for kids, the light weight and large face of Golphin Kids clubs make them a pretty good choice.

My driver and 3h carry distances are sadly not very disparate, but since you can't hit a driver fat (or at least it's pretty difficult to do so) my driver is actually more consistent. I really only use my 3h off the tee for particularly tight fairways. On the course I play most, there is only one hole in which I generally take hybrid. There is another hole that I probably should but generally don't. I'm always jelly of my friends that have real distance and often take irons off the tee. I have a buddy who is 6'10 that hit his 5i 275 (total not carry) the other day. I hit driver on the same hole and was well short of his tee shot.

If it makes you feel better, I'm mid-30s with similar concerns. I've spent the last two years really trying to figure out my swing. During covid, practice was almost exclusively on a mat, and I did a lot of practice which can take a toll on you regardless of age. My thought process was that while I'm still younger, I should figure out my swing, which has been OTT and heavy, because right now my body can handle the stress of making that change. I'll have the rest of my life to worry about short game, course management, and the like. I'm pretty healthy and I'm in decent shape, but my buddy and I are planning a 40th birthday trip to Bandon and I plan to train some in order to walk 36 a day. Like you, I've seen some peers that have not taken care of themselves struggle physically, and at my dad's age, he struggles to find friends healthy enough to golf with him. Never too early to start thinking about longevity, but like others have pointed out, you're probably already better positioned than most. I cannot recommend a therabar enough. https://www.amazon.com/TheraBand-Tendonitis-Strength-Resistance-Tendinitis/dp/B000BPV3GO/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=theraband+flexbar&qid=1625669461&rdc=1&sr=8-3-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzNzJLVElPN0ozR1VHJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTI5NjIxMUdCQTlNSDlFTUlQWSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjQ1Mjc3MUJHQk1aSEg1Rkw1QyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= I would not have been able to practice 3+ days a week, maybe 9 hours total off a mat during covid without it. It's important to watch the youtube videos about how to use it, but it's great. I've also found a massage gun to be helpful for recovery. I use collagen protein, but I can't say for sure if it helps.

I've been going on group trips to Myrtle for about a decade. Even started organizing another trip myself. If there is a better value, I'd be shocked. One of my groups drives mostly from the DC area, and the other flies from WV, KY, so I imagine it would work for you as well.

I remember playing my last round of a golf trip in Myrtle Beach at the Legends resort. I forget which of their courses I was playing (this was over a decade ago), and since it was a big group, I may have been ending up on a front 9. But on my 17th hole, my dad pointed out that I could break 100 (for the first time ever) if I went maybe bogey bogey. I remember there being an intimidating looking forced carry. I popped the driver up, and it did clear the junk, but only landed maybe one or two feet onto the fairway. Next I remember having maybe 200 into the green. This was before I carried a hybrid, so my 3w was the only club I would have had a chance with. I pulled the 3w out, and my dad told me to put it back and hit two irons instead. In retrospect, that was definitely the smarter call, but I hit the 3w pretty solid, and landed just shy of the green. I shot 99 and remembered being pretty jazzed about it. My friend that was riding in the cart with me shot an even 100 that day, but we didn't know until we added his score up in the parking lot. This past fall I was playing a course where my dad has a house, which is probably the course I play most often. At that time, my best at this course was probably a 92 or so. I started off the round with a double, and then my scorecard looked like as many doubles as pars until 15. I hit a great drive, my second shot was a crazy long hybrid that must have got some cart path or something, because it landed about 30 yards longer than usual just shy of a drop off before a water hazard. I hit a wedge across the water to the green and then one putted for birdie. On the next hole I hit another great drive, really long, but it's really downhill. Another nice wedge and putt and I had another bird. At this point, I knew I had a better round than usual going, but I didn't think I had a shot at a personal best or anything. I remember hitting a really nice drive and 9i on 17, but three putting for bogey. Then on 18, I hit some decent shots, but my approach was crazy. Maybe 2 feet from the pin from 160 out uphill. Maybe the best 6i of my life. I took a picture of my scorecard and uploaded it to The Grint. After returning the cart, I looked at my phone. 87. First time I ever broke 90. I had no idea that was even possible. Three months later I went out there again and despite starting out with a double double, mostly kept them off the card and ended up shooting 82. Again, I figured I'd shot a decent round, and possible even broken 90, but it wasn't until I checked The Grint that I found out I'd shot another personal best. So I've experienced breaking a number both ways. Knowing it and still doing it, and having no idea it's possible. I'd definitely recommend the latter. I have enough to worry about on the golf course. Playing smart is almost always the better way to go. I can't even imagine a time that the added pressure of knowing that a milestone is within reach would help most golfers. Maybe if there is a layup or go for it option, and you're one stroke away from the goal on 18, but I bet most players would break more milestones by not adding up the score until after the round. In fact, if you can get an app like The Grint that adds it up for you, even better. Then you hardly have to look at the scorecard at all.

Are you recommending capping gambling participants at say 24 or something similar? When we let people self report handicaps the first year, half of the participants listed their handicap as being 30+. Now I play regularly with a lot of these guys, and I know them to have handicaps more in the 22-26 area, but I guess that isn't particularly far off. I delegated the keeping of scores to another friend, but we have all the handicap information now that is based on actual posted scores and if I recall there are only about 4 guys that actually played to a 30+ handicap. I guess I could cap it at 30. Then 12 of us could reasonably compete while the other 4 only pay and compete for longest drive, closed to the pin, longest putt, etc. I don't think I'd get a ton of pushback about not having the 30+ guys compete fully, or allowing them to play based off of modified rules just to make things easier/more fun. I suppose I could also make it elective. Explain the rules and let the higher handicaps choose to gamble and play by the rules, or not gamble and play by more lax rules. To better explain the lax rule necessity, consider a 30+ handicaps round. On a par 4, let's say they slice their tee shot OB. On their third shot, they drop about where it went out, punch out. Top the ball. Advance the ball 80 yards. Advance the ball a short ways again. Then have to pick up before reaching the green. That's not a recipe for fun. When I had a true beginner in my group, I'd have them take a tee shot. If it wasn't playable, they'd hit their second shot from wherever the best ball ended up in our foursome. Then if they were getting close to triple bogey, they'd pick up and at least get a chip and putt to get the practice in. Now I appreciate that they didn't even really play the hole, let alone follow the rules that way, but they did get to hit a tee shot, fairway shot, a chip, and a putt minimum, which gives them more of a feel for playing golf in my opinion. The true beginners really did seem to enjoy playing that way, and it doesn't hold anyone up. Seems like a win-win. That said, playing that way wasn't for everyone. We had another true beginner that basically hit 7 iron off every tee, and just kept at it until he was at triple every hole. He seemed to enjoy getting the practice in, and although he rarely got to practice chipping or putting, he seemed to have a great time just banging away at the 7i. He did manage a closest to the pin win on about a 140 yard part 3. Anyway, I guess my point is that I basically let the true beginners do whatever it took to enjoy the rounds as long as they didn't hold anyone up. I like your idea about a hard cap. I think 30 would work given our handicap data. Then below that I could make gambling optional.

I've been going on a golf trip with my dad's high school friends for going on a decade. I'm about a 16 handicap, and I'm one of the least skilled players on the grip of about 40 or so guys. There is a lot of gambling going on between fairly evenly matched players using a handicap system, and as a result, they have a pretty basic and simple modification to the rules. There is a triple bogey rule, and when it's raining or wet out, our leader will call for winter rules for the round. That's basically it. Some people are more serious than others, but if you want to play by the rules it's pretty straightforward. Those two modification keep pace of play moving pretty well, and nobody is getting frustrated over plugged lies or mudballs, etc., when the conditions are less than ideal. I started my own golf trip two years ago. This trip had 16 people of varying abilities. We had two true beginners. One had only been on a course once, after committing to the trip. We had a bunch of people hovering around a 20 handicap. Then we had a few high single digits. Managing fair gambling and rules for such a varied group was not as easy. I decided to use my other trip's triple bogey rule as well as the winter rules, which was pretty well received. My dad's trip is mostly people 60+, so we play senior tees in Myrtle Beach, which are often similar in length or difficultly to public courses from the whites locally. I decided to stick with the senior tees on our trip, which was initially met with a lot of resistance, but after the trip, literally everyone agreed it was the right call after all. I also decided to allow one breakfast ball (a tee shot mulligan) anywhere on your first 9. For the sake of pace of play and simple enjoyment, I also instructed the beginners to improve all their lies as much as they wanted, when they didn't have a good shot/look to throw the ball back into the fairway, to take no more than one shot out of a bunker before throwing the ball out and putting. I don't recall any further instruction, but basically, I told them to do whatever it took to enjoy the round and not hold anyone up. So far we've just gambled using longest drive, closest to the pin, longest putt, etc. Eventually we want to incorporate low gross, low net, skins, etc. My question is: Does anyone have any experience managing trips with golfers of varied abilities, and how do you modify the rules to keep things competitive and fair? Right now, I'm thinking about making an arbitrary cut off where I ask the very inexperienced/true beginners to only gamble on the closes to the pin, longest drive, longest putt type stuff, and then separately manage everyone else on a handicap system for low net, low gross, skins, etc. Thoughts?

I with you on smoking nicer cigars on the course. You can't really appreciate them with so much going on. If I had the skills, I'd try the pipe though. I'm pretty sure that old guy putted while smoking.

My wife bought me an espresso machine, so most days I think an americano due to convenience, but on occasion I'll enjoy a double espresso. Prior to that, I was a cold brew addict. My stomach has always been sensitive to coffee, but cold brew never seemed to bother it. I would buy the stok brand from the grocery store, and then I got to where I made my own using cafe du monde, which I really enjoyed. The chickory gives cold brew a little extra flavor that I think is otherwise missing since cold brew tends to produce muted flavors. We have a fancy coffee bean roaster in town that does pour over coffee. I'd admit it's the best coffee I've ever tasted. Each bean and roast seems unique and interesting. But almost every time I've enjoyed it, my insides have been destroyed. As good as it is, I can't say it's worth the risk for me.

Finally, cautiously, enjoying some improvement

The year was ~2005. I was volunteering at my college roommate's dad's company's golf tournament at Kingsmill. I had probably only played golf a handful of times, so I was somewhat knowable of golf, but not much. We were tasked with handing out beer and water on a par 3. The tee box was separated from the green by a deep crevasse. You could get away with hitting long, left, or right, but definitely not short. This was before gps or lasers were common, so each group that came up to the tee would ask us how the hole was playing. At the time, I did not understand that because the green was slightly elevated, but stated distance on the tee box of say 155 would actually play longer at let's say 165, but my roommate did and he'd explain that to each group. The day was mostly uneventful as we drank some beers and talked to each group as they passed through. Two things have really stuck with me though. One particularly drunk individual literally stumbled up to the tee, asked for the distance, stumbled back to his cart, selected a club, and proceeded to stick it within about 9 feet. I thought it was one of the more incredible things I'd ever seen. The next was a much older gentleman. A well dressed man of about 70 I'd estimate. He had a mustache and a newsboy/driving cap. He walked up puffing on a pipe. Armed with the distance, he selected a club, tucked the still lit pipe into his back pocket with the bowl just hanging out and away from him, hit the middle of the green, and then went to relight the pipe as the rest of his foursome took their tee shots. To this day, despite seeing countless cigar smokers out there, I don't think I've seen anyone with a pipe since. I'm an avid cigar smoker, and while I do own a few pipes, it's not really my thing. But with the weather changing, maybe this year is the year I'll finally give pipe smoking on the course a shot.

Also consider your short vs long term goals. When I was fighting my really bad ott swing, I was coming into the ball very steep and more often than not I was hitting it fat. With an iron that meant a huge divot. With a hybrid, I'd often hit the ground first then top the ball. As a result, my irons were much more reliable than my hybrid was. After I sorted out my poor backswing and managed my path better, the hybrid became much more forgiving than my irons. I could hit it a little fat or thin and still have a very reasonable result. My point is that in the short run, you should do whatever works. If the longest club you can put in play off the tee is a 5i, so be it. In the longer term, you look young and athletic enough to find enough distance to be hitting approach shots on your 3rd shot on even long par 5s, etc. Finding an instructor that is both skilled, and matches with your learning style and personality is not easy, but will be well worth it.

I fought an uncontrollable OTT swing for a decade. For me, thinking about swinging out to first base only made things worse. For me it was more about getting into a better position that allowed me to pivot and shallow and come from the inside. An instructor would certainly know better than I, and it's possible you have other issues that would need to be addressed first, but I'd get a lesson and see if you couldn't get some help cleaning up your backswing and getting into a good position at the top. You can probably figure it out on your own, but lessons will save you a ton of time. The two things that helped my score the most were putting tee shots in play (not OB or behind a tree/in tall grass, etc.), and making consistent contact. The former required a better understand of face to path. The latter, just a ton of practice. Like many have said before me, you really only need about a 180-200 yard club you can hit ok to break 100. Your hybrid doesn't seem to be your strength, but you may want to see if you can't work on that. When I finally learned to hit my hybrid my scores came down quick.

I had a bunch of lessons, 6-8 with one guy, another 6-8 with golftech, a while back. I felt like I honestly was worse off for having done the lessons. Then more recently I've had two lessons so far with a new guy, and I've made a lot of progress really fast. I think a lot of people would just assume my new instructor is exceptional, and that may very well be the case. However, I believe the difference has been my conceptual understanding of the golf swing. When I tried lessons the first two times, I knew nothing about plane, face to path, bowing/cupping the lead wrist, face control, weight shift, etc. I appreciate that instructors can teach you these things, but I think they often just assume you have a basic understanding, especially if you're an ok golfer. I've spent covid practicing a lot, but also watching just about every video on youtube. The first two times I took lessons I'd never heard about shallowing the club. If the instructor had referenced it, it would have been over my head. From all the practice, I had three personal best scores in the last four times I've been out golfing. Despite the improvement, I decided to get a lesson because there were things I couldn't figure out, and looking at my golf swing when I video'd myself, I could tell there were issues like losing height in the backswing, and sucking the club inside, that I just couldn't figure out on my own. After my most recent lesson, I just focused on the position at the top that my instructor had showed me. When I got home and worked on it, I struggled at first. Then I realized that while focusing on plane, I was letting my forearms roll a little. Once I got that sorted, I started pureing it. So long story short, I think beginners really could use more golf theory during lessons. In those first lessons I remember the instructor just trying to beat a more outside takeaway into me in order to get me to come from the inside, but I really didn't understand what I was doing wrong or how a path change could help.

The only claws/trulys I've had on the course were with my buddy that does keto. I had a pineapple one first which was ok. The second one I had was pretty bad. I've never though of busch or miller lite as difficult to drink under any circumstances. I'd much prefer either to a seltzer, but maybe I'm old school. I bought a 12 pack of seltzer back in about April for when my keto friends come over. It's practically September now and there are still 10 left. I keep them in there thinking maybe my wife will drink one but it's about time to just throw them out.

When I brought a hand-me-down set back to college after fall break one year and played with my college roommates, I didn't keep score for the longest time. I broke 100 on a golf trip in Myrtle Beach for the first time on the last round of the trip, maybe 6 years ago or so, which was about 8 years after I started golfing. I shot pretty consistently in the mid 90s to low 100s until just recently. I finally broke 90 in May shooting an 87. Then the very next time out on a full course last weekend (blame the pandemic), I shot another personal best 82.

I thought I'd share an update. This past weekend I shot a new personal best 82, and then the next day I shot a personal best (by two strokes) on an executive course I play often as well. I still think all of my thoughts in the OP hold up. I think I may have understated the degree to which I've been practicing/working on some technical issues, and I don't think I can overstate or reiterate enough how important it is to play/practice often/regularly in order to build momentum and snowball progress. I haven't made any new changes to my swing since the OP, I'm still grinding away on path. I've always struggled with an OTT swing. I took some lessons with a few different instructors over the years, but I could never understand or feel how to swing from the inside. What I know now in hindsight is that I was sucking the club inside on the backswing, swaying way off the ball, and then lunging my upper body forward, which threw the club way outside of plane and resulting in a chunky OTT swing. This was very inconsistent and frustrating, and no matter how many youtube videos on OTT fixes I watched, I just couldn't figure out what to do. Literally over a decade of guess and check got me nowhere. In the last three years or so, I finally started adopting the advice I provided in my original post, and over the past year, my improvement has skyrocketed as a result of frequent playing/practice. If you're struggling with an OTT swing, maybe I can help save you some time. For years, I thought my problem was sequence related. I'd let my shoulders go too early. Or maybe my hips weren't moving fast enough. I tried drills to let the club drop; I basically watched every video out there for OTT and tried everything including lessons. One issue I identified years ago was that I was cupping my left wrist at the top. This was likely a result of a poor backswing, but somehow I was able to fix it while maintaining a pretty poor backswing. I addressed this issue years ago, so unfortunately, I can't recall exactly what worked for me, but honestly it was a pretty easy fix compared to my path issues. I thought that fixing my wrist and controlling the face better would lead to a better path, but unfortunately there were other nefarious issues at play after the left wrist was addressed. I very slowly and very gradually came to the conclusion that I had two dominant issues keeping me from swinging on plane. First, and definitely foremost, my backswing was garbage. I can't stress this enough: For OTT swingers, FIX YOUR BACKSWING FIRST! I posted some videos on golfwrx and on here, and people did criticize my backswing, that I sucked the club inside, and that I had a flat shoulder turn. However, I just couldn't figure out how to fix it. I know I won't explain my fix very well here, but I can at least explain how I now identify a poor backswing. When I'm making a poor backswing I feel like I'm turning my head back 90 degrees. This is an exaggeration, but think of your head starting between your feet, and then turning back to directly behind your trail foot. That was pretty close to the feel of my flat terrible suck the club inside backswing. Starting the downswing from this position basically ensured that I'd lunge my upper body forward, losing my spine angle, and throw the club way outside and come OTT. I eventually figured out how to keep my head from moving off the ball and keep the club slightly outside my hands while taking the club back. I still think I have a lot of room to improve here, so I won't make a lot of suggestions on improving backswing. I'll just strongly suggest that if you have an OTT swing, you should confirm that you have good backswing fundamentals first. The second technical change to my swing that has allowed me to improve is in transition. Even with my improved backswing, I can still get outside the plane in transition if revert back to old bad habits like lunging, or if I fail to manage my side bend properly. This is also very difficult to articulate, but let me describe what I do currently to manage these two issues, and then show some videos that helped me finally understand how my body needed to be working in order to stay on plane: I'm still very consciously trying to feel myself being on plane during a practice swing. I first try to feel the club go back along the target line (not sucking the club inside, and then second, I try to feel a good move, which for me, involves thinking about a hip bump/slide while my side bend reverses and I tuck my trail elbow. I'm not thinking about all those mechanics during a real swing, but I am feeling those things in two parts during a practice swing. I feel the backswing come back with the club a little outside my hands and I feel myself end up with a good tilt so my shoulders aren't flat. Then I feel my transition where my lower body leads, while my upper body bends, which drops the club in the slot. That's the real feel key for me. Just feeling how my body has to move to get the club on plane. I've never seen a video that really describes what works for me, but if you watch both of these two, it may help. To stop swinging OTT I had to figure out how to stay onsides and really exaggerate the amount of side bend I thought I'd need to find the correct plane. I haven't been able to confirm this via video, but it seems like when I made a poor shot now, it's the result of a poor backswing. I can now make a practice swing in a mirror and feel what I need to do as I described previously, which is a revelation. The outcomes of my mistakes have greatly improved, but when I do make a mistake, which often results in a pull or pull hook, it seems to be a direct result of a flat turn away (around my body) in the backswing (sucking the club inside), as opposed to what I'd describe as twisting my body up. It's possible that something else is to blame, perhaps getting a little quick in transition, but I still think it's mostly a backswing issue. I guess I bring this up to reiterate that those with an OTT swing really focus on backswing fundamentals. I think I could have saved myself a ton of time by skipping videos on OTT swing corrections, and focused mainly or exclusively on improving my backswing. When you move back around flat and sway off the ball, you just can't make consistent contact. So fix your backswing first. I could have saved so much time.

I've had a few moles, etc., cut off and tested myself. I'm not particularly fair, but I try to avoid the sun as much as possible while golfing. I haven't ever noticed a white tint to any sport sunscreens I've used. I like the CVS brand sport 50. Amazon's sport sunscreen as good as well. I always use spray since it's much more convenient to reapply. I'm more worried about the sun than chemicals so I can't speak to that. I buy whatever is large and cheap as I usually find my buddies borrowing my sunscreen pretty regularly as they tend to be less prepared.

I can offer some of my experiences on what not to do, but unfortunately I haven't had a lot of success with instructors. I started golf in college just going out and having some beers with my roommate. We weren't any good, but we had fun. After college I tried playing with my dad, but he was good and played faster than I was capable of playing, so I decided to get some lessons so I could keep up. My range had an old pro, white hair, cigarette stained hands, really nice guy, who gave me about 6 lessons. At the time, I had no concept of the golf swing, and the instructor didn't do much to improve that. We practiced some feel stuff, he tried to get my path more on loop that would promote more of an in to out swing. He changed my stance for chipping. That's about all I remember. I didn't know enough about golf to really improve much, and my instructor focused solely on my swing, and didn't teach me anything conceptual. While I was in grad school, I was gifted 10 lessons at golftec. I found the ability to review video of my swing instantly helpful, but I still didn't know enough conceptually about golf to really improve. We worked on drills, and I felt like I slightly improved, but then my instructor moved to a different golftec, I couldn't get a new slot that worked with my school schedule, and then that golftec closed. I think I used 6 of the 10 lessons. Again, not much improvement but a fair amount of wasted money. This past Fall I really started working on my game. I've watched hours and hours of instructional videos. I have a very good concept of what the golf swing should be. I have the understanding a vocabulary to talk about spine angle, weight shift, pivot/rotation, etc. I understand face to path. I've used a trackman and can understand the data. So now I think I'm equipped to better understand and implement help. I took a lesson with a golf digest top 100 instructor in my state. I had about an hour and a half lesson, in which I was told that my takeaway was a little too inside, but that my transition was excellent and that I really ought to be shooting better than I was. At the end of the lesson the instructor told me to work on my path, and then schedule another lesson when I felt like I was coming more from the inside. I worked on that a minimum of 3-4 times a week for the next three months, but didn't really make significant progress. I'd always had an over the top swing, and I just wasn't able to fix it on my own. I watched every OTT video known to man. I had some small successes but nothing significant. Since then, just due to practice, I managed to break 90 for the first time. I've definitely improved on my own, but I don't feel like I have any consistency. When I'm tired or just off, I can't quite find my swing. I think that's because I've gotten better at compensating for faults, but that's still basically my swing, a compensation. In a few weeks, I plan to go back to that same instructor I saw in the fall. He can do contactless payment and outdoor lessons, so I think that's a decent option given the pandemic and my current situation. So as you can see, I can't tell you what works. But I can offer some lessons learned. Understand the golf swing conceptually. Read Ben Hogan's 5 lessons or something similar. Watch youtube videos by Chris Ryan, Me and My Golf, etc. The more you know the better you can understand the instructor. You need the golf vocabulary to really understand your instructor and not waste their time and your money. Do not commit to multiple lessons until you have a good and informed opinion of the instructor. I'm still skeptical about the guy I saw in the fall, and if the next lesson isn't better, I'm going to try to find someone else. Some instructors aren't great, some aren't a good fit for your learning style, etc. I would try a few different ones if possible, and then consider committing to multiple lessons. Only take lessons when you have the time to practice. The first time around I had plenty of time to practice and did. In grad school, I didn't really have the time to practice much, and no matter how good those lessons had been, I don't think I would have made the most of it.

I've been struggling for a long time, so I really really hope I can keep it going. I'm definitely playing smarter. When decent contact eluded me, it was hard not to just hit whatever club could maybe get me near the green. Before this season, which has been obviously limited, I never tried to play to a specific distance. Now I've been trying to leave myself 100-80 in where I can, and it's made a huge difference now that I can actually stick greens with decent contact from a more reliable swing.

My miss with wedges and irons tends to be left. I definitely have been aiming for right-center of greens, which as been working out pretty well. 2nd and approach shots have typically been my weakness, though I think I could simplify that by saying contact has traditionally been my weakness. The last three rounds I played, I had one day where I was still adjusting to a new driver, but other than that, approach and 2nd shots were my strength. I really don't think I could have struck the ball much better. If anything, to score better I'll need to reduce three putts. But right now my focus will definitely just be trying to keep the momentum going on my ball striking. If I keep playing this well, I think it will encourage me to get out a lot more than I usually do.

I think my problem started out innocently enough; I just wanted to hit a few decent shots in a row with a particular club. However, however many balls/however much time I had would go by, and I'd never had moved on. I also used to only go to the range with I had a lot of time to kill, so I didn't have to be very intentional about my practice time. Now, I usually find myself with 45 minutes over lunch, or about the same after work, so I really have to have a plan to maximize a quick practice session. The simulator really helps with being intentional, but you could probably do something similar at the range, and you could definitely do it with a portable launch monitor. Basically I have different goals/metics for different clubs. With my GW, I like to try to hit 102, 103, or 104 total carry. I also generally imagine a very small target. So a sign on the simulator range, but really I'm pin seeking. With a 9i, I like to try to imagine a small to medium green is the target and I'm just trying to hit the middle. So if I carry about 125-130 and don't go offline by more than 5-10 yards in either direction, I call it a success. With mid irons, I'm more worried about total distance and shot shape. For instance I might try to hit a baby draw or fade, and keep the direction more or less on the target line, but I'm mostly concerned about shape and distance. With the hybrid, I still practice more like I used to overall. I care about accuracy, but mostly I'm just trying to hit it as hard as I can while making good contact. Basically maximizing distance. But even as a pre-round warm up, I'll rarely hit the same club more than 3 times in a row.