Once we are taught the fundamentals. What else is there to know ?

[Goober]

Being an avid golfer like most on here. I was taught at a very young age the fundamentals in a week long camp ( posture , grip , alignment, short game techniques, strategy , and basic ball flight laws) 

so what else is there to know? This advice has serviced me well in many decades of playing  this game. Why is everyone else making this so difficult ? Or what am I missing or not missing here ?

[russtopherb]

Everyone is different. Everyone has a different body type. Everyone reacts differently to thoughts and feels, something that works for you may not work for someone else. 

Having a solid grasp of fundamentals is a great start. But even something like the grip varies greatly from one person to another based on a wide range of things. Some folks do well with a tiny bit of guidance. For others, the golf swing is not intuitive and it takes them more time and more instruction before they "get it". 

[DaveP043]

1 hour ago, Goober said:

Being an avid golfer like most on here. I was taught at a very young age the fundamentals in a week long camp ( posture , grip , alignment, short game techniques, strategy , and basic ball flight laws) 

so what else is there to know? This advice has serviced me well in many decades of playing  this game. Why is everyone else making this so difficult ? Or what am I missing or not missing here ?

If that was enough, we'd all be shooting under par, and that's clearly not the case.  Fundamentals get you started, but refinements to the fundamentals help you adapt those fundaments to your own physique and individual talents.  

[alfriday101]

The fundamentals are incredibly important.  I know whenever something in my game starts to go sideways, I first review and check that my fundamentals are solid.  Most of the time, a fundamentals check resolves the issue.  

 

But, fundamentals are not he same as having/improving skills.  Solid fundamentals will set you up to make solid contact with the ball.  In the shot game, for example, solid fundamentals will help with making crisp contact and to send the ball pretty much on line, but improving your skills will allow you to consistently get up and down instead of leaving a long first putt.  

 

 

[Shapotomous]

Fundamentals are important and need to be checked every so often.  Jack would get with his coach at the beginning of every year for a refresher with a second set of eyes and if it was useful for him who am I to think I would be too good to do the same.

You can get to a certain level of proficiency playing golf with that base but improvement to other levels requires additional information.  I think the natural ability of different players will get them to different handicaps.  Muscle memory of hitting thousands of shots will work for a while without much practice or additional instruction....until the muscles don't cooperate like they used to and a different set up and swing may be necessary to get similar results.  I can personally attest to this scenario.

I think its a lot like playing an instrument.

[cnosil]

5 hours ago, Goober said:

Being an avid golfer like most on here. I was taught at a very young age the fundamentals in a week long camp ( posture , grip , alignment, short game techniques, strategy , and basic ball flight laws) 

so what else is there to know? This advice has serviced me well in many decades of playing  this game. Why is everyone else making this so difficult ? Or what am I missing or not missing here ?

That answer will vary based on the individuals goals and desires.  If you are happy then nothing else to learn.   I can learn the fundamentals for lots of things but that doesn't mean I am good at any of them. 

[Goober]

All excellent replies. I’m just the type of individual that if I have to continually learn how to do something. Than maybe that something isn’t for me. Was like this in skeet shooting. Just could never grasp it, even with constant supervision. Maybe I’ve been blessed where I learned correctly during my starting years of golf. And just go back to those basics when anything goes poorly. I’m also in the group of golfers who cares less what the motion looks like versus being effective and repeatable. Seems like there is an affixation with looking like a top rate pro versus what is in the score card. And that is the feeling I’m getting about the many videos I watch on YouTube instruction. Is it really that important to have all the pretty angles and geometric eye pleasing impact positions that the greats had ? Or is it more important to be competitive on the score card with your peers? I’m sensing that many would be more appealed to having a pretty looking swing motion. Maybe why so many keep on this endless path of lessons and never really ever get better on the score card. 

[cnosil]

5 minutes ago, Goober said:

 I’m also in the group of golfers who cares less what the motion looks like versus being effective and repeatable.

Or is it more important to be competitive on the score card with your peers? 

I want an effective and repeatable swing that will result in lower scores.  That is why I take lessons from an instructor; they help me with the movements to accomplish that.   I also worked with a coach to improve my on course strategy to make better decisions to lower my scores.  When I say lower my scores that applies to both the floor and ceiling.   I work with a professional so I am not trying to implement youtube tips that aren't addressing my specific issues.  

it seems that you don't think there is a relationship between what a swing looks like and making a swing more effective and repeatable.   There are definitely exceptions....ugly swing and scratch and great looking swing but can't score.  

Most of the people I see on here talking about swing are looking for ways to play better and break scoring milestones and have swing limitations that are preventing them from getting there.  

I don't know what your golf ability is or what you score,  but it appears that you are happy at that level and aren't looking for ways to improve.  All I can say is good for you and maybe one day I will get to that point.    

[Goober]

And I would like to add. If I was continually taking lessons on any hobby of mine (and never improving) .. than I would truly take up something else. 

[Goober]

Well said Cnosil. It should truly be shooting lower and more consistent scores. For that I would think lessons and improved course strategy would be paramount. I’m a high 70 shooter; and for me keeping it under 80 has always been my main priority. Plus walking when I play and enjoying just being out their. If I ever lose those abilities, than I would be more than happy to take a lesson or two so I can get back to that threshold 

[Goober]

31 minutes ago, Riverboat said:

I agree with you to a large extent. What would have happened to Jim Furyk, Matt wolf, Lee Trevino,  Jack nicklaus with his flying right elbow,  or the king with his whirlybird finish if someone had "fixed" their flawed swings? Maybe the same thing that happened to a young man I knew who won a state high school championship, was the #1 recruit of a top 5 program who got absolutely wrecked by his college coach because he "needed to be able to work it both ways." Maybe the same as a number of players I coached in high school who had lovely (not technically perfect) natural actions who were well on their way to being very good players before getting tied in knots mentally and physically trying to hit the "correct" positions taught by well regarded private instructors. (It ain't easy going back to a natural motion once you've been convinced that it's "wrong.")

By the same token, I coached kids who flourished more and more the more technical their instruction got, so it's a very individual thing. 

Overall, I think most players would be better off keeping it pretty simple as far as swing mechanics, but I'm coming to realize that coaching in other aspects (which is the part I always spent way more time with with my players) can be even more beneficial than I knew. Maybe I should have focused even more on it. 

I guess the hard part is figuring out how much instruction is enough for you as an individual player vs. how much is too much. It's a question that has a different answer for every player. Personally, I'm glad I never got enough instruction that I got past the point of no return with an overly technical approach. 

I think online forum golf instruction thrives off of people who are tinkers.. or more likely endlessly searching for a Sam Snead / Ben Hogan style of swing. Only sport I know that specializes in form is figure skating. Personally for me, it is best I just avoid all of the glamour and pageantry. And stick with my lowest score wins mentally. No matter what desired or undesired angle my club approaches the ball. Seems so much simpler and less frustrating. For all that have taken the other route .. much respect. Just count me out of the equation