Second time at the range.
Same clubs, 7 Iron and a 1 Wood.

Today I worked hard on my grip. I wasnt holding the club properly before. I moved my left hand down slightly, about 2 fingers width. I also got my right hand into the right position, and worked on a nice relaxed grip.

Something else I knoticed was my swing itself.
I setup just right, I finnaly got my feet pointing the right way and my alignment on the ball seemed okay.
But, I found that I was rushing my backswing, and screwing up the followthru.
I found that if I slowed my back swing down, and paused for a split second at the top of my swing I was getting better hits.

Eventualy I had my 7 Iron flying more or less straight and going between 125 and 150 yards.
My 1 wood is going bad though.
Every hit is gonig about 150 yards or more, and vearing off to the right. I belive Im slicing it, but I didnt really consentrate on it so Im not sure where the problem is.

But, Im glad I got my grip sorted out and my Iron sees to be okay too. Ill probably go back to the range tommorow and get some work on my wood sorted out.

- - - - - - -

Later on I went to the school field again and did some practice with my new found Irons skill. I didnt really send the ball far (about 100 yards at most), but it was more or less on target, and I really didnt have any "bad" hits. Even thought the grass is close to 4 inches long.... Uh, deep rough anyone??

- - - -
Thanks pgapro, I decided to do a diary for me, and just incase I said anything intelegent someone else might wana know.. :-)

Great Golfing Diary

this makes very interesting reading. An online golfing diary of your progress... keep us updated.

Third time at the range.....

Today was basicaly just practicing what I finished with yesterday.

Getting the feel of the new grip took a few minuted, but once I used it enough it just seemed natural. Now I can grip the club correctly with little trouble, or thought.

I played with the 1 wood today. still not getting very good results. I broke down on the way home adn bought myself a second hand driver with a graphite shaft. It feels a lot better than the wood I was using. The metal head seems lighter, and the club itself gives a more relaxed swing. But, I havent tried it on the range yet.

The 7 Iron is going okay. Straight, more or less, and between 125 and 150 yards. My swing is okay, but therse not much power in it. Gotta build those muscles.... :-)

I still catch myself snatching the backswing to hard, and then screwing up the throughswing. But thats not happening as much.

3 hours overtime = clockout early and hit the range!!

I got myself a cheapo putter the other day.
I stood in the store and tried out a few differnt putters. Typicaly, the one I was most impressed and comfortable with was $40. A little out of my range right now. Im not that good.
I eventualy settled on a secondhand Knight In-Sync putter. A whole $4.00 !!
Oddly, it felt better than a brand new club for $20....
Its got a nice heavy head, a titanum face inset and a fairly nice grip. Iv just been practicing on the carpet at home. First trying to get the ball going where Im aiming. Ill go to the practice green sometime in November.

The Driving Range!

Grip is there. I dont even have to think about it. I automaticaly grip the club in the correct fashion. So thats one hurdle over....
The Irons are going nicely too. Asside from the very occational slice, they are going roughly where I want them, about 125 - 150 yards. (7 Iron, Tomahawk Nickle)

Driver/Wood practice is still progressing slowly. Im still hitting the ball and curving it off to the right somewhat. I did get some really nice straight hits in. Im pretty convinced that I "was" hitting with the wrong part of the club face, and had the club lined up wrong. I gotta remeber to have the face angled so I can bearly see the face, so it looks like the ball is going to fly off to the left. But distance wise its going between 150 - 200 yards.
It seems easier to screw up the swing on the longer clubs. I think its the change in angle against the body. Part of my head says that "its too high" on the swing, and POW, Major Divot....
Then theres the other bit says, "dont divot" and CLUNK, the ball schoots off along the ground. Definatly need lots of practice with it just to get used to the shaft and the change. ( 3 Wood, Titanium insert by Northwest )

Address is fine. I finnaly got my feet to cooperate and sit comfortably a shoulders width appart. That was another mistake I was making. Shifting my feet further appart, and shortening the distance between my shoulders and the ball.

Conclution....
Im pretty much ready with the Irons. Ill still make mistakes, but no more than some of the Geezers who play the course. The rest will come as I play.
I need a good driver still.
My woods need a lot more practice......

Keep up the work Fraggle, you'll get it.

GolfBald

Pre shot routine

Hey Fraggle,
Does this sound familiar? You take a couple of practice swings, get your grip right and set up? But oops, your just and inch or two too close to the ball or a little to far away. So you reach for the ball a little or make some adjustment that doesn't quite feel right and take a swing anyway?
That was me at least when I started playing.
Here's a tip that I got that has helped me be more consistent with my set up. Holding the club with the right hand only, and the right arm hanging comfortably at your side, aim the leading edge of the club face at the target and then build your stance so that you are square to the line that the leading edge points too. This helps me do two things. One, it sets me up the perfect distance from the ball, and two sets the clubface square to the target. I guess my point is set the leading edge of the club square to the target before you set your body up to the target.

WEEE!!! 200 yards stright out!.
Finaly, the 3 wood is flying!.
I discovered I really have to angle the club face in and not put the ball so close to the left foot.
A slight change in where Im aiming to hit the clubface and bingo!!. "tink" and off she goes!.
Im knida surprised as how much I hve to angle the club inwards to get the ball to fly straight.
Im also aware that I probably am not hitting the "sweet spot" on the face squair on.

The 7 Iron was awsome!. Im starting to knotice a little more distance. As Im getting more relaxed and confident with my swing and address, Im able to get a little more power behind the ball. The distance now is between 150 and 175 yards.

I played with balls today.
In my basket of Range balls, there were some Top Flight, and a few Pinicals... as well asthe "Super Range" balls.
Once I had my 3 Wood behaving nicely, I decided to pull out just the Range balls, and hit 5 of them..... All went around 175 yards (not including rollout). The Pinicals flew beautifuly, came close to the 200 yards, but not quite. The Top Flight balls (3 and 4s) all cleared the 200 yard marker... I gotta go ball hunting tommorow and find some Titlist balls on the course and try them out next.

Conclution.
My swing is really coming along. Not having any problems with distance from the ball, but I do have to think about where the ball is in its distance from center.
Okay, now to make things hard again, time to practice with the 3 wood, and NOT use a tee!. :-\
Hopefuly, I will get my driver tomorow.... :-)

Fraggle!
I'm a beginner aswell, and I have to tell you reading your diary always gives me a little bit of insperation and ideas to play with. So thank you. It's great.
I have a couple of questions for you and the others.
At the range how many yards should I add on to get an idea of "real" distance? I realise range balls are heavier but how much heavier? When people say "I can hit the ball 150 yards with my seven....." is that from where the ball lands(the initial contact with the ground?) or is it where the ball finally comes to rest? Is it odd that the astro turf of the range (which is really short,i mean almost smooth short) seems to make me slice the ball? Does anyone out there just loose it? I mean to say have such a bad time at hitting the ball that and the frustration seems to make it worse?
I'd appriciate the help chaps.

I'm not sure Kop Fan, I think we all look at it seperately. I hit the ball rather high and it doesn't usually role much on landing, conditions depanding, Anyone who seriously wishes to improve at golf will use a yardage wheel to work out their average shot distance for a given club. Your golf club will probably have one which you can borrow/hire. TIP: Don't use a yardage wheel on the range ... except if you're wearing a tin hat

Paul

Swing problem found....

Hay, if any of yall live or visit Central Florida, I can get you on the Oakwood Golf Club in Lake Wales for half price. Just drop me a line. Who knows, maybe Ill give you a lught and play along!. ROFL!

Well, your right.
Range Balls do behave differntly because you can buy about 20 of them for $5.00 LOL

When Im checking distance, I usualy look at where it lands, and pretty much ignore the rollout. Mostly because I cant see the rollout. (and not, not becuse its in the trees again! Hehe) I can see where it bounces, and thats good enough for me. Im more looking for "Ah, thats where I was aiming!" rather than "Wow, that went a long way.... into the trees...."

The range I use is about 350 - 400 yards long, mostly fairway length grass. The targets are also fairway length grass. The collars around the targets are done by the rough unit, so balls get hard to spot when they roll into them. The sides are made of mounds and mougles. Theres a nice practice bunker too, (nice now cause I spent 4 hours weeding it and redistributing the sand 'cause nobody was raking it). The tees are also Fairway length cut.

Mostly though, a 7 Iron isnt going to roll out too far from impact because of the loft. The higher the ball goes, the faster it stops. An 8 iron ball will stop with litte roll out, a 3 iron will roll further, but wont go as high in the air.
Iv often seen people misshit with a driver, and the ball skip along the floor, but the ball still goes a fair 150+ yards.

SWING PROBLEMS....
Something else I descovered Yesterday.
My swing with the irons is fine. But with the woods... because the shaft is longer, Im changing my swing. Im angling my wrists it seems.....
I tested this theory. I went through my whole address and swing. Only I did the swing in a slow movement. I found that as I go to swing through the ball, Iv changed the address. My wrists have shifted slightly, and consiquently the clubface is at an angle when it strikes the ball.
Now, I countered this as I mentioned before, by angling the club face in more than normal. Okay, that works, but its not really correct. And it makes striking with the sweet spot a lot harder. I need to work a great deal on my swing using the longer clubs. So my swing is smooth and the head of the club is addressing the ball exactly the same way as I positioned it during the address.....

Hey Kop, thanks for the kind words. Us beginners against the world!! :-)

Hehe Metcalf!. DAMB STRAIGHT!!
Theres an indoor practice place down the road. Its in a small warehouse. Uses the silly balls on a swingarm... Yup, those balls go everywhere when the come loose! ROFL

Long time no practice.....
OverSeeding time!

But, thats over now. Just plenty of watering to do (except today cause' its raining.. Boooo! )

Got onto the range for the first time in two weeks yesterday.
I decided to start slowly and warm up rather than swing, slash and get pissed because Im giving squirrels concusion again..
After about 5 minutes I was pretty much where I left 2 weeks ago.
The new driver is great!, when I swing properly.
Im starting to beable to feel when the swing is wrong, it feels awkward on the downstoke and I know the ball isnt going to do or go where Im praying it will.
Something else I found I have to really consentrate on is overswing... Its a killer!... and easily done!.

Right now, Im being given advice from about 6 different people....
One says "cock your knee on the back swing" the other says "Keep your feet planted, that knee cocking will kill you."

Iv pretty much decided to just nod, smile, say thank you and ignore the advice of most people except the pros.... I dont need to be taught bad habbits before I have a swing Im comfortble with.

Right now, its just "Practice practice practice!". Things will fall into place eventualy.

I splashed out today and got myself a Golfbag (By Knight) and a half set of Irons "Herman Barron" 'international'. 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - Sw.
All for $20. Iv got no idea if the Irons are any good, I cant find any info on them anywhere online, except This HB guy is kinda good at golf... :-)

Well, thats it.
A week or 2 and Im going out on the front Nine......
(gotta fit some Putting practice in first though.)

Kop Fan: First off... We're not all "chaps" here Anyway, the hubby and I went to the range today and I have never had so much trouble before. We had been 5 times before and actually tried a 18 hole game last Friday(I sucked big time). We went today after getting a book with tips etc and I found myself getting so frustrated I was about to quit. I admit, there was more then one time I just dropped my club and walked away... And then there was the one time I threw the club almost hitting the hubby(I didn't expect it to go that far.. I guess my aim throwing my club is just as accurate as my swing with it... LOL). Only thing I could do was take a step back, a few deep breaths and then talk to the people at the range about getting a lesson tomorrow. I've found I am just NOT going to pick this sport up without some major help and that in itself is frustrating for someone like me, who usually can pick up anything she tries fairly quickly. All I can say is don't give up hope, find someone who is reasonably priced but high in knowledge to take lessons from and if all else fails... I'm starting an "I suck at golf" bowling league... LOL

Half a Basket....

Today I decided to just slap a few driver shots and a few woods and then consentrate on my Irons.
Same trouble as before, only I did get some really sweet straight shots with the driver. Shame I wasnt paying attention to what I did so I could repeat it....

But, the Irons were great!. Pretty much straight %90 of the time.
I did some short chipping practice with the PW and 7 Iron.
My PW skills blow!. I couldnt get the ball anywhere near the green. BUT, the 7 Iron!. I actualy HIT the pin twice!. Seems that a nice half swing with the 7 Iron is my strong point.

I think my play is going to be a Drive from the Tee, then switch to Irons and let my Woods collect dust.... :-)
Nah!, Ill keep practicing with the Woods, but its nice to know I can go out on the course and do okay by playing it "safe" rather than just playing for the green.

I intend to go play in the sand next trip to the range. I need to get some experience with my SW. Theres plenty of Traps on my course, so I think I need to prepair!.

I found a guy online who lives close by that plays golf. Im pondering meeting him at the course and giving him a laugh by playing a round with him.... It just doesnt feel right going out for the first time with the people I work with, I really dont need to SUCK and then hear about it for 4 weeks afterwards!. LOL

ANYWAY! once again, I wana say THANK YOU for the the Golf Swing tutorial found on this site <---- over there!.....
It gave me a really sound base to start from!. MUCH APPRECIATED!!

(as soon as I play a round, Ill put my score up here, just to make everyone else feel better...)

the advice i would give u would be if ur driveing is not that great pratice ALOT with your irons and putter so that u have a really good short game. a good target would be to try and never make more than a 2 from close to the green (good chip and then a easy putt) that will then help you to ok scores and make u look good when ur firends who have just hit a long wood to the back of the green 3 putt it and u just take an extra shot getting there but finnish it off well.


and its good to hear how ur getting on with the drives as i am myself in a similar situation as you.