Re: Cheshire UK

welcome to GTO mark

Re: Cheshire UK

Hi Mark and welcome.

I would like to offer what I feel are the right habits to get a good game going as quickly as possible. I learned the hard way that you have to hand over to a coach and invest in lessons which will cover the basics and get you playing so you can enjoy. This is the only, and best advice I think you need. I persevered with self teaching for months and ended up so frustrated I nearly gave up the game. After some lessons, and being in a position of knowing what I was applying was someway correct, I only went forward. Hope this advice will help you along and get to enjoy.

Re: Cheshire UK

Hi guys and thanks.

I agree fully with the sentiments about getting a pro to check out my basics etc and to set up a few lessons, however the Pro at my local course retired when I started and I never got around to sorting out a few lessons with the new guy (as he was originally shared with another club and hardly turned up to ours!)

It is very hard knowing if what you are changing needs changing, or whether you are making things temporarily better and long termily (ahem) worse, so I am planning on getting a pro to check me out as soon as I can.

I am now at a point where I will play 18 holes and hit Par on 4 or 5, bogey about 5 or 6 and double bogey about the same but will then hit 2 or 3 holes that I lose my concentration on and hit 10's spoiling my scores.


I mainly play 9 holes after work and have consistantly hit between 45 and 49 (which I consider to be good in terms of my handicap) but its generally the longer game that tires me out allowing the high scoring holes to creep in and spoil my card and obviously its the 18 holers that really count.

Anyway I am enjoying this, I would certainly enjoy putting the work in if I could be put on the right track by a pro, but I certainly have my head full of enough tips and tricks that should tide me over once I am a sub 10 player


I have been checked out quickly by a Pro at another course, who said my Grip and swing are as good as I should expect and the issues are mainly with me not having a steady foundation on some shots (Body sway etc) and I don't yet have my swing formed into a constant swing plane (ie sometimes I will swing well, other times I will be outside the line, taking it back to quickly etc etc) and also that whilst I seem to understand about releasing the club and my hands etc I have not yet managed to get it to a constant level (so quite often I spoil a good swing by leaving my club face open at impact sending the ball off to the right or slicing heavily). He said this is something you literally force yourself to learn by just getting used to it and your hands and swing eventually learn the correct way...so hopefully this will happen for me too if I stick to the basics

So hopefully with the help of a pro, and giving myself time to form good basics I should start enjoying the game a lot more once out on the course (instead of just enjoying the THOUGHT of getting out on the course )

Obviously this has been helped by the brilliant weather the UK has had over the past few months which is a first

Thanks again for the kind welcome


Mark