Played the most fun round of my life, finally found "my swing"

After living abroad for the last year WITHOUT my clubs, I came back into golf aggressively two months ago and have had the most fun I ever have. I am 32 years old, been playing since I was 4. I never quite took that next step to becoming a truly "great" golfer as I grew up in a paycheck to paycheck household, which made the kind of fostering necessary for a young player too difficult. I played in leagues and on high school teams but never did the "College Golfer" thing and it always remained in the background. As i've gotten older I have slowly begun to spend time trying to get to that place I should have been, and thanks to some hard work and good instruction I have finally jumped up to the level I feel I can build into a plus handicap. I finally have MY swing.

Last week I walked onto a course i'd never seen as a guest in my uncle's golf club for a tournament after approximately 15 months since my last actual round of golf and shot a 76 without making a single decent putt (haven't practiced my putting since being back!). My ball striking and confidence was in a place it has never been before and I completely understood why the bad shots I hit were bad and was not afraid of repeating them. I finally have a set of consistent, repeatable mechanics that actually leave the range and stay on the course with me. I can also see all the ways in which they can be better and more consistent, which I will be working on for the remainder of this year in hopes of finally breaking par in 2020.

Have any of you had these sorts of moments in your playing careers? If so, what got you there and how did you maintain it? It is very exciting but I can't stop working to improve upon it!

Don't worry give it a month you'll start another thread saying you've lost it and are seeking swing advice

> @BrandonDunes said:

> Don't worry give it a month you'll start another thread saying you've lost it and are seeking swing advice

Hah, not this time I don't think. Finding quick fixes for improper mechanics has always been a quick turnaround for me, and this has held up through several practice sessions and a tournament, something that the quick fixes never do. But thanks for the encouragement, lol!

This story reinforces my belief that if you get some reasonable golf fundamentals at a formative age, the game will always be there for you. It's like language and music. What you learn early is never too far away as you get older. The filp side is less encouraging. If you don't get this kind of experience early, learning it later will be a struggle.

> @MountainGoat said:

> This story reinforces my belief that if you get some reasonable golf fundamentals at a formative age, the game will always be there for you. It's like language and music. What you learn early is never too far away as you get older. The filp side is less encouraging. If you don't get this kind of experience early, learning it later will be a struggle.

That is an interesting point for sure. I always felt like I was sitting on an underutilized foundation that just needed to be kicked into gear with the right *something*. Hopefully this is it! This place has really kept that push alive for me though since I am a tinkerer that loves experimenting.

> @Valtiel said:

> > @MountainGoat said:

> > This story reinforces my belief that if you get some reasonable golf fundamentals at a formative age, the game will always be there for you. It's like language and music. What you learn early is never too far away as you get older. The filp side is less encouraging. If you don't get this kind of experience early, learning it later will be a struggle.

>

> That is an interesting point for sure. I always felt like I was sitting on an underutilized foundation that just needed to be kicked into gear with the right *something*. Hopefully this is it! This place has really kept that push alive for me though since I am a tinkerer that loves experimenting.

Good luck on your journey. You've got a head start on all of us who only got decent instruction later in life. Please don't tinker too much. I highly recommend the Golfmetrics app to help you learn where you can positively apply effort. What I learned in the first week of use completely changed my self image and practice routine. I learned that I had been putting way too much emphasis on aspects of the game where I was already expert and no emphasis on aspects that needed help. It's worth whatever it costs.

> @MountainGoat said:

> > @Valtiel said:

> > > @MountainGoat said:

> > > This story reinforces my belief that if you get some reasonable golf fundamentals at a formative age, the game will always be there for you. It's like language and music. What you learn early is never too far away as you get older. The filp side is less encouraging. If you don't get this kind of experience early, learning it later will be a struggle.

> >

> > That is an interesting point for sure. I always felt like I was sitting on an underutilized foundation that just needed to be kicked into gear with the right *something*. Hopefully this is it! This place has really kept that push alive for me though since I am a tinkerer that loves experimenting.

> Good luck on your journey. You've got a head start on all of us who only got decent instruction later in life. Please don't tinker too much. I highly recommend the Golfmetrics app to help you learn where you can positively apply effort. What I learned in the first week of use completely changed my self image and practice routine. I learned that I had been putting way too much emphasis on aspects of the game where I was already expert and no emphasis on aspects that needed help. It's worth whatever it costs.

>

Sound advice! Btw I meant that I was a tinkerer in terms of equipment, not swing. I am very much a feel player and I don't make swing changes often, and when I do they are small.

That must be a great feeling. I can't say I've had the same swing for more than a round in quite some time. Hopefully some lessons will help create better full time habits. Good on you though and hopefully you ride the momentum.

I'm legitimately jealous. I go to range, and go to the range, and go to the range. I'm constantly, adjusting this, and tweaking that. Watching video, after video after video, picking up what little advice I can from other golfers. I would say, at least, compared to where I was two years ago, when I first started playing, my game has improved almost 100%. But it's my consistency, or lack thereof, that is driving me absolutely nuts!

> @jonesry09 said:

> That must be a great feeling. I can't say I've had the same swing for more than a round in quite some time. Hopefully some lessons will help create better full time habits. Good on you though and hopefully you ride the momentum.

> @avgjoe88 said:

> I'm legitimately jealous. I go to range, and go to the range, and go to the range. I'm constantly, adjusting this, and tweaking that. Watching video, after video after video, picking up what little advice I can from other golfers. I would say, at least, compared to where I was two years ago, when I first started playing, my game has improved almost 100%. But it's my consistency, or lack thereof, that is driving me absolutely nuts!

It was definitely a combination of lessons and my own obsessive work that got me past this particular threshold. Out of the lessons came an improvement in my weight shifting that made me much more stable in transition and a correction in my alignment with the longer clubs. I think a lot of people inadvertently end up in a form "stank and tilt" since it can feel appealing to be "on top" of the ball throughout your swing, but it really creates problems with the longer clubs for many, myself included. I was not correctly getting my weight behind the ball and loaded into my back leg which leads to a very unstable position at the top and in transition. My coach demonstrated this by having me take both my old position at the top and the correct, loaded position and shaking me by my shoulders. In the old position I was easily thrown off balance whereas I was rock solid in the loaded position. Regarding my alignment, he corrected the fact that my shoulders would progressively get more open as the clubs got longer which makes getting into the proper loaded position progressively more difficult.

As for my own work, I was focusing on narrowing down what was uncomfortable in transition, something I have always been somewhat plagued by. In addition to losing a bit of posture, which was easily corrected, I also had too much emphasis on getting my wrists set in the backswing, often too early. This would lead to too much tension when those loaded wrists would be faced with the transition forces and create a lot of inconsistency in my delivery, mostly in the irons. I confirmed this with my coach who gave me a takeaway drill to work on; placing a 3' piece of 2" PVC pipe behind the club at address pointing along my target line and starting my takeaway. If you properly turn with the big muscles and keep the wrists from getting too active, you will push that piece of pipe back in a straight line. If you load or otherwise manipulate your wrists too early, the pipe will rotate away from the club head. I combined this big muscle one piece takeaway with a more proper loading of the wrists in transition as opposed to before it which adds power without extra effort, serves as a reliable timing device, and drops the club down into the slot in a repeatable way. It feels very "Sergio" even though it probably looks nothing like it and has a very consistent impact on my timing with upper and lower body.

In addition to all of this making things feel FAR more repeatable, it also drastically tightened up my dispersion with misses traveling much less offline and left misses in particular almost completely disappearing. The large, one piece feeling of the takeaway combined with the stable position at the top of the swing meant that I was keenly aware when something was off, to the extent that I could almost stop my swing Tiger-style in the middle (not quite though, hah!). It is by NO means perfect and I still struggle with a few things, but it is a different level that I can build from as opposed to the plateau I was stuck on before.

Best wishes towards your new goals. Try to fixate on 2-5 great individual amateur events in the summer that are in your state, or otherwise somewhat near you in another State, and take this great positive energy with you! I hope you find time to do so because although some peoples lives wont allow for it, I believe everybody deserves to participate in a couple of events a year for themselves and for their favorite hobby. Keep on keeping on with what was taught to you and get the shortgame solid, and your next step is to learn how to play well around Par if not a shot or 2 below it while not playing very good! Good luck and kick ass in 2020

> It was definitely a combination of lessons and my own obsessive work that got me past this particular threshold. Out of the lessons came an improvement in my weight shifting that made me much more stable in transition and a correction in my alignment

The weight shifting is probably where my problem, I think I tend to concentrate to much on making sure my body is in the perfect position. I will take forever making sure my arms are correct my feet are perfect, my body feels perfect. Then it comes to my swing and follow through and it basically makes everything else seem pointless.

> @Kjboisen said:

> Best wishes towards your new goals. Try to fixate on 2-5 great individual amateur events in the summer that are in your state, or otherwise somewhat near you in another State, and take this great positive energy with you! I hope you find time to do so because although some peoples lives wont allow for it, I believe everybody deserves to participate in a couple of events a year for themselves and for their favorite hobby. Keep on keeping on with what was taught to you and get the shortgame solid, and your next step is to learn how to play well around Par if not a shot or 2 below it while not playing very good! Good luck and kick **** in 2020

Thanks very much man! The tournament I played was as a guest with a league that I plan on joining, but that will just be a stepping stone. I will need to find the best way to push myself in the next few years.

> @avgjoe88 said:

> > It was definitely a combination of lessons and my own obsessive work that got me past this particular threshold. Out of the lessons came an improvement in my weight shifting that made me much more stable in transition and a correction in my alignment

>

> The weight shifting is probably where my problem, I think I tend to concentrate to much on making sure my body is in the perfect position. I will take forever making sure my arms are correct my feet are perfect, my body feels perfect. Then it comes to my swing and follow through and it basically makes everything else seem pointless.

>

>

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Yeah, there are so many little soundbites about do's and dont's in the golf swing that cause us to get into bad places. "Don't sway on your backswing" causes people to get stuck because they stop shifting their weight properly. Various tips about wrist set on the backswing and lag on the downswing cause people to do way too much with their wrists when in reality it should be a smooth, natural part of the motion and not some set position you're trying to hit.

Setting everything up correctly is definitely important though. Too many people are doomed from the start because of improper setup, but it is what you do with it that counts. My uncle has always had the most beautiful, neutral setup with great lines and posture etc etc, but he just can't ever seem to get his weight moving forward in the downswing and he is always hanging back and thinning/topping the ball. I don't think a single iron in his bag has a wear mark above the third groove, hah!

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> it should be a smooth, natural part of the motion and not some set position you're trying to hit.

>

yea the more i keep reading and thinking about it, i definitely need to work on shifting my weight. I'm sure most people can attest most of the advice we get from other people is easier said than done. My regular golfing buddy refuses to give me any tips whatsoever. He says, "we all know what we are doing wrong and what we need to do to fix it, but actually doing it is another monster in itself." next time i go to the range i'll have to work on some weight shifting drills for sure

> @avgjoe88 said:

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> > >

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> > it should be a smooth, natural part of the motion and not some set position you're trying to hit.

> >

> yea the more i keep reading and thinking about it, i definitely need to work on shifting my weight. I'm sure most people can attest most of the advice we get from other people is easier said than done. My regular golfing buddy refuses to give me any tips whatsoever. He says, "we all know what we are doing wrong and what we need to do to fix it, but actually doing it is another monster in itself." next time i go to the range i'll have to work on some weight shifting drills for sure

>

>

That is a good point your buddy makes, although I would argue that many people do NOT know what they are doing, but maybe just that they know something is wrong. I agree that randomly dispensed advice on the course can be a waste of time though in many cases.

As for shifting weight, my coach told me to visualize the left side of my ribcage under my left arm pulling my head over the top of my right shoe. Your doesn't ACTUALLY move over your shoe, but it is an effective visualization for getting properly loaded on to your back leg.

There are two things that will tank a good swing thought: 1) telling people about it. 2) trying to stretch it out to pick up a few extra yards.

You are already at least halfway there.....