Total newbie

Aidensana · October 6, 2022

Hi all,

New member here, literally just got started on my golf hobby this month. Currently filling out a bag with eBay clubs and trying not to take too many chunks out of the local driving range.

Here to learn some stuff, buy some stuff, and hopefully lose less than 2 balls per hole someday. Could be easier to take lessons and get fit but where's the fun in that?

jholz · October 6, 2022

Love your attitude mon frer! You'll find that all of us love the game around here. Great place to learn valuable stuff.

Just remember to drink the kool-aid with a healthy grain of salt!

Dpavs · October 6, 2022

I think it's OK to play around a little at first and if you decide it is something you enjoy enough to stick to for a while... then consider taking a lesson or two to build a solid foundation for your swing.

Edited October 6, 2022 by Dpavs

betarhoalphadelta · October 6, 2022

34 minutes ago, Aidensana said:

Hi all,

New member here, literally just got started on my golf hobby this month. Currently filling out a bag with eBay clubs and trying not to take too many chunks out of the local driving range.

Here to learn some stuff, buy some stuff, and hopefully lose less than 2 balls per hole someday. Could be easier to take lessons and get fit but where's the fun in that?

Welcome to the ~~addiction~~ obsession!

Take a beginner clinic or an individual lesson plan! You'll thank me later!

The golf swing is tremendously un-intuitive. This is especially true picking the game up as an adult. Any bad habits you ingrain now will be a lot harder to change later than learning to do it right the first time. If you set yourself up with a solid foundation, it'll pay MANY dividends down the road. The investment in lessons up front will be more than worth it.

As for fitting? Way too early. Until you have the simplest basics of a swing down you won't have anything to fit to. Assuming your anywhere near average height/weight/strength, off the rack or used clubs are more than fine to get started. For many players they're just fine long-term too. Fitting becomes more important down the road if you're physically out of the norm (i.e. I'm 6'5", 275#, and well above average strength, so off the rack isn't even close for me), or when your game progresses to a point where it's consistent enough that you want to dial in shaft weight / flex / etc.

The only thing I'd say regarding club selection is to look for those used clubs that you think would be "in the right range" for you. I.e. I bought my son a set of clubs at age 13, used, and it was ultralight graphite, senior flex. At 13 I figured that would be appropriate for his body. This past summer (right at the time he was getting ready to turn 15) he and I were at the range and he just was struggling, struggling, struggling. Couldn't make solid contact. I had only brought my 7i and handed it to him, and he started striping them. That's a +1" build, 115g stiff shaft, and swing weight in the D7ish range. He's a tall kid but I didn't think he'd have filled out his frame and built enough strength to handle them yet. Turns out he had physically progressed to the point where my clubs might not have been the "right" fit for him, but the clubs he was playing were so wrong that it completely threw him off. That day we pulled out my old irons and he's been playing them for the last 6 months with MUCH more success.

j.b.newton · October 6, 2022

51 minutes ago, Aidensana said:

Hi all,

New member here, literally just got started on my golf hobby this month. Currently filling out a bag with eBay clubs and trying not to take too many chunks out of the local driving range.

Here to learn some stuff, buy some stuff, and hopefully lose less than 2 balls per hole someday. Could be easier to take lessons and get fit but where's the fun in that?

Make fast friends with your local super/green keeper by asking for a quick advice on driving range etiquette/divot pattern... in my opinion - an often overlooked aspect from the beginning

Aidensana · October 6, 2022

Thanks for the welcome all!

You're all correct, money and time should be best spent building a solid foundation with quality instruction. But the stubborn side of me wants to cobble something together on my own, so we'll see how long that lasts until I get frustrated, give up in disgust, and pay for lessons.

I'm lucky enough that I'm average in all aspects, so standard clubs and regular flex seem to be working out for me.

1 hour ago, j.b.newton said:

Make fast friends with your local super/green keeper by asking for a quick advice on driving range etiquette/divot pattern... in my opinion - an often overlooked aspect from the beginning

Definitely a good call. He did already talk to me when he ID'd my grandfather's 53 year old Wilsons from 40 feet away, so that's some ice broken at least.